Athletes of all levels of preparation will be using various means of training to address the physical requirements of their sport. While characteristics of the means will vary based on sport demands, most forms of training will be included in an athlete’s training. Components of the physical preparation process include:
1. Skill Development
2. Injury Prevention
3. Strength Development
4. Power Development
5. Energy System Development
6. Speed Development
7. Multi-directional abilities (depending on the sport)
Depending on the time of year (or the length of time until competitions) athletes will be looking to address all or some of these areas in their training. It is of vital importance that the individual in charge of the physical preparation of athletes strategically manage training in an effort to both develop the athlete, while at the same time not risking injury or overtraining. Many sport coaches make the mistake of implementing a training schedule based on the concept of “working hard” by implementing high stress elements on a daily basis, with maybe one day “off” or “light” during the week. It is important to recognize the impact of the training elements on the central nervous system (CNS) to determine how the athlete will recover from said training element.
As discussed in previous posts, the works of Charlie Francis (2012 & 2008) discuss the High/Low system of training, which manages stresses of the CNS over the week. New trends in fitness have lead to athletes haphazardly implementing low-quality, high-intensity training on a daily basis in an effort to get athletes “in-shape” or “mentally prepare” themselves for the rigors of sport participation. This mismanagement of training tends to go much more harm then good, even if short-term benefits appear to be occurring. The High/Low System separates elements into high or low categories based upon stress to the CNS. While there are elements that are deemed Medium intensity, Francis includes them in high intensity training since you cannot recover from this type of training in 24 hours.
Examples of High and low components are as follows (Francis 2012 & Francis 2008):
High
Sprints above 95%
High intensity Jumps
Strength Training (Efforts above 80%)
Explosive MB Throws (Note: some individuals will place these in a “medium” category, but as stated earlier, medium stresses will get considered high for recover purposes)
Low
Tempo Conditioning (Extensive <75%)
Assistance Strength Training Exercises/Abdominal
Low intensity MB Throws
Sport skills can fall into the same categories based upon the intensity in which they are performed. When looking at a week of training, one should determine where different elements may fit in order to optimize training outputs and recovery. When a training approach is to utilize all training variables at different volumes over the week, one needs to make sure that the organization of different modes of training are performed in an appropriate order. While volumes of each of the components will change, here is a basic template for placing them over the course of a training week for an athlete in the offseason (note: this does not include warm-up activities that would precede training sessions):
Day 1
Sprints
Jumps
Throws
Strength Work
Day 2
Strength
Extensive Tempo Conditioning
Abdominal Training
Day 3
Off or Extensive Tempo or Cardiac Work (HR 100-140 beats per minute)
Day 4
Repeat Day One
Day 5
Repeat Day Two
Days 6 & 7
Off or Extensive Tempo or Cardiac Work (HR 100-140 beats per minute). It would be suggested to take at least one day totally off for passive recovery (i.e. massage, passive stretching, etc.)
It is important to manage training stressors over the course of a week, and to make sure that you are utilizing methods that match the demands of the sport. One must make sure that outputs are optimal on high CNS stress elements to make sure that adaptations to the training will yield the desired results. While the schedule above may be reflected of many different training options, one needs to also consider the time of the year for the athlete (i.e. off-season, in-season, etc) when designing weekly training schedules.
References
Francis, C (2012). The Charlie Francis Training System. (Kindle edition).
Francis, C. (2008). The Structure of Training for Speed. Charliefrancis.com. (Kindle edition).
Mensinger Performance and Fitness Systems 