COACHES CORNER

This post is for the athletes in the house, and clears up a few differences in Offseason, Preseason, and In season training. First of all, I am a firm believer that you should be training year round assuming you have the right program, and are giving yourself enough time to recover each week. Rest and recovery is one of the most important and often overlooked aspects of a quality program, and time management becomes difficult, especially in season, when a strength program has to contest with practice and game schedules. In this case, make sure you have plenty of recovery time during the week before you incorporate a strength program. Now to explain the differences in programming each season.

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Offseason Training- The offseason is the time in which an athlete should be focusing on learning to move correctly, build muscle, increase strength and power, and well as work on mobility. By moving away from sport specific skill work, and focusing more on functional movement and strength development, we allow the athlete to build the foundation necessary to realize better gains in skill work when the time comes. While increasing functional movement, and strength, we help reduce the risk of injury during the season.

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Preseason Training- During the preseason resistance training intensity increases. We continue to work on power development while also concentrating on sport specific speed, agility, and conditioning. The preseason phase lasts about 4-6 weeks, and should include more sport specific play, (Basketball, lacrosse, hockey etc). One of the major goals of preseason training should be to convert the strength and power athletes have built during the offseason into more sport specific speed and explosiveness.

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In Season Training- Training during the season not only helps maintain gains made during the off season and preseason but also helps athletes continue to make gains throughout the season instead of the opposite. If you get weaker in season, you will also become less explosive, and slower as a result. This can also increase the risk of sport related injury during the season.