At times I think that the training world is growing by leaps and bounds.   There is so many great trainers out there and websites that offer crucial knowledge in every component of athletic development.  Then I see something and realize that there are still a lot of people in sports that must have missed the memo.

When it comes to conditioning for sports the main rule of thumb is simple-  condition your athletes to simulate the demands of their specific sport.  Ask yourself these questions:

1.  How far do your athletes run each play?

2.  Are they doing anything else during these plays?

-upper body involved/  physical contact/ pressure…

3.  How long are the periods of downtime and what are the athletes doing during this time?  (rest periods)

4.  In what patterns are the athletes moving?  What type of movements are going on?  (sprinting, changing direction, shuffling, sliding, jumping, crawling…)

5.  What is the intensity of the movements?

Answering these questions should give you a pretty good idea of how you should condition your athletes.  Most sports involve short, explosive bursts of actions that are anaerobic in  nature.  That means that they should train in a similar fashion.  It really doesn’t help to train an athlete’s aerobic energy system (long distance runs) if they play an anaerobic sport.  If anything it may inhibit their development of the explosion needed in their sport and the ability to quickly recover from these short bursts.

To sum it up, when conditioning your athletes, try and copy what your athletes are doing when playing.  Be creative and mix it up in order to keep it fresh and fun.  The days of gassers and full field up/ downs are long behind us.  Or at least should be.

A good idea that I’ve done is developed specialized, standardized conditioning drills that I’ve called finishers.  I’ve also named them scary names like the Grim Reaper or the 2 Minutes of Hell.  I time my athletes as often as I can and place the top times on a board to exxagerate the importance of being in the best shape possible.  This usually makes things more interesting and more competitive.    I will share with you a few of my “Finishers” in future blogs.

Get Better Today

DS