Conditioning for Team Sports: Buck the Tradition

The conditioning that I've started relying on focuses on the energy systems that I need my players to be able to work efficiently in. We are constantly pushing the body to recover as quickly and as efficiently as possible. That does not mean stopping and fully resting. It almost never means stopping for me anymore. The game of basketball never really stops, for free throws and foul shots yes, but not for very long. More often than not, they have to keep moving, keep moving, keep moving, and then there's a burst. Soccer is very similar to this, that game does not stop, literally it does not stop.

So we have to be training for that, not training for the most extreme ridiculous thing that never happens in the game or the match. This means understanding when you use a five second work period, and when you use a 15 second work period. And when you could use what would be the extremes for these team sports, a 30 to 60 seconds work period. Use those minimally, that's extremely intense when you do those work periods. Even when using those extremely intense methods, the focus is always recovery, because that's what's going to really help you win.If the players can only be super fast once or twice, and then they can't recover, they're no good to you.

To train for this recovery, we have to be working in the correct heart rate zones. In the offseason, I'll run this type of conditioning and we will do very general recovery, generally called active recovery in between work periods. An example of this would be max effort broad jumps to work on explosive power and then to recover, it might be something like jump rope, battle ropes, or weighted carries. The active recovery is more general in nature during this time, but as we get closer to the season and into the season, the active recovery will become more specific. An example of this would be again using a broad jump and then using light layups for example for active recovery. Now, we're working in a place and working in a way where we're minimizing the impact, because we're being very smart about when we actually asked them to run. And we're being really smart about getting creative on things where running isn't required. If they're out there doing their sport, that's probably enough of the high volume running, that’s something we want to minimize as much as possible. I may keep short sprints on a treadmill or something during the season, but all of our active recovery is going to be through different methods. This could be slow step ups, where there isn’t much impact but that's still working the running muscles, right?

What we are really looking for with conditioning is how hard the heart is working, or beats per minute. So you can look strictly at that, but then you also can't forget about what the sport entails, specificity of that movement, and the current workload of the athlete. So if you look at what the athlete’s currently doing, and you think, okay, we're in season they’re getting a lot of sport specific training in, this should change the exercises used during conditioning. For example if they are fully in season let’s take away the joint pounding and do short sprints and a kettlebell carry to recover. This works because at this point we are only really looking at what the heart rate is doing. Now, if we're getting ready for a training camp or preseason time period, a time we're not heavily involved in practices, then we want to get more sports specific movements and sports specific muscle groups involved. So that same all out sprint, might then be paired with, you know, some more jogging, for example, to actually recover.

There's a lot you can do with this. It's just like anything else, get creative. There’s not one correct to do things. BUCK THE TRADITION. Forget all of the suck it up buttercup, if you cant finish it you’re weak and didn’t prepare conditioning sessions. You need to be looking at what the sport requires to be successful in it, and where your athletes actually are, where you actually are and bridge that gap between where they need to be and where they are right now.

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Five-Minute Actions

Believe it or not, we are officially halfway through the year. Today is July 1. And that marks the halfway point. I wanted to pause for a moment and recognize today, because it is significant. 

I know, many people are very cynical about the whole idea of setting new year's resolutions. And I am somewhat as well. But the change of the calendar year naturally marks a really great opportunity to reset yourself. It's also common that most people have some time off from work during the week or two weeks leading up to the New Year. 

So, whether you call them resolutions, goal setting, or just consider it a time where you take some time to see how things are going, I want to recognize that we are officially 50% of the way through to the next opportunity where most of us will again take serious stock of the status of our lives.

Often this time period of selfrelfection is minimized as being basic. Meaning it is fundamentally flawed because the action itself is too predictable and thus not meaningful over the long haul. Or so people say.

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As someone who thoroughly enjoys setting goals and the challenge of achieving them (or not), I don’t think we should ever minimize the ideas we come up with to better ourselves or better our lives. There are a lot of naysayers who may try to make us feel silly, embarrassed, or even guilty for being so brash as to think we can improve ourselves. I’m not the one who is going to say that though.

So, please take a moment to think back to some of the goals you’ve set for yourself in the past. No, this exercise is not limited to just the most recent New Year, think back to any goal you want to.

How are you doing with those goals? Where are things standing for you right now? 

It’s very easy, it's also very natural and traditional that people are able to hunker down for a couple weeks or a couple months and pound away at their goal. But then take their foot off the gas pedal. 

I’ll ask again: Where are you in your goal attainment? 

If things are going great, keep it up! If things aren’t going so great, please keep reading.

One of the hardest things is making progress and then trying to keep your foot on the gas and not let up. This is the natural ebb and flow of progress. It is uncomfortable. Learning to slowly move yourself forward when everything around you seems to be indicating otherwise is a skill that must be developed.

It’s easy to tie one’s own worthiness to goal achievement. But please try not to! Losing 10lbs or saving another $1,000 does not define who you are as a person and the sooner you can understand all goal achievement is tied firmly to systems and processes, the easier it is to untie YOUR SELF-WORTH from those goals.

So if you find yourself in the situation of thinking back to some of the goals that you set at the turn of the year and realize you’ve kind of forgotten those and perhaps swept them under the rug, or perhaps you're thinking “Oh, man, you know, like I made such good progress for the first three-four months of the year. What’s happened these last 2-months?”

Just know that this is all really natural, regardless of what situation you're in. 

However, I think it is important to remember and realize that at any moment in time, you can choose to take some action and reverse or improve your trajectory. I like to call these types of steps: 5-minute actions. 

A 5-minute action is simple and can be done today! It can be anything quick that gets you moving in a positive direction. We’re just after a bit of momentum. 

A few examples are: calling your doctor to schedule your annual exam, paying a couple of the bills that just arrived in the mail, setting aside 5-minutes for meditation, making a SuperShake, going for a 5-minute walk. Or, of course, something more specific to your actual goal.

5-minute Actions can literally be anything that makes you feel like you have achieved something positive and, guess what else… they add up big time! 

Once again, ask yourself, what are some of those things that you could do? Just by doing these little things regularly, you will get really positive momentum going. Even the slightest momentum is all you need to get started. 

I hope this nudges you to action, if you need it! I wish you the best as I double down on my goals for the year!

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Feeding the Family: Plant Based Eating

People become plant based eaters for a lot of different reasons. I experimented it with it myself a number of years ago, and actually ate completely vegan for probably about a year and a half. There are many reasons people do this, some people may be concerned about health and longevity, there may be religious reasons, or they may just love animals.

Some people are maybe focused on the environment and making sure that our food sources are sustainable. Other people may just not like the taste of meat or the idea of where that comes from. For me, it was a health and longevity question that I wanted to experiment with.

People also have different definitions of what plant based eating means to them. For some people, that just means that ⅔ of their plates are plants, and there may be a little bit of animal protein on their plate. For other people it means they're vegetarian, or strictly vegan. Some only eat dairy, or only eat chicken, or only eat shellfish. You can really define it for whatever fits for you. But to me, the main point is that we're really focused on getting a lot of vegetables.

I encourage you, if you're interested, to try this out to do some experiments with yourself, and see how you feel and how you react. Just be careful and don't have too many rules or restrictions, just really switch the focus to getting lots of really good foods into your body and into your system.

As far as what to include in the diet, I would encourage making sure that you include beans and legumes because they're both good sources of protein. Be careful with these, there’s a lot of fiber in them and that could cause some intestinal distress. You may also want to look at higher protein whole grains like quinoa. A good rule of thumb as you're starting is try to limit soy products as much as possible. Again, focus your base on the plants and the beans and only have soy products in moderation.

You may also want to consider some supplementation. A good start would just be a good multivitamin, there are also algae based omega three fatty acids that you can use instead of fish based products. You can also purchase plant based protein powders, they have a different flavor than the milk based ones but I think they are palatable.

If you’re looking at experimenting for a longer period of time, you may want to get some blood testing done.

If you're a strength athlete, I recommend supplementing with three to five grams of creatine each day. You may also want to consider taurine and beta alanine, as these are useful for people who are 100% plant based athletes. Lastly, if you're getting into this and you're really sticking with it for a period of time, you want to just keep your eyes open for any hormonal disruptions that could affect your energy balance. For example, if you're eating a lot of processed soy, this can affect your thyroid and sex hormones. The same thing can actually happen if you're eating a lot of cruciferous vegetables. So kale, cauliflower, broccoli, things like those can also affect your hormonal health and even your nutritional nutrient status. All that fiber binds to fat based substances like steroid hormones, and then pulls them out of the body with that fiber when you go to the bathroom.

Another thing to keep an eye on with this kind of diet is undereating. Keep an eye on calorie intake and make sure your calorie intake is appropriate for your body size and your activity level. The other thing is, if you end up getting into some processed foods, or eating a lot of like nuts and nut butters for your protein source, then you may find you’re overeating. You want to keep an eye on those things.

You know, when I started eating a vegan diet I did enjoy it and I did feel good.

For me, what I found over time was it required a whole different skill set in the kitchen to prepare food. Preparing food when I was vegan was extremely time consuming, labor intensive, and expensive if the meals were going to be appetizing. After a certain period of time, my schedule just wouldn’t allow this amount of food preparation time.

When this happened I began going to the store and picking up convenience foods that were labeled vegan, but were extremely processed and filled with things I didn’t need. At this time 7-8 years ago, pre-cooked healthier items became more available such as pre cooked chicken breast, so the convenience foods I was eating to stay vegan were less healthy than the animal based products available.  So it dawned on me that I was actually starting to eat less healthfully than if I would just have a chicken breast. That's when I migrated back to, a more moderate style traditionally balanced diet.

The key when experimenting with these diets is to know what you are getting into and plan accordingly, stick to healthy options and keep your health in check.

Since you’re here: We have a small favor to ask! At SAPT, we are committed to sharing quality information that is both entertaining and compelling to help build better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage us authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics.

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Conditioning for Team Sports: Conditioning & Energy Systems

The next thing is we need to discuss with conditioning is making it specific to the energy systems used during the athlete’s sport.  The energy systems that our body is using while we're sitting down and watching TV are very different than the energy system that it's using when we go for a light 30 minute jog, which are different than the energy system that we use when we are sprinting, which are different from what’s happening on the court during a game.

Basketball athletes typically push hard for 15, maybe even 30 seconds at a time. Then they get rest periods where they are still moving (often quickly) but NOT at max speed.This is similar to soccer, where you sprint for short bursts of five seconds, and then half the field jogs and walks. While the fast action goes on elsewhere on the field. And then they sprint again. And then they get a nice recovery period where they’re jogging or walking. Lacrosse is in that same boat, all of these sports use very similar energy systems.

Using giant traffic cones adds to the drama of any drill.

Now, one of the things that you can talk about is the energy system requirements of different positions in soccer in particular, where there are differences that should be accounted for. But let's just talk more generally right now. And say, if we can look at real heart rate data, or even just get a stopwatch out and time these sprint versus walking periods. I have never seen soccer players max effort sprint and change direction for 60 seconds over and over and over again. Nothing resembling the 300m shuttle test for example happens during these sports. It just doesn't happen. For more information on this idea please see our previous blog post on misconception about conditioning.

The closer test would be the one where you sprint then full field, jog to recover, and then do it again. That's a good midfielders test. We have to understand that, to be the best that we can be at the sport, we can't be going way outside the realm of what the sport actually requires. Now there is a cross training period that we can do in the offseason. But even then, you're not going to be going to these extremes and just asking the body to do these ridiculous things.

We have to look at what's happening in the game, which are these small bursts of dynamic movements. The athletes are all over the place, they're in different planes of motion, they're not running straight forward the entire time, they're changing direction like crazy.  We have to look at the work time period for these small bursts of dynamic movements and the active rest between them.

This is where the concept of active recovery comes into play. The next article in this series explain how this type of conditioning can be accomplished but for now, try to make the conditioning match up with what the sports asks of the athletes.

Since you’re here: We have a small favor to ask! At SAPT, we are committed to sharing quality information that is both entertaining and compelling to help build better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage us authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics.

Thank you! SAPT

Coaching Advice: Trust Your Gut

This post is really for strength coaches, those already working in the field and those working towards their degrees and gaining experience. One thing I want you to remember is, trust your gut. There have been many times in my career where I felt like I was being questioned or told what to do by those who weren’t in the position to make those calls. However, they felt like it was their role to tell me how to fulfill mine.

I just want to encourage you, if you're a strength coach, even if you're new, open your eyes, observe what’s going on around you, and if something looks off, speak up in an appropriate way. You don’t want to be constantly challenging people, that’s usually just annoying and disrespectful. However, it will be valuable for you to speak up, voice your observations and voice your opinions. I say this because after probably fifteen years of experience, I’ve realized our eyes are about the most important thing for what we do.

Watch practices, watch how the players move their feet, their hips, how they turn. Watch every little detail of how they move. After thousands and thousands of hours of images logged into your brain, it is shocking what you are able to notice.

If something doesn’t look right to you, after all the data in your brain about movement patterns, you should speak up. There will be many times where someone will disagree with what you have to say, and that’s alright. Take their opinions and information and try to make sense of it. Do some research and really give their opinion an unbiased look to see if it works out. If it truly doesn’t make sense, move on and continue with what you are doing.

I think the tides are changing in the strength and conditioning field, I think strength coaches are beginning to be viewed as extremely knowledgeable and a foundational component to any performance program. They are the experts on performance, not the medical staff. The medical staff are sometimes the people that believe they know better than you, but in truth have no idea what they are doing when it comes to the nuts and bolts of a safe, effective, and up-to-date performance program.

Trust your gut, performance is your profession, not theirs. They don’t have the eyes you do, they haven’t seen the things that you have seen. They would most likely never be able to notice a correct movement pattern from a faulty one at full speed. Stay in your lane, but make sure others stay in theirs as well.

Since you’re here: We have a small favor to ask! At SAPT, we are committed to sharing quality information that is both entertaining and compelling to help build better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage us authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics.

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Feeding the Family: Fluid Intake Recommendations

Hydration is extremely important for humans and animals to stay alive and have all of our biological processes be executed as precisely and efficiently as they are capable of. So today’s post is going to be on some tips and guidelines for proper hydration year round.

First of all, we need to talk about the fact that there is a variance in how thirsty we feel depending on many different factors. The weather, how much salt we are consuming, whether we have trained, or whether we are drinking alcohol all play a role in how thirsty we feel. And just because we don’t feel thirsty doesn’t necessarily mean that our bodies aren’t losing fluids, there is a lag time between the fluid loss and our bodies’ registration of the thirst signal to our brains. For many of us in climate controlled environments most of the day excessive dehydration isn’t a huge concern, but for athletes and people working outside in hot climates, it is a major risk that needs to be discussed. These dehydration problems can get serious very quickly.

So, how much should you be drinking? Well, it definitely depends on your size and your activity level, but there is a starting point we can use as a rule of thumb. Most adults need around three liters(L) of water, which for everyone using the english system is a little less than 1 gallon of water. It doesn't have to be just straight water, other fluids count as fluid intake. Some fluids like sodas and alcohol aren’t very valuable to your system, so I typically don’t count them toward fluid intake, but most other things can be included. I know that sounds like a heck of a lot of water to get down for an average sized person!

Just know that you may get a whole liter of fluids from the food that you eat, taking it down to 2L a day, something that sounds much more manageable. If you’re a larger person, you will still need to be closer to that gallon mark. If you're sick, and especially if you're losing fluid through vomiting or diarrhea, your fluid and electrolyte intake will need to be increased. If it's warm and dry, you may need another few cups of water a day. And if you're exercising a whole heck of a lot you could potentially need up to like six liters of fluid per day, so there are clearly a lot of factors to keep in mind when looking at hydration! If you’re going to begin drinking 3L of water per day, and this is interrupting your life because your going to the bathroom so much, you may want to reduce your fluid intake until you adapt to the higher amount.

Again, just because you're in a comfortable environment does not mean that you're not losing fluid. Everything passes through our skin as it is the main medium between our internal bodies and the external environment. There's a lot of heat and water that gets lost just through your skin.

By no means is keeping up with hydration easy, I know I have trouble with it!. Most of us are in a mild state of dehydration at all times. To keep up with this, I have a water bottle with me at all times, because if I don’t have constant access I will not get enough fluids in. Personally, I like to have a water bottle that is a full liter in size, because I have to fill it up less and will naturally get more water in.

Percentage of body weight is the main measure we look at for the consequences of water loss.. With ½%, there is increased strain on the heart, with 1%, we see a reduction in aerobic endurance. This is why you see athletes in endurance sports are always on top of their hydration levels. At 3% we see reduced muscular endurance while at 4% we see reduced muscular strength, a reduction in motor skills, and heat cramps. At 5% heat exhaustion begins with cramping, fatigue, reduced mental capacity and at 6% we see physical exhaustion, heat stroke, and coma. Once an individual hits 10 to 20% they are probably going to face death. So we want to make sure we're keeping fluids in at all times. Very regular consumption. Most people shouldn’t have an issue with this.

It’s easy to monitor percentage of body weight lost due to exercise: simply weigh yourself before a training session and then again after the session. Those two numbers will tell you how well you are hydrating during the training session.

Now, I mentioned before, there's often a lag between becoming mildly dehydrated and your body's signal to let you know you're actually thirsty. So we tend to not even notice thirst until we've lost 1 to 2% of our body water. As I just mentioned, at this point it is already having some negative effects on our performance. So just as a reminder, this is increased strain on the heart and reduce the aerobic endurance. And beyond that, we start to get into some pretty unpleasant things. Other side effects that can happen outside of just performance implications include headache, fatigue, low blood pressure, dizziness, fainting, nausea, and even rapid heart rate.

The goal here is to simple: always make sure if you're working out in the heat or, your job requires you to be in an extreme environment of some kind (hey, this includes athletes!) that you always have access to fluids and be sure that you're rehydrating regularly. If we do that, then we should be all set and stay out of trouble.

Since you’re here: We have a small favor to ask! At SAPT, we are committed to sharing quality information that is both entertaining and compelling to help build better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage us authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics.

Thank you! SAPT