CONSIDERATIONS FOR MAINTAINING IN-SEASON STRENGTH AND POWER
TRAVIS BROWN, MS, CSCS,*D
T
here are several key components in maintaining an athlete’s
strength and power throughout the long season, regardless
of sport. In addition, there are several factors that affect
fluctuations in strength and power throughout a season that can
make maintenance of these levels difficult. Many would agree that
nutrition, hydration, sleep, and training are important components.
This article will focus on considerations for maintaining strength
and power during the season for explosive ground-based sports in
regards to training and the utilizing certain training tools.
EFFICIENT WORKOUTS
During the season in all levels of sports, from high school, college,
amateur to professional, time is of the essence. The coaches and
athletes only have a small amount of time to prepare for their next
opponent. The ability to get more done in less time is extremely
valuable. Workout efficiency is something that the performance
coach should focus on during in-season workouts. The coach
should focus on movement patterns that are optimal in regards to
how the body moves on the field for the specific sport. Workouts
should focus on horizontal, vertical, and diagonal vector lines
working in the frontal, sagittal, and transverse planes. Everything
should be done on their feet, using the entire body to perform
a task. Getting the athletes in and out quickly, while efficiently
building strength in a short period of time is vital to maintaining
in-season strength and power.
SIMPLE VERSATILE TOOLS
Traveling is another source of wear and tear on the athlete over
the course of the season. Many athletes suffer from the countless
days of traveling on the road and having limited training options.
Finding tools that can be packed easily and transported to and
from various locations in other locations will help save time for set
up and provide a shorter breaking down time than if a wide range
of implements were brought. Suspension trainers, anchored landbased apparatuses, harnesses, and resistance bands with various
attachments can all be transported fairly easily and provide
numerous options for training in all planes of motion with bilateral
and unilateral loads while limiting time spent on setting up and
tearing down. This type of training can closely resemble the
athletic movements seen on the field of play and help to maintain
strength and power while traveling during the season.
to incorporate sport-specific movements to maintain strength.
One example might be using a harness that allows freedom of
movement in all directions, while pulling a load attached to the
harness. This would allow the coach to train strength and power
using movements that may resemble the movements on the field
more closely. All athletes have a different build and gait, so the
use of a harness allows for freedom of movement in all directions
while providing a load that can be manipulated easily. For the
example of using a harness, the focus should not be so much on
speed of movement; the focus should be more on having a heavy
enough load that requires the athlete to apply force into the
ground to move/drag it. This encourages power development that
can carry over directly to the field and potentially help improve
performance while helping to maintain strength and power during
the long season.
In summary, adding these types of tools and focus to an in-season
training program may benefit the athletes by providing them
with quick, efficient workouts, with versatile tools that offer many
options that may carry over directly to the field of play.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Travis Brown has led a career as a strength and conditioning coach
for over 14 years in Atlanta, GA and at the University of Tennessee,
Knoxville. He currently works for Pinnacle Athletics, which is a
sports performance company that trains professional, college,
and high school athletes. He has trained, or played next to, over
120 National Football League (NFL) starters, including dozens
of Pro Bowlers and first round NFL draft picks. Throughout his
career, he has trained a number of athletes ranging from youth to
elite professionals, which include several Major League Baseball
(MLB) players, National Basketball Association (NBA) players, and
two Olympic Medalists. Brown is currently working towards his
PurMotion Master Trainer certification and is a Certified Strength
and Conditioning Specialist® with Distinction (CSCS,*D®) through
the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
LOADED LOCOMOTION EXERCISES
Many athletes experience a mid-season feeling of a stiff body and
some may even be nursing a muscle strain or similar injury. The
last thing these athletes may want to do during the season and
towards the end of the season is go into the weight room when
they are still expected to perform on game day. The traditional
weight room workouts often focus on sagittal plane movements,
like the squat, bench press, and traditional Olympic-style lifts.
Even though these lifts are good for building strength, these
traditional lifts may not be specific to how the athletes move
on the field (with some exceptions). Rather than focus on these
traditional lifts for in-season workouts, it may be more effective
28
NSCA COACH 1.4 | NSCA.COM