Regardless of the type of program you choose to initiate, I would suggest taking into account each of the following:

Safety

You owe it to the young people entrusted to your care and guidance to offer the safest training methods available. While every phase of athletics involves a certain amount of risk, there is no need to include training methods that are inherently dangerous. This requires a little homework on your part, so read as much information as possible.

Total Participation

Strength development is important for all team members, not just for a chosen few or for those who enjoy the activity. If for no other reason, the fact that strength training can be a deterrent to injury should make it the rule rather than the exception.

Coaching and Supervision

Regardless of the type of program you plan to implement, make certain to provide the athletes with constant supervision. The entire coaching staff should be well versed on the practical application of the program and be capable of providing hands on assistance during training sessions. You will achieve better results and garner enthusiasm for your program if you approach it with the same organization and effort as you would a practice situation.

Frequency of Workouts

Research and practical applications indicate that three non-consecutive days during the off- season and two non-consecutive days during the in-season will achieve excellent results. These sessions should be total body workouts placing emphasis on the major muscle groups with exercises that provide the greatest amount of stimulation and range of motion.

A common mistake made by many coaches is the abandonment of the strength program during the in-season period. If strength training is completely eliminated during the season, the resulting decrease in strength levels may negatively affect performance and be a factor in an increased injury as the season progresses.

Comprehensive Training

Some strength programs revolve around three to five "core" lifts and what are sometimes termed "auxiliary" exercises. This terminology sends a message to the participants indicating the core exercises are "important" and the auxiliary exercises are "not so important." In my opinion, there is no "Big 3" or "Big 5" program that can adequately prepare an athlete for the rigors of athletic competition. While this type of training may very well result in an increased skill level for the lifts being used, the athlete will not achieve balanced development in all of the antagonist and antagonist structures in the muscular system. This imbalance can predispose the athlete to serious muscle and connective tissue injuries.

As a general rule of thumb, a three day a week (non-consecutive) strength training regimen would include exercises for the following structures each day:

• Quadriceps
• Hamstrings
• Gluteus
• Lower Back,
• Chest
• Upper Back
• Shoulders
• Biceps
• Triceps
• Abdominals

The following areas should be exercised on two of the three days:

• Neck
• Calves
• Anterior Tibialis
• Ankles
• Obliques
• Forearms.

Adhering to this comprehensive approach will assure balanced development and better prepare the athlete for the physical stresses of competition.

Sets and Reps

While there is as much controversy surrounding this segment of strength training as there is concerning the Shroud of Turin, I have the following suggestions:

1. Sets should be limited (generally 1-3), but the intensity should require an all out effort.

2. Six to ten reps should be the guide numbers for the upper body musculature, and eight to twelve should be the guide numbers for the lower body musculature.

3. Rather than performing more sets, the emphasis should be placed on the amount of work within the set. It would require a lengthy discussion here, but suffice it to say that the intensity of a set is much more important than the quality of sets performed.

We have had a great deal of success with pre-exhaustion training. This is very intense, literally brutal way to train, and I would recommend it only to athletes who have been training intensely for a few months. Pre-exhaustion involves the fatiguing of a particular structure with an isolation, or single-joint movement (i.e. leg extension), followed immediately with a compound movement (i.e. leg press), again, taking the movement to a point where another repetition is not possible. We would not train the same area more than once a week in this fashion to allow for recovery.

Accountability

Effective strength training involves overload and progression, which must be recorded. The double progression method, which involves working with a certain weight until you can achieve 2-3 reps over the guide number before adding weight, is an effective and practical approach to overload. All workouts should be charted.

The above guidelines for strength training program organization merely represent a general overview of considerations for the coach who is all-inclusive. Other factors such as time limitations, space, equipment, age of the participants, speed of movement, etc., are some other important considerations which will be discussed in future articles.