Why Plan Your Training?
For athletes of any level, planning a well-designed program can set them up for steady improvement over time. The key to any program is to have clearly defined goals. These goals will set the foundation for the program and training. For example, the goals for an Olympic gymnast will be different than those of an NFL linemen.
Where to Start
First, set your goals. Do you want to increase speed? Improve flexibility? Power? As mentioned above, goals will give you an end point to focus your program toward. Next, create a framework to plug your goals into. The National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) uses a model called OPT. OPT focuses on the stress put on the body for a desired specific change. While exercises will vary greatly from sport-to-sport, OPT is flexible as a framework to accommodate those variables.
Training Seasons
Once the desired outcome has been determined, the next step is called Periodization – the planned progression over time. This starts with an annual plan; organizing the program over a one year period. Next, the annual plan will be broken into monthly & weekly plans and will show the greatest variance between different sports.
For the most part, training phases revolve around a sports’ competitive season. In these cases, it is important to minimize training exertion to reduce the chance of injury and decreased competitive performance. However, off-season training can be far more strenuous to maximize potential improvement before competition resumes. For example, training Power in the winter would be reasonable for baseball but potentially detrimental to basketball.
OPT Model In Practice
As noted above, the OPT model is broken into steps based on their intensity. First is stabilization. Stabilization is important to maintain posture, correct muscle imbalances, prevent overload, and is performed at low intensity. Each training cycle will have some form of stabilization to prevent overload and allow recovery time.
Next is strength. Strength adaptations focus on increasing muscle size, load the muscle can handle, as well as managing the load throughout a full range of motion. However, it is important to note that max strength vs strength endurance can be altered depending on need.
Finally, there’s power. Power trains muscle to use its’ strength faster and is often described as “explosiveness.” As a result, this portion of OPT is extremely strenuous and is trained for short periods at a time; often only 2-4 weeks before returning to stabilization. In a sense, power is stabilization & strength but completed at a realistic, competitive speed.
Rest Periods
Rest is the hero of any well-designed training program. It allows tissue healing, maintains energy, and lowers the likelihood of injury. Without it, tissue can not adapt and will fail. Even in professional sports, whose schedules were thrown into chaos due to COVID-19, lack of rest has been pushed front-and-center. In the MLB alone, injury rates doubled compared to pre-COVID levels. This has been the case across all sports including the NFL, NBA, Premiere League Soccer, and professional tennis. For a complete breakdown & explanation, click here.
