Friday, December 18, 2009

Conditioning--When and How?



Now that football season is coming to an end, many kids are looking to get stronger and faster for next season. There are a lot of things that going into preparing kids for the next season and conditioning is one of those things that is usually not done right. I am sure a lot of you have seen on youtube people pushing the prowler until they puke or have heard of some of the ridiculous conditioning test that some athletes have to perform. Every team has their own way to do things, I just don't agree with most of them. Here is a few key points that you must know to maximize the athletes training.

1. Don't start conditioning to EARLY in the offseason. This is a crucial mistake that I see a lot of coaches make. Give the kids time to heal up after season and give them time to get strong and fast. I will wait until 6 weeks out from their season. This is all you need to get into shape. More than that you are over doing it.

2. Don't make their speed work turn into conditioning. Many coaches fall for this one, they think by running them into the ground until they can't move anymore will make them faster. You have to treat speed drills like max effort work in the gym. You need to make sure they get full RECOVERY before starting the next rep. Speed is speed and conditioning is a whole other beast. Treat it that way and you will see incredible gains.

3. You have to PROGRAM their conditioning like you do their weight lifting. There has to be a rhyme and reason to what you are doing. Start off light and with long rest and than gradually increase weight or reps and decrease rest as their conditioning progresses. Have a goal that you want them to make and that should be accomplished at the end of their conditioning cycle.

4. BUILD their conditioning from the end to the beginning. This kind of goes with number three but when designing their programs start with the last day and have that be their test day and build the program all the way back to the first day.

5. Make the conditioning SPECIFIC to their sport. This means that football players should not be running miles for conditioning. The max football play last around six seconds and have a rest in between plays of 25 to 30 seconds. This should be the basis of their conditioning.

There is a lot more that goes into conditioning but if you follow these five steps in programing offseason conditioning and your athletes will excel at their sports because they will be able to outlast the opponent, because that is where the game is won in the fourth quarter or the last inning or the last mile.




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