How do I schedule S&C in a season?
To finish this series off, Coach Tim will look at the S&C scheduling or programming throughout the season, the art of putting it all together. He has already mentioned the critical training principles such as overload, progression and specificity. So what are the important components in strength & conditioning?
If you are looking for precision, we must measure what we do. Generally, volume tends to be the main one, along with intensity organised through the sets and reps system, which works well most of the time. However, when looking at the conditioning exercises, these are probably better measured in time. For example, how long can you hold the isometric exercise, the ‘plank’, or how many press-ups can you din in a given time.
While in the traditional gym environment, using the load lifted to measure both volume and intensity. A little more complex method would be to use the percentage of 1RM (one repetition maximum lift) method. Not generally used by endurance athletes or triathletes, and the reason for this is most of the exercises used would be to develop control and a good range of movement.
To ensure we can monitor the training, you must record what you have done. The main concern with this is if you just recorded the amount lifted times the reps and sets, this may look like the last few months S&C would look the same for intensity. This is where you add in the timed components for bodyweight exercises, a great way to monitor if you are getting stronger more stable?
The number of sessions you should train in a week is another contentious conversation. This will ultimately come down to how many hours a week you have available to train while balancing the other three disciplines. We have already discussed this previously. If you can manage two sessions a week, one based on strength 30-45mins and a conditioning session 20-30mins. A conditioning session, a small routine that can be performed at home or even better combined with another session, is an excellent way of ensuring you can maximise your time. Exercises combined with a couple of Kettlebells, your body or a couple of bands is more than enough to be specific for you. These can easily be bolted onto the start or end of a swim, bike or run session to save time.
When looking at programming, it comes to what is needed for you, specifically as the athlete. Functional training is relative, and what’s functional to one athlete is not necessarily required for another. You need to focus on what is necessary for you to get more stable, stronger and to control and produce forces. The ability to stiffen the body and turn that strength into something which works for you is critical for any athlete.
This is where screening or benchmark tests come in, such as ‘Overhead Dowel Squat’. The squat is a fantastic exercise where you can identify so many different area’s of tightness, over-compensation. The ‘Bunkie Test’ (De Witt B, Venter RE) consists of five trunk-bridging tasks to assess static muscle function and length, postural alignment, and spine stability.
Understanding how your training sessions will create the changes you are looking for to enable you to perform is critical. The better you understand your body, even at a fundamental level, the better you’re going to be when it comes to adjusting and changing your training program to keep you aligned to your goals.
Even a basic understanding of how to plan and perform your training programmes will lead to different changes in your movement patterns, your fitness and, of course, your performance.
You should have specific goals to stress both structural and the correct energy system within your program. You then need to recover effectively to allow the adaptations to take place due to the demands you are placing on your body. Then, this is the important one and one I’ve written about before: sleep. It’s so important to get sufficient sleep to allow the body to repair and will enable the tissue adaptations to take place. The nervous system consolidates all the information and movement patterns you have challenged throughout the day to perform them better next time when called upon.
Lastly, Strength and Conditioning is not just for athletes looking to increase performance and reduce injury. I would encourage everybody to enjoy the exciting exercises and programmes to have a better, fully functional, with a full range of movement leading to a more fulfilling life.
Qualified as a coach in 2010, in 2014 began coaching with a local Triathlon Club, in 2018 completed BTF level 3 coaching course. Now he is still enjoying the training but now concentrating on the coaching. Tim takes a lot of time over his professional development and then aims to share this knowledge, helping and supporting athletes achieve the best they can be.
Since joining Tri Training Harder Tim has worked hard in helping mentoring other coaches and run training camps abroad.
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