Coach's Crib-Sheet to Fall Sports

5 considerations for training and recovery

Jul 28, 2024

In the United States, the Fall High School sports season 🏈🏐⚽️ is upon us. That means you are probably too busy to read anything longer than a tweet.

Here is a crib-sheet of 5⃣ considerations for training and recovery to keep your athletes healthy, fit and performing optimally (given they execute the technical and tactical aspects of the game).

#1 🚫 No Hell Week

I know that some coaches want to send a message to the team or build mental toughness, but Hell Week will set you back. A study of 15 young military soldiers showed that a “hell week” significantly reduced body weight and muscle mass as well as leg press and vertical jump. Moreso, lower body strength and jump performance were still depressed after 2 weeks. There is also a good chance of increased risk of injury and illness.

#2 📊 Weekly Undulating Training Schedule (Microcycle)

Quite simply, keep the easy days easy and the hard days hard. And remember, not every day should be a hard (high physical intensity; high heart rate) day. This will quickly lead to cumulative fatigue and probably injury and poor performance. This will take planning. Start from game day and work backwards but also consider the full schedule. I always start from the end of the season - the state championship - and work my way back to the beginning of the season. Consider all aspects of the training load imposed on the athlete - e.g. practices, strength training sessions, etc.

#3 🏋️ In-season Strength & Conditioning: The Longest Uninterrupted Training Block of the Year

One thing that has puzzled me for quite some time is why is it that young athletes (or namely, the coaches) strength train in the summer, and then it gets abandoned in-season? Coaches will push for their kids to attend summer workouts, yet dismiss in-season training. And perhaps I should clarify here. I’m mainly referring to strength training.

“We don’t have enough time" is not a good excuse. It does not need to be 45-60 min sessions. A basic program can be used 2x per week in-season and take 15-30 minutes to complete. It should also be considered that some of this could be done on-court/field as well.

The key factor to any strength and conditioning program is CONSISTENCY!! You realized the gains in the off-season when there was consistency in the application of the training stress. And if the consistency is not continued…well, the detraining response happens. Quite simply, use it or lose it!

#4 🏃‍♂️Conditioning as part of warm up/practice/drills

Conditioning does not (and should not) mean “on the line, we’re running!” during the season. Instead, coaches can creatively and efficiently bake conditioning into the warm-up and technical-tactical practice session.

An up-tempo warm-up can be performed or the last part of a RAMP warm-up can serve to run sprints, plyometrics and/or change-of-direction drills. Furthermore, the tempo of practice can dictate conditioning or the addition of a sprint following a technical drill can also add to the conditioning plan.

Be creative. Be efficient. But also consider the daily and weekly training load (see #2).

#5 🔋 Rest & Recovery

Remember that there are two sides to the training equation – the practice / training session and recovery. Growth = Stress + Rest.

The key to recovery is mastering the cornerstones – sound nutrition and sleep! Going into the details of both of these topics is beyond the scope of this blog, but in the meantime here are a couple key points.

1) shop and eat foods from the perimeter of the grocery store (fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, whole grains, diary, and no packaged or processed foods)

2) 7-9 hours of sleep per day including naps if needed. Ya ya, I know …. good luck with teenagers …. educate and stress recovery. Growth = Stress + Rest.