Three components that impact athletic performance

I spoke about these three points in a recent instagram post but wanted to expand on them a little further.

Disclaimer: This is based on my experience, my expertise, and the general consensus of several bodies of athletic development coaches and trainers.

Lesson 1️⃣ Strength Training in-season:

You do not have to lift heavy all the time to maintain mass, be the fastest, or get an edge on the competition. For too long I lived in the gym all week long pumping out extra sets on top of a full time school schedule and practicing 2 hours a day. The added stress of lifting like I was in off-season actually slowed me down, reduced recovery ten fold, and dampened my gains. As many young athletes are, I always needed to be doing something so I quickly fell under the assumption that more = better. Which is far from the truth. Quality always outweighs quantity when it comes to athletic development and maintenance. Whereas I first thought along the lines of "squat and bench everyday to maintain mass" I should have been thinking "squat, bench, clean, and snatch several times a week at sub-maximal weights". Although now that is abundantly clear, It's certainly not a free floating thought in many athlete's minds. It wasn't until I received formal education in the field of strength and conditioning that I could truly come to understand and formulate the appropriate approach to in-season training. This is something I struggle to understand, that there is such a disparity amongst young athletes when it comes to common strength and conditioning practices. Social media in particular develops the ideas behind maxing out all the time as the go to method of training to be an athlete. Far too often the video of joe-blow freshman squatting a team record 600lbs is showcased over their senior starting QB who puts in hours of mobility, contrast training, and film study. The mindset of "grind out / max out / lift all, be all" has polluted our young athletes into believing that is what it takes to be a pro. Only for a very few to accomplish their goals and realize the truth at later stages of their career.

So how are you supposed to train?

Of course everyone is different but in general here is a blueprint of how to train in season.

Firstly, some considerations to make ahead of reading.

- Practice length, intensity, and focus.

- Equipment available: Gym, odd objects, personal gym etc.

- Time allotted / schedule / life factors: Personal, school, family & Friends

- S&C Coach? Have one? Do not have one? His/Her availability etc.

- Level / Year: Amateur vs. Pro / Freshman vs. Senior

If we look at our solution from a bear bone perspective you should aim to replace conventional off season lifting (5-7days/week hypertrophy-strength (high volume) training) with 2-3 gym sessions focusing on power output; olympic and strength lifts like the clean and jerk, snatch, high pulls, deadlifts etc. On top of focusing on maintaining / increasing force output (the most critical factor in nearly any and all sports), you want to incorporate at least 1-2 absolute strength sessions. This takes a few sets of singles at 75-90% 1RM where the approach is to move with high velocity and maintain the high contractile strength you developed over the off-season. Nothing more than 2-3 sets of 1-5 reps of near maximal loads in the squat / deadlift / bench / strict press are needed. Lastly, and this can be done on the same days, in practice or on "off-days", focus on completing at least two sprinting sessions a week, with the incorporation of plyometrics, and power movements. On top of all this try to implement a 10-30min mobility/stretching session at the end of each day. Manage it by forming a crude plan of what you are doing each day, from practice to gym session focus. Most of these can be clumped together to facilitate time constraints, as long as you tick off the boxes, it doesn't necessarily matter which order or how they are completed. It is a lot to handle and think about on top of all else you do but it pays ten fold in the end.

Example:

Monday:

7AM: Morning gym session (Force output & HIIT)

- Fuel:

Pre:

Banana w/ peanut Butter

16 0z water w/ electrolytes

During:

4-10oz water w/ electrolytes

Session:

warm-up: 5 minutes skipping

A) Box squat 5x3 @ 65-75-85-90% 1RM Rest 60-90s/set

B1) Bulgarian Split Squat 3x6/leg @ 75% 1RM

B2) Box jump 3x5 (Bodyweight)

Rest 60-90s/set

C) Hex-bar jumps 4x3 @75lbs Rest 45-60s/set

D1) Depth jump 4x4

D2) Broad Jump 4x1

Circuit: 30sec on : 10sec off x 10

- Med-ball slams x2

- Jump rope x2

- Burpees x2

- Sled push x2

- Box jumps x2

9 AM Breakfast:

- 3/4 cup plain oatmeal w/ Peanut butter + 1 scoop whey protein

- 2 eggs

- 2 slice turkey bacon

10-3PM: School

- History

- Mechanical physics

- Math 207

- Finance

- Intro to Biology

3:30pM - 5pm: Practice (Conditioning and offensive attack structure (low intensity w/ intermittent high intensity segments)

Pre fuel: Banana / apple w/ PB

Intra fuel: 16 oz water w/ electrolytes

Post fuel: 1:3 protein/carb shake

7PM: Supper

- 6-8 oz Chicken breast (no skin)

- 1 Large sweet potato

- Broccoli, onion, mushroom

- 2 Glasses of water

9PM: Shake

- Whey isolate or casein protein w/ 120z water

10:30PM Bed

Lesson 2️⃣: Eating for performance:

This has become an integral component of my coaching and my personal life. NUTRITION! More specifically, performance nutrition. What to feed your body, when, and why it is so important.

Just because you do a lot doesn’t mean you get to eat like an arsehole! Yes by all means while competing I needed to be eating a lot to maintain weight, but more of the good stuff rather than a ton of whatever I could stuff my face with. The importance proper nutrition plays in maintaining off-season gains and performance levels throughout the season is tremendous. Some folk are blessed with the ability to eat whatever whenever and still perform, but this is a very few outliers. For the rest it is imperative to develop a strong sense and understanding of what you are putting in your body.

3 crucial nutriton tips:

a) Hydration and carbohydrate consumption around activity.

I can guarantee that the majority of athletes do not consume enough water and electrolytes before, during, and after practice/lift/games. With high impact/intensity sports like hockey, football, soccer, and rugby among many others, the sheer volume of sweat excreted during practice/games can amount to upwards of 5 lbs of fluid loss. Leading many athletes into the primary stages of dehydration. When we see athletes begin to falter in the later portions of games we often equate it to general fatigue, where for the most part that could be bypassed with adequate intra-sport hydration.

General rule of thumb 4-6 ounces of water every 15-30minutes.

I mentioned carbohydrates and electrolytes. Though water plays a crucial facilitating role for nutrients, it only does such when those nutrients are available. When refuelling/rehydrating it is important to consume carbohydrate mixtures to facilitate adequate fuel transfer into the muscle cells, replenish energy stores, and maintain sodium balance. During exercise try to add in easy dissolving electrolytes like gatorade powder or any well documented electrolyte supplement. Post exercise aim to consume 10-16ounces of a protein carbohydrate mix 1:3 for optimal recovery and uptake of nutrients.

b) Eat to maintain, not to gain!

As mentioned above "Just because you do a lot doesn’t mean you get to eat like an arsehole!". Far too many athletes fall under the assumption that because I do so much, "I can eat whatever I want" or "because of all I have to eat as much as I can". For some this may be the case as their ability to turn food into fat is very low and thus consuming in a high surplus is necessary. However, this remains an uncommon occurrence among most athletes. The ideal approach is to figure out your maintenance calories and nail that number each and every day.

Maintenance calories: Calories burnt - Calories consumed = 0

or

A range of calories that keeps your bodyweight within 1/4-1/2 a pound over the week.

Example: 16 year old hockey player burns on average 3200 calories / day over the week.

He should aim to consume 3200 calories / day to maintain weight.

However, he notices that after 2 weeks he is up 2 pounds. In this case his body needs less calories, and thus he must eat below 32oo calories. Best way to find out the appropriate calories is to mess around. Try 2600 for a week, followed by 2750 depending on how week 1 went etc.

After 3 weeks of "experimentation" the player finds out that 2800 calories maintains his weight. For the duration of the season I would recommend nailing 2800 calories every day for this player.

Tip: Weigh yourself at least once a week and keep a log. This way you can track whether or not you are eating sufficiently.

You shouldn't be trying to put on size / weight during the season, it is far more difficult to place your body in the right conditions to gain/lose without hurting performance during season with all the outward pressures you place on it, so it is best to maintain.

c) Emphasize protein at every meal but DON'T slack on carbs.

For the most part we should all be comfortable with protein being an essential nutrient for growth and recovery. For competitive athletes, especially larger athletes in contact sports, maintaining muscle mass and speeding up recovery are crucial. If having a clean source of protein at every meal is emphasized, we can appropriately space out our protein consumption throughout the day and maximize both uptake of Essential Amino Acids (EAAs) and recovery.

Although it is well understood that the three macronutrients protein, carbs, and fats play a big role in recovery and muscle building, there still remains this discord surrounding the role carbohydrates play in sport nutrition. Carbs are very simply the primary fuel source of sport. If you want to play at the best of your abilities it is beyond crucial to consume clean carbs. Consume fruits, veggies, and complex carbs (whole wheat, oats, potatoes, and rice (jasmine / basmati) at every meal, accompanying a clean protein source is the best way to promote energy store replenishment and optimize sport performance.

Treat your body, if anything, better in season with nutrient dense clean foods. Helps inflammation, recovery, and nutrient replenishment after long tough sessions. Your body controls the outcome of your performance, so treat it like a billion dollar car; respect it, give it the right fuel, and make sure all parts are tuned up at all times.

Lesson 3️⃣ Alcohol kills performance!

When I was a competitive athlete in University, by the end of the season when I should have been in top shape was often when I was slipping. The result of having consumed far too much crap food and alcohol. If you have aspirations of staying injury free and playing either well into your older age or at the next level, scrap the beer and other consumable detriments. Alcohol is a poison that your body needs to break down. When consumed on an acute basis, say once a week, the body can manage the load and breakdown the poison without any major effects on body composition and performance. However, if the "poison" remains in the system or is present on a more regular basis 2-3+ times/week, as is the case for many college athletes, then over time the body can't breakdown the poison fast enough and the performance detriments pile on top of one another. Weight gain/dampened recovery/speed & power output decrease and so on. Best course of action is to mitigate the consumption of alcohol and drugs altogether.

You’ll have plenty more years to enjoy it. Believe me as someone who no longer drinks at all, the performance benefits are other worldly. It’s like being a teenager again!

Conclusion, train smart not hard, eat what's right for you to maintain, not gain or lose and do some experimenting to find what works best for you, and lastly enjoy company, competition, and being the best version of yourself without the need for drugs and alcohol, enjoy them later ;)

If only I knew this before! Well you do now so don’t make the same mistakes!

“Progression is built through consistency and tested by Passion”

Disclaimer 2: In no way do I condemn those who consume alcohol, as it is fine to consume in moderation and enjoy a pint with friends and family. But for those seeking athletic development to carry over into a potential career then certain things need to be snuffed out for optimal performance.