Why I hide things from my Athletes???

I'm not talking about secrets or ulterior motives...

I'm talking about underlying principles of strength and conditioning.

I am a big fan of hidden reasons and hiding the true intention of training in workouts, mental toughness workouts, and "fun & games".

Here's why...

The majority of athletes couldn't tell you the difference between a rear foot elevated split squat and a Bulgarian split squat, and with that they couldn't tell you why we're doing a super set versus a straight set, what a cluster set is, or simply why it's 3 reps instead of 12 reps...

so giving the long winded speel about XYZ often falls on deaf ears. Granted, there is always an educational piece that is the responsibility of the coach and shouldbe exercises regularly.

So how do you get the most out of your athletes in trainings that are of particular monotony, boring concepts, and especially difficult?

You hide them in plain sight!

Let's first give a few examples and then reverse engineer each example to better understand how this makes for effective coaching and development.

Example A: Mental Toughness Wednesday

By now, virtually any athlete i've worked with has come to love and hate MTW.

MTW usually consists of a remorseless Josh dolling out countless field length bear crawls, walking overheard KB holds, a 1000 burpee broad jumps, and nightmare inducing hill sprints.

And for most it becomes a talking point once they graduate, or an associated shutter of fear for those once the snow melts....but for me it's my hidden gem for athletic development.

At face value, it is a prime opportunity early in the season and in the off-season to build trust and cooperation amongst team mates as teams change in numbers and faces. I think there is great benefit in developing the elusive qualtiy of mental toughness through shared struggles. But there exists an equally beneficial development of Human Force within these training sessions.

Let's reverse engineer it to better understand.

Human Force, let's keep it simple, is one's ability to understand how their body feels & moves in space. Something we inherently do ad nauseam (alot) when we are infants to pre-teens, but somehow lose once we mature and begin specializing in our respective sports.

Things like crawling, falling, jumping, hanging, climbing, and fighting (grappling/tumbling) are crucial qualities that lead to athleticism. Your ability to move through space in multi-directions is incredibly indicative of your ability to operate in the chaotic environment of sport.

This is the underlying principle associated with the gruelling MTW sessions.

Moving the body in "unconventional" primal ways to elicit enhancements in coordination, kinetic linking, proprioception and kinaesthetic awareness. All while adding overloading levels of volume to tax the body and force athletes to work beyond their comfort zones and means of operating.

The result is resilient minds, tissues, and movement capacity.

Hiding the intention is key because you can kill two birds with one stone.

Take away the notion that there is a purpose, and athletes just work, with the intended result being a byproduct of their work rate and commitment to that primary task.

Example B: Pac-man / Cops & robbers / Simon says

I love using "kids games" to train change of direction, hand eye coordination, and drive competition.

Nothing stimulates athletes more than competition.

And when you eliminate the element of "drills" and replace it with friendly competition, you get much more engagement, and a much greater output. The result is a stimulus more representative of the intended outcome.

Pac-man for athletes:

• Catch opponent

• Don't get caught

Pac-man: As a training method

• Gym floor lines constrains movements

• Inhibits speed

• Increases decision making

• Multidirectional COD

Afford your athletes the ability to improve by reducing the amount they need to think about what they're doing and just work.

Cops & robbers or British bulldog

For the athletes:

• Evade cops

• Catch the robbers

As a training method:

• Exposure to rapid accelerations and decelerations

• High volume COD

• Kinaesthetic awareness

• Decision making

• Visual, auditory, and tactile response to stimulus

Simon Says "cone grab game"

Athletes POV:

• Beat my opponent to the cones

Training outcomes:

• Auditory response

• Physical response

• Tactile response

• Hand eye coordination

• Kinaesthetic awareness

• Proprioception

• Cognition (decision making)

Example C: Low intensity intervals or "talking suicides"

When I worked for the Bishop's University Men's rugby team we would often run a day after game recovery sessions that included some make up cardio for low minute players and light aerobic work for those that played.

It would start with a low intensity dynamic warm-up

Into jogging suicides (5-10-15-20...all the way across the field)

Then some spurts of intensity at the end.

Into a cool-down stretch & mobility

I got a question one day about why I structured it this way and that "aren't we just accruing more fatigue...wouldn't doing it on bikes or the pool be better?"

My response.

Firstly, consider resources.

50 guys = not everyone gets a bike. Can split up? Yes, but transition time between plex and field = wasted time. We'd be out here for hours.

Secondly, consider demographic. 50 20-something year old rugby lads. In a pool? Goodluck getting anything done.

Thirdly, consider season length, general output, and low hanging fruit.

Season = 8 weeks.

General output = moderate

Low hanging fruit = aerobic output

Lastly, benefit of doing it together?

Togetherness, shared "struggle", and accountability.

So, to the athletes they think they're coming out and getting a cool-down recovery. Which in respect to that they were, given the positive impacts of low intensity aerobic movement on blood flow and recovery. But the hidden motive was added aerobic conditioning to bring up their general lack of fitness, doing something together, and avoiding them being complete sacs of potatoes.

These same principles can be applied to strength training.

Utilizing circuits, using velocity trackers, and or leader-boarding can add an element of competition that drives the athletes to maximize their outputs without having to worry about the why.

It is our responsibility as coaches to impact our athletes in the most beneficial way we know how. But with the presence of social media and free will of thousands of coaches to post whatever they want, our athletes, young ones especially, are at the influence of a lot of good info but more so a lot of junk info. Thus, they begin to form their own thought processes on how they think things should be done. Which is good in many ways, but detrimental in others. Without a strong understanding of how movements, training styles, and methodologies fit within a program, a sport, a demographic, a gym setting and countless other areas of consideration, an individual is only left astray with the info they are provided in a 6sec reel, and thus is our responsibility to guide them in the right direction and provide the necessary education as to why we do things. But in order to get the most out of athletes, drive specific adaptations, and most importantly implement a sense of fun, masking intended outcomes through MTW, fun & games, or even traditional strength training methods has been an accelerative form of development for the athletes I have worked with.

This is just the tip of the iceberg...

If you wish to tip it over and find out more, connect with me through socials!

JB

Why I hide things from my athletes?