As our seasons wind down, I’ve had some thoughts on in-season training that I would like to share:

• In-season training might be the most important time to train – sure the off-season is critical in preparation and improving, but the in-season is crucial to keeping athletes healthy and iron out imbalances that may develop throughout a competitive season
• In-season training should be about strength development – not maintenance.  I heard Mike Boyle say something that really stuck: “if your max was 100, why would you want to maintain that over 5-6 months?” The goal should be to improve strength – this may be harder for your older athletes, but the goal is to be the strongest towards the end of the season, not the beginning.
• In-season training does not require lots of volume.  15-30 minute sessions is plenty of time to get quality work in.  Focus on the basics and lift heavy.
• With basketball this year, we lifted every day before practice for 20 minutes.  We do 3 strength movements (lower, push, pull) and a mobility or core movement after a warm-up.  This resulted in some good strength gains over the course of the season.  Also got our athletes feeling great for practice – potentiation
• Read Easy Strength by Dan John and Pavel.  This book outlines some great strategies and loading protocols that work in-season…I plan on doing a write-up on Dan John soon as well…he’s got some great products
• Some athletes may need extra work in-season….athletes not getting enough playing time, not dressing for games, etc.  Don’t treat everybody the same.  Some athletes will need extra conditioning, extra plyometric or speed work, extra strength training.  Just be smart about volume and the modes you use for conditioning.
• Along the last line, hockey athletes may need to ride the bike in-season as I wouldn’t stress their adductors more with slideboard work, and if they haven’t run recently, running may cause them soreness.  For basketball athletes, extra pounding with running may not help to improve cardiovascular fitness…try biking, slideboarding or sled dragging.
• Begin with the end in mind and start backward when designing your in-season program.  You have to know where you are going to decide on how to get there.
• Be ready to adjust and be flexible with your plan.  Things come up in-season such as extra film sessions, more time with practice and coaches – the goal is to improve on your sport in-season and training should augment that not compete with it.  Understand that if somebody needs to spend more time on their shot, or skating, or free-throws then you may have to adjust your plan accordingly.
• Ask your athletes how they are feeling.  If you aren’t fortunate enough to own an omegawave or other tracking information that gives you an idea of your athletes physiological state then you have to ask questions into how they are feeling, how are they recovering, what’s sore, what’s your mood like, etc.  This gives you an idea on how to adjust, tweak and make the program fit the athlete.

I’m sure I’m missing out on some other tips, but these are the ones that come to my mind.  Check out this in-season training post I put up last year for more information on my in-season training philosophy.

B