Starting Strength training 2

Now you have some ideas of what you need to achieve, lets look at how you fit that into your existing schedule. When is a good time to start- I normally say Today, but if you have a competition on Saturday, I wouldn’t recommend doing something new. Instead, look at when you have got a couple of week break from competing seriously, and look to start then.

This start may only be as part of a warm up, it may be technical work, or it can be part of a cool down. I wouldn’t recommend full sessions because you will suffer as a result. This where I use the CHUNKS system of Coaching. If I have an athlete for an hour of Coaching I will use the time to show them four different ten minute chunks of exercises. These chunks can be incorporated together as a gym session, or separated into daily 10 minute chunks that will not intrude into time or fatigue the athlete too much. This is important in gaining the athlete’s confidence and allowing them to get used to strength training without disrupting their sport training schedule.

However, some athletes are so de-conditioned that any amount of structured exercise will leave them stiff the next day.

I was looking at some synchronised swimmers weekly schedule at the weekend, they do 2 hour S&C sessions- I would love to see the intensity of that, followed by 4 hours in the pool. I have a feeling that there would be a lot of low level volume work involved. I also get the feeling that the S&C coach may be trying to justify their time. I have seen the same with a Netball player who has been given a lot of work to do, but there is very little quality involved.

That brings me back to the chunks, each one of these chunks must have a specific purpose to help the athlete and preferably get the most amount of benefit for the least amount of time.