The Apocalypse and What We Have To Do Next

Obviously, I am not the authority on this, but I have my opinion and I have the forum to express it on. Every strength coach in America is trying to figure out how we'll get our athletes back "on the wagon" once this clears up. We're all smart enough (hopefully) to know we can't make up for lost time. It's gone! We can't pack 2-3 months of training into 1 month (or whatever time we do end up getting). That is a surefire way to create some otherwise avoidable injuries. What's the solution? I think the solution is to prioritize what we have to do.

1. Overall conditioning - get them back in shape.
2. Build as much muscle as possible
3. If some strength comes from that, awesome!

The reality is, we probably don't need to "test" them at the end of whatever time we do get. There's absolutely no point. I will probably let them take a PR set on the Main Lifts in the final week, but the results won't really mean much, if anything at all. On the topic of numbers... How do we restart in the weight room? How much do we need to lower our Training Maxes/Maxes? Who knows? Anyone that tells you they "know" is full of shit. I'm thinking about a 10-15% drop in Training Maxes. Why? My number one goal is to get them back in shape. They have little to no work capacity so we can't overload them. We have to get some running under their belt. More than I would normally do. Something has to give and that will be the weight room. My tentative plan is 30 minutes on the field and 30-40 minutes in the weight room. Nothing fancy. Just some good old fashioned running (speed and agility work) and basic weight training. Obviously, you can't dive right back into speed work and sprinting so there will be at least a week of preparation to see exactly where they are and what they might be able to handle. We all know that they'll be excited to get back and will be more than stupid when it comes to that first week of lifting. They are going to be sore and debilitated and that will negatively affect the second week. To try and combat this the weight room will be very brief - almost in-season type workouts. I just want to get their feet wet and get them re-acclimated. Depending how things progress, the weight room may be all in-season as we get ready for camp. Again, I'm certainly not the authority, but this is where my head is now. Once we get an exact date I think the picture of what we have and what we NEED to get done will clear up. Until then, the ideas are flowing.