Since arriving in June 2013 at elitefts™ as the Director of Education, I have put an emphasizes on getting out of the office to conduct site visits around the region (and eventually the country) to gain some valuable insight from some of the top strength and conditioning coaches in the field. These coaches spend a great deal of time, and have unbelievable passion for preparing young athletes to achieve their goals. They are “in the trenches” working with teams around the clock and year-round. After visiting with these coaches, I usually send three follow up questions that I feel can help coaches, trainers, and athletes alike.
Anthony Donskov
Donskov Strength and Conditioning
Donskov Strength and Conditioning is one of the premier training facilities in the country. The biggest reason for this is its founder and head strength Coach, Anthony Donskov.
Donskov has established himself as one of the most knowledgeable and detail-oriented coaches in the industry. His passion for continuing to improve as a coach in order to enhance the performance of his athletes is rivaled only by his undeniable core values in which he runs his business.
From soft-tissue work and dynamic warm-up, to speed, power, and strength training, the athletes at Donskov’s are immersed into a system of producing results. There is a buy–in from the athletes and a collective culture of exceeding expectations from the coaches and interns. The following are a few follow up questions from my recent visit to Donskov Strength and Conditioning.
Mark Watts:
Anthony, can you go into detail about some of the challenges with training young athletes, especially young hockey players?
Anthony Donskov:
I really enjoy training this population. Youth athletes are a motivated group looking to move, feel and perform better in their respective sport. I view these “challenges” as an opportunity to grow as a coach. It doesn’t take a great coach to train professional and Olympic level athletes in the weight room (program design is a different issue). Snoopy could be in attendance and chances are these “auto-pilot” athletes would look technically proficient. However, it does take a well-versed, knowledgeable coach to teach motor literacy. Squatting, hinging, pressing, pulling, and carrying are fundamental patterns that must be mastered prior to adolescence if an athlete wants to excel athletically. The challenge a coach has is to provide adequate regressions and progressions to master essential movement patterns, in addition to, providing appropriate verbal cueing. This is both an art and a science. Another challenge a coach faces working with youth athletes is preaching the importance of “working in.” Non-direct stressors such as sleep, breathing patterns, diet, and hydration play a crucial role in adaptation and growth. Young athletes need to understand the importance of “working in” in order to balance the stress recovery sea saw and reap the rewards of their hard work in the weight room.
Mark Watts:
When we talked about periodization you went into your undulating 3-week wave for your athletes. You also discussed your core strength movements that you implement into your program. Can you elaborate on this?
Anthony Donskov:
Periodization is nothing more than a sensible, well thought out approach to the training process. I think we as coaches have a tendency to overcomplicate this. Young athletes don’t need advanced training means and methods to get strong. Our core lifts for large groups include the hang clean, trap bar deadlift, bench press, and rear foot elevated split squat (aka Bulgarian Split Squat). Our training blocks are three weeks in length and we undulate the training loads/intensity every two weeks to avoid desensitizing to the stimulus. Our plyometric (jump), speed, and core (anti-rotation, anti-extension) are all progressed through the duration of the twelve-week program. This is a raw overview of an Athletic Development Program at Donskov Strength and Conditioning.
Mark Watts:
Anthony, you are incorporating fairly extensive recovery strategies with your older athletes including everything from heart rate variability, diaphragmatic breathing, pre-workout questionnaires, and Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) on your workout sheets. Can you go into more detail on some of these aspects?
Anthony Donskov:
You can’t manage what you can’t measure! We prescribe mechanical, metabolic, and at times, psychological stress to our athletes. We need to know how much and what dose provides the right adaptation without overtaxing the system. My goal is to provide the least effective dose to produce gains in performance. By using HRV (Autonomic NS), vertical jump (CNS), stress questionnaires, and RPE, we can gain valuable information on the training readiness of the athlete. If HRV shows red, and VJ numbers are down (<90% of normal), we may take a foot off the gas pedal and reduce intensity, volume and/or both. I believe these are valuable biomarkers in the quest for finding a more accurate dose response.
BONUS QUESTION:
Mark Watts:
Probably the most important part of my visit was after your training session. Every single athlete came over and shook hands with all of your assistants and interns while thanking them for the session. Can you explain to me why you feel that is so important for young athletes today?
Anthony Donskov:
In training, the organism will adapt to its environment. The weight room is no different! Our environment as strength and conditioning coaches is profound and life altering! We have the ability to change lives, instill discipline, teamwork, and attention to detail! We expect a lot from our athletes and in turn, they expect a lot from us! We are a team and our environment reflects our principals, values, coaching style, and business. It’s important our athletes know that we have their best interest in mind, that we genuinely care, and that we want to see them excel. Our environment at DSC reflects this!
