I want to share one of my favorite quotes applying to the sports training process. It comes from Thomas Kurz and his book the Science of Sports Training.
“Training is efficient if the highest sports result is achieved with the least expense of time and energy.”
I think this is one of the most important concepts that any coach, strength and conditioning professional, or sports coach can adhere to. Watch any football practice that is about to start up at NCAA schools all over the nation and ask yourself if they’re following this philosophy. How many times do we see a coach do something only because that’s how they did it or that’s how it’s always been done? I actually think this philosophy is one of the dumbest things I see in sports. If there isn’t any purpose for something being included in a training session or practice, why waste a kid’s energy doing it? I've actually been told before by coaches to run athletes during practices so the coaches will have more time to work with someone else. It was a “make up a run for them so we can buy some more time” technique. This type of attitude and misunderstanding of the sports’ training process is part of the problem in athletics today.
When programming an athlete's training, everything in the plan should have a reason and a purpose with the end result being an increase in the sport. The sports’ training process isn't about random exercises performed throughout a week with little thought about the endpoint. Saving the body's energy by eliminating excess training becomes paramount for the adaptation process to occur.
One reason Charlie Francis, famed sprint coach, loved the Olympic lifts was because of the high amounts of motor unit activation. Instead of spending an hour or more in the weight room after a sprint training session with exercise after exercise, Charlie felt his athletes could hit the majority of the motor units within the body with a few Olympic movements and get out quick. This way the majority of the time was devoted to adapting his athletes to their speed sessions with the weight room serving as an accessory to the ultimate goal of being faster. He didn't want to impede results by fatiguing athletes even more in the weight room. Often times, they might only perform one or two exercises, depending on how their track session went. However, in the end, he believed in utilizing the least amount of volume that could produce the results he was after.
Hypothetically, if an athlete can achieve the same goal necessary with a 50 percent reduced workload, it’s a far more efficient route to take. Not doing so takes much more energy. We don't want this when that energy could’ve been used for the adaptation process. Gone should be the days of running ten 300-yard shuttles in a row or timed two miles because that’s what you did 15 years ago for “conditioning” and you haven’t thought of anything better.
Athletes adapt to a stimulus away from the training arena. When too much stress is created without enough time for recovery, the body can’t compensate and becomes further depressed. Over time, an athlete becomes overtrained and proper adaptation can’t take place. There are also delays in future adaptation. Recovery and restoration are just as important as the training means. Too often, athletes and coaches forget this important fact. It is simply the “more is better” attitude. More isn't always better, and in fact, in sports performance training, I generally say less is better. I would rather under train an athlete than overtrain one.
Many times, breakdowns occur when coaches and athletes are unable to properly ration training means, sports training, rest, recovery, and nutrition. Understanding why you’re doing what you’re doing is paramount. I've been ridiculed before for my approach to training athletes. I don't frequently use high volume because I believe the weight room acts only as a supplement to the sport. The energy one spends in the weight room takes away from the actual sport itself. Obviously if you’re an Olympic lifter or powerlifter, you’re exempt here.
Account for everything when programming an athlete’s training. Make sure that it will lead you in the direction you want to go in the most efficient manner with the least amount of time and energy expenditure. Know the whys, whats, and hows to creating an athlete’s training and it will give you a great chance to succeed.