Strength Report: Football Specific Conditioning, Part II

E very head coach desires to have traction. While performing speed training, to sprinting because unnecessary tension mechanics can be improved solely by run- team speed; that is, players that in the body will restrict the speed of limb movements. can run fast at every position on the field. Heavy squats are used to increase ning at faster speeds. The knees will lift It is a common understanding that higher and a desirable forefoot strike oc- force output; power cleans are used to in- curs as the brain knows it will be painful to musculoskeletal injuries are a concern in crease power output; medicine ball throws strike the ground with the heel with great the sport of football, especially in train- and plyometrics are used to increase force. With the reinforcement of proper ing camp. Hamstrings seem to be one of the rate at which the muscle contracts. mechanics from coaching, stride length will the more common musculoskeletal injuries All of these exercises have shown to be increase and ground contact time will be experienced in training camp. One cause beneficial for speed development. Track diminished. When proper mechanics are of hamstring strains is faulty running me- and field sprint coaches are referred to reinforced while running at high speeds, chanics; when the foot strikes the ground as speed gurus, because they are known the firing mechanics are ingrained into the out in front of the center of mass of the for developing maximum speed in their muscle, leading to reflexive mechanics body, creating a pulling back action with athletes. They perform all the exercises while in competition. great stress on the hamstring. Enough mentioned above, but they also sprint at Even with tempo conditioning, proper ground contacts in this fashion will cause maximum speed for numerous repetitions, running mechanics are performed in high the hamstring to eventually give out. Pro- first and foremost. volume, allowing for further reinforcement ficiency in running mechanics, a forefoot The muscle contraction that takes and reflexivity of mechanics in competi- strike underneath the center of mass of place in sprinting can only be trained by tion. The submaximal nature of tempo the body, will reduce the risk of hamstring sprinting, while other exercises can only runs allows for the athlete to focus on re- strains due to the hamstring being less supplement aspects of the muscle con- laxation while he is running, a vital aspect tensed upon ground contact.

Another form of injury prevention is the actual exposure to sprint- The training load is a grand total of everything the athlete ing throughout the off-season. It has been established that the only is doing that day, week, month, and includes practices, com- way to mimic the intensity of sprinting is sprinting. Often off-season petitions, weight training sessions, meetings, rehabilitation/ training programs solely rely on exercises in the weight room to treatments, academics, and the activities included in social strengthen the hamstring as a means of injury prevention. When the life. Sport coaches often forget to consider weight training athlete then goes into spring practice or training camp, the muscle sessions, rehabilitation, academics, etc., regarding the train- action of the hamstring during sprinting hasn’t been replicated, re- ing load they are prescribing to their athletes. This will always sulting in a poor conditioning level that increases the risk of injury. bring the possibility for disaster, as a large training load with- A sound conditioning program will progress the athlete in a step out enough recovery will lead to overtraining and injury. by step process that prepares him to thrive day by day throughout Managing the training load is absolutely necessary in re- training camp and the entirety of the season. gards to successful athletic development and the prevention Here is an example of the conditioning program in a 4 day train- of injury. Taking all physical and mental stimuli into account, ing week. The exercises are split into the type of training day (high/ the training load can be controlled through prescribing the low intensity and stimulus), position groups (Bigs, Mid Skill, Skill), appropriate intensities and volumes of technical and tactical and movement categories (linear, linear-change of direction, etc.) training, physical training, and recovery protocols. As strength The high intensity-low intensity structure of off-season training pro- coaches, the amount of technical and tactical training is out grams, more specifically conditioning programs, provides a benefi- of our hands, and usually controlled by the head football cial process for the development of athletic ability as it allows for the coach. During those periods of the year where technical and proper doses of training stimulus and recovery. The training load is tactical training are present in larger doses, i.e. spring ball one aspect in sport that is very often overlooked. and in-season, the physical preparation is managed to the extent of facilitating an effective training load

When physical stress is applied to an athlete through either technical and tactical training or physical training, the body ulti- mately begins to break down. The extent of damage to the body is dependent on the intensity and volume of the physical stress, as well as the time it will take to recover from the stress. If there is sufficient recovery, the body will anticipate another similar stress in the near future and over-compensate to a higher level than before the initial stress occurred. This process can continue for weeks to months as long as a well-planned training program with a progressive overload of stress in administered. About the Authors: This phenomenon is known as supercompensation, and is fundamental to the high intensity-low intensity training structure. Gary Uribe joined the San Jose State staff in February, With supercompensation in mind, a coach can effectively develop 2013 as the Head Athletics Performance Coach. He has athletes throughout the off-season, pre-season, and even in- also coached at USC, Sacramento State, New Mexico season if the competition schedule allows for it. It goes to show State, UCLA, and Auburn. Michael Nicolini joined the that technical and tactical training and physical training should Spartans staff in June, 2013, having previously coached not be prioritized higher than a sufficient amount of recovery, as at the University of Redlands. Greg Segrove recently training and recovery are equally important in developing athletes joined the staff and holds both a bachelor’s and mas- and ultimately improving their abilities on a consistent basis. ter’s degree from San Jose State