15 Lessons on Physical Preparation – Installment 1
With the recent release of Mike Robertson’s DVD set, Physical Preparation 101, Cressey Sports Performance coach Tim Geromini and I put our heads together to highlight some of the key takeaways from this great new resource. We’ll highlight seven today, and eight more in the next installment.
1. Be specific and clear with your clients.
This may seem obvious, but it’s a huge point to hammer home. If you can’t communicate your message clearly to your client, they aren’t as likely to have success. Two of the things we like most about the Mike’s R7 approach is it gives you, the coach, a great template to work from and it gives the clients a specific goal in mind. When you create a clear and specific goal for your clients, it’s much easier for them to buy in.
2. You need to be able to 100% justify everything you put in your programs.
When you write a program, there should be a reason for every exercise you put in. Not only does it hold you accountable as a coach, but its much easier for your clients to buy in when you have a specific reason for each exercise they’re doing. If you can’t justify it, you have no business putting it in their program.
3. When you’re in the gym, you want to be in a sympathetic state. When you’re out of the gym you want to be in a parasympathetic state.
Everything in your program should be geared towards balance. Recovery outside the gym means your clients are prepared to perform inside the gym. One of the best things to hear as a coach is a client telling you how much better they feel not only for their sport, but life in general. That could be a parent saying they have more energy to play with their kids or an athlete feeling healthy for the first time in years. Whether you choose to use positional breathing drills or foam rolling, training sessions aren’t complete unless there is some form of recovery before they leave.
4. Strength helps you in everything you do.
If you want to get faster, strength will help you. If you want to get more powerful, strength will help you. If you want to lose body fat, strength will help you. One of the main things we hear as strength and conditioning coaches is, “I want to get faster and be more explosive.” While plyometric drills certainly have their place in programs (and we use them quite a bit at CSP), often, the client needs to gain strength first before they are able to express that speed and power.
5. There is value in low intensity work and high intensity work.
Low intensity work gets a bad rap and is usually thought of as just distance running. Producing energy for longer periods of time and keeping your heart rate in a set spot gives you a larger/stronger aerobic base from which you can build a foundation to produce an anaerobic performance. Prowler pushes, sleds marches, ropes, kettlebells, and a host of other modalities can work if implemented properly.
6. The goal at the end of a training session should be to kickstart the recovery process.
To piggyback on point 3, the return to a parasympathetic state allows your body and mind to recover for not only your next session, but your daily life. If you never recovered from your last training session, why do you think your next one will be as good? An appropriate recovery protocol takes 2-3 minutes at most. At CSP, we’ll often incorporate some low-key mobility drills, positional breathing, and foam rolling.
7. Be smarter with how you progress energy system development.
You wouldn’t load up a lift at 90% on day one if someone doesn’t have much of a training history, but everybody seems to do that with conditioning. Sure, it’s the sexy thing to have somebody gassed on day one, but that doesn’t necessarily set them up for success going forward. 40% is enough to yield gains with regards to strength training and the same holds to true for developing their aerobic base. Start on the lower end and build up.
If you’re interested in learning more, Physical Preparation 101 is a 12-DVD set geared towards strength coaches and personal trainers. Mike Robertson has been a trusted friend and colleague for over a decade, and I can guarantee you that you’ll learn a lot from checking out his stuff.