This article was provided by Training and Conditioning

There are many weightlifting options for coaches who are helping an athlete develop strength and power. But one piece of equipment that is often overlooked could be the best tool for the job—the dumbbell. There are a plethora of advantages that come with using the dumbbell, including core strength, building sport specific movements, and even safely re-entering the weight room after injury.

This versatility allows coaches to choose exercises that are easier on injured athletes. As Hedrick explains, both arms do not need to be utilized when using dumbbells, as opposed to a barbell. This means that even if an athlete has a shoulder or other arm injury, they do not need to completely discontinue their weight room workouts. They can simply work on their uninjured side. And the same type of thinking can be applied to lower-body injuries.

“Similarly, a lower-body injury would prevent athletes from performing Olympic lifts with a barbell,” writes Hedrick. “However, by using just one dumbbell, stabilizing the body by holding onto something stable with the opposite hand, and lifting the injured leg off the floor, athletes can adapt the Olympic lifts to accommodate one leg.”

Being able to utilize one dumbbell at a time is also useful for helping new athletes learn sport specific movements, while also helping veteran athletes to strengthen them. Hedrick explains that with dumbbells, you can utilize exercises with alternating movements or single-arm movements, helping to teach and strengthen sport specific activities, such as spiking a volleyball, throwing a baseball, or swinging a racket.

With so many different types of exercises available for athletes, it can be difficult to know where to start and how to progress when it comes to dumbbell weight. In an article for Livestrong, trainer Mike Samuels states that using heavy weights too soon can cause poor form, which can then lead to injury. But knowing which weights to use depends a lot on the type of exercise an athlete is doing and the level of training they have already achieved.

No matter the type of exercise, Samuels suggests athletes start off at a weight with which they are able to do at least 15 perfect repetitions without too much strain. From here, athletes should move up in increments of no more than 5 pounds for each subsequent workout. While increasing weight, it is important to keep an eye on the athlete’s form. If form begins to fail, chances are that the athlete is using a weight that is too heavy. If this happens, they should move back down to the previous weight until they have built up enough strength to move up without losing form.

For athletes that have already been integrating dumbbells into their workouts, Samuels explains increasing weight can be harder, but that it can be done through cyclical progression.

“Most intermediate trainees will follow a linear microcycle, which could be three sets of 12 reps for four weeks, three sets of 10 with a slightly heavier weight in weeks five to eight and four sets of eight with a heavier weight again in weeks nine to 12,” he writes. “You would then go back to week one, but use a heavier weight [than the] first time round. This means you’ll be increasing your dumbbell strength every 12 weeks.”

In an article for Muscle & Strength, Eric Bach, CSCS, describes multiple dumbbell exercises and the benefits that they offer to the athlete. Here are two of those exercises:

Dumbbell Farmers Walk

The Farmer’s Walk improves both power and safety as it reinforces stability to the core. This will help decrease the chances of flexing your spine when doing other exercises, and increase your power when taking off in a sprint during game time.

1. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your arms at your sides and palms facing in.
2. Stand as tall as possible with your shoulders retracted and slightly shrugged.
3. Walk slowly forward. With each step, the heel of the moving foot should line up with the toe of the stationary foot.
4. Continue standing tall throughout the movement. Do not allow your body to sway or move laterally.

Watch this video from Bach Performance to see the Farmer’s Walk in motion.

Dumbbell Push Press

The Push Press uses the athlete’s ability to move the weight as fast as possible. This utilizes more muscle fibers and stimulates muscle growth, helping increase upper body power.

1. Hold the dumbbells at shoulder height.
2. In a quick motion, dip into a quarter squat and immediately push upwards so your arms are straight and the weights are above your head.
3. Lock the weights overhead, then lower them back to your shoulders.

To see the Push Press in motion, check out this video from Bach Performance.

This article was provided by Coaches Network

By Rich Zawack

All the work done pre-season on strength, speed, and power take a back seat once the season starts. But should they?

Physiologically, an athlete will begin to loose strength and power in about three weeks if these aspects of training are neglected.

Sports like soccer, football, and volleyball have long seasons. You really can’t train for a peak performance as you do in track, swimming, or cross-country.

What usually happens is speed, strength, and power get neglected or ignored. In six to eight weeks, all of the pre-season work is lost.

It shouldn’t be this way, but this is typically what happens.

I was asked many times why my guys looked so fast in our first playoff game. We seemed to have really quick teams even after 10 games. This made a difference in our playoff performance.

Many people thought we got faster as the season progressed. The truth is, we just didn’t get slower.

We ran an in-season maintenance program that paid off for us late in the year. We always thought in terms of high aspirations and we planned appropriately.

That meant we lifted two days a week—we chose two core lifts and two supplemental lifts. We rotated them and did them religiously.

Early regular season lifting days emphasized longer, lighter sets and reps. As the season progressed we worked toward a peak—going through a strength, then a power phase.

It was basic and it took 45 minutes to an hour.

We emphasized short rest intervals with lower weights. We sacrificed extremely heavy lifting for conditioning. Short rests were helpful to our conditioning process.

We did one thing that is probably different from many coaches. We did our lifts before practice because the efficacy is much higher.

Coaches concerns are strategic and skill centered but the truth is the better athlete wins the game. Most times, what determines whether a game is won or lost has to do with who gets there first with the most power. Speed and strength determine winners and losers.

Working out before practice allows the athlete to have a full gas tank. That is, his or her ATP has not been depleted. You can’t lift effectively if you are energy deficient.

Power wins games. It has been proven that spending two days a week emphasizing strength to power development is going to make the difference on many occasions.

Maintaining speed and strength could make a big difference in the outcome of your season.

This article was provided by Training and Conditioning

John Shackleton, MS, SCCC, has been the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the men’s and women’s basketball teams at Villanova University since 2012. In that span, both squads have secured five straight postseason berths, and the men won the NCAA Division I national championship in 2016. Shackleton can be reached at: john.shackleton@villanova.edu.

My professional mission statement hangs in my office on the wall above my computer. It reads: “Provide Villanova University basketball with a dynamic training system that embodies multiple methods of training, which aim to reduce the risk of injury and prepare each athlete physically and mentally for the game of basketball.” Not only does this sentence define my ultimate goal as the performance coach for Villanova men’s basketball, it also affords me a clear vision when deciding on strength and conditioning strategies.

This mission is important to have during the competitive season. Strength and conditioning during this period is always a delicate balance of complementing players’ physical development without detracting from their ability to compete on the court. Because of this, I divide our in-season training program into three phases—comprised of the preseason, regular season, and postseason—and cater each one accordingly. Both our athletes and coaches trust that our weightroom work will never jeopardize performance during games, so they’ve bought into the program wholeheartedly.

By staying true to our mission, we’ve seen results where it counts—on the court. Over the past four seasons, Villanova has won more games than any basketball program in America and earned four consecutive Big East Conference regular season titles, along with two tournament titles. The squad has made the NCAA Division I Tournament each year, winning the national championship in 2016. It’s a privilege to know that we’ve struck the right balance with our in-season training to help the team reach these heights.

SETTING A STANDARD

The foundation of our training during the season is built on high expectations—both for the players and myself. I expect the athletes to buy into two core values: bringing an honest effort at all times and using great technique. These are the two most important variables of our strength and conditioning work because they highlight how we train, which is what maximizes results.

That being said, if I demand athletes always bring their A-game, they should hold me to the same standard. Every day, I am all-in on the Villanova men’s basketball program and will do whatever is in the athletes’ best interest to make them better.

However, a major challenge I face is staying grounded to my core values while implementing new strategies to increase athletes’ overall performance. Sport performance coaches today need to have a filter to sift through the copious amounts of information that come out. Whenever I come across a trend or tool for the first time, I assess it with two questions: 1) Is it practical? and 2) Does it fit our culture? If the answer is no to either question, I immediately scrap the idea and move on.

Using this filter, I’ve developed an in-season training approach that’s holistic and collaborative. It can be described as dynamic in nature, meaning it’s just one element of a system that’s never stagnant, and I constantly meet with coaches throughout the year to refine the development of our athletes. As a result, the specifics of the in-season training regimen may change, but the basic framework—splitting it into three phases and balancing strength and conditioning with on-court performance—remains the same.

PHASE ONE

With our mission laid out, we’ve covered how we establish our culture and how we make decisions regarding the team’s in-season training. We put these decisions in action starting with Phase 1, which is a four-week preseason block that begins the first week of October.

With the implementation of Polar Team Pro player tracking technology over the last few years, we discovered that our team traditionally registered its highest training loads during the month of October due to the frequency of practices and demands of strength and conditioning work. Having this data enables us to now plan workouts strategically to avoid such high loads.

We have found that the players respond best to training twice per week during Phase 1. On these strength and conditioning days, the athletes work out in the morning and then practice six to eight hours later in the afternoon. Scheduling our training sessions separate from practice provides transient performance benefits as a result of the nervous system being primed. This ultimately leads to more resilient and highly conditioned athletes once the competitive slate begins.

Weightroom sessions during Phase 1 are limited to 45 minutes. Each one starts with a 15-minute dynamic flexibility and activation warm-up that targets the posterior chain musculature; mobility and stability of the ankles, knees, hips, and shoulders; and static and dynamic core stabilization.

The strength portion of our training sessions lasts 30 minutes and is performed in a circuit to keep the work rate and intensity high. Tempo is a focal point in our lifting because we want to constantly increase players’ work capacity ceilings to reflect the intense, physical, and fast-paced way we play.

For this reason, many of our Phase 1 movements follow a rep tempo prescription. This means that exercises on athletes’ workout sheets are often accompanied by a series of four numbers or letters. For example, a sequence we commonly use is 3:2:X:1. The first number (3) is the time in seconds it should take to complete the eccentric muscle contraction of a lift. The second number (2) is the amount of time to pause in the stretched or lengthened position. Next, the third number or letter (X means no time, explode as quick as possible) describes how long it should take to complete the concentric muscle contraction. Finally, the last number (1) is the amount of time to pause in the contracted or shortened position. So one rep using the 3:2:X:1 prescription should take six seconds.

When it comes to exercise selection during Phase 1, we perform two blocks of three exercises each on both days. Block 1 always incorporates the complex training method, which involves executing an exercise under a heavy load and then performing a similar movement under a lighter load as explosively as possible. We utilize the complex training method to target high threshold motor units and their corresponding fast-twitch muscle fibers in order to enhance explosive power in our athletes.

Although a three- to five-minute rest is recommended following the first set in complex training to fully exploit the benefits of post-activation potentiation, our players perform the second movement immediately afterward. We do this because basketball players must become accustomed to performing in a fatigued state. After all, they can’t take breaks in between plays during games to recover their explosiveness.

Our complex training in Block 1 for Day 1 includes our max effort bilateral lower-body movements. These consist of the barbell box squat, safety bar box squat, pit shark belt squat, and trap bar dead lift. In Block 1 for Day 2, we do our max effort upper-body horizontal or vertical pushing movements, such as the bench press, incline bench press, or strict press. The athletes’ current state of physical development dictates what specific exercises are used. The explosive exercises paired with the max effort movements are performed using bodyweight (box jump variations), with band resistance (Vertimax), or with medicine balls (vertical and horizontal throw variations).

Regarding loads for the max effort movements, our upperclassmen typically stay in the 75 to 85 percent range of their one-repetition maximum. Our younger players perform sets of five reps and ramp up the weight in each set until they begin to strain.

Following the complex training sets, the third Block 1 exercise is a vertical pull on Day 1 and a horizontal pull on Day 2. We often perform pull-ups on Day 1 after the athletes’ backs have been compressed under heavy loads because this exercise is one of the best for overall upper-body strength development and posterior shoulder health. Horizontal pulls are incorporated on Day 2 to target balanced muscular strength of the posterior chain. Basketball players need to have strong upper backs because force is transferred from the ground up through their back to their hands during play. If there is a weak link in this force-transfer chain, performance will suffer.

Block 2 on both days consists of exercises from the following categories: vertical push, horizontal push, horizontal pull, posterior chain, posterior shoulder, and unilateral lower body. We spread these movements out to keep the program balanced. For example, if we do a vertical push on Day 1, we will do a horizontal push on Day 2. However, we hit each movement at least once a week to ensure our athletes are attaining balanced total-body muscular strength. Repetitions are typically in the strength-endurance range of six to 12 to accumulate the time under tension necessary for hypertrophy adaptations. (See “Preseason Push” below for a sample workout from Phase 1.)

Besides our two mandatory lifting days in Phase 1, some of our athletes perform a voluntary third day of training. Typically, these players want to improve their conditioning, body composition, mobility/flexibility, or strength. The third workout is designed specifically for each individual athlete, and it usually entails some form of low-impact aerobic conditioning, hot yoga, active isolated stretching, or strength training.

PHASES TWO & THREE

After Phase 1, we shift into Phase 2 and then Phase 3. Phase 2 begins in early November with the start of the regular season and continues until our postseason conference tournament gets underway in early March. Phase 3 picks up from there and lasts through the end of the season. Our training program for Phases 2 and 3 will be discussed together, since we use a similar strength workout in both—although it’s performed twice a week during Phase 2 and once a week in Phase 3.

A major challenge faced during both phases is maintaining the right balance of work and recovery so our athletes are ready to play our brand of basketball when they step on the court. During Phase 2, we typically play two games per week, and we bring the team in for what we call a “flush day” the day after each game. The objective of our flush days is to optimize our team’s active and passive recovery by getting the blood circulating throughout the body.

Flush days start on the basketball court with a 10-minute dynamic warm-up, followed by 20 minutes of rhythmic jump shooting. We monitor our players with Polar Team Pro technology to make sure their heart rates stay in the aerobic zone (60 to 70 percent of max heart rate) to facilitate the recovery process. Next, the team heads to the weightroom for a 30-minute total-body strength training session. The athletes finish the day with 20 minutes of contrast bath therapy for passive recovery.

Once we get to Phase 3, we no longer utilize flush days, but we continue with the same strength training routine used in Phase 2. This usually takes place for 30 minutes once a week before practice.

The strength sessions utilized during Phase 2 and Phase 3 are carefully designed to mitigate the wear and tear on players. To accomplish this without jeopardizing the integrity of our core values (effort and technique), I put athletes through time under tension total-body workouts, in which I time all of the players’ sets with a stopwatch. Each exercise is given a rep tempo, and each set has a predetermined duration. For example, if a push-up rep tempo is 4:0:X:1, a rep should take five seconds. If a set lasts 30 seconds, athletes should be able to complete six reps per set. It might not sound like much, but the athletes are usually fatigued by the end of every set.

This approach mitigates wear and tear because the players don’t move heavy loads, and all movements are controlled and executed with full range of motion. This strategy also holds the players accountable for the effort they give because they must work until the time for each set is up.

The time under tension workouts for Phases 2 and 3 are grouped into four-week blocks. Each regimen contains four pairs of exercises executed as supersets with no rest in between sets. I intentionally use basic movements for these lifts that our players can execute with great technique. This keeps the training sessions safe and effective and allows our players to remain structurally strong and lean. We’ll pair a horizontal push and pull, vertical push and pull, bilateral lower body and posterior chain, and unilateral lower body and core anti-extension in every workout, and we mix up the exercises every four weeks to make sure the athletes don’t get used to the program.

To progressively overload our players over each four-week block, we increase the time allotted per set weekly by five seconds. For instance, we start with 30-second sets in week one of the first block and end at 45-second sets in week four. Loads generally increase from week to week, as well.

As with exercise selection, we also increase the time per set every four weeks to make sure athletes don’t acclimate to the program. So we start with 35-second sets in week one of the second four-week block and build up over the next three weeks to 50-second sets. (See “On the Clock” below for a sample time under tension workout.)

Whether it’s the first day of practice or the week before the national championship game, our athletes demonstrate the highest work ethic during in-season training, and they are all-in when it comes to our core values. I am blessed to be coaching athletes of the highest caliber, and the support I get from our head coach, assistant coaches, and performance staff is critical to my effectiveness. These factors push me to improve and keep the Villanova men’s basketball team performing at its best.

Sidebar:

PRESEASON PUSH

Below is a sample Phase 1 workout for Villanova University men’s basketball.

DAY 1: LOWER-BODY EMPHASIS

Dynamic Warm-up/Activation (30 seconds each)

Jumping jacks

High knee pulls

Deep squats

Good mornings

Single-leg Romanian dead lift

Forward lunge with trunk rotation

Reverse lunge with high reach

Lateral squats with anterior reach

Deep lunge, elbow to instep, T-spine rotation

Glute bridge

Core Circuit

Cable anti-rotation press: 3×8 reps each side

Sorinex rollouts: 3×10

Side bridge: 3×30 seconds each side

Block 1

1A. Box squat (barbell): 2 to 3 warm-up sets of 5 reps, 3×5 at 80% of 1RM

Rep tempo: 3:2:X:1

1B. Vertimax band-resisted jumps: 3×5 (stick the landing each rep)

Rep tempo: Explosive as possible

1C. Pull-ups (fat bar, neutral grip): x30 (full range of motion with no cheating)

Rep tempo: 3:1:X:2

Block 2

2A. Glute-ham raise: 3×8

Rep tempo: 3:1:X:2

2B. Incline dumbbell bench press: 3×12, 10, 8

Rep tempo: 4:0:X:1

2C. TRX body rows (feet on box): 3×10

Rep tempo: 3:0:X:2

Sidebar 2:

ON THE CLOCK

Here is an example of a time under tension workout from in-season Phases 2 and 3 for the Villanova University men’s basketball team.

Progression

Week 1: 3×30 seconds each

Week 2: 3×35 seconds each

Week 3: 3×40 seconds each

Week 4: 4×45 seconds each

1A. Hammer strength incline press (neutral grip)
1B. TRX body row (supinated grip)

2A. Seated dumbbell shoulder press
2B. Lat pulldown (fat bar, neutral grip)

3A. Landmine squats
3B. Stability ball leg curl

4A. Alternating lateral box step-ups (hold kettlebells or dumbbells)
4B. Slide board body saw

This article was provided by Training and Conditioning

In the last article, we looked at building your summer strength and conditioning program. Now we are about halfway finished with the summer and it is time to assess where your athletes’ current training status is, where you want your athletes to be, how are you going to evaluate their current training status at the end of the summer, and where you want them to be before the season starts.

In this new meso-cycle four-week program, it should be designed to maximize power for volleyball, football, and those sports that require power; work on power / metabolic training for soccer; and building endurance for the cross country team. The goal of a periodized program is to develop strength the athlete can use. To accomplish this, the coach needs to change the sets, repetitions, and exercises to maximize the athletes’ time in the weight room.

To increase an athlete’s power, the coach needs to design a program that “increases the rate of force development” or “how fast they can move”. Lifting heavy weights slow will not transfer to a fast powerful athlete. In fact, it can even make the athlete slower and will interfere with the athletes’ performance.

Research shows that to develop multi-effort power (i.e., 3 to 5 repetitions) the athlete should use 75-85% of their one repetition maximum for 3-5 sets of 3-5 repetitions (1). The athlete is working on speed-strength, which means the bar is moving fast, about 1 – 1.3 m/s or roughly 1 repetition per second in a bench or 1 repetition per 1.3 sec in a squat. Dr. Bryan Mann (2) has written about velocity based training in this blog. Remember, your athlete will not have a one time all out maximum effort during a play. Most of the time it will be two or three hits, pushes, or jumps during the play so our training needs to utilize the same energy system and speed strength patterns.

The lifting program is set. Next, the coach will want to look at the athlete’s conditioning level. By developing a conditioning program, the coach will ensure that athlete the is not over-trained or undertrained, yet will be able to meet the demands of the sport.

It is important to know which energy system is being utilized during the game play. An average play in American high school football lasts from 5 to 7 seconds with about 40 seconds of rest between them. Why have athletes running for 40 and 50 yard sprints when the play does not last that long? In volleyball the average rally last about 4-6 seconds with about 11 to 16 seconds rest. In soccer there is a change of play about every 5-6 seconds. This means that the coach wants to train the first two energy systems or the APT- PT and the Lactic Acid system which runs for approximately .6 seconds to 2 minutes.

To work the ATP- PC system or the Lactic Acid system the coach will write out how far to run for and how long the athlete needs to rest. The work to rest ratio is critical. Some coaches feel that if the athlete is not continuously moving it is a waste of time and practice. This is far from the truth. The rest period is critical for development. The body grows when it is sleeping and recovery can help relieve the stress.

Here is an example of work to rest progression for different sports:

FOOTBALL conditioning

WEEKS 1-2: 30 yards 4×4:30 seconds between reps, 1:10 between sets

(run 30 yds, rest :30 run 30yds, rest ; 30, run 30yds, rest :30, run 30yds REST 1:10 Repeat for 3 more times)

WEEKS 3-4: 20 yards 4×4:30 seconds between reps, 1:00 between sets

(run 20 yds, rest :30 run 20yds, rest ; 30, run 20yds, rest :30, run 20yds REST 1:10 Repeat for 3 more times)

WEEKS 5: 15 yards 4×4:25 seconds between reps, 1:00 between sets

(Repeat for 3 more times)

SOCCER conditioning

3 laps around track run straights jog the curve

5 laps around track run straights jog the curve

7 laps around track run straights jog the curve

VOLLEYBALL / GIRLS BB / SOFTBALL conditioning:

shuffle 10 yds x 5 then run up and backpedal 10 yards 5 times

1) Essentials of Strength and Conditioning second edition p414

2) Bryan Mann Talks Velocity Based Training https://www.elitefts.com/news/bryan-mann-talks-velocity-based-training/