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Pre-Season Conditioning and Speed Training – The Good, The Bad, The Indifferent – Part II

by: Dale Baskett
Football Speed Specialist
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We’ve clearly established that you need to consider using the proper energy system that delivers the greatest return for your training investment. I will not argue the choice you make as stated in part one of this article that you should or shouldn’t condition. That’s your choice. However, if you do condition at all, you need to come up to speed by selecting the right system available for your time spent.

Anaerobic conditioning is the ability to perform at a rate faster than can be met by the incoming oxygen supply. It will put an athlete in a state of oxygen debt, which will be paid back later as he rests properly with the workload. Muscles require energy in order to contract, either slowly or fast. The contraction creates limb movement.

Rest - The Mysterious Transformation 

Rest is the key to enhancing anaerobic capacity due to the fact that it’s clearing lactic acid build up. Rest is a word that’s sometimes hard to comprehend in the world of football. It’s not revered nearly as much as is necessary. There’s reasoning scientifically that we’ve presented that provides a way to better results. If you will consider that less is more and more is less, then you’ll be on the path to playing fast for four quarters.

I commend Pete Carroll with the Seattle Sea-hawks for being an innovator when it comes to quality and not quantity training which is what anaerobic application is about. When the head coach at USC, he indicated at a coaching clinic that less is more. He’s not a follower, but an innovator, always looking for the best way to affect consistent and positive results.

Football gets high on exuding intense energy but let’s not forget that rest is paramount for balancing the metabolic ingredients required for quality performance. Exhaustion is often perceived as the way to get in shape. Hopefully, you now realize there’s different types of shape and that football shape is anaerobic because that’s the physical nature for playing the game. The anaerobic energy system must be trained by putting forth maximal intense energy, teamed together with proper rest recovery.

Gaging Rest to Secure Max Value
  
Your measure of development will be gaged by measuring recovery time, but how? To gage recovery I use a simple rule of thumb, taking pulse levels between efforts. The ideal rate should be at 120 BPM (beats per minute) after completing a conditioning rep. When the team stops at the end of a of a run phase, you merely have everyone put two fingers on the  jugular and instruct them to begin counting on a verbal command. You are timing them for six seconds, and whatever number they have at the end of six seconds, then add a zero to it. An example would be the number 13, which would be 130 beats per minute. A 120 is the  number we’re looking for.

If your players are out of anaerobic shape, it will take close to three minutes or a bit more to get to the 120 level. As you train each week you will find that a 1:00 to 1:15 seconds time of recovery will be the average, collectively. You’ll experience this level as their conditioning improves week to week.

You must use the pulse method for a few weeks until your recovery rate produces the correct numbers. Then you’re able to use the 1:00 to 1:15 as a constant factor.

Coaches try to put different workload to rest ratios in place but recover rate is not the same for each athlete when you have a large group. That’s why pulsing works best to be specific. The athletes who reach 120 BPM go to the front of the line and they fire off again on the next rep. The 130 to 140 athletes are still recovering while others proceed. But by the time it’s their turn, they’ll be at 120.

Once you’ve established the series you’re going to use and the recovery rates are working you can mix intensity demands with variable running styles. Examples are laterals runs, lineal sprints, varying decelerations, and plants to assorted angles.

Repeated lineal sprints don’t tap the energy system the way that direction changes and velocity changes will. Whenever momentum is altered in the form of a deceleration, direction change or running style changes the ATP will be tapped at an increasing rate. Momentum is an ally. When it’s interrupted the athlete must work harder to sustain the velocity required.

Mixed Cycles - The Process

This leads us to the rules for mixing cycles. They should be multiple in number on every run- through performed. Three to four changes, at a minimum, should be required for best results on every rep.

How many reps are enough? When you see the limb speed becoming a bit of a challenge at the end of the reps, you should consider closing down for the day. The number of quality repetitions will get better as your conditioning base increases. Remember less is more. Time is on your side and you don’t have to cram it all in that day. A training effect takes 4-6 weeks to gain positive benefits. So stay steady and consistent with quality action over time. You’ll be much further ahead than if you slam volume into your athletes. You don’t train a thoroughbred like a mule unless you’re interested in having athletes run slow but can go forever. The key is sustained speed endurance through the entire four quarters.

Playing the game is the optimal conditioning for the sport and you can’t emulate this with pure conditioning for football. Game shape comes from playing the game weekly. Players will be getting in better game shape due to the adrenaline elevating their performance drain.

Mixed Energy Cycle Drills 

Mixed energy cycle work is the closest way to be ready to play longer at a faster rate. Aerobic exhaustion work will not produce the correct results and, as you now know, it’s training the wrong energy system. It’s important that you utilize the recovery phase correctly or your conditioning set up for the anaerobic training effect will be an anaerobic disguise that’s sure to fail you. You can also use a whistle to administer movement changes as a process as well as cones for zone changes.

The drills schemes (Diagrams 1-5) are ONLY a sample of the type of runs for conditioning you can provide for your players. However, be creative week to week, as long as you’re within the guidelines of how the training and recovery works.




Coaching Points:

• Each exercise should be two sets of three reps.

• Later in the season, go to two reps per set.

• Use the Pulse Test between reps and it could be as much as three minutes if they’re out of anaerobic shape.

• The time for recovery should be 1:00 minute to 1:15 on average once they’re in shape.

• Once you’ve established your conditioning drills for your training, select two per day for your sessions.

• You only need two days per week for conditioning in-season, three max for off-season.

• Training for conditioning starts at the beginning of the practice: 1. They are fresh so the intensity will be high quality on the speed phases (anaerobically important). At the end of practice they’ll be tired and won’t produce the quality physically they will need. 2. They’ll look for ways to conserve energy during the practice, knowing they’re going to be exhausted at the end of the day. This is a typical human condition and they won’t put out entirely during your practice. They will figure out ways to conserve energy. 3. You can’t be anaerobically fit unless you’re in the correct physical zone.

• When you begin conditioning tell them how many sets and reps you’re going to do. Ask them to give it up on every sprint phase, If they loaf and don’t go hard, then keep your word and don’t add more reps at the time. The next day you condition they pay for it with extra volume. They didn’t keep their word but you kept yours by doing exactly what you said at the beginning of the workout. Trust me, they’ll give it up the next time.

• Last but not least, explain to them how the conditioning works and what’s expected. Then work the system.

You’ll enjoy the fact they play faster for four quarters and at the end of the season their legs will still be fresh and electric during your playoff run. 








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