How to design an ELITE training system
Our bodies are built to MOVE and our hearts are built to race. The human body is the most resilient system on this planet. When we are injured, we are able to self-heal. When we are stress a muscle, joint, tendon or ligament, it grows back stronger. We are capable of the most complex movement that no other animal can do. We must take advantage of this.
But how do we leverage this to its FULLEST potential? This article will fully define the answer for you.
I will not be listing different exercises with its assigned reps and sets in this article. Rather, I will be explaining the various factors to leverage to get the fullest training potential out of your system. Ask your personal trainer in Richmond for advice on program planning.
Movement Preparation
This is just another fancy word for “warm-up”, however, most athletes and gym-goers take this way too lightly. The warm-up is responsible for multiple factors including increase heart rate, increase body temperature, primed nervous system etc.
In this first segment of the training day, individuals generally go through what’s called a dynamic warm-up. This can range from leg swings to lunge stepping. Whatever modality you choose, the main idea is to move through the range-of-motion DYNAMICALLY. The take-away here is to allow tension to take your joints through its range. With static stretching, you are moving through the range but with no tension – because there is no tension due to the prolonged stretch. Ask your personal trainer in Richmond for tips on warm-up.
Pillar Readiness
The second section in our training program is to warm-up our trunk and core area. This is crucial because if this area is not primed, we lose control and coordination with movements and power.
More importantly, if our core is not fully engaged in our movements there is an increased chance injury. The primary goal of all strength and conditioning programs is not strength, speed and power; rather it is the PREVENTION of future injuries. An injured athlete cannot play or train. This is the worst case scenario.
In this section, I personally enjoy prescribing core STABILITY exercises. Rather than doing crunches or sit-ups, having the athlete do stability exercises gets them engaged much better. For example, have the athlete do a plank on an exercise ball, and then have them roll their elbows forward and back. This causes the core to engage at the out-stretched position.
Remember, prevention of injury is always our number one goal.
Power and Plyometrics
Now that our warm-up and prep work has been completed it is time to train. Our first training section is to develop power. This can be done through throwing, slamming, jumping, etc.
Classic power training can be done through exercises such as power cleans, power snatches, landmine push-jerks, etc. These have been proven to increase power for many years and should be a solid foundation in your strength and conditioning programming.
With that said, there are also some unorthodox methods of improving power. These include medicine ball slams, sledge hammering, sandbag tosses, etc. All these are great for improving overall power. All these exercises have one thing in common: speed. Every movement is done with absolute 100% speed. The moment you are losing speed, you are not developing any more power. Ask your personal trainer on advice to develop power.
The take-away point: be fast, be powerful.
Strength
Here we are pushing some heavy weights. Going forward now, absolute speed is irrelevant; however, you must keep speed in mind. In this section, we are keeping the repetitions low and the weight high. Rep ranges is recommended to be around three to eight. This way we are targeting our fast twitch muscles as well as our central nervous system.
Regarding speed, you must constantly remind yourself to push the weight as fast as possible. Because the weight is 80% or higher, the speed of the movement will be slow, but you need to push or pull as hard as you can.
Remember, high-weight and low repetition is what we are going for.
That wraps up our system. Stay tuned for a part two which includes hypertrophy, conditioning and cool-down.
Until next time,
Coach Marco
