Looking at the annual training plan, I thought I would break down my rationale for you a little.  Starting at the bottom, check out the “Key” section just so you know what you’re looking at.  For the date section, I based these dates off of William Paterson’s 2013-2014 season, and when conference post-season and NCAA tournament games would take place.  The vacation dates were loosely based on summer vacation, what college teams usually get for thanksgiving break, and Christmas break.  I didn’t add a spring break cause they are different for every school, but not hugely important as it would follow season and be the guys time off anyway.  The “Training Factors” section I based off of another annual training plan I saw on another blog at http://alrbasketballsandc.blogspot.com/p/annual-periodised-training.html.  I really liked how they included the numbers and the line graph so you have a good visual aide. 

Starting at the top of the chart, the months are listed with the date of the beginning of each week listed underneath.  Below that you see the “Competition Calendar”.  Here all the dates of testing, vacation, and games are listed.  This is a good quick summary the coach can use to see important dates that help organize workouts and deadlines. 

The bulk of the chart is made up of the “Periodization” section.  Here is where you can find more specific program details.  Working down the chart, you will first see the “Training Phase” which is made up of three sections according to Bompa; Transition, Prepatory, and Competition periods.  Transition is the period after competition when the athletes have a chance to rest mentally and physically before getting back into some very general workouts.  Workloads should be nearly half of the competitive season and all GPP work and cross-training.  The Prepatory phase is associated with higher volume and is when the athlete will begin to make workouts more specific to the sport and energy system.  This phase will usually last 3-6 months and as it nears the season specificity and intensity both increase.  Obviously the Competition period is when the season is underway.  These Training Phases can be broken down to “Sub-Phases”, transition excluded; General Prep and Specific Prep (Prepatory Phase), and Pre-Comp and Comp Phase (Competitive Phase).  General Prep is associated with higher volume work and lower intensity, shifting to Specific Prep where the opposite will be true.  Also, the type of workouts and exercise selection will shift from “general” to “specific” movements to the sport (lunges in General to vertical jumps in Specific).  In the Pre-Comp phase the intensity is still there but now with possible early season scrimmages the workload may drop to accommodate the extra stress of the games.  This is a mini transition phase from the Specific Prep phase to the competitive season.  Once the Competitive Season starts the maintenance portion of the program begins.  Usually there should be a few weeks of unloading as the stress of games and workouts will take a toll on the athlete.  The goal is to make sure the athletes feel good and “peak” at the end of the season, and not giving rest would make that difficult. 

Meso and Microcycles are listed to help make clear distinctions where certain aspects of the program will begin (like developing an energy system) and allow the coach to quickly find different things in the program.  For example, “When should I focus more on strength?   Meso 3 micro 15, because that’s when the Specific Phase begins.”

Using some of the information below helped me organize the energy system development portion of the chart.  Obviously for the Transition just building a solid aerobic base will allow for the athlete to have a better recovery rate while developing any of the energy systems.  However, emphasis switches during the Prepatory phase to more of a focus on Anaerobic Capacity work, such as repeated efforts of shorter sprints or tempo runs.  Like with a lot of factors the coach tries to develop, trying to increase intensity without a base or well developed capacity of the factor will only allow for a few all out efforts.  Developing capacity first allows for more reps of the training factor to be performed.  As season nears the energy systems focus more on shorter, more intense bouts, finishing right before season with anaerobic capacity and lactic buffering (directly mimicking game situations). 

Developing the Strength portion relies on three main components; “Anatomical Adaptation” (hypertrophy/ GPP), Strength, and Power.  The Anatomical Adaption that I got from Bompa describes just getting the body ready for the program- strengthening joints and ligaments, developing muscle size and strength, etc.  Starting the Prepatory phase with a Strength based component will help the athlete in developing all other factors and I have previously said in this blog- a strength will help the athlete be a better athlete.  It will allow him to stop quicker, cut harder, jump higher, etc.  This phase shifts to a Strength/Power and Power Phase.  During the Strength/Power phase the athletes will be performing exercises that require overcoming strength or as the chart above called, “takeoff power”.  Think of jumping from a dead stop, no momentum.  A strong start or takeoff will allow more powerful movements following that initial movement, which is why I switch to a power phase next.  Here those initial steps in a sprint or the movements following the initial “takeoff” will be developed.  As shown on Bompa’s chart of limiting factors, acceleration power is usually lacking.  Finally, immediately before the season you see the Power Endurance, which would just be repeated efforts of reps of the exercises.  Basketball is a game where powerful jumps and cuts are required for the entire 40 minutes, so having that endurance or capacity is crucial for the athlete (plus according to Bompa Power Endurance is usually lacking). 

In the Power portion of the Strength Components, you see how single, powerful movements (initial takeoff power) build on themselves and lead to multiple reps to build power endurance.  I also included basic sprints and jumps because Charlie Francis says how these movements induce a high motor unit involvement, as does the med ball throws.  Check out his chart below.

In the Speed portion of the Strength Component, starting the athletes by teaching basics of the sprints are really important.  From the basketball players I have seen, a lot don’t understand how to be light on the feet, which was really surprising to me.  Teaching them basic rhythm drills (jump rope) and teaching them to be “light and springy” (A Skips) is a good route to go to start the guys off.  After that, following CF short to long approach, build on the takeoff power in the beginning to the straight speed work.  Also, I included deceleration (need to be taught first so athlete doesn’t blow out knees later on), acceleration (acceleration power a limiting factor), and reactive and lateral drills (closer to season to mimic demands of game situations).  At Defranco’s most of the coaches don’t include those types of movments but I feel that an athlete needs to experience the movements to know how to effectively move during a game.  A great book Coach CJ put me on different classes and breakdowns of athletic movments is Gamespeed by Ian Jefferies.

The endurance section really just corresponds with the Energy System Development from the top of the chart.  For the power and speed work I really like the chart below by CF. Really hits on the demands of the different sports and gives really good examples of exercise selection.

As I said earlier, the volume and intensity chart idea I got from that one blog I gave earlier.  However, my numbers are based on the Phase the athletes are in (Transition, Prepatory, Competitive), the Sub-phases (Transition, General Prep, Specific Prep, Pre-Competitive, and Competitive), and what Strength Components (Anatomical Adaptation, Strength, Power) I am trying to develop.   

Still helping out with the high school team.  I really like working with those guys.  You can see them really buying into the program.  A few guys who we thought didn’t really care too much at first are really excelling and working really hard.  A bunch of guys are telling me the weights are starting to feel easy, and the sprinting is looking great from the guys now.  The biggest issue we have now is that they aren’t eating as much as they should, and they are so active some of the guys’ body weights aren’t really benefitting from the program yet.  We’ve had to advise them on some supplements to look into if they aren’t going to be able to eat in between spring practices or classes.  Hopefully they starting packing on more lbs soon, but outside of that the guys are looking great.

That’s about it…Next Il post my athlete Case Study for you guys to check out.  Got some resumes out there but still got my eyes open to see if anything comes up.  Just been working more with the construction.  I am still trying to throw some type of program together where I get some online programming/personal training together.  This would be ideal because it would allow me to do what I really like and work in the in the field but still allow me to work at my other job with the steady pay.

I have hit well over my internship hours at this point, and since I HAVE to start working again, I have begun to slow down my hours at Defranco's.  Actually at this point, I pretty much will be only going in to help out Coach CJ with the high school team.  I wish money wasn't an issue otherwise I would be at Defranco's all day to keep learning and being around the athletes, unfortunately money makes the world go round and I don't have any haha!  

Working with the high schools guys has been great though.  We have gotten a few more additions because winter sports are officially done, but these guys are working just as hard after coming right out of their seasons.  Some of the guys are really impressing us in how strong they are.  We had two athletes box squat 405 with room left in the tank, and a few guys bench well over 250 (form was in check on all testing- no half reppin’ here)!  Some guys have a lot to gain from the program as well; a few guys were only squatting a couple pounds above 100, and some of the benches were only 95 lbs.  This is to be expected out of some 13-15 year old kids, after all the biological age on these guys are all over the place with puberty and all.  Now that we have everyone tested, we have bodyweight and squat/bench weight goals for everyone.  Some of the linemen need to lose a few pounds, but most of the team really needs to put on weight.  We should see the body weight really accumulating by Week 8-10 (currently Week 5).  The weights on the lifts will probably be shooting up pretty continually now that we have the forms really dialed in.  This was a huge point because early on we saw how the kids (like 90% of all other high school football teams) thought it was correct to really load up the weight and go until the weight was too heavy to lift.

We have a much more organized format with the guys now compared to their “pre-Defanco’s” days.  The program has since been tweaked since I first described to you.  It still runs based off of the vertical integration principal (running all training components such as sprinting, plyometrics, strength training simultaneously) with an emphasis on the strength training.  In talking with Coach CJ and others, a lot of times if you want to get a younger, weaker athlete more “athletic”, get them stronger.  Stronger athletes can drive off their legs harder during the sprint or generate more force when throwing a ball.  We are still keeping simple plyos like box jumps and also working on sprint technique through simple drills like A skips and prowler sprints. 

A skip teach proper rhythm when sprinting, how to stay elastic on the pop and not tighten up too much (it looks pretty funny if someone is too stiff), proper arm drive (face cheek to butt cheek), and staying upright in a nice relaxed position.

Prowler sprints help teach proper shin and body angle during the initial start of the sprint, how to keep the body in a straight line from the ankle of plant leg to the shoulders of the sprinter, and also reinforces the need to stay "springy".  If the athlete is too hard on their feet and doesn't use the elastic step of the previous step, they will look like Fred from the Flinstones driving his prehistoric car moving his feet 100 mph but going nowhere.  We want to see bounding like steps, think gazelle.

For the guys’ lower body strength work, we have them on a Triphasic style of programming and for the upper body we have them performing a Juggernaut style.  I have talked about the Triphasic I believe, but it’s essentially build on the concept of breaking down the athletic motion into three parts and developing each; the Eccentric phase, the Isometric phase, and the Concentric phase.  We will accomplish this through exercises like Eccentric Squats, Pause Squats (sitting “in the hole” with the weight), and regular explosive Squats.  For the Juggernaut, the program will really help put mass and size on the guys’ upper bodies.  The program calls for 4 waves of sets of 10, 8, 5, 3 always working at submax weight and trying to set new rep records on the last set of the wave. 

Taken from Triphasic Training by Cal Dietz and Ben Peterson.  Great book jammed with exceptional information.  Graph shows the Eccentric (downslope), Isometric (bottom of “V”), and the Concentric phases of an athletic movement of a superior athlete vs a regular athlete.

Taken from The Juggernaut Training System by Chad Wesley Smith.  Outline of percentages and sets/reps scheme. 

          I’ll keep you up to date with the guys’ progress.  I will be keeping busy outside of the team with my regular job doing the construction, trying to get a job in the field.  I have been pushing my resume out there but apparently the economy hit the training sector as well.  I thought with my educational background as well as practical experience might have given me a leg up, but I guess those only take you so far.  Speaking of my educational background, as a part of this course I have to come up with an annual training plan as well as a program for an individual athlete.  The athlete is actually in the high school program now so I will be using him as a part of my assignment.  For the annual training plan however, I came up with a plan for a men’s college basketball player.

I based a lot of this on Bompa’s book Periodization Theory and Methodology, Charlie Francis’ Key Concepts, as well as other online sources as templates for this.  Pre-Defranco’s this would have looked completely different (probably a lot worse haha).  Check it out let me know what you think- what you like, don’t like, would add or take out.  All comments welcome!

Update time!

The combine guys had a mixed bag last weekend at their regional combine.  One guy ran a decent time (still slower than normal) and the other ran a much slower time than normal (over 5.0).  This apparently was the case with everyone there, with most times pretty average by positional standards.  Both guys were disappointed in their performance, and while the testing field was extremely cold, no guys made any excuses but got right back to work this past week and have been doing great every since.  Its funny how motivating a poor performance can be.  The bigger line man is running 1.7-1.8 10's, which are great, especially considering he hovering right around 300 lbs!  The smaller fullback set a Defranco's record with a 1.51 sec 10 yd...I don't think I have to elaborate on how impressive this is.

Noticed both guys have great explosion out of the start.  What we try to stress is driving off of BOTH feet, not just the lead foot.  Also, you notice how they both look as if they both JUMP out of the start.  This helps the guys drive with both and mimic the explosive triple extension of a jump.  Mechanically once they get going they are both really good- nice relaxed bodies (tense running throws off mechanics, think sprinter in slow motion and cheeks tend to bounce they are so relaxed), elastic spring with each step as if bounding,  powerful "cheek to cheek" arm action, good shin/body angle, and they each complete the 10 in about 6-7 steps. All things we teach and look for in the sprint mechanics.

We got our 3rd guy heading to Tampa this weekend for his regional combine.  He came on later than the other two but he has picked up his performance just as quickly so he should do fine down there this weekend.

Here we are working on that JUMPING quality we talked about with the sprints.  That broad jump motion is the same one we want in the sprint start.  The combo of the med ball is an advanced variation we use.  The med ball throw is simulating that explosive step with the horizontal body angle.  Really trying to hammer home the angles and jumping with this combo drill.  You can see the athlete is new to this drill as he thinks way to long about how to do the drill instead of just doing it.  He actually messes up a little with the staggered landing.  He got it down though and was fine later on in the drill.  This brings up another big point when coaching the athletes.  Motor learning you have to think to accomplish the new movements, but trying to ingrain the patterns as quickly as possible without allowing the athlete to develop any bad habits from thinking too much is key concern to the coach.  

Here he is a little better, just absorbing the landing a little too long.  Pretty good though.

Here is the shuttle drill the players perform at their combine.  Obviously this drill is testing their acceleration/deceleration abilities.  I'm not as familiar with all the finer points of the drill, but the player is performing the drill pretty well.  He travels in a straight line (shortest distance between any two points, not swerving all over the turf), sinks low with changing direction, and gets his hips rotated on each change of direction.  He stops early because he was thinking too much again instead of just doing the drill.  He will have his turf spikes this weekend so he should be all good.

The NFL crew is still going hard.  This is the longest time off any player in the NFL will have, so we really try and get these guys as strong and powerful as possible before they head back to camp in April and then again in the summer.  You may notice the guys still lifting pretty heavy weights and may be wondering when they get their deload?  I talked to Joe about this and while he doesn't specifically program for this, he realizes the guys will at some point head back home or head out to vacation for a week or two, so for over their 8-12 week, they will inevitably get time off.

Here the guys are hitting some band resisted benching off of the foam rollers.  This is just another variation on their Upper body Max Effort day.  The bands allow for accommodating resistance (band adds more resistance as it gets tighter ie. closer to lock out) which really overloads the triceps and helps recruit more motor units.  The foam roller keeps the guys from going too deep in the press to save their shoulders for the season, and also recruits more triceps as it is closer to the lockout of the lift.  

Coming up on Week 3 of working with the high school football team and that has to be my favorite part of the Defranco's experience so far.   So far Coach CJ and I have gotten about 20-25 kids in the program with more coming once winter season's end.  I think I said this in the other post, but been working with the freshman guys.  We have a slightly different program for these guys, but only on the intensities and simplicity of the lifts.  We slow things down for them so we can really dial in the technique.  We want these guys perfect for next off-season so we have them developed that much more for when they are older.  Not only that, but these guys have to get strong in a hurry as some of them are expected to step into varsity roles next year.  

I really like my group of guys.  Typical awkward freshman, but they all get after it and do everything I tell them...no complaining or whining just complete focus and effort during our workouts.  As a coach, that's really all you can ever truly ask for.  The most rewarding part is seeing the confidence some of these kids have already gained after 4 or 5 sessions.  One kid in particular has really done a 180.  When he first came in he was shy and looked like he just wanted to shrink into the back of the line and not have anyone see him.  He doesn't look like he would ever step on the field but the effort and focus he has displayed since Day 1 has been great.  He literally walks taller now and speaks up among the group.  Seeing this reminded me how great it can be having access to these kids who have so much to gain in sports and life if they just got that little bit of confidence.

No videos or pics of these guys yet as I have been more hands on teaching them the movements but I'll have some next time as we will be testing their maxes in a week or two.

On a personal note got to go to Boston this weekend with my girlfriend.  We have both been on the grind for a very long time without a break, so we decided to get away for the weekend.  Great city if you're looking for somewhere to go.  The best part was all the food we got to eat!  I highly recommend Cheers-the bar that inspired the show.  I got to do the Norm Burger Challenge twice.  What's the Norm burger you may ask....

Saw a glassblowing demonstration which was awesome.  Let me tell you, these guys work harder than some of the athletes at Defranco's!  On top of that, it's hot as hell in there!

Yes, that is one of the instructors drinking wine during the presentation and while dealing with 2000 degree glass!

Also made time for some educational trips- we went to the Bodies exhibit that was in town.  Still amazed at the ability of the doctors to make off these cuts!

Unfortunately, got an email back from the company I was interviewing with that they decided not to hire me.  A little bit of a kick in the pants because the financial stability would have been nice for once in my life, but for better or worse just have to keep moving forward.  When one door closes another opens...

awesome pic on the whiteboard the other day…

Been kind of crazy for me personally lately, but thankfully Defranco’s is still keeping me going!  Had a great experience the other day meeting Dave Diehl from the NY Giants who recently retired last month.  Great player for the Giants and got 2 Superbowls with them, but even greater guy I'd have to say.  I usually make it a point to introduce myself to everyone and talk a little with them.  Before I even had the chance he came right up to me and introduced himself with a big smile.  I think that speaks volumes about the guy, 2 time Superbowl champ, pro bowler, etc. and he makes the time to come up to the intern all smiles to have a conversation.  That’s the type of athlete that comes through the Defranco’s doors though, if your too high and mighty and not a humble, real person you probably won't last long.  Really great guy.

Getting excited, tomorrow is the first day of Coach CJ and mine coaching sessions with the high school football team.  We've been working a lot on the project (more CJ than me because it is his program and former team) trying to get the best program together for the kids as we can.  We've split them into the younger, less experienced group and the true varsity group.  Each one has essentially the same program, but the younger guys will have the easier variations of exercise, with lots of unloaded squats and deadlifts to help them really dial in the form before we start loading them up.  We are taking a whole picture approach in terms of what we will be implementing in their program (vertical integration).  We'll be having them perform speed and power work, jumps, med ball throws, sprints, and of course some traditional weight training.  We really don't have to get much more complicated than that since they are so young and inexperienced that we believe they are going to respond pretty well regardless.  We're hoping to set them up long term where down the line the kids who stay in the program for a few years will have more advanced programs for improved results down the line. 

The Combine guys have their first regional pro days coming up this and next weekend.  Regional combines aren't necessarily as popular as college pro days, but will still have scouts attending.  Our goal for the athletes is to possibly make enough noise that they may get invited to another bigger combine in the following weeks.  However, first we are using this next 2 weeks as a test to see where the guys are at.  Since there will not be as much big time scout presence Coach CJ wants the guys to go out and do their best with out the extra pressure.  Because of this he hasn't progressed the athletes too far to peak them for this weekend, but has put it off until their big college combines in March.  Regardless the guys are getting a good amount of work in.  

Guys getting some donkey starts to work on taking off of both legs nice and strong, not just the drive leg.

Jump back starts- starting to progress further than the starts, these mimic the 20-30 yds, when the athlete is more upright.

The NFL guys are still getting after it.  This time until March will be the longest stretch these guys have with us so they are getting the most work they can.  Added a few more guys so we have a pretty decent sized crew now.  Joe is still using a conjugate style system with these guys to keep them explosive and strong.  Not too much sprinting right now but I'd imagine once the summer and preseason comes around he'll want them getting some reps in before camp.

On top of everything going on at Defranco's, had my initial interview for a new athletic facility opening up in NY.  Don't have a lot of info on the place as it is opening in the next few months.  However I think the first interview went well, more of a "behavioral type interview" which I've never heard of before.  My younger brother of all people helped me out though and pointed me in the right direction to get prepared.  I'll be hearing Sunday if I got what it takes to make it to the second of three rounds of interviews.  Hopefully I'll have some more good news next time for you.