Advanced Program Design

Advanced Program Design Part 1 Michael Boyle

My recent experiences with Crossfit caused me to put some ideas down on paper. I think it is important to write down what you really believe just so you have to think about what your philosophy actually is. In my Advanced Program Design DVD set I expanded on a lot of these concepts. I think the real key to program design is not to adopt someone else's philosophy but to develop your own? What does this mean? This means that coaches need to do what's best, not what's trendy. Coaches should not simply copy someone else's system. In order for a coach to do this they need to do three very important things. Think- What will work best for my athletes? Question- Don't copy. Ask yourself "why is this exercise in my program?" Analyze- Look for programs that get the type of result you want. Creating a Great Program To create a great program it is important to have some underlying goals or objectives. Your goals or your objectives should be simple and reflect your fundamental beliefs. Objective 1- Prevent Injuries in the Actual Training Process I used to believe that the assumption above was so basic and common sense that it did not need to be mentioned. However, the proliferation of programs that flirt with or cross the line between safe and unsafe makes me realize that objective one needs to be stated clearly. In order to prevent injuries in the actual training process coaches need to minimize risk. This does not mean eliminate risk, only minimize it. Everything you want to include in the program must be analyzed in terms of risk/ benefit ratio. Simply put, is the benefit of the exercise worth the risk inherent in the exercise ? This ratio of risk to benefit changes with age and, with levels of experience. Things like squats, deadlifts, and Olympics lifts, although excellent choices, may not be for everyone. There are two simple things we need to accept to become better coaches: 1- Injuries in training are our fault 2- No one should be injured while training Vern Gambetta, speaking at a seminar nearly fifteen years ago, stated that coaches need to accept responsibility for injuries in programs they design. That statement was a turning point for me as a coach. Up until that day I would have classified myself as just another meathead strength coach. I believed that " real lifters" should have sore shoulders and sore backs. I believed it was just a by-product of training hard. Upon leaving that seminar I think I took my first step toward becoming a real coach. I made a conscious decision to make my athletes better on the field and, keep them healthy in training. I am ashamed that this was such an epiphany. Bottom line, no one should ever be injured in training. Does this mean we train with machines and take no risks? No, it means that we constantly balance risk/ benefit ratios. What I do with a young healthy twenty year old is different than what I do with my 35 year NHL clients. What I do with my 35 year old NHL clients is different than what I do with my 55 year old personal training clients. One size does not fit all and neither does one exercise.

This is the reason we do front squats versus back squats and, never use box squats. It is the same reason we Olympic lift from a hang position above the knees rather than the floor. As coaches we must constantly make choices that balance the risk/ benefit ratio. Objective 2- Reduce Incidence of Performance Related Injury The second objective of quality strength program is to reduce the incidence of injury in performance. I used to view this as goal number one, however recent developments in the field have made me adjust. Notice I said reduce versus prevent. No coach will prevent injury. Injuries will happen. However it is critical to realize that our primary goals are to prevent injury, not improve performance. In both the NFL and the NHL strength and conditioning program success is measured by the strength and conditioning coaches ability to keep the best players playing. The NHL uses a stat called Man Games Lost, the NFL uses Starters Games Missed. In either case, the great teams have their best players playing. Objective 3- Improve Performance The biggest take-away point of this article is this is not objective one. First, we need to keep training as safe as possible. Then we need to work to prevent/ reduce injury potential. Finally, we get improved performance. I know there are many that disagree. I can't tell you how many times I have heard coaches talk about the need to "take risks", "lay it on the line" etc. etc.. I can only tell you that those who advocate risk usually work in the area of fitness where they can brainwash clients and dispose easily of the injured. In the world of sports, coaches take injury very seriously and strength and conditioning coaches who encourage their athletes to "lay it on the line" in training end up in a different line, the unemployment line. However, there needs to be balance. A vanilla machine-based program with no risk will not reduce the incidence of performance related injury. The key is developing the ability to balance risk/ benefit ratio. The ideal program is designed with the previous three goals in mind. The ideal program takes risk, but analyzes risk to benefit ratio. The ideal program works on all aspects of training but, in a progressive manner that minimizes exposure to undue stress. The big key is that the program improves performance but, never at the expense of health. Program Design Keys Consistency- a bad workout is better than a missed workout. It is still better to go through the motions than to miss a day. Structure- coaches need to figure out how to divide up the time they are given to train. I can't tell you how many times I have heard strength and conditioning coaches complain about lack of time. Figure out how much time you have and go for maximum bang for the buck. Density- density is really a measure of work per unit of time. How much work can I get into the time allotted? Good program structure leads to density. The best way to achieve density is to pair exercises. This is a concept that everyone should be using. Doing multiple sets of an exercise with 2-5 minute rests betweens sets should be done only by competitive lifters. Those of us who train athletes or train clients should be pairing exercises. The next best way to achieve density is to use rest time for something other than rest. All of our core work and half of our stretching is done between sets when we are "resting". I hate wasted time and, time spent sitting around waiting to do the next set is wasted time. Program Structure

As I said above structure is key. I have often used the analogy of baking a cake. You can't pick and choose ingredients. All the ingredients need to go and, they need to go in the proper amounts. The "pre-workout" process must include work for: - Tissue length ( foam roll) - Tissue Density ( stretching) - Tissue readiness ( activation) Now think time. How many minutes can I devote to the above. My feeling is that it should be 1020% of training time for young healthy athletes. That means 6-12 minutes out of an hour. We always work off a clock with our groups. Warm-up Warm-up is different than tissue work. In the beginning of the workout we are preparing the muscles. In the next step we are preparing the athlete. A good dynamic warm-up can be done in 5-6 minutes and will be particularly successful once the tissue is properly prepared. Developing Power and Speed Once the tissues are prepared the next step is power and speed development. After a proper warm-up bodyweight power (plyometric exercises) and light implement power work (medicine balls) will be done. In addition, this is also the time to add in short sprints and sprint drills. Many of the sprint drills have been done as part of the dynamic warm-up but, the actual sprints occur after. From a training density standpoint I prefer to pair jumps and throws. One set of a plyometric drill will be followed by a set of medicine ball throws. Three sets will be done in alternating fashion. This allows adequate rest between sets of plyos, without wasted rest time. The nice thing about plyometric exercises and medicine ball exercises is that they also provide an increased level of preparation for the nervous system. The last thing done before entering the weightroom are sprints. I like a low volume of sprinting. We will usually only do 5-6 sprints of 5-20 yards before our strength work. Moving Into the Weightroom For a young healthy athlete power development in the weightroom revolves around the Olympic lifts. Older athletes may perform additional plyometric exercises at this point like Jump Squats or MVP Shutttle Jumps. Based on the age and health of the trainee, resisted exercises are selected to develop lower body power. In the last few years I have developed a greater affinity for the Close Grip Snatch. Many coaches are afraid of snatches and find them difficult to teach however I feel quite the opposite. I think snatches are easier to teach as the athlete is less limited by poor upper body flexibility. In any case, we will perform hang cleans, close grip hang snatches, DB snatches or, in the case of younger or older athletes kettlebell swings to develop total body power. These will generally be done in what we call a tri set with a core exercise and an active stretch or mobility exercise. What this means is that instead of resting the athlete will do core work and mobility work during the rest time. This concept goes back to our idea of density. The goal is to get maximum work done in the time allotted. This will not be accomplished by sitting for 3 minutes between sets. The tri set for an explosive lift will look like this Explosive lift Core Exercise Mobility

Tri sets are used for power exercises so that the focus remains on the power exercise and so the nervous system is not overstressed. Strength Programming The strength program looks very similar to the power program except that we often move from tri sets (3 movements) to quads sets (4 movements). In strength work, strength exercises are paired with other non-competing strength exercises and the rest time is "filled" with core and mobility work. Another video sample is provided below. The most important thing to understand in program design is that time should never be wasted. To create a great program first create a great preparation sequence then, choose exercises that are appropriate for your population. Last, use time as a precious commodity not to be wasted. However, the real key to great program design comes from the beginning of the article. Develop a philosophy of training, don't adopt or borrow one. Be a critical thinker and take responsibility for your results, either good or bad.

A Systems Approach to Training and Program Design Nick Tumminello

Lets face it, when it comes to discussing periodization and program design concepts, things can get downright confusing. There are so many different methods, opinions and terminologies that it can be difficult for even the most knowledgeable of coaches to sort through it all and actually end up with something that they can use. Those coaches that do end up applying these concepts often find that they are difficult to mange in the long term. Other coaches discover that these methods are simply unrealistic and don't actually relate to their specific training goal. In my opinion, the current problems coaches are having with program design can be explained in two words -- overly complicated. One of my most favorite quotes is"Simple things should be simple; Complex things should be possible" Alan C. Kay Program design and periodization concepts are complex. The problem is that these concepts are often taught to us by science types who like to keep it that way and have tendency to make things almost impossible to understand. I have always said, a good teacher or coach can take the complex and simplify it so that anyone can successfully understand and apply it. My goal with this article is expose you to a new, much simpler and more comprehensive though process about program design. One that I developed a number of years ago and have been using with much success with all populations, not just athletes. I have done my best to kept his article as user friendly, straight - forward and fluff free as possible. With that said,

I take great pride in presenting to you the Performance U approach to training and programming. The Performance U -- Systems Approach to Training The foundation of the Performance U training model is based on the three main systems of the body. The Nervous System The Muscular System And the Energy System(s) Training the nervous system is what we call NSD -- Nervous System Development. This type of training encompasses speed work, power work, agility work and skill work. Training the muscular system is what we call MSD -- Muscular System Development. This involves strength and hypertrophy training. Training the energy system is what we call ESD -- Energy System Development. We adopted this name from the folks at Athletes Performance. ESD training is our cardio and conditioning work, Interval work, hard cardio, distance running, etc; 3 Body Systems, 3 Boxes When we begin a program we want to determine what type of training will best fit our clients or athletes. When training individuals we tailor the program to the individual, when working with teams, we tailor the program to the demands of the sport. Which ever situation your in, the concept is the same and its extremely simple. We start out with three boxes, each boxes represents a body system. We determine the athlete needs by their specific weaknesses, goals, or demands of their specific sport. Each of these needs is then related to its specific body system and its written in it appropriate box. Examples; - Needs speed, NSD box - Needs to more explosive, NSD box - Needs to gain muscle sixe, MSD box - Needs to do lots of sprints throughout game, ESD box At the end, which ever box is filled the most needs becomes the emphasis of the training program and therefore gets the most training time devoted to improving it. The next largest filled box becomes the secondary emphasis with less time allotted to it and so on. That said, It's important to understand that regardless of the system of emphasis, we never neglect any of the body systems. This is due to the fact that each of our bodies systems are interrelated, they are somewhat dependent on one another. In other words, we make sure that we train all body systems every time we workout.

Using this Approach

(chart designed by Eric Wong) In the above chart, the training emphasis is clearly on MSD and NSD training with not much ESD work. This would describe what a typical program for golfer might look like. Golfers don't need much conditioning so there is no need to spend much time on it. However, they do need a lot of strength and power so that is where the emphasis is placed. If this where a MMA fighter, you would see a much larger block of time spent on ESD work and much less spent on MSD training. If this where a bodybuilder, you would see a huge emphasis on MSD and little emphasis on both NSD and ESD training. I could go on with more examples like this but I think you get the idea. Regardless of the goal, this type of chart could be used to represent the total amount of work put on each system during a training day, a training week or even a training cycle (3-6 weeks). That's all up to how the coach wants to manage it. The most important thing is that this system establishes the direction of the program and makes sure the right things are being done for the right athletes. Why this Approach Works The beauty of this body system thing is that once you have established what body system you are going to work on. The exercises, reps, sets and rest protocols are already determined for you.

The other nice thing is that this systems approach allows for lots of variation without ever deviating from the goal. For example- if my main focus is on improving muscular strength and size (MSD). I can very easily use different rep, rest and set schemes (4x8, 3x10, Pyramids, Drop set, etc;) as long as it gets the response I'm looking for. That makes the coaches' job a lot easier and saves you a ton of time on program management.

Training with the Medicine Ball Michael Boyle

Medicine balls can be a great tool for power development for clients who might lack the confidence or desire to Olympic lift. In addition, medicine balls are really one of the only tools available to develop torso power for striking sports like golf or tennis. Just try to remember that a medicine ball is simply a weight until you throw it. The reality is that you can lunge or step up with any object that has mass and get the same effect. The uniqueness of the medicine ball is in the user’s ability to develop specific power by throwing the medicine ball and more importantly to take advantage of the eccentric or concentric development gained by throwing off a wall. Medicine ball training has become an integral part of training for any athlete interested in power development. The development of a wide range of both elastic and non-elastic medicine balls has re-popularized a long lost technique. The opportunity to develop rotational power is one of the primary benefit of medicine ball training. In both plyometrics and Olympic lifting, power development is traditionally uni-planar with no trunk focus. Medicine balls become a tool, like Olympic lifting and plyometrics for the trunk musculature. I often like to describe medicine ball training as Olympic lifting for the core. The reality is that the medicine ball as a tool for power development is unparalleled. Medicine balls provide a safe method to train for power that can be used by almost all ages and levels of training. In fact, no other training mode provides the specific strength and power potential of the medicine ball. Rotational medicine ball throws are the key to developing torso power for athletes involved in just about any sport. The new rubber medicine balls combined with a masonry wall are excellent for these applications due to the elasticity of the ball. One recent discovery is that the older style non-elastic balls are excellent to develop the concentric power of the throws. For years I was fascinated by the ability to perform medicine ball drills off the wall with a rubber ball. However, this summer I discovered that I could really improve the concentric force production of my athletes by switching to a non-elastic ball like the Dynamax. Non-bouncing balls force the thrower to create far more concentric force to produce any rebound off the wall. For overhead athletes like pitchers, tennis players and swimmers the medicine ball provides great eccentric training for the rotator cuff while developing power in the core muscles. In addition for all athletes total body power can be developed through total body throws with heavy balls. Total body throws should be done in a large open area and are great to simulate the actions of the Olympic lifts. Total body throws are particularly useful for coaches who do not feel comfortable teaching Olympic lifts. Balls like the Dynamax Ball and the D-Balls are excellent for these applications as they do not bounce. The Dynamax balls are also great for exercises like Medicine ball bench presses. Medicine ball bench presses are excellent for upper body power for larger athletes since they do not stress the rotator cuff and shoulder like plyometric pushups and other bodyweight upper body plyometrics. The Dynamax balls can also be caught with minimal stresses on the wrists due to its soft feel.

The limit to the uses of the Medicine Ball is really the coaches’ imagination. Rotation ProgressionFor rotational throws it is best to find an area with a masonry wall. In rotational throws the athlete can throw as hard as possible against the wall with balls in the 4-5 kilo range to develop true power in the core and hips. Excellent imitative drills for throwers can be developed once the athlete masters the basics. The rotational progression begins with the athlete on one knee in what is called a “half kneeling” position. Half kneeling is a position with the athlete kneeling on one knee with the hip extended. Beginning with kneeling eliminates the ankle and knee joints and exposes weaknesses and compensation patterns that may not be visible in standing throws. In addition “half kneeling” teaches the athlete to use the glutes. For rotational exercises use heavier balls to force the core to work. Adult males can start with 4-5 K balls. Rotation Progression: 1- ½ Kneeling Side Twist- ( 90 degrees to wall, 2-3 feet away) 2- Standingfront and side 3- Standing with step 4- Single leg In addition to developing rotary power, the same progression of positions can be used for overhead throws for throwers. Overhead throws should be done with 2-3 kilo balls. Care must be taken when providing stress to the rotator cuff. Total Body Power- As I mentioned in the introduction, the medicine ball is also a great tool for total body power. This is particularly useful for athletes that are unfamiliar with Olympic lifts or have injuries that prevent them performing exercises like cleans or snatches. In addition total body throws allow coaches uncomfortable with teaching the Olympic lifts to get hip and leg power work in a resisted situation. Some suggested throws are from a squat position forward, a scoop type throw from a squat position, and throws from the lunge position. It is important that athletes not attempt to catch a medicine ball thrown by a partner. Catching heavy medicine balls can be dangerous to both the shoulders and the fingers of the athlete. Medicine ball throws should be treated like any other strength and power exercise. 20-30 throws ( 2-3 sets of 10) of each type can be done twice per week. For rotational throws follow the progression above. As the athlete moves from tall kneeling, to half kneeling, and eventually to standing, the link between the hips and the hands will show rapid improvement. Throwers should perform rotational throws a minimum of two days per week but, a maximum of three days per week. Keep volumes low to moderate and tell your athletes to throw the ball like they want to break it. For throwers the medicine ball may be the most underrated tool to develop rotational power.