Strength and Conditioning Notes

Yesterday Ethan and I attended a discussion (more of a presentation, really) by the strength-and-conditioning coach for the SLU Hockey team. I scribbled down some notes on prominent topics, and I thought I'd re-post them here in raw form (with a few links added). It's cool (yet unsurprising, really) to see how many similarities exist between all sports when it comes to strength training, progression, and philosophy. Here's some of what I took down:

Notes: Strength and Conditioning discussion 9/19/2012

-What energy systems are you using in your sport? Ex: Hockey players are on 40sec shifts, going all out and then resting. 3:1 rest to exertion ratio. Understand where the energy comes for this, and train that system.

-If you want to increase explosiveness/quickness, MANIPULATE THE NERVOUS SYSTEM to achieve this. Don’t confuse this with maximum effort. This is the difference between doing a few pullups with lots of weight and a few pullups with so much explosive effort that you shoot up off the bar. The two are each important, but you need to train the nervous system first to get that quickness. Same goes for technique and skiing (see “Speed versus Intensity of Training”, Galanes 2004)…produce power correctly and efficiently before adding load.

-There is a progression of Speed-->Strength-->Conditioning (Again, see Galanes 2004)

-There is a lack of maximal strength on SLU teams.

-Understand the physiological vs psychological impact of strength training. If doing some short benchpress reps helps an athlete feel good before a game, for example, let it become routine for them even if it has no benefit.

-In soccer, a midfield player runs an average of 12 miles in a game, including changes of pace and bursts of speed. Additionally, he cannot be fatigued during this time because he has to execute his skill (ball-handling, traps, etc) for the duration of the event.
-In the same way: A skier skis 12 miles (A 20k), including changes of pace and bursts of speed. Additionally, he cannot be fatigued during this time because he has to execute his skill (correct technique) for the duration of the event.

-Recovery has to be incorporated and INGRAINED. Foam rolling, massage, ice bath, recovery drinks/foods. This needs to be something the athlete does as instinctively as showing up to practice.