Elements of successful in-season strength and conditioning

Training sessions during the offseason, when players are actively preparing for the demands of competition, should look different from sessions during the actual season. The offseason is crucial for the development of a foundation of sport-specific power and speed while in-season training should allow athletes to utilize that power and speed on the field while maintaining fitness without the risk of overtraining.

In order to maximize athlete performance while avoiding injury, athletes must structure offseason and in-season football training programs according to specific goals and demands.

The importance of offseason training

Players should enter the football season with an extensive body of offseason strength and conditioning work under their belts. Strength and power are built during the months prior to competition. This is the high-volume, high-load work that lays the groundwork for a successful and healthy fall.

Unfortunately, it can be hard to keep tabs on players during the long offseason, and many athletes enter the preseason without having built that foundation. For these athletes, it is crucial to get back into the weight room and begin training for general strength before moving to more sport-specific, complex movements.

Athletes who complete offseason training can progress in intensity and complexity as the season gets under way, because the general foundation has already been built.

Transitioning to in-season training

The focus of in-season training shifts from preparation to maintenance. Athletes must now maintain strength and power developed during the offseason and translate it onto the field.

As the final phase in a yearlong periodized strength and conditioning program, in-season training aims to keep players injury-free amidst the high demands of competition and peak an athlete's ability to perform at their highest potential. Since the majority of in-season training takes place on the field, the volume of weight room training should decrease. In-season workouts should become short and sweet, with reduced volume. However, loads during these workouts must stay high to maintain the training effect of expressing strength.

Alternate the training focus from an emphasis of high force to high speed during the course of the season. This allows for a continuation of strength expression while providing further transferable development through dynamic high-velocity movements.

In the end, athletes want to maintain as much strength as possible without sacrificing the effort needed for tactical development and competition.

Don’t neglect rest and recovery

The importance of rest and recovery during the season cannot be overstated, and coaches must properly manage athlete fatigue in order to optimize game performance. The coach’s dilemma here is knowing where to draw the line between effective training and overtraining – the latter of which can lead to injuries and sluggish performance.

Athletes, being competitive by nature, will often overextend themselves, thinking more work is always better. It is the coach’s role to rein them in with a thoughtfully planned training schedule. Strategically place unload weeks throughout the entire 12-month cycle while emphasizing proper sleep and nutrition between training sessions. By prioritizing rest and recovery, coaches provide athletes the ability to express optimal strength and power both in the weight room and on the field while mitigating the detriments of over-accumulating fatigue.

Successful in-season strength and conditioning is aimed at maintaining strength built during a productive offseason. From there, the weight room becomes a means to harness and maintain that strength and power. Effective plans focus on a late-season peak and keeping athletes injury-free.

An important feature is reducing volume off the field while staying with high loads. Another is emphasizing rest and recovery during the difficult and demanding season. Incorporating these ideas into an in-season strength and conditioning plan will go a long way towards a healthy, successful season.

By Jace Derwin - via USAFootball.com