The Ideal Training Template (Coach)

If you are like me then you have been privy to some pretty mundane training sessions that really lacked any point, focus, intent, direction or purpose. If you are suffering from this seemingly unavoidable situation then read on becasue I want to share with you a template I use for keeping things...shall we say...honest on the training pitch.

As a coach you will find that alot of baggage follows the amateur rugby player...work..family...realtionnsips...kids...traffic jams..so how do you get that out of their heads..quickly allowing you to get the most of out of THEM?

The onus lies on your firstly. If you have a start, middle and end of the session then invaraibly it is easy. Soem days I have winged it but the bottom line is that I know what I wanted from a conditioning session. I know where I wanted to start and where the boys or girls should be ending up...on their knees..feeling great...lifted..mentally broken. You have to make that decision.

1) Laps of a Field

Before you click your back button..hear this out. This is NOT a way of getting your player's fit. Merely a way of getting hte shite out of your player's heads. Two laps of the field. I make it clear that they need to get whatever baggage they have out of thier heads. when they get back the business starts. It also allows for the latecomers and there are always one or two.


2) Dynamic and Shock Warm up

I allow 15-20 minutes for a dynamic warm up involving moving stretches and some shock tactics. Shock tactics can involved commando crawls the length of a field, bear crawls the lenght of a field, wheelbarrow races, fireman carries, wrestling drills. No weight needed just each other and alot of toughness. Again the art of coaching comes in when to deliver the handgrenade. (thanks to strength and conditioning coach, Phil Richards for this)

3) Drills

It is best to work into stations with the same drill performed for 10-15 minutes. I think it is important to never aim for pefection - just a standard that allows for constant engagement and focus. The players need to knwo that they will be working for a set period of time. If things drag out so does the standard. You could work on handling, rucking height - whatever - this is the skills element.

5 minute rest

4) Conditioning

This is then the fun starts. Tyre flipping races, more commando crawls, phosphates, spider tests. I think it is important to always make this competitive. The losers loses and loses hard. If people are not working hard then never punish the individual - punish the group. Let the group sort it out amongst themselves.

5 minute rest

5) Move back to another station of drills

Move back in your groups to the drills. It could be another 10 minute block focusing on another area of the game.

5 minute rest

6) Move back to conditioning

Move back into another 10 minutes of conditioning. Mix up your drills. Keep the stimuation high.

5 minute rest

Depending on time you could finish with a small sided game. However, my focus normally with this type of training is that this is all out conditioning (balls-to-the-wall-stuff) and should be emphasised that way.

It works well. It keeps the stimuation high and the output high too and that my friends is the key. Afterall if you can make training harder than the game then more often that not, the players will be chomping at the leash to get stuck in on Saturday.

Today's Training

I love rolling up the sleeves and getting training people. When you run a business you forget that the trenches is where it all began.

So personally AM performed some sprint intervals on the treadmill and I think that this really teed me up for a decent box squat session in the pm involving 10 sets building up to a 3RM.

Once I hit my PB that was it. Post workout shake and then home. I am a big believer in training to gain rather than going through the motions.

Client highlights today:

1) Great session to day by CLient X who cranked out the following:

a1) bench press 5 x 5 - 40x0 - 90s
a2) chins 5 x 5 - 30x0 - 90s

Rest for 10 minutes

b1) weighted press ups 4 x 8-10 - 60s
b2) single arm rows 4 x 8 - 60s

Metabolic circuit to finish - although he pulled a greener after being away for 2 weeks.....field session for him on Friday...

2) Bear crawls with Eoghan and Conall (v.promising footballer). Eoghan is making a good comeback from injury in a car crash, he is one of my staff and strong as hell for his 67kg frame (the whippet)

we loaded up the sled with 115kg and bear craweld it the length of the car-park after some deadlift instructions.

The last two were done holding DBs. That is tough and a mentally draining exercise too.

3) Albert CANED a 160kg Deadlift (BW 82). So he is getting leaner whilst getting stronger. I will post what he is doing with his nutrition soon. He will hit the big 200 soon after a rake of lower back and hamstring work.

A great day. I love getting the hands dirty!

J

Interval Training Session

Had a lot of fun doing a interval session yesterday.

It has helped me drop a bit of body fat (about 2 per cent) in two weeks following a surgery. I am now at 11.6%.

I performed a 30 minute session with 40 seconds intervals with a 90 second jog recovery x 10. 10 minute cool down. The tunes were pumping including some classic 80s glam rock.

Makes things alot easier during those sprints when you have Whitesnake churning out 'Here I go Again'

I have also been checking out some vegetarian post workout options to give myself a break from Whey. My protein.co.uk do a great (the link s below) range that is fluff free. The Hemp and Pea proteins are what I have been getting through.

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Have a great weekend!

John