In a perfect world I can run an uninterrupted annual plan with all of my teams.  I do this now, to some extent, but my plan has very distinct parts to it.  I'm trying to find a way to make everything smoother (for lack of a better description).

As it stands I have my Winter and Summer Plan.  This is the same set-up run twice a year.

Cycle 1 (usually 3 weeks)

  • General movements in the weight room
  • Moderate Volume (recondition)
  • General running (basic conditioning 3x a week)
  • Mostly barbell work

Cycle 2 (usually 3 weeks)

  • First 3 blocks stay basic (Olympic Movement, Lower Body Movement (Squat, Deadlift, Front Squat), Upper Body Movement (Bench, Incline, Press)
  • Last 2 blocks introduce single-leg and DB work
  • Higher Volume
  • General conditioning 2x per week and linear speed work 1x

Cycle 3 (usually 3 weeks)

  • First 3 blocks remain the same, for the most part
  • Last 2 blocks have much more of a mobility element to them
  • Moderate volume
  • General conditioning 1x, linear speed 1x, agility 1x

This is nothing revolutionary, by any stretch.

Here's where I fail, in my opinion.  When Spring Ball hits I get WAY TOO conservative.  Although I do need to back off a bit because the guys hit quite a bit, I can still use these 4 weeks as a strength building (developmental) phase.

It almost becomes a second program.  I believe it needs to be a part of the same program.  obviously, I need to drop the volume a bit and limit the total number of movements to account for practice volume.

One Spring Ball is done there is a built in deload of up to 3 weeks.  Plenty of time to heal and get back to it.  So, I repeat the same concept as above starting in late May and it runs through the end of July.

The month of pre-season practice and then the season looks just like the spring ball plan.

I have a take home plan that mimics what we'll do with the kids that are on campus.  Sounds normal.

What I'm trying to do is treat January through the end of July as one phase.  I can treat Spring Ball as part of the developmental plan even though we're practicing.

I haven't ironed it all out yet, but I think I'm on to something.

I hope coaches do the same thing I do: Take extensive notes on each week's sheet and then thoroughly review after each cycle.  How did they feel/act each day?  When did they start getting run down?  (look back to the previous 3 weeks or so and the answer is there).  How did guys do with the numbers they were given?  Did they "peak" too early?  When they got beat up were you able to undo it because you adjusted your program?  There's a whole bunch of other things I keep track of and then refer back to.

We have 2 weeks left with football and I've already started taking a look.  I'm sure I'll find a lot of answers and be able to adjust for football.  I also think that this will help me with the other teams I work with.  I'm doing the same thing with my softball team and now my women's soccer team (I had to take them over when my assistant got himself a full-time job).

I'm doing some stuff with my training that I think will actually help with training my teams.  I know what I'm going to do.  I'm trying to figure out how to adapt it to teams that do a hell of a lot more than I do.

I know I love what I do because this stuff never gets boring to me.  Realistically, I'm kinda sorta trying to reinvent the wheel.  In that process, I'll end up actually simplifying my program and getting rid of the nonsense that inevitably creeps in as you add and subtract things.

I'm trying to subtract and streamline the whole deal.  In that process I over-complicate things and then figure out what needs to stay and what is useless.

Once I come up with my "rules" for each cycle I'll have my plan finalized and then put it into use.