Training For Success

I hope you are all off to a great start to your summer break. If you read my last blog on Summer training then today will serve as a part II of sorts. It really is important to nail down your summer fitness schedule and get a head start. I’ve been there, done that, and I can definitely tell you its easy to get lazy and then you’re playing catch up which we don’t want to do. If for nothing else, its stressful to feel like you’ve got to cram all of your fitness training into a few weeks, not unlike studying for finals. Thats the way to do it right? Last minute cram session? Disclaimer: that was a joke!

Its also important to understand you shouldn’t wait to cram training in for volume reasons. We’ve talked ad nauseam about preventing injuries and the acute-chronic workload ratios (definitely go back and check out the previous posts on the acute-chronic stuff if you haven’t already), and its important to slowly ramp up your volume rather than stack it all in at once.

So how can we help? Well you’re home, and sitting back looking at your training options and have to make some decisions. Pre-season and Summer packets are great frameworks but by and large, they are going to cover the big pieces of the puzzle and they probably won’t cover some foundational strength work or fitness work. They might, though, and if they do, thats great stuff! Often times though, the packets will be open ended or just focused on fitness testing and we want to make sure you’re fully covered top to bottom. You have to be strong if you want to be fit, and vice versa.

The biggest question you have to ask, and one that we ask everyone is “Where do you want/need to be?.”  Thats usually a clear answer, especially if you’re given targets to hit. The next question we have to ask is “where are you currently” and that is to get an honest idea of where you’re best entry point is into the training paradigm. Finally, its important to understand the question “What do I need to do to get me where I am, to where I want/need to be?.” That one takes a bit more time but is usually a straight forward path barring any injury. We definitely hope you start to think about those questions and then answer them honestly, otherwise, your summer training may just be a shot in the dark without any intelligent design behind them. And if you ask us, we definitely like to work smarter, not harder.

For now, thats our advice for you Summer athletes. Go through those three questions and see if you can answer them honestly. Then see how you are going to structure your training. If you’re still at a loss or feel unsure, don’t be afraid to give us a shout. We can sit down with you and find out your perceived strengths and weaknesses, and then find out how we can get you from where you are, to where you need to be.

Happy Training!