The athlete’s body is never in peak condition throughout the year. Athletic development involves cycles of progression, adaptation, regression and recovery. As a result, many coaches minimize or completely alleviate strength training when the season begins. These coaches believe that strength training will adversely affect the performance of their players if incorporated with in-season training.

However, strength training in-season is vital for maintaining the strength and power gained in off-season strength training. Various scientific studies have shown that the body’s muscle strength begins to regress within 96 hours if the muscles do not receive adequate stress. This is opposed to deconditioning observed for cardiovascular gains, which occurs after about 12 days of no activity.

How to approach in-season strength training

When designing an in-season strength training program, it is important to consider the type of training performed in season. Coaches should consider conditioning, practice, competitive play, lifting and disciplinary activities amongst others. This ensures that athletes are not overtraining and enables athletes to train safely year round. The aim of training should be to help athletes improve each year and maintain their gains throughout the in-season.

Often, players train hard during the offseason only to lose these gains during the season. This cycle leads to poor development of the athlete. It also causes a deficiency in the training program. It is therefore important to ensure that strength training is incorporated in the in-season training program to minimize injury risk, enhance player development and build on off-season gains.

The following are some factors to consider when designing your in-season strength training program:

1.) Training ought to be light

Instead of focusing on increasing strength and power, in-season training should focus on maintaining what was gained during off-season training. Athletes should therefore focus on lifting no more than 85% of their max weight.

2.) Focus on speed

They should also focus on speed in the lifts as opposed to increasing weight. Lifting light and fast challenges muscles without causing the body to fatigue. Athletes should focus on being explosive in their lifts. This will simulate game movements and improve athletic performance on game day.

3.) Adequate recovery

Athletes should spend a lot of time on recovery to prevent injury. Incorporate some time before and after workouts for stretching and foam rolling. Incorporating massages on weekends will allow for adequate recovery. Ensure athletes get at least eight hours of sleep every night for muscle repair and growth.