Long-Term Athlete Development

Success as an athlete at the Olympic or World level requires many years of training; some suggest 10yrs or 10,000hrs of focused training as a guideline. The primary reason for this is the cumulative effect that training has on our physiology. With consistent, progressive training, the body will constantly adapt to become more efficient as well as having a greater capacity for work. There really are no shortcuts to being a successful athlete and while some athletes reach their peak younger than others do, it is often related to how early they started ‘training’.
ESC-NI exists to provide the athlete with the pathway to success through the provision of strength and conditioning. How can we benefit athlete’s performance?

· Make them Stronger
· Make them more Powerful
· Strengthen the Musculature of the Trunk
· Maintain or Enhance Range of Motion/Flexibility
· Improve Anaerobic/Aerobic Capacity
· Increase Injury prevention
· IMPROVE PERFORMANCE

Each Athlete is assessed individually and specifically on three fronts, Sport/Athlete/Situation Assessments (SAS).

· Sport Assessment – Demands of the Sport – movement patterns, speed of movement and metabolic pathways.
· Athlete Assessment– Commitment, Training History, Physical Ability, Technical Ability.
· Situation Assessment – Facility and Time.

From this, each athlete will be competency tested to assess his or her current abilities and injury status. The tests are specific for each sport, for example volleyball testing could use overhead squat, jump squat, press-up, body-row and back extension hold. The results will provide the coaches with the information to which competency level the athlete will be assigned and begin their training progression. These competency levels can also be used as a standard protocol for selection onto an elite training panel.

Each athlete will have their training planned (periodised) for a period of time, which may be a month or 5 years. The athlete and coaches will have input into the plan and the plan will evolve depending on the progressions of the athlete. The SAS Assessments will be reviewed during the periodised plan on several occasions and the athlete/coaches will receive constant feedback.
The following is an example of a Periodisation Model:

Stage 1 GPP – Basic Strength and Mobility Work/Joint Preparation (Address Weaknesses and improve Work Capacity)
Stage 2 Technique Development – Dependent on time available, athlete’s ability etc.
Stage 3 Strength and Power Development – No substitute for strength.
Stage 4 Specific Strength and Power.
Stage 5 Competition Preparations

Within the UK, many athletes compete too often and don’t train enough. Within Northern Ireland, athletes are not exposed to a high level of competition on a regular basis, which leads to their performances suffering on the international stage. Athletes must have the opportunity to compete in appropriate, quality competition to enable them to achieve their potential. ESC-NI will provide athletes with the necessary components to physically and physiologically compete on the international stage.

“Success is a journey not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome”

Mid Ulster Sports Arena

This facility at Cookstown is always somewhere we look forward to training as it has an excellent range of equipment including two platforms and Werksan bars and discs. Stefan Kerr works there as a Strength and Conditioning Coach with teams/athletes, and does the inductions for those interested in joining and using the facility on a casual basis as we do. Sports Institute Northern Ireland also use it as one of their Performance Development Centres and Ulster Rugby Academy use it regularly for pitch and gym based training. Here's a short video showing some of our training at Cookstown:

Loughgall FC Pre-Season Conditioning Session

We carried out a training session to assess player fitness prior to new-season, it also gave the players a different stimulus having the opportunity to work with qualified S&C coaches.

Warm-up:

Session aims were introduced at the beginning to both motivate and make it relevant to the players and their own goals. Emphasis on anaerobic conditioning/fitness from 5 to 40m with short but sufficient recovery times.

With limited time during a session the warm up provided the opportunity to work on mobility and develop movements patterns of the sport, with the focus on quality not speed. This included development of acceleration, deceleration, side-shuffle and back pedal.

Anaerobic conditioning involved a fitness test. It involved forward movements over a sprinting distance of 30m, backwards movements of 10m and total distance per length of 120m. The constant change of direction, which is a key element in the game, showed as a weakness in most players.

Mixing Conditioning with football skill/games brought the best out of the squad, especially after a tough testing period beforehand. Here is a video below of the some paired sprints at the end of the session...

Collected Training - 9th August 2010

New lifter to Golift is Mr Steven Hyde, an 18 year old monster. He is a 90kg rugby player but is putting in his fair share of lifting session in the off-season. Currently a 92/120 lifter but he has plenty more in the tank, as he his getting stronger at present with each session. Last night he was knackered but still hit 90/110. He was easily throwing up 120 cleans but his back not strong enough in the catch. The importance of squats is emphasised again for all athletes.

Neil had another session heading towards an 80kg snatch before his season kicks in fully. He hit 77kg which is a PB, and had an easy 102kg CJ before he had to head off for a coaching session. He has the strength and technique to hit 80/110 at the moment but his mind takes over on too many occasions. His strength work gives him a lot of confidence, so he'll keep squatting and pulling for next few weeks and the scores will come.

Robbie hit 80/110 with many misses on 85 snatch. With a new PB snatch of 84kg on Saturday, the weights will continue to go up with refining technique and postural control. 115kg CJ was a step too far last night after lifting for over 2 hours, so maybe not be 100% conditioned for big lifting sessions. More work required on strength but good to see the weights continuing to grow for all 3 of us.