Two weeks ago I published Part One of this interview. We discussed basic strength exercises. In this part we discuss the athlete profile and some power movements.
For power type movements what exercises are performed?
Wow – I could go on forever with this response!
I am a firm believer of maintaining some form of explosive / power work throughout the whole year. Sport is a dynamic, explosive beast and we must continue to work this quality. Saying that, the emphasis I place on the explosive / power movements will vary as the year changes through the training phases. For example- in the general preparation / off season I may maintain 2 or 3 power exercises over the week (for eg – Power Cleans, Drop Jumps, Bench Throws) where as during the comp season I may retain 1 or 2 strength lifts as maintenance, and the remainder of the program will be power or velocity based movements.
Exercises I will use most often – obviously the Olympic lifts and their variations as I outlined above, Jump squats – both loaded and unloaded BB countermovement and static squat jumps – depending on the sport or position within the sport (eg – volleyball Middle Blockers will use static squat jumps, passer/hitters for countermovement jumps), Loaded Smith Machine Bench Throws, Dynamic push ups, dynamic chin ups… I use a lot of Medicine ball throws (this list is endless!) and contrast movements in specific preparation phases (eg : Bench Press followed by a standing med ball chest press, or heavy pullovers into soccer throw ins or squats followed by box jumps).
To train the reactive element I will use reactive jumps – so drop jumps with various rebounds, and from various heights.
Does the AIS have a preferred female athlete profile – with respects to BW vs squat vs bench-press vs deadlift vs body-fat composition – as an example.
No. This is very much dependant on the sport they play, even the position / event within that sport they play, and then down to the individuals own physical characteristics.
Ultimately, in my opinion, it comes down to answering this question – Are the physical characteristics (body composition, strength, power, fitness, speed, flexibility etc) that this athlete possesses optimal for that particular athlete to succeed at their sport at the highest level possible? If not, what do we need to tweak to obtain that level?
Individual sports may have their preferred skinfold ratios –from my experiences with Men’s Volleyball we have said that all our Snr Aus team to be within 40-50mm skinfold (sum7) range as excess body fat significantly increases the risk of injury to these already at risk guys (due to the really high jump volume they already do).
With netball we are less strict with a specific range, and work more along the lines of “can they use what they’ve got efficiently, and is it optimal”. And there is usually a whole range with those girls between needing to increase muscle mass, maintain what they’ve got and become more efficient at using it, and those who need to decrease body fat.
In terms of strength levels… very general aims for my netballers that I put together last year (which was a 6 month program with high travel components): please note level 2 are 2nd year athletes, level 1 are first year athletes. And please note this was my first year with these girls and this sport:
Hang Clean
• Lv2 0.75BW by July
• Lv 1 technically satisfactory – focus on start position, jump shrug and progress to hang clean aiming for 0.5BW
Back Squat
• Lv 2 1 – 1.25BW by July
• Lv 1 technically satisfactory – then 0.75 – 1BW by July
Bench Press
• Lv 2 0.75BW by July
• Lv 1 0.50BW by July
Bench Pull
• As above for bench press for both groups
Chin Ups
• All athletes able to do @ least 3 full rep BW chin up
Push Ups
• Lv 2 min. 5reps with 10kg vest/plate
• Lv1 min. 5reps with 5kg vest / plate
Keep in mind that is just the world according to me – based on nothing scientific, just 8 years in the industry working with elite and sub elite athletes, and what levels I felt would be challenging but not unreasonably demanding on these particular group of girls and create a good base to build on for subsequent years. Guaranteed it will not be the same for the girls coming in this time around – completely different athletes and levels!
Next week, is the last part of this series.
FEB