The Importance of Training Throughout the Competition Season

When athletes and parents think about speed, agility and strength training many of them think about the months leading up to the sport itself. This, in fact, is an important time to think about the preparation for the competition season in all aspects of athleticism. However, what about during the season? Is there any merit in training throughout the competition season?

Below, I will outline 3 reasons why it is important to continue training throughout the competition season itself and how it will help you maintain an edge over the competition.

The first idea to note when discussing in-season training is that it should look dramatically different than the training you did in preparation for the season. When you are working with a sports performance, strength and conditioning, or skill/position coach you should discuss their strategy for transition when you begin to move into competition. There should be a difference in everything from the warm up to the cool down.

Now, here are 3 reasons why you should continue your strength and conditioning work throughout the season.

Maintain the gains you made throughout the off-season

You worked for many months during the off-season to gain strength and improve your speed and conditioning qualities. These are qualities that may not be tested each and every day throughout the season so in order to maintain your off-season gains you must continue to train them.

As I mentioned earlier, your in-season programs should not look the same as your off-season programs. Research shows that you can maintain speed qualities for up to 5 days and strength qualities for up to 15 days between training sessions [1]. This means that if you can find time to train once per week in order to fine tune speed mechanics then you can maintain your abilities. Similarly, you can maintain your max strength by training absolute strength abilities at least one time every two weeks. Now, I am not condoning that you scrap all strength training except for one day of the month. This would create a high level of soreness after that one training day, which we know is undesirable during the season. What I am say is, we can place less focus on the strength work and focus more on speed and power training during the strength training workouts.

Help to prevent injuries

We know that strength training helps to prevent injuries [3]. This reduction in injury risk is due to stronger muscle fibers, proper balance within opposing muscle groups, and stronger connective tissue structures (tendons, ligaments). Continued strength training throughout the season will help to maintain this resiliency throughout the season.

This idea also ties in with the first discussed reason for in-season training. As we train throughout the off-season we increase our strength, power, and speed. We then enter the pre-season with this newly developed strength, power and speed. We begin to get accustom to playing with this on our side allowing us to run faster, jump higher and all with less effort. If we do not continue our speed and strength training, then slowly our strength and speed capacities begin to diminish. Our body is not aware of this loss in ability and tries to compete at the same level that we did in the pre-season. As our body begins to push its limit we increase the risk of injury, similar to a car red-lining as it accelerates from a stopped position. This may be okay once or twice, however, if you do it regularly you are bound for problems.

Be prepared for the most important time of the year, playoff time

As mentioned above, the longer that you are away from your strength program the greater of a decrease in strength and speed you will see. Unfortunately, this occurs just as you are making your way to the playoffs in your sport. At the time of year when it is most crucial to give your best performance you are at your least optimal physical condition.

As mentioned earlier in the article, in-season training does not need to be as long or intense as the training that occurs prior to the season. The training that occurs in-season should center on fine-tuning mechanics, maintaining strength and speed characteristics and addressing any mobility or flexibility issues that arise along the way. After all, it is most important that we are in our best physical shape when it counts… the post season!

References

[1] Issurin, V. (2010) New Horizons for the Methodology and Physiology of Training Periodization. – Sports Med, 40: 189-206

[2] Askling C, Karlsson J & Thorstensson A. (2003). Hamstring Injury Occurrence in Elite Soccer Players after Preseason Strength Training with Eccentric Overload. Scandinavian Journal of Med & Sci in Sports, 13(4): 244-250

[3] Fleck SJ & Falkel JE. (1986). Value of Resistance Training for the Reduction of Sports Injuries. Sports Med, 3(1): 61-68.