Guest Blog by TrueFitness – Training for your Sport

Today I would like to discuss the importance on training for your sport based around the parameters of your sport. Although your sport may be similar in nature to other sports such as Rugby is similar to Australian Rules Football and softball is similar to baseball, they are in fact different sports with different requirements and as such each sport will require a different training protocol for improvement in that sport. This will be broken down even more into the different requirements of each position in each sport and then further broken down into the needs of the individual athlete and their necessary improvements per the individual athlete.

When deciding on the protocols for a training program a good sports performance coach will take in to account the rest to work ratio, as well as the power, agility, strength and aerobic conditioning components of the sport.  Each one of these components will change the necessities of the program.  Each one is equally as important in the grand scheme of a team program but when we take in to account the demands of individual positions we need to start adding variables that affect that individual position.

Rest to Work ratio is the component that I will mainly focus on today.  This is the component that is most prevalent for the whole team.  Generally, sport is not all out all the time.  There are built in rest periods.  For hockey it is a shift change when an athlete sits on the bench.  This is considered full rest.  Rugby has more of an active rest where although not sitting down a lull in the action or awaiting the scrum gives an athlete a chance to recover and catch their breath.  We need to take into account how much rest opportunity is available to each sport and then down to each individual position.  For a wide receiver in football the rest is different than a defensive lineman.  Where as a wide receiver can end up 50 yards down the field, a defensive lineman will normally be within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage.  The lineman will have a longer rest period as he awaits the next play.  A wide receiver will generally be using more of active rest as they run to and from the huddle and then perform the called play.  These variables need to be accounted for when training is based around rest to work ratios.

To train based around rest to work ratios a coach must simply take the average length of a play, burst of action or line shift.  This determines our work aspect of the rest to work ratio.   From there factor in how long the player can await the next play, walk, jog or wait to be called back in.  This is the rest aspect of the rest to work ratio.  If we know the average we can then have our athletes give maximal effort for the work portion and then have them perform the type of rest their position calls for, either full or active.  By doing this we are programming our athletes to be completely game ready all the way down to how they recover.  This will allow our athletes to become prepared for game ready conditioning which gives our athletes the advantage when its time for game ready sports performance.

Rest to work ratio training is very important when deciding the program for a team and an individual athlete.  With a little bit of research on the dynamics of any sport a good sports performance coach can properly prepare their athletes to be at their best come game time.  All one needs to do is learn the rest to work ratio of the sport and then apply it to their training program.  This will bring about a game ready athlete with the ability to maximize their sports performance.

Anyone in the San Diego area is welcome to drop in at our studio at 2949 Garnet Ave. 3^rd floor, Pacific Beach, CA.  We would love to put you through our workout.   Please feel free to call or email Annalise Evans of TrueFitness with any questions:    (760) 809 1848 annalise@truefitness.biz and join her fan page on Facebook: TrueFitness Annalise Evans

Article written by Spencer Aiken, CSCS, CEO, TrueFitness