Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

Athletic readiness is the extent by which athletes perform at a high level without injury. Maximal readiness comes from carefully planned strength and conditioning programs. Assuming the needs of the sport have been identified, planning an effective program involves sequential development of the macrocycle, mesocycles, microcycles, and of course, the actual workouts.

The macrocycle is the annual plan, giving the view of a coach observing from the skybox (Figure below). Mesocycles are what a fan would see from the lower deck. They are smaller blocks of training typically lasting approximately two or more weeks. The coaches and players see a closer view from the sideline. That’s the microcycle, which may range from a few days to approximately two weeks. The microcyle is composed of actual workouts.

The full-body workout is one type of session commonly used by strength & conditioning professionals. Developing an adequate full-body workout involves important decisions about exercise selection. Below is a list of five types of exercises that every full-body workout should have:

• Explosive
• Lower Body Strength
• Posterior Chain
• Upper Body Pulling
• Upper Body Pushing

Explosive

Explosive exercises are not necessary for general populations but they are integral to most sports. They are exercises characterized by ballistic movements using body weight resistance (e.g. plyometrics), light loads (e.g. medicine ball scoop throws), or even heavy weights (e.g. cleans). These exercises are meant to be performed by contracting the muscles (i.e. moving the resistance) as fast as possible through the entire range of motion without slowing down.

Lower Body Strength

Lower body strength exercises involve extension actions at the ankle, knee, and hip. These exercises can be performed unilaterally (e.g. step-up) or bilaterally (e.g. back squat).

Although effective, bilateral lower body strength exercises tend to activate the quadriceps muscles to a greater extent than the hamstring and gluteal muscle groups, which can lead to what many call “quad-dominance.” Quad-dominance is measured by quadriceps to hamstring strength ratios. A high quadriceps to hamstring ratio is associated with chronic low back pain (due to anterior pelvic tilt) and ACL injury. Choosing unilateral exercises, such as lunges, step-ups, or split squats, may alleviate this problem to a small extent, but they are still quad-dominant in nature.

Posterior Chain

To overcome chronic overdevelopment of the quadriceps muscles compared to hamstring muscles, every lower body strength exercise should be complemented by a posterior chain exercise. Posterior chain exercises, such as the Romanian deadlift, engage the hamstrings, gluteal, and low back muscles.

Upper Body Push / Pull

There is one small problem. Many posterior chain exercises fail to adequately stress the muscles over time. For example, once an athlete gets good at physioball leg curls, the exercise will no longer pose a significant demand on the muscles to further develop them. Therefore, coaches should choose posterior chain exercises that can be progressed (i.e. using progressively greater loads) over time. Good choices may be the Romanian dead lift, medicine ball glute-ham raises, and machine leg curls.

Pairing upper body pushing (e.g. dumbbell bench press) with pulling (e.g. lat pulldown) exercises in every full-body workout insures development of the entire upper body.

One common problem occurs when a greater emphasis is placed on upper body pushing exercises, in terms of both volume and intensity. Equal emphasis should be placed on the upper body pulling exercises. Better upper body pulling exercises are those that can be progressed through time (e.g. weighted pull-up or dumbbell row), and Trayn makes it easy for coaches to add their own exercises:

A coach can never go wrong when a full-body workout includes all five of the aforementioned types of exercises. They serve as bare-minimum for exercise selection, particularly when time is limited. Longer workouts can be designed as long as the volume and intensity of posterior chain and upper body pulling exercises match that of the lower body strength and upper body pushing exercises, respectively.

Create a well-balanced full-body workout with Trayn: request an invite.