Program Design

Program Design Overview

  • Presented by Dr. Williams, Department of Nutrition, Food & Exercise Science

Program Design Considerations

  1. Needs Analysis

  2. Exercise Selection

  3. Training Frequency

  4. Exercise Order

  5. Training Load, Repetitions, and Volume

  6. Rest Periods

1. Needs Analysis

  • Bioenergetics of Sport

    • Understanding energy systems utilized in various sports.

  • Movements of Sport

    • Analyzing common injury patterns within sports (e.g., groin injury in soccer players).

  • Athlete Assessment

    • Background factors influencing training including training status and injury history.

2. Exercise Selection - Considerations

  • Power Exercises

    • Focus on most appropriate compound strength exercises.

    • Full squat vs half squat for specific positions (e.g., defensive back).

  • Core Stability and Assistance Exercises

    • Include exercises tailored to support core stability.

  • Sport-Specific Exercises

    • Target movements relevant to specific sports.

  • Muscle Balance

    • Ensuring balanced muscle development.

  • Recovery Exercises

    • Implement exercises aimed at recovery.

Essential Exercises that Should be in Every Program

  • Simultaneous Knee and Hip Extension

    • Activities like jumps and Olympic lifts, performed explosively.

  • Key Movements

    • Lunge

    • Squat (Single Leg & Bilateral)

    • Deadlift (Single Leg & Bilateral)

    • Step-up

    • Upper Body Movements:

      • Vertical Pull

      • Horizontal Pull

      • Pressing Movements

  • Core Exercises

    • Anti-rotation, extension, lateral flexion.

  • Posterior Chain Exercises

3. Training Frequency

  • By Sport Season

    • Off-season allows for more training opportunities.

    • In-season training frequency (2-3 times a week; optimally 2).

  • Training Status

    • Untrained individuals require less frequency for improvement, while advanced athletes need more frequent stimulation.

  • Exercise Type Recovery

    • Upper body muscles recover quicker, especially the upper back.

    • Multi-joint exercises introduce more muscle damage than single joint exercises.

    • Posterior chain work can cause increased muscle soreness.

4. Exercise Order for a Single Workout Session

  • Recommended Order:

    1. Sprint/Agility Exercises

    2. Power Exercises (most sensitive to fatigue, requiring peak skill and concentration)

    3. Large Compound Movements (e.g., squat, deadlift, bench press, shoulder press)

    4. Single Joint Exercises

    5. Energy System Development (ESD) Work

5. Training Load, Repetitions, and Volume

  • The relationship of volume and load is inverse:

    • As volume increases, load decreases.

  • Prescribing Load: Most common methods include:

    1. Percentages based on 1RM (e.g., 85% of Max). Regular testing essential.

    2. Velocity-Based Training (load based on movement speed).

    3. Auto-regulation (periodic testing of 1RM needed).

  • Strategy for Load Adjustments:

    • Consistent monitoring of each athlete’s response to workouts is necessary for progression in loads.

Programming – Volume Example

  • Macrocycle = 1 Month

    • Novice: Cycle 1 -> 800 reps, Cycle 2 -> 880 reps, Cycle 3 -> 960 reps, Cycle 4 (Preseason) -> 720 reps.

    • Advanced: Similar structure with higher total reps per cycle.

  • Example of a 4-Year Plan for High School Athlete:

    • Yearly progression outlined from Cycle 1 to Cycle 4 with increasing volume per year.

6. Rest Periods

  • Different goals dictate rest times:

    • Muscular Endurance: 2 to 5 min

    • Hypertrophy: 50 s to 1.5 min

    • Power: 2 to 5 min

    • Strength: 2 to 5 min

Prilepin’s Chart

  • Reps per Optimal Percent of 1RM, range of sets:

    • 55%-65%: 3-6 reps, Total Reps 24, Optimal range 18-30

    • 70%-80%: 3-6 reps, Total Reps 18, Optimal range 12-24

    • 80%-90%: 2-4 reps, Total Reps 15, Optimal range 10-20

    • 90%: 1-2 reps, Total Reps 7, Optimal range 4-10

Wisdom for Programming

  • Macrocycle Volume:

    • Keep adjustments <10% monthly, and seek to balance load across sessions.

  • Limit power work to <25 reps/exercise and strength work to <35 reps/exercise.

  • Moderate workout range: 50-100 reps; tough workouts: 100-150 reps.

  • Deloads: Typically occur in the fourth week with a <25% volume reduction.

  • Lengthy Progression:

    • Increase intensity over weeks, with the fourth week having reduced weight.

  • In the event of personal records (PRs), stop the exercise and move to the next.

  • Suggested pairing of cleans/presses and squats/snatches across different days.