Strength and Conditioning Resistance Session Blog

Upon hearing I had a placement with Leeds Beckett University Talent Hub, my initial response was excitement, quickly followed by panic. What do I know about working with elite athletes? Time to check out the England Athletics website (England Athletics, NGB).

My goal was to find out about exercises included in Strength and Conditioning sessions. Thankfully, the England Athletics webinar on Strength and Conditioning (Mitchell & Drake, 2020) did exactly that. My goal was to demonstrate using larger muscle groups and adapt these exercises to the needs of the athletes.

In reality, the webinar helped me achieve my goal, as I learnt about key movements in Strength and Conditioning. Typically, sessions include compound movements; squats, core conditioning and plyometric training. Focussing on training larger (core) muscle groups requires exercises such as squats, lunges, snatches, clean and press, leg extensions and leg curls. Visually demonstrating and determining which skill the athlete needs to see from different angles allows athletes to see them in more detail (Wrisberg, 2007). Any session must also include the key coaching points of exercises and plenty of repetition because athletes learn by doing (Race, 2005).

Planning options became challenging because a gym environment was not available. Time to put STEP (Black & Stevenson, 2011) (Space, task, equipment, people) principles into practise. With furniture out of the way, the space was big enough for the session and felt inclusive to watching athletes as I was at home and so were they. It took creative thinking to plan which equipment to use. Using things that athletes would have at home such as dumbbells, resistance bands and a broom handle was straight forward enough, but other options were needed. Without dumbbells, athletes could use water bottles or a rolled up towel instead of a resistance band. Giving time options was easier as athletes were instructed to do reduced or increased numbers of reps and sets. The session was relevant to the athletes as they typically do Strength and Conditioning sessions as part of their training each week.

On playing the video back, it became clear that in future sessions, positioning of each exercise needs to be correct, as a couple of points were demonstrated at the wrong angles. If athletes are asked to do a lunge with their leg at 90 degrees, it helps if the coach’s leg is actually at that angle too.

References

Black, K. & Stevenson, P. (2011) The Inclusion Spectrum Framework.

England Athletics (NGB)

Mitchell, D. & Drake, A. (2020) Endurance S&C Basic Principles with Dane Mitchell (Leeds Talent Hub S&C Coach) & Andi Drake [Online]. England Athletics. Available from: < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GI9GOM2vKg&t=2s>.

Race, P. (2005) Making Learning Happen: A Guide for Post-Compulsory Education. Thousand Oaks, CA: Paul Chapman Pub. / Sage Publications.

Wrisberg, C. A. (2007) Sport Skill Instruction for Coaches. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.