Considerations and interventions to consider in a structured strength & conditioning training program
There are many approaches to training and how to exercise to improve someone’s overall health and performance. There is so much individuality to consider with programming and coaching.
I personally like to apply a strength & conditioning approach to my clients training, because athletes are the best movers in the world, are often viewed to have optimal health and have to perform physically and cognitively at a high output consistently. So, their approach to training, how they manage load, what they work on, how they recover etc are all things we can learn from and apply to everyone who’s looking to perform at a high level on a consistent basis.
When looking to create a structured training program for clients I’ll ask and consider many things such as:
Where is someone’s starting point, what’s their training history, how well do they move, do they have any limitations, what is their attitude to exercise/training, do they enjoy exercise, do they dislike exercises, do they have any injuries, what are their past injuries, what are their actual goals? Is there a big disparity between what their goals are and what they currently need. What are the key KPI’s to measure, what does their current lifestyle afford them when it comes to training from a time and energy perspective etc.
So many different things to consider and apply. But regardless of that, I’ll take all of those into consideration and from a physical perspective, there will be certain physical qualities I’d them to work towards.
When structuring programs, over time I like to build towards clients (whether athletes or non-athletes) being able to:
Be able to produce force at multiple different velocities, in multiple different directions. So being able to produce a very high amount of force in whatever time it takes to being able to produce a lot of force in a short space of time, in different planes of motion, since we are 3-dimension beings.
Build tolerance to handle external load. Being able to move and eccentrically control a certain amount of weight in comparison to body weight as it means their overall system can handle external stress from a neural and structural perspective.
Build strength in fundamental movement patterns. There are usually some fundamental movements that humans can do that building strength in them with the right ratios builds strength around multiple joints and muscles in a balanced way. Those movement patterns are, squat, hinge, lunge, push (horizontal and vertical), pull (horizontal and vertical)
Develop motor skills, like stability & proprioception. So having people being able to stabilise their joints appropriately, especially in single limb movements and being able to produce movements efficiently through the right firing patterns, so full range of motion movements without compensation.
Disassociate limbs from their trunk. So this means being able to move from the hips and the shoulders without compensation around the lumbar spine and thoracic spine. Usually, a lack of mobility around the joint and a lack of strength & functionality at particular muscles will cause this.
Have control around their spine and trunk. So being able to stabilise the spine and be able to move the spine in multiple movements like flexion, extension, lateral flexion, rotation.
I’ll take all the considerations mentioned previously into account and then start to create a plan that can help individuals work towards the above in a safe and sustainable way.
Athletes should definitely be looking to develop the above as it helps them develop physical qualities and skills that help them perform. But I also like to apply this to all my clients as I believe working towards the above helps develop people to:
- Have high physical outputs
- Tolerate high external stress (so desensitising the whole nervous system)
- Reducing the potential risk of injury through, creating strong quality movement in multiple directions, developing muscles and tendons that have high stress resilience.