Staying Integrated In-Season Part I: The Problem

Fall is here. 

All of the hard work and focus you’ve invested over the past year is going to pay off big. You wanted to be stronger and faster than ever before. You may be recovering from an injury or are intent on preventing major injuries down the road. Finally the opportunity to truly test yourself and reap the benefits of your investment has arrived. You are trading in the weights for the ball, stick, or racquet. Here’s the problem with that: your season is a marathon - not a sprint - with increasing demands on your body and your system over the course of a season. 

As your conditioning continues to improve through live practices and games, your strength and functionality will gradually decrease with every day you choose to avoid an in-season strength maintenance program. The repetitive nature of your sport and position will tilt you in the direction of overuse of either

a) overuse injury 

b) potential for season ending/pausing acute injury

c) inefficiency and diminishing performance or even worse,

d) a combination of all. 

But coach, I now have school, homework , practice, competition and would like a few moments to relax with my friends each week. There’s no time left to train.