Principle of Specificity: Are you training right?

Welcome to Part 3 of our Off-Season Training guide:  The Principle of Specificity of Training

The principle of specificity is deceptively simple and it drives all the gains that one makes from a strength training program. Specificity states that the body makes gains from exercise according to how the body exercises. This  principle is important because applying it correctly will allow one to have a focused, efficient, effective program that will lead to the desired gains. Failing to apply it will result in wasted energy and time, and it will result in frustration as gains do not materialize.

When developing a conditioning program, you should consider the following:

• the movements to be trained
• the muscles and joints to be trained
• the energy system(s) to be trained
• the speed of movement

Strength and conditioning programs can be designed to enhance movements that are performed in athletics. This is important because this may improve an athlete’s performance. It may do this by strengthening the movement; it may also accomplish this by allowing the athlete to practice the movement with resistance. It is also important because it can maximize an athlete’s training time and be used to help prevent injuries in the athletic event. A number of  questions should be considered to help with this:

Is the activity performed standing?
What joints perform the activity?
Do the joints work together or sequentially? If sequentially, what is the sequence of movement?
What motions are performed by each joint?

Things like workload, rest, and intensity are driven by the energy system(s) that you want to train. Energy system training is critical to improving athletic performance. Often performance is limited by your energy stores and your ability to replenish them, both of which are trainable. You can design conditioning programs to enhance the energy system(s) that are used in an athletic event. To do this, consider the following:

How long does the event last?
Is the event performed continuously? Or does the athlete get to rest?
If the event is not continuous, how much time does the athlete actually spend moving before he or she gets to rest?

Energy system training is an important consideration because it helps to dictate how much weight to use, how many repetitions to perform, and the amount of recovery time. If you are interested in increasing the stores of ATP, then training will involve heavy weight, low repetitions, and lots of rest. Glycolytic training will involve moderate reps, moderate weight, and little rest. Aerobic training means lighter weights, many repetitions, and no rest.

A final consideration with specificity concerns the velocity of movement. The gains from exercise are specific to the velocities that the exercises are performed at. If exercises are performed at slow speeds, then we become stronger at slow speeds; however, there is little transfer to faster speeds. If exercises are performed at faster speeds, then we become stronger at faster speeds. This is important for athletics because few sports are performed at slow speeds.

If one is designing a conditioning program for a sport that is performed at high speeds, then one will need to include exercises that make athletes stronger at high speeds. These include things like the variations of the Olympic-style lifts (the clean, the snatch, and the jerk), plyometric exercises, and sprints.

The principle of specificity is important because it dictates what gains are made.

Player Development and Soccer: Benefits Beyond The Pitch

What does “player development” mean? What are the goals of player development? We here at EXACT Sports think about this question all of the time (after all, it’s our job!). The way we see it is that the goal of player development generally takes two forms: 1) developing skills that allow the individual to excel in his or her sport; 2) developing characteristics in the individual that he or she can take with them beyond the sport. While EXACT is well known for its work helping athletes achieve the first goal (e.g., our work with soccer camps, baseball camps, hockey camps, our player development services provided to pro sports groups like the NHL, MLS teams, colleges, etc.), we have also spent quite a bit of time researching and providing services that support the overall healthy development of youth. In a later blog post, for instance, I’ll be sharing a summary of the research we were asked to present at the National Soccer Coaches Association of America earlier this year that discussed these issues.

This post, however, I wanted to share some really interesting research that has been coming out of the scientific journals. I thought it was very compelling and relevant to healthy youth development and it shines a positive light on the value of sports participation… particularly, participation in soccer and participation of females in soccer. In a series of articles published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, researchers found a few very interesting findings:

• For females, participation in soccer resulted in a longer-term commitment to an active lifestyle than did female participation in running/jogging. The reason for this is because soccer created a sense of community and teamwork, whereas running was a more individual-focused sport. Researchers believe the reason that females had a higher long-term commitment to soccer is because the focus of soccer was social in nature, rather than an individual mandate to “get in shape”.
• Males showed less worry when they were playing soccer than when they were running. This is particularly interesting. Soccer was more successful at making its participants feel happier, more motivated, and engaged in playing the game than running/jogging.

These are just a few choice bits of the abundance of research showing how playing sport, and soccer in particular, yields healthy benefits even beyond just the physical fitness component. I thought it was interesting to cite this new research because it dovetails with EXACT’s own work in understanding and promoting healthy youth development.

Hockey Off-Season Training: Aerobic v. Anaerobic Training

Welcome to Part 2 of our Off-Season Training guide:  Aerobic v. Anaerobic training, which should I focus on?

Your body has different energy systems that work together to fuel your hockey performance. Although hockey is primarily an anaerobic sport, a strong aerobic base allows you to work longer and at a higher intensity by postponing fatigue and allowing a speedy recovery. The aerobic system provides energy for low- and moderate- intensity exercise and helps the body recover from fatigue. For example, a 1-hr bike ride at a comfortable pace is fueled mainly by the aerobic system. Hockey is characterized by repeated bouts of high- intensity action interspersed with periods of moderate activity and rest. The aerobic energy system supplies only a small portion of the energy needed during  moderate activity, but it is critical for efficient recovery between play stoppages and during time on the bench.  Aerobic conditioning can be improved through submaximal continuous exercise and through high- intensity, intermittent exercise. Submaximal continuous exercise at 75-80 % of your maximum heart rate for 30 to 60 minutes will improve your heart’s ability to deliver oxygen to the muscles for energy and will allow the body to recover more quickly from intense efforts. Intermittent aerobic condioning, using a series of 2-3 minutes if higher intensity exercise interspersed with 2 to 3 minutes of rest builds up the aerobic supply system and increases the muscles ability to extract oxygen from the blood.

There are two different types of programs to build aerobic fitness:

1. Continuous, moderate intensity, long duration programs
2. Intervals of high intensity work followed by easy recovery intervals of 1,2, or 3 minutes grouped into various packages of time

For interval programs, the training load can be increased in a number of ways:

• Increasing the duration of work intervals from 1 to 2 to 3 minutes
• Increasing the intensity of each work interval
• Decreasing the time of the recovery interval
• Increasing the intensity of the work interval
• Increasing the number of work/recovery intervals

On the other side of things, the anaerobic systems produce energy very quickly to meet the demands of intense action, such as the slap-shot, sprinting on a breakaway, or stops-and- starts while penalty killing. These systems utilize the ATP-PC (phoshagen) system and the glycolytic system for energy. In hockey, although the game itself lasts for about an hour, the players are usually only on the ice for high- intensity shifts of approximately 30 to 45 seconds (ideally). Most teams have 3 to 4 lines, allowing for a 1:2 or 1:3 work-to-rest ratio. However, depending on the situation (e.g., penalty killing, power plays or missing player), key players often work within a 1:2 or 1:1 work-to-rest ratio. Due to the nature of hockey, it is important to train anaerobically.

The ATP-PC system provides immediate energy, in the form of ATP, for short-term, high- intensity activities for up to 10 seconds. The glycolytic system provides energy for longer high- intensity activities ranging from 10 seconds to 2 minutes. This level of training corresponds directly to the physiological requirements of the game. To develop anaerobic energy systems, we will utilize sprint interval training. These involve full-out, high- intensity, high-speed intervals followed by rest or active recovery. We will use sprints ranging from less than 10 seconds to around 30 seconds, with a 1:2 or 1:3 work-to-rest ratio. [For example, a 1:2 work-to-rest ration involves sprinting all-out for 30 seconds, active recovery for 1 minute, then sprinting full out again.] Towards the end of the training program, you should make an attempt to progress to 1:1 work-to-rest ratios, especially if you are a defenseman or part of the special team units.

7 Habits of Highly Effective Hockey Coaches

(The Role of the Coach in Player Development: Part 2 of a series of discussions on factors influencing player development)

Coaches also have the ability to significantly impact the development of their players in their chosen sport(s). As with parents, the role of the coach should be one of support and encouragement with the goal of creating a progressive (and enjoyable) learning environment that fosters continued growth and helps their athletes become better hockey players.

7 Habits of Highly Effective Hockey Coaches:

1. Be respectful: As a coach, you should lead by example. Respect your players, parents, other teams (coaches and players), officials, and most importantly, respect the game.  The coach must treat everyone with respect – and they will respect him in return. The game is much bigger than you, and its your honesty and integrity that will get you much farther in life than sacrificing them in order to win games.

2. Be fair and compassionate: Remember that the game is about the players, not about you. As a coach, it is your duty to coach every player on team, not just the better players.  Follow this simple rule and your players (and subsequently your team) will benefit greater in the long run.  Every player on the team is important to success of the team and they will contribute at some point, if given the opportunity.  Similarly, rules are rules and they should apply to everyone on the team.

3. Be patient and encouraging:  Effective coaches learn to continually project a positive and upbeat attitude. If not, your players will eventually catch on and begin to losing their joy for the game. Part of becoming patient involves your ability to show tolerance, understanding, perseverance and consistence. Good coaches truly care for their players and enjoy seeing their progress.

4. Be a student of the game: As a coach, you are an educator. To become an effective educator, you should be passionate about the game and strive to immerse yourself in the game. Coaches should be willing to learn, to experiment and to make mistakes (and learn from them). Every time you step on the ice, you should be willing and able to learn something new from your players.

5. Be flexible: Great coaches demonstrate flexibility and an openness to change. Flexibility can be regarded as the ability to remain strong in your convictions while yielding to some lesser issues or points.

6. Be a positive role model: Coaches should model the behavior they expect out of their athletes — “walk your talk”. Show your players how to be humble, respectful, honest, secure, passionate and confident.  You will be surprised at how well they will develop, not only as players, but as people if you create the appropriate environment for them to learn in.

7. Be a good communicator: In order to impart your knowledge and love for the game, you must be able to communicate effectively with your team. For this to happen, you need to understand that not all players will respond to criticism and praise in the same way, nor do all players learn in the same way. The development of an effective communication strategy begins with getting to know your players, understanding how each player learns, and then adapting your style/method of delivery to suit each player’s individual needs.

When you agree to become a hockey coach, you accept a responsibility to be true to the game and be true to the players you coach. It is your duty to create an environment that pushes every one of your players to strive to become the best that they can be.  Think back to your childhood and remember all of the coaches and teachers who had, both positive and negative, influences on your growth and development (as a hockey player and as an individual), and utilize those experiences to help you become a better person, a better educator and a better coach.

Stay tuned for the next post looking at the Players Role in His/Her Own Development.