In-season Strength &

Conditioning
Mitch Hauschildt,

MA, ATC, CSCS

Prevention, Rehab, & Physical Performance Coordinator

Strength & Conditioning Coach, Men
Mens & Woman
Womans Basketball
Missouri State University
Founder, Maximum Training Solutions, LLC
Springfield, Missouri

In-season Programs
InIn-season training programs are meant to be
extensions of offoff-season programs

If there isn
isnt a base level of training in the offoffseason, inin-season training will break many
athletes down
Strength training is important for today
todays game
Will not interfere with shooting if athlete continues
to shoot during periods of training
May increase shooting accuracy late in games as
athletes will be accustomed to shooting while
fatigued

Goals:

Sustain offoff-season gains

Promote recovery/regeneration
Train areas of need which aren
arent being met during
sport workouts

Presentation Disclaimers
Though I have worked with a variety of
athletes of all ages and abilities, daily I
train DI college athletes

I will do my best to relate methodology to your

high school athletes
Keep in mind that strength and conditioning is
about creating athletes not necessarily
basketball players

In order to understand in-season training,

we must first understand the basis of offseason training

Athletic Continuum
Traditional Approach to Player Development
Poor

Elite

i.e. Overweight youth soccer player,

Post Surgical Athlete

Sports Medicine

Olympic Gold Medalist,

NFL Pro Bowl

Strength & Conditioning

What about the athletes in the Middle?

A Medical Approach
There is obviously a lot of crossover between
injury factors and performance factors.
It only makes sense to integrate injury
prevention with strength and conditioning
models
Our athletes will never fully realize their potential
until the sports medicine and strength and
conditioning staffs become seamless and work
together in every aspect of player development

Training Program
What am I trying to develop with my
training program?
Big, Strong Players
Or

Great Athletes

Great Athlete

Physical Competence is defined as efficiency of movement throughout the

entire kinetic chain regardless of the skill being executed
executed (Giles, 2000)

Athletic Movement
Strength/Power - Basis of all athletic movement; athletes will ALWAYS
sacrifice quality of motion for quantity of motion; avoid imbalances
imbalances

Core Stability - Evaluate Strength v. Stability

Motor Control - 90%+ of sports performance enhancement; muscle

firing sequences are extremely important; look at infant learning

learning patterns for
clues

Speed/Acceleration - Combination of multiple factors to move

through leg cycle very quickly

Deceleration - Ability to slow the body under control & absorb force

Agility - Efficiency of movement; keep weight inside; build desirable

motor programs

Mobility - Ability to move joint through a ROM while keeping the body
biomechanically correct
Biomechanics - Athlete
Athletes bodily structure which may or may not be
advantageous to athletic movement

Athletic Movement
Research with European Soccer Academy athletes
demonstrates 4 major limitations for athletic
performance (Giles 2007)
Flexibility

1.

2.

Lack of flexibility has the greatest negative influence on

progress across all exercise schemes and progressions

Inefficient Running Action

3.

Poor running mechanics for agility, acceleration, and

maximum velocity is 2nd on the list; it is heavily influenced by
flexibility

Deceleration/Shock Absorption

4.

The ability to land efficiently during jumping activities or

brake
brake during change of direction work

Poor Exercise Technique

Quality and control of movement must be a priority

Evaluation
Any quality strength and conditioning
program must begin with a good
evaluationIf we dont know our athletes,
we cant prescribe accurate workouts

Traditional Performance Measures

Biomechanical Analysis
A sports car with a flat tire won
wont drive well
Must fix faulty movement patterns prior to training
for performance enhancement

Hop, Stop, & Leap

Athlete
Athletes ability to absorb force and decelerate
under control

Program Design
Program Design starts with looking at the
common needs of your athletes to
establish your team program(s)

Based on evaluation
Needs of sport
Gender
Maturity level
Years of experience
Preventable injuries

Program Design
Age

1111-14: Emphasize Core Stability and

Controlling Body Weight
1414-18: More Emphasis on Power
Development
18 and up: Address specifics of athlete and
sport

Gender

Female: Emphasize Hip Strength and

Proprioception of Lower Body

Weekly Layout
Attempt to split workouts up

speed day, agility day, conditioning day

Total Body Lift everyday

Emphasize specific muscle groups on certain

days, but perform total body lift everyday

Perform some power exercise(s) daily

Olympic Lifts

Utilize Core Stability exercises daily

Order of Progression
Always utilize proper warmwarm-up
Follow warmwarm-up with exercises that are the most
demanding on the Neuromuscular system and
progress

WarmWarm-up
Stability/Proprioception
Stability/Proprioception
Speed/Agility
Power
Strength
Conditioning
Flexibility

Program Design
Once the basic team program(s)
program(s) are
established, we are obligated to correct
deficiencies
Initiate daily workouts with corrective exercises

Pick one or two areas of emphasis to correct faulty

movement patterns
By correcting problems at the beginning of the
workout, the athlete will be more likely to maintain the
more desirable pattern
Should take no more than 5 minutes
Very large topic that is beyond this presentation

Program Design
By compiling performance
information with injury
prevention factors we can
establish guidelines for a
medically based
performance enhancement
program

Used performance research

combined with subjective
clinical information from sports
medicine professionals

Program Design
4 Priority Levels
1. Biomechanics, Mobility
2. Planting/Cutting/Running Technique,
Landing Technique/Deceleration
3. Core Stability, Asymmetries, Glute
Strength, Neuromuscular Control,
Proprioception
4. Hip Abductor Strength, Eccentric
Strength

Program Design
Level 1

Top Priority
Biomechanics will be addressed as needed following evaluation
Mobility is a MUST daily yearyear-round
Begin workouts with dynamic mobility warmup and end with static
flexibility (5 sec. hold x 10 reps per stretch)

Level 2

Very High Priority

Plant/Cutting Technique and Deceleration/Landing Technique
should be emphasized daily during an offseason workout
Keep in mind, however, that strength is the fundamental basis of
athletic movement. Without a basic level of strength, these
exercises will be difficult to master (young athletes).
Guideline: 3+ units
units per workout
Keep in mind, this is a technique period

Program Design
Level 3

High Priority
Core Stability
Asymmetries
Glute Strength
Neuromuscular Control
Proprioception

Factors should be strong components which are added and/or

combined with other exercises so that each factor is addressed in
in at
least 22-3 units
units daily

Level 4

Moderate Priority
Hip Abductor Strength
Eccentric Strength

Factors should be components which are added to approximately 606090% of workouts

Functional
Functional multimulti-joint exercises which combine the upper and
lower extremities will address multiple factors simultaneously and
and
replicate sporting activities

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Sample Workout

Sample Workout
Day 1

Day 2

Level 1

Mobility/Flexibility addressed
pre & post workout

Level 2 (3+ units)

Mobility/Flexibility addressed
pre & post workout

Level 2 (3+ units)

Level 3 (2(2-3+ units)

Movement Skills = 5

Level 3 (2(2-3+ units)

Movement Skills = 4

Core Stability = 4
Asymmetries = 3
Glute Strength = 4
Neuromuscular Control = 6
Proprioception = 3

Level 4 (1(1-2 units)

Hip Abductor Strength = 2
Eccentric Strength = 1

Level 1

Core Stability = 7
Asymmetries = 3
Glute Strength = 4
Neuromuscular Control = 5
Proprioception = 3

Level 4 (1(1-2 units)

Hip Abductor Strength = 3
Eccentric Strength = 1

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Sample Workout
1 Unit = 1 exercise

Must have the ability to periodize and adjust sets and

reps for various times throughout the year
Units
Units offer the ability to do that while working within
model

Unit guidelines are just that

thatguidelines

There will be certain times during the year which you

may not perform as much movement based exercise
or split workouts
That
Thats fine, but the more you can stick to the guidelines
during the year, the more success your athletes will
experience

Strength Training
There is a multitude of information on strength
program design
Equal volume of pushing and pulling exercises
should be performed in each workout to avoid
asymmetries
Perform Single Leg movements to reduce right or
left side imbalances and improve proprioception
Perform Double Leg movement to produce power
Focus on Functional Strength

Pushup allow scapula to move more naturally than

bench press
Movements which link the upper and lower extremity
during the movement
i.e. DB Combo I & II, Multidirectional Lunge, T Pushup,
Lunge w/ Twist

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Strength Training
There MUST be a progression with
exercises to allow the athlete to develop
the motor control needed to learn the
movement patterns

Keep in mind how the body learns

movements (infant movement skills) and
keep them in mind when teaching your
athletes
If a verbal cue fails to fix the problem, you
must figure out a way to break down the
movement to allow the body to learn it in
segments

Transition Exercises

Following mobility warmwarmup, begin workout by
targeting specific muscles
which will help the athlete
maintain a
biomechanically correct
position during the rest of
the workout

Miniband Sidestep
Hip Abductor/Glute
Abductor/Glute Firing

Single Leg Bridge

Glute Firing

Active Flexibility for Hip
Flexors

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Unit Rich Exercises

Exercises which combines
mobility, proprioception,
proprioception,
and glute and abductor
firing into one exercise.
Single Leg SquatSquat-Off Box

Increase box height as they

improve
Add med ball press, cable
resistance, unstable surface
to increase difficulty and
core stability

Unit Rich Exercises

DB Combo I

A great functional total

body exercise

DB Combo II

More advanced
version of the Combo
exercise

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Unit Rich Exercises

Standing Cable Row

Functional Back Exercise

that integrates core
development

Single Arm Cable Row w/

Rotation

More advanced version

that integrates rotational
core stability

Eccentric Training
RDL

Functional Eccentric
Hamstring
Promotes low back
strength

Good Morning

Similar movement, but

bar in different position

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Core Stability
Core Stability

DrawDraw-in is the basic innerinner-unit contraction

Once DrawDraw-in is mastered, integrate it with Medicine
Ball workouts and Stability Ball Exercises
Unstable surfaces force core to initiate contraction & fire the
abdominal layers in the proper sequence

After innerinner-unit stabilization is mastered, encourage

athletes to perform workouts without the aid of a belt
Firing sequence is extremely important
Core must fire prior to other athletic movements
If it doesn
doesnt fire first, synergistic dominance of hip flexors will
oftentimes take place in an effort to stabilize the core

Flexibility
Research shows that the most flexibility gains
are made post workout

Flexibility is a neuromuscular response, thus gains

are made when the nervous system is fatigued and is
easily turned off
Stretches performed in short, repeated bouts are
most effective (10 x 5 sec.)

Work hard to make athletes understand the

importance of this time and to take it seriously

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In-Season Programs
Gradually taper training when preseason begins

OffOff-season Lift 4 days/week

PrePre-season Lift 3 days/week
InIn-season Lift 2 days/week

Keep in mind that 90%+ of what we do is

Nervous system based

Focus on neuromuscular development by reminding

reminding
the body how to do what you want without over taxing
the system
Keep movement skills training to a minimum,
performing 55-10 minutes 22-3x/week as a transition
from warmup to practice
Keeps movement techniques fresh and gets nervous system
firing prior to workout

In-Season Programs
Focus on what athletes do not get during their
basketball workout

During practice and games, athletes get plenty of

muscular endurance
Focus on strength and power training
Keep volumes low, high intensity
2-4 sets of 33-5 reps, 8585-95% 1 RM

Athletes perform lots of jumping

Limit plyometrics during season
Focus on landing technique and quickness with low level
plyos

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In-Season Programs
Use the same unit
unit guidelines as
with offoff-season program spread out
over a week
weeks workouts

Workout should be limited to 3030-40

minutes
Keep exercises familiar to your athletes
Motor learning doesn
doesnt take place while
athletes are fatigued

Vary exercises to prevent plateaus and

boredom

Sample Workout

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Sample Workout
Day 1

Day 2

Level 1

Mobility/Flexibility addressed
pre & post workout

Level 2 (3+ units/wk.)

Mobility/Flexibility addressed
pre & post workout

Level 2 (3+ units/wk.)

Level 3 (2(2-3+ units/wk.)

Addressed @ Practice

Level 3 (2(2-3+ units/wk.)

Address @ Practice

Core Stability = 5
Asymmetries = 3
Glute Strength = 2
Neuromuscular Control = 2
Proprioception = 1

Level 4 (1(1-2 units/wk.)

Hip Abductor Strength = 1
Eccentric Strength = 1

Level 1

Core Stability = 5
Asymmetries = 4
Glute Strength = 3
Neuromuscular Control = 3
Proprioception = 3

Level 4 (1(1-2 units/wk.)

Hip Abductor Strength = 3
Eccentric Strength = 2

In-Season Program
Periodize with 3-4 week mesocycles and
repeat during season

Week 1: 3x5 @ 85%

Week 2: 3x4 @ 88%
Week 3: 4x3 @ 92%
Week 4: 4x2 @ 95%
Plan early in the season to peak for games of
emphasis during season

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In-Season Programs
Use long break periods to (i.e. winter break) to
refocus on their training

Fit extra workouts into schedule

Include more overall volume to sustain muscle
hypertrophy (size) during a time when recovery is not
as crucial

As season progresses into the final month, turn

focus to recovery

Reduce volumes to lowest of the season

Increase flexibility training
Encourage regeneration techniques (i.e. massage,
myofascial release, etc.)

Wrap Up
When in doubt, keep it simple
Do what you do very well
Emphasize movements, not weight
Training Neuromuscular Control is about
technique Be detail oriented!
Don
Dont overtrain remember, exercise is
cumulative from the beginning of the workout
through flexibility training

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Questions?

Thank You!
MHauschildt@missouristate.edu
www.maximumtrainingsolutions.com

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