MAIA RAMSDEN OF HARVARD CELEBRATES WITH KIMBERLEY MAY OF PROVIDENCE AFTER WINNING THE WOMEN’S 1,500M IN 4:06.62 DURING THE NCAA TRACK AND FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS AT HAYWARD FIELD.
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The Adolescent’s Brain
Coaching Young Athletes’ Development
The human brain continues to develop throughout adolescence and as the adolescent continues to learn, the pre-frontal lobes grow in size. This part of the brain, as has now been explained in many books, is responsible for, among other things, decision-making, planning, judging, maintaining attention and inhibition of impulses that may not be societally acceptable. In other words, the pre-frontal region is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of our brain. Quite interestingly, as the adolescent continues to learn and develop the functions listed above, this prefrontal region initially grows and then begins to shrink. It shrinks as the nerves begin to prune their connections and as a result, become more efficient in processing information. So, to put it lightly, the CEO of the adolescent brain is dynamically growing and learning on the job.
Research shows girls mature through this process up to two years sooner than boys. Most anyone who has worked with groups of young adolescents know that, in general, girls are typically more aware of the social context of their environment. They inhibit impulses more readily, display better organization and planning and are often more successful within structures like school where these traits are rewarded.
In addition, the emotional center of the brain, known broadly as the limbic system, generates a range of both simple and complex emotions. This system is located behind the pre-frontal area and has nerve pathways connecting them together.
Simple emotions may include anger, as when one is cut off on the highway by another person, or feeling aroused at the sight of an attractive person. Other examples may include those caused by being on the defensive line and seeing your opponent outweigh you by 40 pounds, and stand 5 inches taller. Before the center hikes the ball he stares at you and says, “I own you. Today you die.” Indeed, fear is a powerful basic emotion, as is surprise when you receive the award at a banquet later that year for being the best defensive linesman on the team. The prefrontal lobe seeks to regulate these emotions in a manner consistent with social norms.
Unlike simple emotions, complex emotions are more intricate, such as shame or pride or guilt. These emotions require the frontal lobes to assist in self-evaluation, integrating information from the limbic systems. With basic simple emotions there is a clear physiological response. For example, with anger, the athlete will show an increase in heart rate and blood pressure. This can
generally be seen in the tightening of the smaller facial muscles. There can be a change of color in the face and voice tone changes occur in volume and intensity.
Of note, over the years of adolescent development, brain scans show the neural connections between the limbic (emotional) and frontal (CEO) regions of the brain improve and become more efficient. It is not unusual for a 13-year-old to have difficulty managing impulses and with ongoing therapy (such as one may find in a residential program) impulse control becomes more managed. At the same time, improvements occur in brain connections that can be seen on brain scans.
While the limbic and pre-frontal connections are becoming more efficient, ongoing therapy can help to assist the CEO-intraining in interpreting emotions, controlling emotions and generating productive, socially appropriate responses to emotions. It has often been said that it is easier to help a delinquent 13-year-old learn to manage mood and behavior than a 17-year-old. The
research on brain development during adolescence offers us some insight. The frontal lobes’ ability to control basic emotions progresses and improves over time as does the neural pathways connecting the two systems.
During this important time, therapy assists with integration and regulation of emotions (limbic) with the executive functions of the prefrontal lobes.
All this information is important within the context of sports, as it help us understand why the younger adolescent is in greater need for a coach to act as his or her frontal lobes than is an older teen. It’s comes as no surprise to those who coach young adolescents that more time is spent on regulating athlete impulse, interpreting emotions and helping them to plan and make good decisions. For example, a young athlete displays envy with a statement such as, “They beat us because they have money for good uniforms and equipment.” Here the coach can cognitively restructure beliefs with the athlete with a statement such as,
“Yes they have more resources, and they also have more experience than our team, so we will have to work harder than them.” This reinterprets the expression of envy, which will not help the team, into a more positive cognition that if we work harder we can beat them.
In my experience, many young adults have looked back and attributed their success in navigating through a stormy adolescence to a coach. A coach who provides structure, organization and discipline, coupled with respect and caring for the adolescent, has saved many a young person from the path of self-destruction on which they were headed.
Indeed, on more than one occasion, as a psychologist, I have written orders in an evaluation for a special needs adolescent that they continue in a sport. Schools will often, with good reason, tell a youth they cannot play a sport until their grade point average reaches a certain level. With a special needs adolescent, the current academics may be beyond their ability to succeed. A sport is often the only thing keeping them in school. Also, the coach often has been the level-headed guide in an otherwise confusing world. Regardless of what disarray is occurring in their world, the adolescent can count on the predictability of their sport, team and coach. In addition, the socialization of a healthy team is invaluable to the adolescent.
For this reason and others, good coaches are undervalued in the service to our youth. Also, their role in the overall academic growth of the adolescent is understated. If known by the teachers, aids and administrators, the good coach can help motivate the athlete to increased compliance at school and give feedback about adolescent behavior from observing on the field. Knowledge that the adolescent can listen, attend, comply and succeed on the field but cannot do so in the classroom gives the IEP team valuable information in planning the academic program.
Within the context of competition, when the young athlete becomes enraged in a game, you pull the athlete from the game to give them some bench time. It usually does not require much time for them to calm down and then you act as their prefrontal lobes and say something like, “It’s OK to feel some anger, but you need to take control and respond to the person who offended you by taking it to the goal. To score points and win the game is the best answer to your
opponent’s behavior.” As this athlete develops in their game they will incorporate your suggestions into their self-talk. As a senior in high school, they may be offended by a member of the opposing team, but say to themselves, “That was a cheap hit. He must be frustrated, and is about to be even more frustrated as I make this goal.”
In the scenario with the angry adolescent, the coach has accomplished two goals. First, this young athlete is becoming a better player by being more controlled and directed. Second, this coach is assisting this athlete in learning valuable life skills, which will be a great asset in the future in school or on the job. Well done, coach.
The strategy may be different when at practice and not in a game. Here the coach may remove the athlete and ask them to think about how they may better use their anger then report back as soon as possible. This self-regulated time out to cognitively process the emotion and restructure the outcome in a socially and game-worthy direction may seem awkward at first but it is more productive than telling the athlete to “Take a lap,” or to “Do 30 pushups.” Taking a lap as punishment will generally lack the desired outcome for the athlete. As a coach it is very easy to respond to an athlete’s anger with anger or frustration of your own, but it lacks a productive immediate outcome, and worse, it teaches the athlete that when they grow up they can control others with anger.
As noted above, complex emotions such as guilt, shame, pride and such are the result of the interaction of the emotional center of the brain and the prefrontal lobes. How these frontal lobes interpret and evaluate emotions is based on learning history, personal temperament and genetics.
As an example of complex emotions, some research indicates embarrassment may involve frontal and temporal lobes and when these are damaged, a person may not appear to experience embarrassment.
For the coach, it is important to note that after Joan’s competitor beat her to the goal (a competitor Joan believes has less talent), Joan now feels embarrassed. As the coach approaches her, the embarrassment may become evident to the coach as the athlete does not make eye contact and either looks down to the ground or turns her head away. Often, complex emotions are harder to read in the athlete than simple emotions. This is especially true when an athlete comes from a different culture with different learning
histories of how to modulate and present complex feelings.
In Joan’s case, the coach has the opportunity to use one of many types of open-ended questions discussed later in this book. For example, a question based on behavior, “What just happened on the field?” Or a question reflecting feeling, “How did that make you feel?” Or one reflecting thoughts “What do you think just happened that she was able to pass you?” Or they may choose to share empathetically, “I know when that happened to me in the past, I sometimes would feel embarrassed. How do you feel?” They may even try to guide Joan towards a summarization of thoughts and feelings. There are many ways of responding and if you know your athlete you will have an idea which response is best for that situation. Very often, the nonverbal behavior of looking down or away and appearing sullen is sufficient communication and the coach may say, “Okay, you played back-to-back games and she is more fresh and not tired now. Hold your head up high and get back in the game. You have more grit and perseverance.”
In any of these events, the opportunity to help the young brain of the athlete grow and make better neuronal connections is important in coaching athletes. Developing a better athlete works best when the athlete is well known to the coach and the coach is responding in a manner consistent with her or his comfort level for communicating with this athlete. In the end, it will improve self-talk so the athlete will be better able to cognitively process experiences and feelings to understand and respond to complex emotions.
The literature indicates shame can be a more complex emotion. Psychologist Kirsten Weir notes embarrassment is public and, at times, can be laughed off, whereas shame is public and private, and lacks any sense of humor. An athlete can lose a run to first base and later feel shame that their weight is higher than they desire and blame themselves for “being a pig.” Self-shaming is a complex emotion and can be hard for a coach to spot. Shame can become very ingrained in a person and limit their athletic talents as well as seriously affect their health.
In the brain, shame shares many of the same areas as guilt and can be malleable with proper sport specific role modeling. Learning to reinterpret shame may transfer to everyday life and it certainly can make an
adolescent a better athlete and help them have a more enjoyable sports experience. Being able to concentrate on the game in the moment and with full attention is compromised by destructive self-thoughts of shame or guilt. These emotions also tighten muscles, making one a less competitive athlete.
The adolescent brain is also bathed in neurochemicals that can facilitate a sense of reward, punishment and such things as risk taking behavior. Given that reasoning centers, emotional centers and interconnections are all developing and pruning for efficiency, neurochemical regulation adds to the many challenges for the young athlete. The brain of the young athlete is much more likely than the adult to experience heightened reward and pleasure in risk taking behavior. Also, the athlete experiences a much greater biological reward when the risk is taken in a group setting.
One example of controlled risk taking I have observed is during our long marathon group training runs in the winter. Part of the course involves running across a frozen lake. Frozen lakes often make creaking sounds and the runners have usually
believed they were taking risks running across the lake. Truth be known, none of these runs were ever taken across an unknown lake where water current could affect ice thickness. Also, it was never taken with thickness under 10 inches. But since the truth was not completely known to these athletes, the lake crossing experience left the group with a powerful sense of accomplishment and greater bonding. The pleasure center of the brain was reinforced for that “risk.” I have done this with rope swings in rivers and hill sliding, but all with the knowledge the risk was controlled, even though the runners may not have thought risk was under control. At reunions, the athletes recall these events with great fondness.
Beyond the study of development and regulation of emotions in the brain is the fascinating area of mirror nerve cells in the brain. Early research in brain scans showed there are nerve cells that activate when engaged in an action such as grasping an object, and they also activate when observing another person grasp an object. This occurs when the observer intends to subsequently grasp the object. This phenomenon
of learning by observing yielded a wonderful area of study in investigating these mirror neurons. This has many implications for the biology of social learning without actually engaging in the behavior.
As time progressed and brain scans yielded more and better information and studies became more complex in design, it became evident that many areas of the brain respond in a symphony in what has become known as “action understanding.” That is, the brain can interpret--mirror–the action of another and replicate that action, and there are cells that respond when simply observing the behavior with intention to replicate that behavior. Also, many areas of the brain are involved when observing the behavior with the intention to engage following that observation.
Given this information, like most areas of human function, some people are better able to observe and replicate than other people. For example, with verbal learning, some people can open an anatomy text and read it once in preparation for an exam while others struggle to learn the mnemonic for the 12 cranial nerves. Intelligence follows a normal distribution with some
people being more intelligent and others less intelligent.
Action understanding follows a similar distribution with some more people being more skilled than others at learning through mirroring. This is evident if you have ever taken a group dance lesson. The individual learning differences become quite apparent.
For the person having difficulty with action understanding, they may have difficulty when learning from training videos that are taken at the mid-field side line. They may do best with the camera behind them, recording from the perspective most familiar to their observations. Game day videos, if used solely for the opportunity to shame players as a group after a loss, can be viewed from anywhere since the” learning” is purely emotional and aversive, not visualspatial, for the purpose of sensory motor integration and execution.
Like most anything else, practice allows the nerves in the brain to consolidate and retain the information so that later, for example, the basketball player won’t have to think about dribbling the ball and can concentrate on the game. In learning, a cell phone responsibly used can be a good teaching instrument. The athlete can take short practice videos at home to email to coach. That can provide baseline information and progress as well as serve as a powerful motivator for the athlete to maintain compliance and demonstrate improvements towards their goals on a weekly basis. As well, the coach can offer specific email or in-person recommendations based on the video.
As a side note, it may be interesting to ask an athlete who their favorite athlete is in their sport so you can see how they are attempting to mimic that athlete’s behavior. As example, I had a young sprinter who modeled an athlete from the early days when tracks were cinder and dirt. In those days, the athlete would use a trowel to dig a small hole for foot placement. Prior to the start they would get in a “ready” position and kick back to shake off any dirt that may have been on their racing shoes. The athlete I coached incorporated that behavior without explanation or understanding of its roots. Also, another of his models would run very fast and maintain acceleration beyond 70 meters where many would begin to fall apart. However, he had a habit of coming out of the blocks almost fully upright on the second step. This athlete
did the same, but would over stride on the second and third steps resulting in deceleration on those steps. Convincing him required borrowing his cell phone to video his exit from the blocks and then showing him in slow motion how his foot went too far forward, slowing him down while he was attempting to accelerate. Fortunately, in this case, logic and science trumped beloved sprinting heroes.
Top tier athletes are trained based on their body structure. What works for one person may require adjustments for another athlete. For example, swimmer Michael Phelps has an advantaged body structure. He completes a 200-meter medley in 1 minute and 54.66 seconds. He worked hard to attain this incredible goal and also had some assist with a wingspan of 6.66 feet, double-jointed elbows and other wonderful physical advantages. Michael Jordan at his peak had a vertical leap of 48.” Larry Bird had a vertical of 28.” The training and development of their basketball techniques to gain advantages over opponents were necessarily different, as would have to be any of the athletes trying to mimic them with individual bodies of their own.
How for example might this affect your feedback to an athlete with a love of and emulation of Larry Bird’s 3-point shots to basket with minimal elevation off the court? Does it matter that your athlete has a personal vertical leap of 45”? Know who the hero is in a young athlete’s life tells you who they are observing and likely modeling, and depending on their own physique their brains may be responding to and learning techniques that may disadvantage them, and once learned, this behavior may take a long time to correct.
As noted above, as the adolescent learns, the brain grows and becomes more efficient. When we consider the functioning of humans and animals in their environment, the brain has a primary role is in searching for food, reproduction and responding to danger. Thus, anthropologically there is an evolved need for rapid and integrated responses if the human is to survive. Consider the example of two cavemen in a field enjoying a quiet spring afternoon when they spot a large predator approaching them. One caveman runs into the field and the second caveman runs to a cave. The caveman in the field becomes lunch and the one in the cave observes his successful survival facilitated by fleeing to the cave. In order to survive in the future, he
must learn from this success. Since movement is required for sustenance, reproduction and survival, it should come as no great surprise that learning occurs best when the organism is in motion or has recently been in motion. Studies substantiate that during the motion of running, or or for a period of time after, the brain is best able to learn and remember information. In fact, what we have come to learn is during and following aerobic work, the brain produces a protein called brain derived neurotrophin factor (BDNF). John Ratey, M.D. in his recent book “Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain” refers to BDNF as fertilizer (Hyponex) for the brain. With elevations of BDNF the brain produces new brain cells and new connections between cells. As BDNF increases, so does learning. During recent years we have seen an explosion of research in this area of study. Following an aerobic exercise, academic performance improves, mood improves, sleep is more regulated and ability to maintain attention and focus improves for the person.
This would certainly seem to be good news for coaches and for teachers, and should also serve as a caution to certain school districts that have eliminated student recess from their daily schedules. Notably, Ratey’s book documents incredible academic improvements among the students at Naperville school which were made following morning exercise within their tolerances. Ratey has reported people reducing or eliminating antidepressants and anxiolytics following a regimen of aerobic work.
This knowledge led me to develop research with students in our Exercise and Sport Psychology class. Students in the classes ranged from highly competitive intercollegiate athletics to sedentary students whose interests went in a different direction than sports. All students wore a heart rate monitor during the morning exercise and had to demonstrate a heart rate in the range of 130 to 160 unless there was a health concern. The class is a Tuesday/Thursday class held at 8:30 AM and the students would come for a 20-minute workout at 7 AM. Initially, there was much grumbling, but through the course of the semester students came to enjoy the social activity that included an aerobic event.
The heart rate monitor was important as each person is different physically and has
a different baseline heart rate. Two students exemplified this difference. A sedentary student was walking and talking during the exercise and the initial impression was that he was not taking the exercise seriously. A check of his heart rate revealed a very high 180 – slow down or do interval walking. A second student was a cross country runner who was running at what appeared a comfortably quick pace yet her heart rate was a modest 140. The student with a 180 would be doomed to eventual injury and come not to enjoy exercising if he had been encouraged to continuously exercise at a heart rate of 180.
As a result, when divided into an exercise and non-exercise group, students who exercised reported greater perceived academic self-efficacy and a more positive mood for the 8:30 class. This observation continued when groups were reversed.
Also, it is important to note that in competitive sports, exercise is targeted and directed with great specificity. The athlete has a workout schedule that can be quite tedious. The pre-class activity was made to be social and fun in nature with an eye on maintaining a mild to moderate aerobic heart rate.
Recently, students assisted in summer research with a group of elderly participants. On the first day, group A was the experimental group and B the control group, and the next day experimental and control groups switched roles. A number of mood measures and neuropsychological measures of verbal and nonverbal learning were administered. One group would walk for 20 minutes at their normal exercise walking pace and the second group received a lecture on volunteerism by a high energy and motivating speaker. Blood samples of BDNF were taken and both blood samples and psychological testing was done preand post activities.
This was a small study with a small sample. However, there were some minimal, but significant cognitive differences noted with the elderly showing increased BDNF, indicating a selective cognitive benefit of activity. It should be noted the walkers did maintain a 120 to 140 heart rate but were instructed to walk based on their normal exercise exertion and not attend to heart rate. Student research investigators recorded heart rate.
Given that learning occurs best following
exercise and given exercise improves mood, facilitates normal sleep and assists with attentional focus, it is reasonable to structure practices to have heart rate based warm ups until the athletes learn to base heart rate on exertion. You do not want to fatigue athletes before or following practice unless it has a practice-intended effect. Generally, it is recommended that it be a 20-minute warm up. But whatever can be done is better than nothing. For a football center, a fast-paced exercise walk to practice may be all he needs as his focus is more on resistance exercise than aerobics. However, linemen on a football team without aerobic work may not be functioning at their best. It is recommended this activity be pleasant, not regimented.
It is also well known that sleep two nights prior to a big game is more important than the night prior to the game. It is on these days that an easy 20-minute cool down may best benefit the athlete as long as it is not too late in the day.
While it may seem illogical to ask a golfer to take a run, the heart rate specific activity, in addition to its biological benefits, can become an enjoyable lifestyle benefit that persists long after the team uniforms are put away. If this exercise is fun (take a light jog with someone you just met) and not targeted for high workload (e.g. 45 seconds up the hill, take heart rate, jog down, record heart rate at the bottom and at a recovery heart rate of 120 continue the hill run, repeating until your time up the hill begins to get you less distance than your starting run up the hill). While the latter may be great during a specific time of a season of competition, the former is likely to become part of a lifestyle.
Also, it is common for students to do better academically during their sport’s season. This can be partially attributed to a number of things, but certainly the aerobic work is part of it. Further, off-season runs facilitate continued positive brain development.
Note that while it is clear BDNF helps with academic success, it is also a benefit to the coach who is attempting to teach playbook to the athletes. If a workout is too hard, the learning can be clouded by sleepiness. A moderate workout allows for improved learning and focus. Also, many coaches know athletes are more relaxed after a workout and in a better position to receive difficult emotional news such as, “Mike, I know you were QB in high school,
but we need you as a tight end”
One other factor here is when the body is in a heightened state of physical activity, it releases a stress hormone called cortisol. This hormone assists the body during a fight, or flight, or flock response to threat. It can be produced when a person is highly anxious leaving the body ready to fight or flee even when there is no objective physical threat in sight, rather a foreboding exam in school. A very anxious person can produce cortisol when no objective threat is present. Running can assist in managing cortisol. Not only does BDNF facilitate learning, manage cortisol and the person may experience feeling less anxious and ready for the challenge at hand, in this case, the perceived threat of an exam.
The effects of exercise are quite observable in an injured athlete who cannot be active. Without elevated activity, he or she generally becomes anxious, grumpy and mildly depressed. Within less than two weeks after an injury the biochemistry of the athlete changes, so there is a biological reason for their negative mood which is in addition to the social and sports related loss. As a result, this athlete is also prone to quit the team unless on full scholarship. It’s important to keep the injured athlete engaged and active. If, for example, they cannot run then they can ride a stationary bike. If not a bike, then a rowing machine. If not rowing then aquatic jogging. If it is a metabolic issue and the athlete has to be sedentary, they need to be kept engaged with the team. This helps minimize the negative biological effects of abrupt cessation of aerobic activity.
While I will not provide information here on nutrition, healthy nutrition is very important in brain development. In general, without a registered dietician as a consultant, a pre-season written recommendation of healthy eating options pre and post exercise and developed by a licensed professional is suggested.
Finally, one can’t discuss athlete’s brains without treating the issue in athletics that has come to such prominence in the last decade or so: concussions. Sports teams have specific rules for what to do when a concussion is suspected. The value of accurate diagnoses cannot be understated. A second concussion closely tied to a first concussion, in time, can result in death. We also know that multiple concussions have
a serious effect on brain function in later years of life.
In my experience we undervalue concussions that are not dramatic in occurrence. A loud crashing of the helmets with the intensity of two rams butting heads gets immediate attention. A young female athlete who heads the ball in a soccer game and acts dizzy for a moment is less dramatic, but she cannot be left unattended. The response of, “She must be fine, it was just a header and she was dizzy for a minute but says she is okay now,” represents dangerous thinking. This adolescent must be assessed by a training staff and communication must be made with the parents. We know that it is not unusual for this athlete to complain of mild symptoms at home and then at practice, to assure her place on the team and show grit in front of her teammates, say she is fine.
I once knew a Division 1 football player who was told that after three concussions he could no longer play football. I also knew a Division 1 female soccer player who said, “I have had seven concussions and I still play soccer.” It is possible that we don’t take a woman’s trauma in sports as seriously as we do a man. Further, unless there is a clear protocol, it is easy for an athlete to hide their injuries. It is easier to miss a concussion from a hard header to a soccer ball than hearing the loud crashing of helmets. While these are just observations without a strong literature base, it is important to proceed cautiously when it comes to concussions. Even, for example when someone with a history of concussions leaves a sport known for concussions to an endurance sport where they might dehydrate over long runs, it is best to get medical clearance for safe entry into the new sport.
All varsity sport college students take a baseline neuropsychological screen coming into college sports. I have overheard students say, “Don’t do too well because if you get a concussion it will be hard to return to practice.” As this tool progresses in time it will continue to have improvements that challenge the ability to fake a weak baseline score.
The athlete with a concussion will stop physical activities until medically cleared and should stop academic work, but the latter is not always practical. Therefore, initially, they may require accommodations such as studying in daylight or incan-
descent light and avoiding 60-cycle-persecond fluorescent light while they complain of vision or headache concerns. Also, early in the day while the brain is fresh is the best time to study, and study should be broken into smaller intervals, about 20 minutes, with short breaks.
Based on my history as a psychologist, I have known depressed and anxious injured athletes who complain of not being cleared to play months after being taken out of their sport. In consult with one athlete, I discovered the depression and anxiety were associated with being out of her sport, inactive, and away from her friends on the team, and suffering mild sleep concerns. The headaches had changed from the typical concussion headache to a musculoskeletal headache. The poor testing was associated with wanting to pass the test so badly she would cognitively freeze due to anxiety and fail the test. In this instance she was referred to a neurologist for final clearance whereupon the tension-related headaches went away and joy returned.
Clearly, no trainer would return an athlete to practice with poor scores and headaches. The point is there is still much to learn about concussion management among athletes. This is especially so with the female athlete and the adolescent athlete. All our brains are fragile and vulnerable, and the adolescent brain is especially so. The good news is that whether it be in the area of concussions, nutrition, exercise, or cognitive development, we know more today about the workings of our bodies and brains together than we ever have, and as coaches we can use this knowledge to help protect our athletes, help them succeed in their sport, and most importantly cultivate in them lifelong habits for cognitive and physiological health.
Now I turn to the workings of what some refer to the wholistic brain often described as “mind.” That aspect of the person as self-aware and perceiver and interpreter of the world. That aspect of the developing self that is structuring meaning intellectually, emotionally and relationally based on their experiences directly and through observing others.
DR. PAUL FINN IS A LICENSED PSYCHOLOGIST WHO HAS BEEN IN PRACTICE SINCE 1986. IN ADDITION, HE HAS OVER THIRTY FIVE YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AS A PROFESSOR AND MORE THAN FIFTEEN YEARS AS AN NCAA DIVISION II VARSITY COACH OF BOTH MEN AND WOMEN. HE HAS ATTAINED UNITED STATES TRACK AND FIELD LEVELS I AND II. DR. FINN IS RECIPIENT OF THE NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY IN PSYCHOLOGY, PSI CHI, NATIONAL FACULTY ADVISOR AWARD AND SAINT ANSELM COLLEGE’S AAUP AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN FACULTY ACHIEVEMENT. HE IS RECENT CHAIR OF PSYCHOLOGY, DIRECTOR OF THE SPORTS STUDIES INTERDISCIPLINARY MINOR, AND TEACHES SPORT AND EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY ALONG WITH RESEARCH AND CLINICAL COURSES. HE REGULARLY MENTORS STUDENTS IN THEIR RESEARCH AS PART OF THE IDEA NETWORK OF BIOMEDICAL EXCELLENCE (INBRE) PROGRAM. THIS IS IN ADDITION TO STUDENT-SPONSORED RESEARCH IN EXERCISE AND SPORTS AND MARATHON TRAINING OF STUDENTS.
BOOK DESCRIPTION: AS COACHES, WE ALL WANT TO WIN. SO WE WORK HARD WITH STRATEGY, TACTICS, REVIEWS OF COMPETITION, AND THE LIKE. SUCCESSFUL COACHES KNOW THAT AN ADDITIONAL COMPONENT IS FOUNDATIONAL TO SUCCESS: THE KNOWLEDGE OF, AND DEVELOPMENT OF, THE ATHLETE AS A PERSON. THE AUTHOR’S COMBINED BACKGROUND IN NCAA DII COACHING, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY, TEACHING, AND RESEARCH UNIQUELY POSITIONS HIM TO UNDERSTAND THE HUMAN DIMENSION OF COACHING THE YOUNG ATHLETE. THIS IS A JOURNEY IN COACHING THE ATHLETE IN THEIR SPORT TO IMPROVE THE LIKELIHOOD OF A WIN IN SPORT—AND IN LIFE.
Push and Pull
The Two Types of Athletes (And How to Effectively Coach Them)
THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF ATHLETES:
1. Athletes that need to be pushed.
2. Athletes that need to be held back.
One of the most important aspects of our job is to figure out which category each of our athletes falls into. Some people are one kind of athlete their whole running career; others switch categories from one season to the next. Some will even switch from one practice to the next.
One kind is not inherently better than the other; they are simply different. Too often, we push the athletes who need to be held back. Or we don’t know how much to push the ones that need pushing.
As coaches, it’s easy for us to focus on the physiological or technical side of our sport. But an even more important aspect of our job is also perhaps the most time-consuming –but absolutely essential if we want to be effective coaches. On a deep, all-encompassing level, we need to:
KNOW OUR PEOPLE.
Every athlete reacts uniquely not only to physical but also to psychological stimuli. Just because one training plan or teaching style or motivational method works for one person doesn’t mean those same ‘proven’ tactics will work for the next.
I think it’s natural for us coaches to coach
the way we liked to be coached. We repeat what worked for us. And we repeat what we’ve observed work for other great athletes and teams. We watch “Workout Wednesdays” on FloTrack and read training articles and review our own old training logs. A good strategy probably will work for 80% of your athletes. But there will always be people on your team who need different workouts as well as unique motivational and psychological stimuli if they are ever going to reach their highest potential.
When I got my first job coaching the distance women at Liberty University, I coached them the way I had liked being coached as an athlete myself.
My high school coach, Lou Nicoletti – a five-foot-four fiery Italian man whose white hair always stood straight up as if he had just been electrocuted – had a “work hard/rest hard/go-out-fast/finish faster” philosophy, along with a wild-reach-for-the-stars kind of belief in his athletes. The kind of belief that will change your life.
My sophomore year, I was iron-deficient and struggling during every practice, but Coach Nicoletti told me I would be the top runner on our cross country team the following year. My junior year, I was ranked 5th in the 800 meters going into the state championship, but Coach Nic told me I was going to win. My senior year, when my PR in the 1600 was 5:14, he told me I was going to break 5 minutes.
Everything he predicted happened. Coach Nic planted those seeds of belief in my mind, and he repeated them over and over again until I believed in myself.
When I became a collegiate coach in 2012, I decided to coach my athletes the way that Coach Nicoletti had coached me. He was funny and opinionated, always had a shiny blue relay baton poking out from the back of his running shorts, and talked incessantly about conspiracy theories surrounding the JFK assassination. But – most importantly – he had big goals for his athletes, and he reminded us of those goals every chance he got.
And so, when I became a coach, I told my team that we would win the Big South Conference Championship. And I told our top runner, Jenn, that she would qualify for NCAA Nationals.
The first time I told Jenn that she could go to Nationals that fall, she laughed. Although she had won conference the previous season, her high school cross country PR was 18:41 and she had never viewed herself as having the potential to become a national-level runner. At regional meets, she always started out conservatively and moved up the second half, but it was never enough to catch up and be competitive with the top pack. But, like Coach Nic had done for me, I repeated my goals for Jenn again and again until she believed them herself. It took many weeks, but by October, she started to believe.
It worked. Jenn did qualify for Nationals that fall season. And our team won conference.
Jenn’s success confirmed my own bias. I thought I had figured out how to coach. I used the same formula for my next few groups of athletes:
Give them a big exciting goal, and athletes will rise to the level of your expectation.
But alas, instead of winning conference, we
got second the next two years. Then slipped to third the year after that. I brought in recruits with faster high school PR’s than Jenn. But none of them came close to the level of her performance at championship races.
Why did this happen? I asked myself. Were my new athletes not as tough mentally? Maybe they went out too fast in races? Maybe they just had a bad day? Maybe they were sick or sleep-deprived or dehydrated.
Maybe I was just lucky my first year. Eventually, I realized that there’s a very fine line between believing in your athletes and pressuring them. The hardest part about coaching is understanding where that line is, because it’s different for every person.
Some athletes, like Jenn, need to be told, “You need to really push yourself and go for it and here’s how you need to do that…” Other athletes carry a heavy psychological burden of their own and already push themselves too
“The interesting thing about coaching is that you have to trouble the comfortable, and comfort the troubled.”
– Ric Charlesworth (coached Australian Women’s Field Hockey team to two Olympic Gold Medals)
hard. Many of the best athletes already know they are capable of qualifying for Nationals – or winning Nationals – but a coach telling them so may be the last ounce of psychological weight that cripples their ability to perform. Some athletes may need to be told, “Hey, just go out there and relax and have fun.” Or maybe all they need is a quick high five, and for you to shut up and get out of the way. Every person – and every race situation – is different.
And it’s your job to know which athletes need which approach. How do you know how much pressure (if any) you should apply to any individual athlete? The line is different for every person.
Know your people.
Learning the science behind effective training for distance runners isn’t the hard part – the hard part is learning how to apply that scientific knowledge to specific people. That’s where psychology comes in, which is just as important for coaches to understand as the
science. And distance running is one of the most psychologically intense sports a person can endeavor.
The “Stress and Pressure Performance Curve,” (intitally developed by psychologists Robert Yerkes and John Dodson in 1908; updated version by Delphis, commonly used in the workplace. https://delphis.org.uk/ peak-performance/stress-and-the-pressureperformance-curve/) often used as a predictor for high performance in the workplace, has huge implications for athletic performance as well: see figure 1.
Great performances are achieved when just enough pressure is applied to challenge – but not overwhelm – the performer. Not enough pressure, and an athlete will be unmotivated (psychologically) or undertrained (physiologically). Both will lead to underperformance.
But too much pressure, and athletes will experience a paralyzing anxiety that causes them to shut down when it counts; it is also likely to lead to eventual burnout. The sweet spot – the amount of pressure applied from coach-to-athlete, both physically and mentally – is different for every person. What is too much pressure for one athlete is not enough for her teammate. People with identical PR’s will respond differently to the same training and psychological stimuli. The amount of pressure that is perfect for one athlete might be mentally or physically crushing for another. And you’ll never be able to apply the correct amount of pressure until you know your people. Sometimes pressure comes from the coach, many times it comes from a thousand outside factors. But as a coach, it’s your job to help decrease the mental pressure for those who have too much of it, and to give the right amount to those who do.
When I say “know your people,” I mean really know them – as people, not just as athletes. You have to know what makes them tick, what motivates them, who they are, what they are all about, outside of practice.
• Know their hobbies outside of running.
• Know about their pets, parents, and projects.
• Ask about their friends and roommates.
• Know what books or movies and music they are watching and reading and listening to.
• Know their favorite workouts.
• Know their favorite trails.
• Know what motivates them; know what it is, specifically, about running that they love. Learn what they are excited about in life. Know what is stressing them out.
• Coaching is so much more about the relationships than it is about designing and implementing a perfect training plan. Know them, know them, know them.
Most books on the market about distance running are about training. One of my favorites is Jack Daniels’ Running Formula, written by the legendary distance coach who led his team to eight National Championship titles. His “training formula” details the physiological aspects of distance running and includes dozens of pages of sample training plans for the 800 meters up to the marathon.
Daniels was named the “Division III Coach of the Century” by the NCAA and “The World’s Best Running Coach” by Runner’s World. It may be easy to assume that Jack Daniels was a great coach because of his understanding of the physiology of training. But in the very first chapter of the book, Daniels doesn’t emphasize the importance of his training philosophies. Rather, he gives his view on what it means to be a great coach, boiling it down to one sentence:“A great coach is the result of a coach and a great athlete getting along well” (p. 45). Despite his fame as one of the authorities on training physiology in the world of distance running, his emphasis begins on the coach-athlete relationship.
Legendary LSU coach, Boo Schexnayder, one of the mostly respected educators in Track & Field, has echoed this sentiment. A few years ago, a coach in the audience at the USTFCCCA Coaching Convention asked Boo why he was so willing to share his Track & Field training knowledge with hundreds of his direct competitors in the coaching world. “Aren’t you afraid that we’re going to steal your training ideas and that our athletes will start beating yours?” the coach in the audi-
ence asked suspiciously.
Boo smiled and said no, shaking his head. He said he is not threatened by other coaches using his training plans, because he knows that we would never be able to replicate the relationships that he has with his athletes. He knows how to apply his extensive technical and physiological knowledge to each individual, unique athlete. In coaching, that’s what matters more than anything. All the technical knowledge in the world is irrelevant if you don’t know your people.
To get the best performance out of any athlete, Daniels and Schexnayder both know that the key is knowing and deeply understanding your athletes as people first.
A former teammate and good friend of mine, Jake Reed, is the Head Cross Country Coach at the University of Lynchburg and has spent the last few years building his program into one of the top Division III programs in the nation. When we were chatting and trading coaching advice not long ago, he mentioned what he thought was the most important thing for a coach to keep in mind when working with distance runners: “It’s all about the individual relationships and managing stressors to allow development to occur. Knowing your athletes the other twenty-two hours out of the day is the major key… that’s more important than the two hours of practice.”
A few years ago, I decided to be intentional with having an individual conversation with each one of my athletes every single day. How hard could it be? I only had twenty athletes. Every weekday, I was intentional in reaching out to the athletes with whom an interac-
tion hadn’t already happened organically at practice.
It was harder than I thought it would be. I started going to practice earlier and staying later. I jogged with the team during easy runs and warmups and cooldowns and bounced between groups. I scheduled more one-onone meetings during office hours. And when I went home at the end of the day, I took a mental inventory of whom I hadn’t spoken with that day and sent them a text message or phone call – maybe a word of encouragement, or a text to ask how their cross training workout had gone because they were injured, or a message to see if they were doing okay. Sometimes, their responses surprised me, and I learned things I would never have known unless I had reached out, individually and intentionally.
Those personal connections – that’s what coaching is all about.
I had an athlete a few years ago who stopped by my office every day after lunch, a couple hours before practice. The conversation usually began the same way: “Hey, Coach!” she’d say. “I don’t feel so good. Do you think I should do the workout today?”
“Why wouldn’t you do the workout?” I would say.
“I was thinking maybe I should just do the elliptical instead. My legs are cramming.”
“Do you mean cramping?” I asked.
“No,” she said, balling her hands into tight little fists, opening them, then squeezing them shut again. “Cram-ming,” she emphasized. “Like this. My calves. I don’t think I should do the mile repeats.”
It was a different thing every day. Cramming. Cramping. Tightness. Tiredness. Stomach problems from an extra-large spinach smoothie. “Coach, do you think I should run today? I don’t know if I can do it. Maybe I need to cross train or take off.” I talked her into doing the workout every single day, and she survived every one. “Wow, I actually felt pretty good today,” she would tell me after the workout was over. By the end of the year she was an all-conference runner.
I’ve coached other athletes who wouldn’t tell me if they had a broken foot.
The difference is knowing your athletes. Know which ones are optimists, which ones are pessimists; which ones are hypochondriacs, which ones will run themselves into a stress fracture if you don’t hold them back; which ones panic before every tempo run; which ones understand their bodies more than you could ever hope to.
Yes, there are two kinds of athletes – the ones that need to be pushed and the ones that
need to be held back. But they may switch categories from one season to the next – and even one day to the next – and understanding where they are mentally and physically at every given point in their collegiate running career is essential to coaching them well.
None of us coaches will ever get it perfect. A lot of this is trial and error, and we all make mistakes. And that’s okay. But we should be better coaches of the sophomores, juniors, and seniors on our team than the first-semester freshmen, because getting to know your people takes time and intentionality. Knowing your people on a deep personal level gives you the tools to make every coaching decision that needs to be made.
How do you motivate your athletes?
Know your people.
Which of your athletes needs a confidence boost?
Know your people.
What specific workout will give that specific athlete a confidence boost?
Know your people.
How much pressure does an athlete already put on herself, and how much pressure (if any) do you need to add?
Know your people.
What should you say after a bad race?
Know your people.
Does your team need a packed racing schedule to get more racing experience? Or do they need to focus more on training?
Know your people.
How much autonomy should you allow?
Know your people.
Will a 6AM pool workout make your athletes more fit, or do they need the extra sleep that week?
Know your people.
Should you let an athlete switch a workout to the next day because she is having roommate issues, or does she need to push through it?
Know your people.
Should you surprise your team with a “bonus all-out mile” interval on the track at the end of 400-repeats to teach them how to “go to the well”? Will that build their confidence? Or will it crush their spirits?
Know your people.
If your athlete is capable of winning conference, should you tell her that? Or should you just tell her to go out there and have fun? Or maybe telling her to aim for top three will decrease the pressure just enough to put her in a better mental space to actually win.
Know your people.
Yes, we need to know our athletes well enough to know how much to push them in training.
But, even more importantly, knowing our athletes shows that we care about them. Feeling known is synonymous with feeling cared for. Athletes are not motivated to run for a coach whom they perceive doesn’t care about them as people, no matter how good the training. An athlete will not forget if you cared about them just as much when they were injured or struggling as when they are running their best.
REBEKAH RICKSECKER IS THE HEAD CROSS COUNTRY COACH AT JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY, LOCATED IN VIRGINIA’S SHENANDOAH VALLEY. MOST RECENTLY, SHE LED JMU TO A SECOND-PLACE FINISH AT THE 2023 SUN BELT CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP. THROUGHOUT HER CAREER, HER TEAMS HAVE WON 26 TITLES AT THE BIG SOUTH, ECAC, AND ASUN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS. RICKSECKER HOLDS AN MFA IN CREATIVE WRITING FROM RANDOLPH COLLEGE.
Lifting Up
Weight Training Programming for Speed Acquisition
PRESEASON WEIGHT TRAINING DESIGN
PRESEASON PRIORITIES
Strength Development. In the general and specific preparation periods, developing strength is a priority. These training periods provide the best opportunity for strength improvements with an absence of interference from the competitive schedule. Strength must be developed in a balanced, functional manner.
Sport Specific Strength Development. During the general and specific preparation phases, strength must be developed in a way most appropriate for the sport or event. Absolute strength, power, and reactive strength must be developed in a balanced fashion that reflects sport specific demands.
Providing Endocrine Support. Due to the heavy workloads undertaken in the general and specific preparation periods, the need for restoration is critical. For this reason, the preseason weight training program (and other training as well) must stimulate hormonal responses that accelerate recovery from training and competition.
Grouping and Compatible Training. The preseason weight training program must be done in a way that enhances other training components by observing the principles of thematic training, proper grouping of training, and complementary training constructs.
PRESEASON TRAINING
Olympic Lifts. The functional and holistic natures of Olympic lifts, along with the high coordination demands they present, indicate that they should be used continually throughout the preparatory phase of training.
Static Lifts. Static lifts are the most effective absolute development agent. However, static lift do produce some short term negative effects. For this reason, athletes who need to advance their absolute strength levels should use static lifts for this purpose throughout the general and specific preparation periods, since the opportunity to use them in the competitive season may be limited. During preseason training they are used primarily in ASD and ASDP training units.
Ballistic Lifts. The high speed and power output levels produced in ballistic lifts are very specific to competition. Yet, the risks associated with spinal loading suggest that high levels of preparation must be achieved before undertaking these lifts. For this reason, advanced athletes might make effective use of ballistic lifts in the preparatory phase of training for RSD, while developmental athletes are less likely to use them.
Regional Lifts. Regional lifts may be used in the preparation phase of training in BB training units. The restorative nature of regional lifts used in bodybuilding protocols (particularly their endocrine fitness and glycogen replenishment properties) make them a logical choice to use for restoration purposes. The acceleration of pituitary gland output associated with these lifts suggests they should be used very frequently in the general preparatory period, and continued afterwards with less frequency.
The Power First Model. In this model, the training year begins with a power development phase to improve the nervous system’s ability to activate muscle tissue. During this early power phase, the athlete is also prepared for advanced absolute strength work to come later. In the next
phase, priorities shift to absolute strength development and more advanced power development. The training in this second phase of training if much more effective due to the increases in recruitment and rate coding abilities developed earlier in the year. Of particular importance are accelerated gains in absolute strength. These accelerated gains mean not only faster strength acquisition, but the accumulation of less elasticity and proprioceptive damage due to the shorter time invested in heavy static lifting.
INSEASON WEIGHT TRAINING DESIGN
INSEASON PRIORITIES
Maintaining Aggregate Intensities. The onset of competition adds an additional high intensity training agent to the program. Weight training must often be altered not only to permit the best performances in competition, but to preserve the aggregate level of intensity in the program once competitions begin.
Strength Improvements or Maintenance. Weight training focus inseason usually shifts to the maintenance of strength levels achieved in the preparatory phase. Strength gains due to inseason training seldom result in this phase, although inseason strength increases might be noted as a result of continued adaptations resulting from work done in the preparatory phase. Pursuing large inseason strength gains may be risky. An exception is with athletes of young training ages.
Flexibility and Mobility Maintenance. High levels of flexibility and mobility are needed to enable good technical execution and gait patterns in all track and field events. The inseason weight training program must be designed in a way that enhances flexibility and mobility.
Enhancing Endurance. For endurance athletes, the weight training program should continue to assist in the maintenance of glycogen stores.
Heightened Coordination. In order to execute efficient technique and gait at competition intensities, the athlete’s coordination capabilities must be at their best in the competitive season. This means the weight training program must be designed to enhance coordination, and that any discoordination producing movements or exercises should be limited or excluded.
Continued Endocrine Support. As intensities rise due to the onset of competition, the need for restoration is increased. For this reason, the inseason weight training program (and other training as well) must continue to stimulate hormonal responses that accelerate recovery from training and competition.
Grouping and Compatible Training. The inseason weight training program must continue to be done in a way that enhances the on the track training component by observing the principles of thematic training, proper grouping of training, and complementary training constructs.
INSEASON TRAINING
Olympic Lifts. The functional and holistic natures of Olympic lifts, along with the high coordination demands they present, indicate that they should continue to be used regularly during the competitive season. The fact that they produce no lasting negative effects gives further support for their inclusion inseason. BPD and RFD workouts can continue, however the high intensity of RFD work might
mean that this form of work is done sparingly.
Static Lifts. The segmental nature of static lifts, along with the short-term mobility, elasticity and coordination losses they produce, indicate that they should eventually be omitted from the inseason weight training program. It already takes a significant time and number of competitions for athletes to become adjusted to competition rhythms and intensities, and this process is slowed even further by extensive use of static lifts. IN some sports with good lifting cultures and big bodied athletes, some limited use of static lifts might continue for some time before discontinuance.
Ballistic Lifts. The high speed and power output levels produced in ballistic lifts are very specific to competition. Also, these lifts produce high tension levels with low times under tension, making them a very good strength maintenance agent. For these reasons, ballistic lifts are a logical choice to enhance and maintain strength levels in the inseason weight training program and are frequently used in SM units. An exception might be with athletes of young training ages, who do not possess the postural stability and absolute strength levels needed to accomplish these exercises without risk of injury. Also, the high intensities involved in these lifts might dictate that they be used sparingly, particularly when competitions occur frequently.
Regional Lifts. The restorative nature of regional lifts used in bodybuilding protocols (particularly their endocrine fitness and glycogen replenishment properties) make them a logical choice to use for inseason restoration purposes. The variety of movements involved in these routines offers no chance of repetitive movement syndromes, so use of bodybuilding as GSE development agent is appropriate when trying to minimize injury risk with endurance athletes. Typically these are used on an as-needed basis during the competitive season. The potential for hypertrophy does exist with speed/power event athletes, so this should be monitored carefully when hypertrophy is undesired or an athlete has shown a tendency toward hypertrophy in the past. Regional lifts might be found in SM, GSE, SHYP, MHYP or BB formats on an as needed basis.
The Ballistic Model. In this model, the static lifts are phased out and ballistic lifts are used to provide high levels of tension to tissues, permitting maintenance and possibly increases in strength without the proprioceptive and elastic damage done by static lifts. Very limited, high intensity, low density static lifting might continue with selected athletes, but even with
them, static lifting will be discontinued at some point.
FOUNDATIONS
OF WEIGHT TRAINING
SESSION DESIGN
Session Design. Weight Training sessions are typically composed of one or more units, each demonstrating protocol designed to accomplish some particular purpose.
Compatible Training. In well designed training, all of the units comprising the weight training session should be compatible, adhering to some common theme.
Sequencing. In well designed training, the individual units comprising each session are sequenced into some planned order. Usually units involving more complex movements, higher speeds of movement, and some risk are placed early in the session. Units involving simpler movements, slower speeds of movements and less risk are placed later in the session.
WEIGHT TRAINING UNIT PROTOCOLS
OLYMPIC LIFTING PROTOCOLS
Basic Power Development (BPD). Basic Power Development can be achieved using Olympic lifts. Typical protocols employ multiple sets of 4-5 repetitions done at 50%-65% of 1RM. 4-9 sets are employed. Usually a single exercise is chosen for the session, but different exercises can be employed or variations of the same exercise can be used. This type of work typically requires little preliminary adaptation or preparation for athletes who are technically sound in these exercises. Recoveries between sets should be sufficient to insure quality of work, yet slight lactate accumulation throughout the unit is advantageous.
Rate of Force Development (RFD). Rate of Force Development can be trained using Olympic Lifts. Typical protocols employ multiple sets of 1-2 repetitions done at 90% - 100% of 1RM. 5-9 sets are employed. Typically a single exercise is chosen for the session, but variations of the same exercise can be used. Recoveries between sets must be complete. RFDP is a prerequisite for this work.
Rate of Force Development Preparation (RFDP). Rate of Force Development work requires a preparatory phase done prior, featuring similar exercises. Typical preparatory sessions include 4-9 sets of 2-4 repetitions, done at 70-85% of 1RM. These preparatory sessions usually include only one exercise, with possible variations of that exercise being included. Recoveries between sets should be sufficient to insure quality of work.
STATIC LIFTING PROTOCOLS
Absolute Strength Development (ASD). Absolute Strength Development can be achieved using static lifting exercises. Most typical absolute strength development protocols involve multiple sets of 1-5 repetitions done at 80-100% of 1RM. Sets usually number 4-8 sets are employed. Typical sessions include 1-2 different exercises and a total of 15-30 repetitions per body region. Recoveries between sets must be complete. ASP is a prerequisite for this type of work.
Absolute Strength Preparation (ASP). Normally, absolute strength development requires a preparatory phase done prior, featuring similar exercises. Typical preparatory sessions include multiple sets of 5-8 repetitions done at 60-80% of 1RM, containing a total of 30-45 repetitions. Total sets range from 3-6. 1-2 different exercises (per body region) are used. Recoveries between sets should be sufficient to insure quality of work.
Absolute Strength Complementary Lifting (ASC). During times of the year when absolute strength is being trained, normally other sessions are done with static lifts that are lesser in intensity. The exercises used are often highly specialized, functional in nature, and the diversity shown in these routines serves as an injury prevention agent. These sessions assist in absolute strength development in a specific way, and in maintaining endocrine fitness in support of absolute strength development efforts. Typical ASC sessions include 3-6 total sets of 4-8 repetitions done at 60-80% of 1RM, containing a total of 30-45 repetitions per body region. 2-3 different exercises (per body region) are used. Recoveries between sets should be sufficient to insure quality of work.
BALLISTIC LIFT PROTOCOLS
Reactive Strength Development (RSD). Reactive Strength Development can be achieved using ballistic lifts. Typical sessions employ 1-3 different exercises, using 3-8 sets of 5-12 repetitions. Loads range from 10%50% of the athlete’s bodyweight. This type of work requires a significant preparatory phase done prior, consisting of basic power, absolute strength, and general strength development. Prior preparation also requires a well planned progression of multijump training. This type of work is generally reserved for athletes of high training ages because of the spinal loading and impact associated with them, so this preparatory phase might range in length from months to years. Recoveries between sets should be sufficient to insure quality of work, yet slight lactate accumulation throughout the unit is advantageous.
REGIONAL LIFT PROTOCOLS
Bodybuilding (BB). Endocrine fitness, accelerated recovery, and accelerated glycogen replenishment can be achieved using Bodybuilding. Specifically, the protocols listed result in accelerated serum testosterone and growth hormone release. After extended periods (approximately 6-8 weeks) of frequent bodybuilding, the production of these hormones remains elevated for an extended time after the cessation of bodybuilding, and improved endocrine fitness levels become semipermanent, elevating work capacity longterm. Bodybuilding also serves as a glycogen depletion (and thus a glycogen replenishment) agent. Bodybuilding schemes employ a variety of exercises for all body parts. They contain 20-24 total sets of 10 repetitions, with loads designed to challenge the athlete a bit on the final repetition. Recoveries between sets are 60-90 seconds. Special consideration should be given to the order to exercises, since training adjacent body regions in sequence may enhance demand and the resultant training effects.
COMPATIBLE TRAINING CONSTRUCTS
GROUPING CONSIDERATIONS
Grouping within the Weight Training Session. Arrangements involving grouping by neuromuscular or metabolic demand are most frequently used. Speed/power/strength related units grouped into sessions, and units with metabolic purposes grouped separately into other sessions.
Weight Training-Sport Training
Compatibility. Training of different forms should be grouped into sessions in a way that maximizes the effectiveness of the ses-
sion. The units in any training session should adhere to some theme, establishing a clear purpose for the session. This requires weight training sessions to match other work done in the same session in goal and purpose. The weight training program should not be seen as a program that is separate from and/or runs parallel to the sport training program. If this is the case, regardless of how well either program is designed, there will undoubtedly be conflicts in loading and purpose as the training year progresses.
Sport Based Planning. Specificity is the most important parameter in training design. Since sport training is more specific to competition, the weight training program should be designed in a way that allows each weight training session and weight training phase to match the purpose of other training and sport training being done at that time. Weight training should be scheduled around sport specific training in a way that preserves the grouping of compatible training modalities into sessions, and observes the guidelines of complementary training design. Each weight training session and weight training phase should match the purpose of the work being done in the sport at that time. Weight training sessions should be inserted into the training program after other training and sport training themes are established, in a way that complements those themes.
Training Orders Within the Training Session. In most cases, a good speed/power training session is ordered so that the faster movements come earlier in the session, and the slower movements come later in the session. In this way, speed components are addressed prior to fatigue. Typically, speed development, multijumps and weight training
(employing Olympic, static, and/or ballistic lifts) are combined into a session, in that order.
Training Orders Within the Weight Training Session. When a weight training session is designed, much consideration should be given to the order in which the various exercises are done. Changing the training order alters greatly the demands of the session.
Ordering Neuromuscular Sessions. When ordering neuromuscular sessions, generally Olympic lifts are scheduled first because of the high power component and technical complexity. Statics and Ballistic Lifts are scheduled afterwards. When sequencing static and ballistic lifts, exercises of greater risk and load should be done under conditions of less fatigue. Doing presses last is a common practice because they involve the least risk, since the spine is supported by a bench in these exercises. However, sometimes such exercises are interspersed between more difficult and risky exercises, providing a break of sorts between the tougher exercises.
Ordering Bodybuilding Sessions. When constructing bodybuilding sessions, adjacent muscle groups involved in similar movements should be trained sequentially to increase demand and require wise use of metabolic resources.
The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) is pleased to announce the 2024 induction class for the Collegiate Track & Field/Cross Country Athlete Hall of Fame.
This year’s class features some of the greatest names in collegiate track & field and cross country history. With 67 national collegiate titles, 25 collegiate records, five Olympic/World Championships medals, and four world records while in college, these athletes have left an indelible mark on the sports.
“The USTFCCCA is proud to honor these exceptional athletes for their achievements and contributions to collegiate track & field and cross country,” said Sam Seemes, CEO of the USTFCCCA. “Their accomplishments have inspired countless athletes and fans, and their induction into the Collegiate Athlete Hall of Fame serves as a testament to their enduring legacy.”
1986-1989
Rosalyn Bryant Cal State LA, 1974-1978
Hollis Conway Louisiana,
Regina Cavanaugh Rice, 1983-1987
Bill Dellinger Oregon, 1953-1956
Benita Fitzgerald Tennessee, 1980-1983
Glenn Hardin LSU, 1932-1935
Balázs Kiss Southern California, 1993-1996
Marty Liquori Villanova, 1968-1971
Larry Myricks Mississippi College, 1975-1979
Louise Ritter Texas Woman’s University, 1977-1981
Karl Salb Kansas, 1968-1971
Amy Skieresz Arizona, 1995-1999
Trecia-Kaye Smith Pittsburgh, 1996-1999
Angela Williams Southern California, 1999-2002
The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association is proud to recognize the outstanding efforts of the country’s top high school coaches.
One boys coach and one girls coach from 50 states – as well as the District of Columbia – were honored for their successes during the spring of 2024, as selected by a committee of experts from around the nation (two coaches are honored, if they share coaching responsibilities).
State-by-state winners were selected based on their teams’ performances throughout the 2024 outdoor track & field season. Among the factors taken into consideration were team score and placement at the state championships, margin of victory, performance against rankings if available, individual championships, and how their teams’ performances stacked up to previous years (e.g. first title in school history, consecutive titles, etc.).
Winners from each state were in consideration for the Association’s National High School Track and Field Coach of the Year award. One boys coach and one girls coach were chosen by a panel of experts to be named National High School Track and Field Coach of the Year.
2024 USTFCCCA HIGH SCHOOL BOYS TRACK & FIELD STATE COACHES OF THE YEAR
Alabama
Chris Schmidt Hoover High School
Alaska
Jeremy Strong Sitka High School
Arizona
Shaun Hardt Queen Creek High School
Arkansas Brian Glass Prescott High School
California
Crystal Irving
Long Beach Polytechnic High School
Colorado
Chris Faust Cherokee Trail High School
Connecticut
Kelvan Kearse Windsor High School
Delaware
Michael DiGennaro Saint Mark’s High School
District of Columbia
Desmond Dunham St. John’s College High School
Florida
Greg Barnes American Heritage Schools
Georgia
Roland Colvin Langston Hughes High School
Hawaii
Alika Fonseca Saint Louis School
Idaho
Kip Wilson Rockland High School
Illinois
Timothy Hasso Oak Park and River Forest High School
