With a packed schedule of practices and games, athletes can really get worn out. With so much to manage, where do we deduct a sufficient dosage for training during the season? Or better yet, is it possible for athletes to “PR” when in season?
Why In-Season Training Matters
Practice, games, combines, school, and just life in general. Most athletes have fully stacked schedules and do their best to manage the chaos of sport while balancing life in general. Naturally, this becomes very stressful which (as we know) impacts their ability to perform AND recover.
Now, the typical in season training plan usually takes the passenger seat during this time. A couple training sessions a week is the norm with many athletes avoiding “doing too much” in fear of getting too beat up. Totally understandable; practice demands and games require (in general) enough time in order to recover effectively to perform when it matters once again.
However, the in season period of the year is the LONGEST training cycle we have; we can’t afford to waste it. In order to be our most physically capable when it matters most, we must manage the inevitable chaos surrounding the sport season and life in general. Proper planning that is flexible to adapt to practices, games and individual needs is critical. In season, this is exactly what we do.
In order to be our most capable self, we must understand that physiology is something we cannot fight. It takes what it takes to achieve certain outcomes and to develop certain qualities. Training to adapt and training to perform takes the time it takes.
With a proper training plan, we can maximize any time we get with our athletes to keep moving the needle forward. But how many sessions per week do we really need to make an impact? How many sessions per week do we really need to have the BEST impact? What’s the magic number?
The Training Frequency Breakdown
We’ll use a sample case study from 2023 of a college mens and womens volleyball team. Here is a quick breakdown of the parameters:
- Approximately 40 athletes (20 men and 20 women)
- Training age ranged from 0 to 2 years
- Data was taken across approximately 16 weeks
- Timeline was start of preseason to middle of season (September – December)
- Athletes were averaging 5 practices per week
- Athletes had approximately 11 games within the 16 weeks
- Athletes were given the option to train 1-3 days per week
Across this timeline, we followed a concurrent style of programming that accounted for practices, games and subjective individual feedback. We were dosing training qualities relatively equal across the week at varying intensities and volumes depending on the timeline to the next game.
We measured a few daily variables as it correlated to performance and did our best to standardize. The monitored variables included:
- Attendance (1-12)
- Bodyweight
- Squat Jump (Jump Mat)
- Countermovement Jump (Jump Mat)
- 10-Yard Dash
When given the choice in training frequency, here’s what we generally noticed:
- Approximately 10 athletes trained 3x/week
- Approximately 15-20 athletes trained 2x/week
- Approximately 10-15 athletes trained 1x/week or less
- Of the athletes training 3x/week, approximately 30% were starters
- Of the athletes training 2x/week, approximately 60% were starters
- Of the athletes training 1x/week, approximately 10% were starters
In short, most of the athletes trained around 2x/week on average. Most were starters that had higher training ages. So what did we notice in terms of metrics after 16 weeks?
Most non-starters saw some form of improvement on average across 16-weeks regardless of frequency. Those non-starters training 2 or 3x/week saw a higher percentage of improvement compared to 1x/week or less.
Starters that trained 2x/week saw some improvement. Some starters saw insignificant change if any change at all. Starters that trained 1x/week or less saw insignificant improvement or recorded negative changes (got worse). Starters that trained 3x/week saw significant improvement.
Now, there’s a couple caveats to keep in mind. First, there is a substantial difference in training ages across the athletes. Those with lower training ages will typically see results from doing any form of general training. Think of it like a tube of toothpaste; the newer the tube, you can pretty much squeeze anywhere to get something out. For more experienced athletes, a more specific intent must be applied in order to get better.
Next, these groups were very small to draw conclusions from. There was plenty of inconsistency in terms of their frequency; we took the average of attendance on a scale of 1-12 and rounded to the nearest grouping.
Results didn’t account for games, injuries, or any other factors. These (and other variables) could easily change the results. Furthermore, sport performance (ie: games won/lost) was not taken into account.
Finally, while we did our best to standardize the monitoring, some athletes may have compensated in order to get better results. Athletes are competitive and usually will do anything to be better.
Key Takeaways for In-Season Training Success
So what CAN we draw from this? While this little experiment was far from perfect, we could hypothesize a few things:
- Any training frequency seems to be better than no training at all
- Non-starters (or those with a lower training age) will likely see improvements with as little as 1x/week in-season training
- Starters (or those with a higher training age) will likely need to train a minimum of 2x/week in-season to simply prevent detraining, maybe see some improvement
- Starters (or those with a higher training age) looking to improve will likely need to train 2-3x/week in-season
- Starters (or those with a higher training age) training 1x/week or less will likely see no improvement and/or see a detraining effect
From what we’ve seen, we can argue that yes, it is in fact possible to not only improve during the season BUT also set personal bests! This, of course, assumes the training approach is designed appropriately.
It seems that those with more training experience who cut back for fear of doing too much actually got slightly worse. While well intentioned, it makes sense; you need a certain threshold if you have greater training experience in order to continue to improve.
In short, training during the season can yield some tremendous results IF planned appropriately. The more experience you have, the more specific the plan has to be in order to continue to get better. If you worry about doing too much, it’s likely not enough of something else. Train hard, recover harder, perform better. So simple, it’s hard.
Matrixx
PS: We hang our hat on building and developing some of the best athletes in Niagara AND across the country. If you’re ready to take your game to the next level and build speed, strength and explosiveness, we’d love to hear from you! Click here and let’s set a time to chat!
