Training Frequency
To
adequately predict the correct frequency for an athlete’s training plan, it is
essential to establish the stage of training they are about to enter. Within
this case study, the athlete has completed a regeneration phase; post season;
and it about to begin the off-season phase of their training plan. It’s
suggested 4-6 training sessions per week during the off-season for a trained
individual (Tan, 1999); due to the athlete having over 1 year of experience in
resistance training they are considered as advanced (Baechle & Earle,
2008). The athlete will be required to complete resistance sessions with at
least 1, but no more than 3 days between sessions focusing on the same muscle
group (Hoffman, Maresh, Armstrong & Kraemer, 1991). This increased volume
has been shown during training, to benefit an athlete with a hypertrophy goal
due to repeated stimulus on each muscle group (McDonagh & Davies, 1984).
Exercise selection
Due
to the high power demand of basketball and requirement to increase vertical
jump height is was essential the exercises chosen for the plan both addressed
these year round issues as well as stimulating hypertrophy. Simenz, Dugan,
& Ebben (2005), established that elite basketball players should continue
to perform explosive power exercises such as power clean and power snatch year
round to maintain correct form and explosive power. Core exercises chosen were
to stimulate strength and aid the performance of power and assistance
exercises. Back Squat and Deadlift were chosen based on the specific adaptions
to imposed demands (S.A.I.D) principle due to their correlation to running and
jump height fitness components needed during basketball (Fleck & Kraemer,
2003). Bench Press and Bentover Row were selected for the upper body to recruit
type II fibres to aid strength and hypertrophy gains, in accordance with the
demands from the coach (Ziv & Lidor, 2009). Despite being core exercises,
standing shoulder press, pull ups and step ups were used as structural
assistance exercises as they require a lighter load but aid core stability. The
pre-habilitaion exercises were prescribed to benefit shoulder stability
(Hintermeister, Lange, Schultheis, Bey & Hawkins, 1998), and strength the
ankle to prevent sprains reoccurring (Smith & Reischl, 1986); with core
stability exercises ensuring abdominal region being trained, exercises such as
leg raises and alternating quadruped also stimulate the hip flexors and
extensors respectively.
Exercise Order
Power
exercises have been prescribed due to its high demand on the central nervous
system (CNS) and being a highly skilled movement (Fleck et al., 2003).
Performing these first reduces the risk of injury due to fatigue; and due to post
activation potentiation, has the ability to appropriately prepare the body
(Brown & Loeb, 1998). Core exercises would then be performed next, prior to
assistance exercises, due to the demand placed on the CNS also (Stone &
O’Bryant, 1987). Assistance or ‘smaller muscle groups’ would then follow.
Flexibility
exercises would be performed following resistance training as research suggests
post-practice stretching enables increases in range of motion. Due to the
raised body temperature, the elastic properties of the muscles and tendons
increase resulting in improvements in stretch performance (Funk, Swank, Mikla,
Fagan & Farr, 2003).
Pre-habilitation
and core stability are carried out in a separate session, allowing the athlete to
undergo active recovery maximising recovery between exercise sessions (Turner,
Comfort, Moody & Jeffreys, 2010). All pre-habilitation exercises are
performed prior to core stability as the main focus during these sessions is to
strengthen the ankle and to prevent injuries occurring at the glenohumeral
joint.
Training Load & Repetitions
As
the athletes focus is on hypertrophy, this goal dictated the loads and reps
used during training sessions. It is shown to increase lean mass, a higher
number of repetitions is used; normally in the region of 8-12 (Baechle et al.,
2008). In line with this number of repetitions the appropriate load is
suggested at 67-85% 1 repetition maximum (1RM), therefore the load of 75% 1RM
is appropriate to attain these goals. As the athlete is also performing power
exercises as suggested by Simenz et al. (2005), an appropriate load would be
used to make the advancements in power. The typical range is 75-85% 1RM for
multiple repetitions however, as the focus is not on increasing power at this
stage, the lower end of 75% 1RM was used (Baechle & Earle, 2008).
Core
stability exercises used higher repetitions of 20 as suggested by Petrofsky (2007);
whereas exercises such as plank and side plank are timed from 30-60 seconds per
set (Fredericson & Moore, 2005).
Volume
It
is widely accepted that a higher volume leads to an increase in lean tissue.
This normally falls within a guideline of 6-12 repetitions and 3-6 sets per
exercise (Hedrick, 1995). As the athlete is an advanced trainer, it is
appropriate to administer more sets so 4 sets will be used. It is also
suggested that the upper body can recover quicker from resistance exercise in
comparison to lower body, therefore less exercises were used in the ‘lower’
session.
Rest & Unloading weeks
During
the training schedule the athlete followed a 3:1 training split; allowing for
one rest day a week. Each session has a maximum of 3 days between training
sessions for adequate recovery to complete the next session which will prevent
over-training (Kraemer, 2003).
Rest
periods between sets are in accordance with current guidelines for hypertrophy
of 30-90 seconds. (Baechle & Earle, 2008). This limited rest period means
the fibres are highly stressed throughout a training session and will super
compensate which will result in growth (Hedrick, 1995). For the power exercises
(power clean & power snatch) the rest period will be increased further due
to the high metabolic demand placed upon the body. Therefore rest periods
between sets will be 2 minutes.
Between
each mesocycle, an unloading week has been scheduled where lightened loads for
all core exercises prescribed and in some cases not complete assistance
exercises to reduce the volume per session. This allows the athlete to return
fitter and well recovered for the next phase in the programme (Hennessy, 2011).
The
annual periodization programme was designed with two significant moments
highlighted as moments where the athlete should have a peak in performance.
These moments were the beginning of the season, following pre-season training
camp as suggested by Simenz et al., (2005); and the end of the season where the
team had their sights set on making the playoffs. Therefore as the athlete came
towards a significant event in the season, intensity increases before tapering
prior to a major event such as the playoffs (Stone & O’Bryant, 1987; Siff,
2009).
