A few important notes about our Summer Elite Hockey League:

-All games will consist of 2-25 min. stop time halves

-All games will be played at Skate Zone Voorhees

-Each team will be selected by the four coaches in a draft

-Each player will be given an Endeavor Jersey upon receipt of payment

-League updates will be posted on the Endeavor site the day after the game is completed including scoring leaders.

Schedule

A cluster set refers to performing a specified number of reps, pausing for 10-20 seconds, then performing a specified number of reps again.

There are a ton of ways to implement cluster sets, but the ones that most frequent my programs are:

(2x4): 2 sets of 4 reps separated by 10-20 seconds
(4x2): 4 sets of 2 reps separated by 10-20 seconds
(4x1): 4 sets of 1 rep separated by 10-20 seconds

In each of these cases, each cluster (e.g. a cluster of 4 sets of 2 reps) counts as one set. We generally have our athletes perform 3-4 cluster sets for a given exercise.

The concept behind clusters is pretty simple. By giving yourself a brief break (or several brief breaks depending on the design of the cluster) in the middle of the set you can do more repetitions at a given weight than you could without that break. Using cluster sets is a great strategy to improve maximal strength. Use cluster sets sparingly (e.g. 1-2 exercises per week), as they induce a high levels of central fatigue.

-Kevin Neeld
 

Last week’s email on aerobic training/testing for athletes sparked a few questions that I think need to be addressed:

1) Should young athletes be tested at all? If so, what’s the point?

2) If aerobic testing isn’t good, what should we use?

3) Is interval training appropriate for everyone?

Let’s start at the top:

Should young athletes be tested at all? If so, what’s the point?
This is a great question. The easy answer is, “it depends.” It really depends on what the point of your testing is.

My colleague Michael Boyle, who has over 30 years experience developing and training professional athletes in every sport, once said that he NEVER tested at his private facility in Winchester. He said the kids hated it and that most testing was just for the parents. I partially agree.

However, many sport team coaches do have their athletes perform a series of tests, especially if they’re going to be away for a while (e.g. team tryouts followed by a substantial off-season before the initiation of the season). I think this is a GREAT strategy to hold kids accountable to some form of training while you aren’t directly supervising them. In other words, the testing is really just a motivational strategy to get the athletes to do what they should be doing anyway. It’s brilliant, and it works.

I think the biggest flaw in all of athlete testing, especially at the youth level, is that kids are compared to each other. The most important thing is how the athletes perform in their sport. The best testers aren't always the best athletes. Especially with teenagers, the stage of development plays a huge role in their strength, speed, and conditioning. Simply growing up will improve almost all of these measures. At Endeavor, we have a few kids that are around 15 years old that are built like many of the athletes I’ve worked with at the collegiate level. Is it fair that their testing scores are compared to someone that hasn’t developed as quickly?  

I do like the motivational value of tests, and if performed with the right emphasis, I think testing is a great tool. Testing just needs to be placed in the right context. Every individual should aim to train to improve his or her previous best, NOT to beat the kids around them.

If aerobic testing isn’t good, what should we use?
With the growing body of research supporting the benefits of interval training and the improved specificity to almost all team sports, I think team sport athletes’ conditioning should be tested using an interval test. Many collegiate programs use 300-yard shuttle repeats.

A team of athletes is broken into two groups. A baseline is set up and another line is set up 25 yards away. The athletes must perform 6 full laps (up and back is 1) as quickly as possible. As soon as they finish, the second group goes. When the second group is finished, the first group goes again, repeating this cycle until both groups have gone 3 times. This test provides information on the speed at which you’re able to complete the test and your ability to recover between bouts. Because the test requires about 60s of work and a 1:1 work:rest ratio, the test really provides information about anaerobic AND aerobic capacity within the athlete. Alterations can be made to the test depending on the specific sport (e.g. football players would likely want to use a smaller total distance since the average play is around 4-5s).

Is interval training appropriate for everyone?
Yes, if performed correctly. Having a group of athletes that haven’t been training jump right into a conditioning session of all out shuttle runs is pretty irresponsible. At Endeavor, we break our athletes into shuttle runs by having them perform them at around ¾ speed for the first several weeks (referred to as “tempo runs” by some people). As athletes adapt, we mix in all out efforts within a session. Towards the end of an off-season, we’ll dial back the strength work we do, and increase the intensity of the intervals. Remember that stress comes in many forms. You can’t ratchet up the intensity of one thing without making the accommodating decreases in intensity in something else.
 

To your success,

Kevin Neeld

"It's like going to school everyday knowing you're going to see the kid that picks on you. That's what chin-ups are like."