To the the untrained eye, a glimpse into a day in the weight-room of a competititive athlete is analogous to a glimpse of a swarm of worker ants putting around in their miniscule civilization; you know that they are doing something, and that it is probably important to their existence, but you’re not really sure of the intricacies, and structure that come into play in their activities.
‘Failure to prepare, is preparation for failure,’ read one of the quotes in the reading provided by ‘Big Mike’ Zawilinski that introduced us interns to an in-depth perspective on ‘periodization’. That quote also reads in bold letters in the Cabot weight-room to remind the coaches and athletes of the importance preparation plays into developing a successful athlete, and build a successful team to establish a successful program.
The key to having a strong periodization plan is to map everything out long before it happens. That goes from everything to the outside variables of a student-athlete such as classes, semester breaks, schedule of competition, etc. Then the management of the work-out schedule, to what the goals are in training for that period in the season.
Time is the most essential variable a strength coach must manage in order to get the most out of their athletes.
Let me put it this way, think about a government that needs to make budget cuts; there is always an order of what institution takes the brunt of the cut-backs, and since education usually isn’t of great importance to state reps because kids can’t vote, after-school programs are the first to go. In an athletic program when time needs to be reallocated for whatever circumstance, the strength & conditioning sessions will most likely be the one compromised, and the onus falls on the strength coaches to be as best prepared as possible. But when the plan is mapped out long before any of the infringing circumstances happen, the more effective the training program can be despite any limitations by outside forces.
So yes to the untrained eye, the constant movement, and loudd thuds of a weight room may seem chaotic, but the fact is we’re playing chess while everybody else thinks we’re playing checkers.