Prehabilitation: Resistance Training

The summer season is post-season for many of my collegiate athletes, the perfect healing time to rebuild and rebalance some of the overworked structures in their bodies with resistance training. This is an extremely important phase in the training cycle for injury prevention as well as for performance. Adhering to a resistance training program appropriate for your sport is essential during this period.

Utilizing a personal trainer to help tweak the program your CSCS provided you is my first recommendation for a successful post season. With their expertise and objective perspective they can detect dysfunctional patterns that we cannot see in ourselves and they have the tools to get the job done at their disposal. If your CSCS is also a personal trainer and has hours available to you, that’s even better since they have specifically studied your sport (and often participated in it in college!).

If you feel going it alone this summer with the training program you have been given is your only option, follow it carefully and consistently. Most of the resistance programs that have been brought to me to review make sense in their structure and frequency. They do seem to assume the athlete knows the correct exercise sequence. Correct exercise sequence is important not only for optimal development but also for injury prevention. Dysfunctional patterns can develop through compensation due to fatigue. Strains, and trauma due to accidents, can also occur as a result of trying to perform the wrong exercises in a fatigued state. Below is listed an exercise sequence designed to protect the athlete and allow them to develop their greatest potential by themselves. (1)

1. Explosive whole power body lifts: Power cleans, Snatch, etc.

2. Multi-joint exercises: Bench press, squats, shoulder press, seated row

3. Single joint exercises: Triceps extensions, knee extensions, biceps curl
 
This may seem trivial to some, especially with the complexity of some of the more elaborate functional exercises woven into their programs as they progress, but the sequence is extremely important.

A final note: great form is essential. One of the themes of post/off season training is to correct, to some degree, the dysfunctional patterns developed by the athlete during the season through repetitive movements and postures necessary for their sport. This is something we always must work to perfect. If you cannot afford the time or money to employ a personal trainer, please book an appointment with me for a functional movement screen. This is not a substitute for a good personal trainer, but it can identify your major functional weaknesses so you can work on them to help prevent injury. If a personal trainer is an option for you, I’ve listed some of the best local independent trainers (they work in training facilities – no membership required) in the Cambridge/Somerville area below.

Maren Kravitz and Heidi Brown, The Training Room, Porter Square, Somerville
http://thetrainingroomboston.com/tr/home
 
Callie Durbrow, Durbrow Performance, Central Square, Cambridge
http://durbrowperformance.com

References:
1. Essentials of Strength and Conditioning, second edition p.404-405
    Baechle, Thomas; Earl, Roger  Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL 2000