Reconditioning Phase: Step One in Offseason Programming
Perhaps the most important single training phase of the entire year, the Reconditioning Phase is what I call the first phase of training after the season is complete. This training phase is crucial, as it sets up the entire training year.
The main idea of utilizing the Reconditioning Phase is to prepare the body to be able to accept the upcoming performance training program. This doesn't have to mean that training during this timeframe is “easy” or “light” as the idea may be perceived by some, but rather “appropriate”. The key here is to look at the state of your athletes after a season, and figure out how to address the damage that takes place during the year.
Physical degeneration such as soft tissue damage, movement dysfunction and impairments, mental stress associated with competition and expectations, and other factors such as nutritional deficiencies or a change in the potential role of the player can all be area's which necessitate “Reconditioning”. In a nutshell, what the Reconditioning Phase can be thought of is taking one step back, allowing for three steps forward.
It is important to understand from a physical viewpoint where your athletes are at as you begin this phase of the training program. The Reconditioning Phase should be used to pinpoint and address movement dysfunctions which will no doubt manifest over the course of a season. The first step for my teams is to undergo the Functional Movement Screen. This allows me to make any modifications to a player's program to clear up any issues before we progress throughout the rest of the offseason. In short, we want to make sure we aren't adding “strength to dysfunction” and double check to make sure we haven't missed any issues that have come up during the course of the year. Ideally, by the end of the reconditioning phase we should have dramatically improved any 1's or asymmetries.
Once we have done the FMS to re-establish a baseline, we begin to implement the Reconditioning Phase. In my case, I really don't change much to the framework of my program. We still follow the same template we always would, with many of the same tools. However I will program the utilization of these tools in such a way that we are addressing and hopefully improving our overall movement quality. For example, during the course of a hockey season it is common for the hip flexor's to get short and tight due to the constant use and flexed posture during the skating stride. In this Reconditioning Phase we will perform Isometric Split Squats with one of the goals being to increase the length of this tissue.
Isometric Training plays a huge roll for us during this phase for a number of reasons. First, as I said it helps us to reestablish length of specific tissue. It also allows me as a coach to really focus on posture and technique as it affords ample time to cue an athlete into the correct position. In addition, I believe there is much benefit from including Isometric contractions into the training program as they clearly have a place on the force development spectrum; however they don't fit well in my programming at other times of the year. Iso's are also mentally very challenging. They are physically difficult and different from much of what we do on a daily basis, so they require that always coveted “mental toughness” that coaches are looking for. They are also a great team builder…there is nothing like a group of athletes lined up performing a goblet split squat hold together, shaking and staring intently at the clock while the rest of the team cheers them on through the intense discomfort.
In addition to including Isometric Training during this phase, I will regress many exercises back to a very foundational level. This allows us to re-focus on the basics and improve the platform upon which we will build off of. An example of this is to re-introduce front and side planks into our core training. We often get away from these basic exercises as we progress throughout the year into more demanding core training, however coming back and honing our ability at this level is very important. In fact, it is not uncommon for athletes to struggle quite a bit with these exercises when we first revisit them, even though they had made appropriate progressions over the course of a season. The same holds true for our plyometric progressions and medicine ball work. We will revisit exercises such as Box Jumps with a stability emphasis and Tall Kneeling Chest Pass to reinforce/reeducate proper mechanics. Reconditioning often means coming back to square one and reestablishing previously held basics.
In addition to the physical training characteristics of the Reconditioning Phase, it is important to identify and address the mental aspects of development. The Reconditioning Phase is the perfect time to go over goal setting and to really focus on the details which are crucial to success. One aspect that I stress during this timeframe is the difference between “working out” and “training”. I want all of my players to understand that working out is what people without a goal do when they go for a jog or hit their arms at the Rec Center. Training is different. Training is purposeful. Training is detailed. Training has a specific goal. I want my athletes to have well defined goals. When they walk in the door to our Performance Facility they should be focused on those goals and how the training program that day is specifically going to address them. Everything they do during our training time has an intent. The Reconditioning Phase is the perfect time to instill these concepts.
The Reconditioning Phase should be designed to allow the athlete to properly accept training. That can mean many different things in many different situations; however the goal should always be to keep an eye on the long term development. Often that means taking one step back to allow three steps forward.
