Tag Archive for: Session Design

August/September 2022 in review: session design

Throughout August and September we looked at session design. A lot of literature is out about season planning and periodization, but much less time is spent dissecting the session. The session is the building block of training and if you don’t have good training sessions, you have no chance for good seasons either. This summer we have put together 1 new video lesson, 3 new podcasts and 4 new articles on the topic from 7 contributors. Find links to both our new and archived resources on session planning below.

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Session planning in sports: moving away from tradition?

It is quite common that former players, once their playing career is over, transition to a coaching position to give back to the sport. For many of them, they might coach a youth team sport in a recreational setting where kids are there to have fun and play the game.

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HMMR Podcast Episode 282: Skills session planning (with Kevin Becker)

A lot of information is out there about session planning for strength training. But that is only part of the equation for athletes and coaches. A bigger question is how can we better plan skills training to enhance motor learning? On this week‘s episode Professor Kevin Becker joins us again to brainstorm how we can rethink traditional session plans to help athletes acquire and improve skills.

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Hats and hooks: an easy way to start planning a training session

Reading is pretty easy. Most of us have done it so long it’s second nature. But being able to read doesn‘t mean you can write a good novel. The same goes with training. Training is pretty easy. We‘ve all done physical activity our entire lives. But that doesn‘t mean every athlete can pull great training sessions out of their back pocket.

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HMMR Podcast Episode 281: Finding flow (with Steve Myrland)

Good training sessions have a flow. A flow in intensity, a flow in organization, and they help athletes find a flow state as well. On this week’s podcast we sit down with Steve Myrland to exchange ideas on session planning and a few tricks we all have to optimize training session planning and execution.

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The pencil is mightier than the spreadsheet

Whilst watching this year’s weightlifting European Championships this spring, the commentators spent a lot of time talking about an app-based 20-week training program. Apparently, if you entered your details, the app could provide an ‘individualized’ training program. It was a struggle for me to see how this concept would work since I have yet to see any program I design last more than two sessions before we (the athlete and me) have to start making adjustments.

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GAINcast Episode 249: The training session

The individual session is the core element of training. It is how coaches deliver their programs, build athletes, and connect with people. On this week’s GAINcast we look in detail about how we can rethink and improve upon training session and microcycle design.

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Training do’s and don’ts #3: Warmup and cooldown

Warm-up and cooldown are essential parts of the whole training process. It is helpful to think of the warm-up as preparation for training and cooldown as a reset to prepare the body for the next training sessions. The workout begins with the warm-up! The subsequent training sessions do not actually begin with that sessions warm-up rather it begins with prior sessions cooldown. Conceptually this is based on the unity of training sessions and that no workout stands alone.

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Training design considerations for the medicine ball

As with any type of training, there are lots of factors to consider when putting together a training session with medicine balls. Some are general training considerations, while other factors are specific to the demands of medicine ball training. Below are nine medicine ball training design considerations I put together for my book Complete Guide to Medicine Ball Training.

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Coaching speed for children

Most people assume genetics are the factor that determines sprinting. As the cliche goes: sprinters are born while marathoners are made. That may be accurate if your goal is to become a world-class sprinter. However, if you are an average human being and your goal is to run faster, then environment and coaching become important factors too. This is especially important with children.

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