Resources on conditioning/agility work for sports?

[AceDeuce]

Could anyone direct me towards any resources (books, articles, threads, etc) or provide any advice about the running/conditioning component of an athletic developement program?

I'm helping my little sister train in her off-season for basketball and she has a basketball camp coming up in about a month and wants to be better prepared conditioning-wise. She just started lifting weights and comes to the gym with me 3-4x a week so im unsure of how to incorporate running/sled dragging/conditioning etc type of work into her program without over-working her. Thanks!

[Lisa~]

How old is your little sister?

[AceDeuce]

She is 16, turning 17 in July. She is is brand new to weightlifting (although she's been lifting with me a few times in the past and has pretty good form in basic compound movements because I am able to coach her at all times). I am pretty familiar with the weight training aspect of things and am currently reading Mike Boyles "Designing Strength Training Programs and Facilities" which will surely impact the overall design of her program. However, I am very unfamiliar with how to incorporate conditioning/speed/agility work into a program, especially with someone who is brand new to this kind of stuff. My initial plan was to have her lifting 3 or 4 days a week and then incorporate conditioning work to get her in shape for a high-level basketball camp that she is going to in a month. After that camp is over, she has no basketball committments and can focus almost entirely on getting stronger. I will be helping her all the way through late August which is when I will be headed back to school and wont be able to coach her anymore.

[Lisa~]

Mike Boyle's stuff is really good. You're certainly off to the right start and I commend you for doing this for her. Read through Alwyn Cosgrove's Seven Keys to Athletic Success for an understanding of how to put all the elements together into a complete program. How slowly she'll have to work up to all the components will have to be an individual decision and you'll have to work that out with her based on her recovery.

Consider a purchase of Brian Grasso's Training Young Athletes--The Grasso Method which is directed specifically at youth and teens. To check out Brian's ideas, sign up for his newsletter, which is always full of useful information. Here's an article by Brian, Coordination & Movement Skill Development--The Key to Long-Term Athletic Success, that includes some great drills for developing coordination in the young athlete. These drills could work as one of her reactive training sessions.

For specific speed and agility programs, take a look at these:

Speed-Agility Program by Craig Ballantyne

Speed and Agility Drills This one shows ladder drills and a few other fun things.

And read everything you can get your hands on from Kelly Baggett. He has a whole page of article links to choose from. She'll probably want to buy his book, the Vertical Jump Development Bible, in the near future too. You can find all that information at his website.

[AceDeuce]

Thank you very much Lisa! Your willingness to help is GREATLY appreciated!

[Lisa~]

You're welcome.

Keep us posted on her progress. It's always interesting to me to hear what you actually decide to do and what ends up actually working.

[Alan Aragon]

In addition to what Lisa provided, let me direct you to Jamie Hale's page of free training articles:

http://maxcondition.com/page.php?1

As well as his book entitled Maxcondition:

http://maxcondition.com/page.php?7

[Lisa~]

Originally Posted by Alan Aragon

In addition to what Lisa provided, let me direct you to Jamie Hale's page of free training articles:

http://maxcondition.com/page.php?1

As well as his book entitled Maxcondition:

http://maxcondition.com/page.php?7

There's an excellent ladder drills article at that article link. It's better than the one I posted.

[jdford]

Lisa coming through with the links!!

I just assisted with some testing and training of the best young (11-17) female basketball players in Canada. I should be able to get program package that was put together for the girls and send it along.

[AceDeuce]

That would be awesome. Look forward to seeing those

[Alcoholiday]

i agree w/ what everyone else said.

also, parisi's stuff is supposed to be good.

[Mike Robertson]

Kelly Baggett's Vertical jump book is excellent.

As well, I think every youngster should be taught the skills from the Parisi Deceleration Method video. It gives you the real nuts and bolts to basic movement.

Stay strong
MR

[AceDeuce]

I actually bought the Parisi Acceleration Method DVD instead of either of Kelly's vertical or speed developement manuals (I figured i'd check out DVD's rather than books for once), and while I did learn a few new exercises, the DVD doesnt really go over a practical way of incorporating them into a strength training program.

Since she has less than a month to "get in shape", i'll just put together a program to the best of my abilities and let you guys tear it up if you're willing.

I remember a quote from somewhere..."education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance"

So true...and im lovin' it

[AceDeuce]

Below

[AceDeuce]

We have been working out for about 3-4 weeks about 3x per week. Light loads and 5-12 reps on everything. Just working on form. No organized plan but here's what I had in mind now that she's ready for more structure.

I got the general template idea from Mike Boyle's "Designing Strength Training Programs and Facilities" but I'm not sure how he structures the set/rep schemes. I think he uses the undulating periodization outlined on pg. 178 of his book but I truthfully dont understand it as it applies to his 4-day template. Any other articles i've seen on undulating periodization are difficult to apply. I understand that the rep ranges change throughout the week and I imagine push/pull, and knee-dominant/hip dominate movements should be balanced, but I dont know how to set the sets/reps and control overall volume etc. If I had to take a shot at it it might look something like..

Mon-Wed

A1 Explosive Lift — Not sure what to put here as I am not qualified to teach Olifts and she obviously isnt strong enough for jump squats. Maybe box jumps?
B1 Vertical Pulls - Band pullups 6x2 - She cant do more than 2 pullups even with the band, hence the rep scheme.
B2 Knee Dominant — Double Leg - Front squats 3x5
C1 Horizontal Pulls - Row variations 4x8-10
C2 Knee Dominant — Single Leg - Lunge variations 3x8-10
D1 Abdominal - Planks, side planks, reverse crunches mostly

Tue-Thursday

A1 Explosive Lift - Same as above, maybe lateral 3x5
B1 Horizontal Press - Bench variations 3x5
B2 Hip Dominant — Rack deads/deadlifts 3x5
C1 Vertical Press (or rehab/specialty) - Dunno what to put here I'm wary of OHPing and she has an elbow injury but I dont know how to rehab that.
C2 Hip Dominant — Bent Leg - SHELC 4x8-10
C3 Abdominal - Planks, side planks, reverse crunches mostly

We play a short intense full court "game to 3" 1on1 basketball game after our 5-10min dynamic warmup (glute activation/mobility etc). Could this count as the explosive portion of the workout for lower body?

Her elbow:
2 years ago she injured her elbow and her medical record says "Possible supracondylas fracture" (if I read the chickenscratch correctly) and more recently a holistic medicine practitioner said the pain she was feeling when the elbow is fully extended (sharp pain) was due to carpal tunnel. She says the person showed her a way to move something in her forarm over which helps alleviate her pain. Specifically the person said this was the issue:

http://www.holisticwisdom.org/hwpages/carpaltunnel.html

Nothing that we currently do during lifting causes any pain, but I'm wondering if I can help her rehab this "elbow pain". If what i've detailed is too vague i'll just use the "dont do what hurts" approach.

I'd appreciate any advice on:

A) The workout in general and the organization of the set/rep scheme.
B) Explosive lift/reactive training (even necessary for a true beginner?)
C.) Her elbow

I truly appreciate the help. Thanks!

[Alcoholiday]

i would watch doing any explosive type work for upper body, or speed work (benching, etc), if she has an injured elbow.

also, look into ART and see if there's a provider in your area. If it's carpotunnel, they may be able to help.

[Lisa~]

You started this thread asking about conditioning and agility drills. Where are those drills in her workout?

The overall layout of her strength program looks good. The explosive lift could simply be jump shrugs, working her way into clean pulls and snatch pulls (assuming those don't hurt her elbow). I don't know about the elbow issue. I'd have to refer her out or live with the "don't do it if it hurts" system. And she is too strong enough to do jump squats! Begin bodyweight, add med balls, work up to a preset bar. Eric Cressey went through a hierarchy of reactive training drills (he hates the term plyos) in a recent blog post. You should be reading his blog regularly.

I think Coach Dos uses an undulating periodization scheme with his athletes year round. As you're learning, be sure to keep an eye on his blog and his new website. You might also want to take a look at his College of the Canyon's site. It might give you more ideas and a better understanding of how to put it all together.

Your set/rep scheme could be as simple as Mon/Wed make B1/B2 heavy (4-6 sets of 4-6 reps) and C1/C2 higher rep (2-3 sets of 8-12). Reverse that for Tue/Thu. BTW, why four days straight? Why not spread that out a little and make that Mon/Tue/Thu/Sat?

Change the exercise selection to match the set/rep scheme for the day. So on a heavy day she'd do, for example, her band assisted pull-up and on her high rep day she'd do lat pulldowns.

I'd probably also tend to choose a unilateral movement for each of the C2 exercises each time (heavy or light), and a unilateral upper body (anything DBs or cable one-arm) for the high rep upper body days too.