Advanced Periodization & Team Sports

We have had the unique experience of training multiple populations at DSC.  Although hockey is our niche, we have had the opportunity to train a diverse number of field sport athletes, motor sport athletes, and most recently Olympic caliber freestyle wrestlers.  Our goal for all populations, regardless of sport, is to provide a safe working environment and deliver tangible RESULTS!  Bottom line, we are not “married” to one-way of doing things.  We are “married” to best practice. 

Sequence: A strict order of succession. Although there are a plethora of programming variables (training age, motor priorities, sport, exercise selection, exercise order, tempo, rest, intensity, density, duration, frequency, regeneration) it seems like the art of sequencing has taken a back burner.  There are two forms of sequencing that we use at Donskov Strength and Conditioning when writing our programs, small picture and big picture sequencing. We aim to keep things simple.

At Donskov Strength and Conditioning we are always trying to find ways to improve our current programming. Our Athletic Development Programs run year round (Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring) and cater to the competitive high school athlete. Many times our programs are a mix of returning/new athletes, which can pose to be an arduous task for accurately proving loading parameters for athletes with varying training experience. Our programs incorporate undulating stress levels that are manipulated every three weeks (ex. 4/week split program: Athlete gets 6 exposures to the stress, than it is changed). Below are several of the many loading choices that coaches can incorporate into their programs dependant upon training status.

There is a reason the Vegas strip is plush with multi-million dollar Casinos. The house wins! More often than not the few lucky individuals that “hit it big” are overshadowed by individuals that have lost a great deal! To steal a metaphor from the great Coach Dan John in his book “Easy Strength”: strength and conditioning is a lot like Blackjack. Knowing when to “hit” and when to stay/stand is both an art and a science. Lets take a deeper look at the similarities.

I officially played my last game of competitive hockey in March of 2003. I miss the game everyday, but I won’t go out and play recreational hockey to fill the void. It’s not that fact that I work early mornings and late nights and have a business to operate, or the fact that my skill set has vanished faster than my receding hairline. I don’t play because too many players on the ice have an identity crisis! I don’t want “couch potato” Tom, who never played the game in his life, but watches NHL hockey every night on TSN and loves the “rough stuff”, to try to re-live the glory days he never had on me. I just don’t want to be put into a situation where egos and attitudes are involved. No one in recreational hockey is getting paid and no one is making a living on the ice. Bottom line: no one is playing at an elite level! What does this possibly have to do with Strength and Conditioning?