First day Intern

After successfully securing a Strength and Conditioning Internship at Burnley FC I had my first day last Tuesday 21st Nov. I was welcomed into the club, introduced to every member of staff and provided with full kit.

I was to assist the Head of Academy Sports Science on a Tuesday and Thursday, predominantly with the under 18 squad. The squad trained twice on each day, with a technical session in the morning and a gym based session in the afternoon.

The morning session consisted of technical games on the outdoor pitches. To begin the session a warm up was undertaken by the Alex the Head of Academy Sports Science in order to increase the players body temperature, blood flow and mobility prior to training (Baechle and Earle, 2008).

The warm up gradually transitioned to a more sport specific protocol consisting of various speed, agility and quickness training methods, while also incorporating sprint mechanics. All necessary elements of the sport.

Warm up plan;

1. In and out of 4 hurdles - different quick feet drills. 2. Dynamics in lines 3. Knee Drive and Arm Mechanics in hurdles. 4. Dynamic Stretch in Circle. 5. Back into Lines: A March, A March with Knee Drive, A Skip, A Run

2. Acceleration Drill. 6 Reps in TOTAL. 3 Reps Lead & 3 Reps Follow.

 

Following the warm up the players performed technical work with the football coach while one player from the under 21's could not participate due to injury (broken nose). Instead, Tom worked with us on developing aerobic conditioning through a sports specific protocol.
 

Tom was to run a specified distance of 80 yards in 15 seconds, and when he reached the end was to rest for 15 seconds with a work to rest ratio 1:1. This protocol lasted 8 minutes in duration and has been shown to improve VO2 max through maintaining heart rate levels at the correct intensity while preventing accumulative fatigue (Billat et al, 2000). I had previously encountered a similar method during a module in the 2nd year of my degree although the work to rest ratio was much larger (3-4mins). As footballers often perform short sprints at high intensity during training and competition this methods also addresses the concept of sport specificity. This method of training is also convenient in comparison to long distance running aimed at producing the same results. 

During the rest period Tom was also required to pass the ball to each of us during the 15 second rest interval further developing sport specific attributes and cognitive performance during high intensity activity.

Heart rate readings are recorded for all football and training as part of on-going analysis to manage workload, intensities and RPE in order to analyse the wellbeing along with the development of the players. The heart rate measures obtained from the morning session highlighted a sustained intensity that would lead to improvements in VO2max.

I asked for the journal articles of the studies in order to develop a further understanding.   

 
The afternoon session consisted of strength work at the clubs ground within the elite training centre.

I introduced myself to the team which could of been better and feel I need to develop my group presentation skills.

Session layout;
- Coach led flexibility session. Focus on lower back and lower extremity.
- Moving Plank + Press Up x 80 s 2. Rolling Plank x 90 s
- Clams with Band x 8* x 2 2. Lying Leg Adduction x 8* x 2

Stability group;
- Core Exercises: 1. Medicine Crunch Rotations x 40 x 2 2. Side Plank + Press x 10* x 2 Pre-Hab Exercises: 3. SL RDL x 4 Kg x 8* x 2 4. Lunge to Press x 7 Kg x 7* x 2 Balance & Stability: 5. SL King Deadlift x 8* x 2 Strength: 6. SL RDL x 8 x 3

Strength group;
- Back Squat x 8, 6, 5 x 3 (60, 70, 80 Kg) & (40, 50, 60 Kg) 2. RDL x 8, 6, 5 x 3 (35, 40, 45 Kg) & (30, 35, 37.5 Kg)

Both groups;
- Single Arm Dumbbell Press (Hold) x 5-6* x 3 2. Inverted Row x 8-10 x 3

The session began with flexibility, mainly of static stretching techniques, which was a surprise to me as static stretching has been reported to reduce strength and power output of subsequent work and has been highlighted in the modules across my degree (Behm and Ch   .

Activation exercises were utilised addressing  the often inhibited musculature often associated with injury in footballers (REF). Gluteus Medius and Adductor activation work using resistance bands were incorporated during this particular session.

Core stability exercises followed which consisted of press up planks and moving planks both adding variation to the basic plank positions making it more challenging with the added dynamic rotary component to an otherwise static single plane exercise. Core stability has been reported to improve posture and control and decrease injury risk.

Such exercises are often varied at the club in order to keep the players interested and to make sessions enjoyable which is a large component with adolescent teams.

The session was then split into two groups, a stability group and a strength group, as the lifts where new to some of the players the less competent undertook the stability training session to develop them for the future phases of training. Alex coached the stability group and myself the strength group.

The players were starting a new phase in their strength training and were asked to choose the load themselves in order to analyse each players confidence as well as competence. I feel this was a good coaching strategy to see the athletes own perception of their development.
Two lower limb exercises were utilised for the strength training, the squat and the Romanian deadlift. Such exercise selection enables the development of both the anterior and posterior musculature which is important as athletes are often subject to anterior loading and as a result develop postural differences such as anterior pelvic tilt which can lead to a number of possible injuries (   ).

The loading and repetition of strength exercises were aimed towards maximal strength, which is often used during the preparatory phase of training during a periodised programme, as greater strength can lead to enhanced power development during a subsequent power phase of training. Power, defined as the rate of force over time, has been correlated with increases in sprint performance and countermovement jump height (     ), both desired qualities of footballers.

Finally, upper body strength exercises were incoporated; dumbbell bench press and inverted row consisting of 3 sets of 8 reps. Again such exercise selection encourages well balanced development of the players with both protraction and retraction of the scapula

Through the duration of the gym session it came apparent that the players had little knowledge on the reason for utilising such training modalities as it was new to many of the players and many questions were asked as to why and how they would benefit their performance on the field. I feel this requires a coach not just to direct sessions and correct technique but to educate players on the benefits of the session to encourage better involvement.


References

Ve ronique L. Billat á Jean Slawinski á Valery Bocquet Alexandre Demarle á Laurent La®tte Patrick Chassaing á Jean-Pierre Koralsztein (2000)
Intermittent runs at the velocity associated with maximal oxygen uptake enables subjects to remain at maximal oxygen uptake for a longer time than intense but submaximal runs Eur J Appl Physiol 81: 188-196