A Simple YTP Template

Students in HPA, SSF, and LTAD are currently reviewing and learning about the important role of a yearly training plan (YTP) in coaching and training. A YTP is a tool used in the long-term planning process for athletes who require an integrated approach to balancing and monitoring sport-specific training loads with strength and conditioning, and other commitments throughout the year while paying special consideration to key dates and time periods in the calendar.

Those of you who are taking on the challenge of integrating your fitness class activity with your yearly training plan for the rest of the semester can download this simple version of a YTP template to help you.

Note: Please remember that students must be logged in to their YRDSB Google Apps (GAPPS) account to view / download this file. 

The template will allow you to budget and map out the relationship between your weekly fitness training totals and sport-specific skills training totals along with average intensity levels. Volume and intensity considerations for each microcycle should align with your fitness training goals for the specific macro-cycle in your training plan. You should also us the template to designate fitness assessment weeks and specific tests for those weeks.

If you would like to brush-up on periodization theory before getting started, you can review the Smarter Athletes presentation on periodization concepts by clicking here.

Template for Monitoring Elective Fitness Tests

Students in LTAD and SSF courses can download and use this simple template for monitoring their elective fitness testing results.

The template allows for up to six tests (up to two from each category) to be recorded for submission and has a built-in visual component for demonstrating trends / progress. Students will only need to change the names of their elected tests and the results. When naming a test, use the following naming method:

TestName_UnitOfMeasurement

for example:

VerticalJump_Inches

Students only need to change the names of tests and enter data in the columns from their three rounds of testing.

This template is accompanied by a visual that will automatically adjust to the new values you've entered in the tracking chart above.

This simple visual model used to illustrate trends in testing/assessment will update automatically.

Students that have developed their own tracking sheet can feel free to continue using it instead of this one as long as testing and results are being tracked effectively.

To view a PDF of the elective fitness testing presentation, click here.

Template for Daily Meal Planning

Hey BCSS Fitness Students!

If you are challenging yourself by using the MS Excel meal planning template for your current fitness health assignment, you can download it here!

If you have questions about how to use the template in MS Excel, let me know. Happy to help!

Note: students must be logged into their YRDSB GAPPS account in order to access this file. You must also have MS Excel on the computer you are using.

If you'd prefer to use the basic PDF template, you can download it here.

Happy training,

DV

In-season, Off-season? How are you training?

It's an interesting time of year... plenty of team sports are winding down at BCSS and others are starting up, the holiday-break seems like it's just around the corner (although it's still a few weeks away), and as usual our fitness and conditioning spaces are filled with students working hard.

Yesterday, our Junior and Senior Boys Football Programs began their off-season strength and conditioning workouts during the lunch-hour. A few weeks ago, our field event athletes started some weekly pre-season strength training sessions after school. It's especially amazing to see so many athletes working hard toward a goal that may very well be months away.

But if we're planning for the long-term with our strength training and fitness in mind, we should be thinking about the concepts that are related to long-term training and periodization. Athletes who break their training into specific cycles (marked by purpose, volume, intensity and other variables) over the course of a training year can benefit in many ways.

The concept of periodization is best understood as time-management for the specialized athlete who trains on a year-round basis. Is this you? If so, perhaps there's a lot to learn... 

Earlier this year, students in our Long Term Athlete Development and Sport Specific Fitness courses learned about concepts related to periodization and how to get started with long-term planning. If this interests you, you can check out our Smarter Athletes session on periodization concepts at StrongerBCSS.ca

If you'd like to chat one-on-one about periodization and a yearly training model for yourself, let me know! 

Happy training, 

DV

2015-16 Weekly Programming

Did you know that there is a place to just "drop-in" and train at BCSS at least once every day?

If you haven't checked it out yet, be sure to take a look at the 2015-16 program schedule below and start taking advantage of some of the great training facilities that BCSS has to offer!

Click on the image above to view a larger PDF of the weekly training schedule!

A new site is in the works...

StrongerBCSS.ca was created to act as a central hub for BCSS students looking for Smarter Athletes presentations, video resources, training programs and schedules. We are happy to report that the site is currently receiving a facelift with a few new features added to it. Among them: new social media connections, new video formats for presentation viewing, and an improved process for making a program request through our strength and conditioning department.

With the 2015/16 school year well-underway at BCSS and plenty of student athletes hoping to take advantage of opportunities to train, the timing for releasing a new Strength & Conditioning site couldn't be better.

We're hoping to have the site up and and running by early October and welcome your feedback. If there's something you'd like to see on the site, be sure to let me know!

In the meantime... Happy training!

DV

High Speed / Olympic Lifting Workshop for SSF & LTAD Students

Students in LTAD & SSF classes this year can sign-up for our upcoming High Speed / Olympic Lifting Workshop that is taking place during class on November 17th and 19th.

High speed lifting is one of the very best ways to train and improve the system our bodies use and rely on regularly to produce force rapidly. This pertains to maximal and sub-maximal sprinting, jumping, and any other explosive movement.

Students who sign up for the workshop will be introduced to safe and functional high-speed lifting techniques so that they can proceed with confidence when integrating these new exercises into their strength and conditioning routines.

To sign up for one of the sessions, students in LTAD and SSF sections must pre-register by completing a short registration form click here to complete the form.

The maximum number of participants permitted in each workshop is 20 students. So sign up early to ensure your space.

Note: This is an introductory workshop. If you are already a well-seasoned weight lifter with experience in high-speed lifting, you may not be interested in taking part. However, the Plyometrics Centre will be unavailable to any students that are not enrolled in the workshop on the scheduled dates.