Updates to Drop-in Training & Sign-up S&C Sessions

Happy Thursday BCSS...

As mentioned earlier this week- there have been a few changes to our drop-in and sign-up S&C program schedules, which have been posted online at StrongerBCSS.ca

Changes have been made to accommodate some of the other schedules and programs that are running at BCSS during the spring sport season.

Download schedules of both programs here. 

You'll notice that drop-in training sessions are now available every morning, from 7:45 - 8:45 (8:45 - 9:45 on late-start Wednesdays). Morning training is offered in first floor and second floor facilities on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and is now limited to 2nd floor facilities ONLY on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Please keep in mind that on diamond days / significant faith days, drop-in training sessions, and other scheduled training sessions are cancelled.

I've included a list of diamond days below, for which all drop-in S&C training has been cancelled. I'll do my very best to tweet reminders about cancellations of sessions from the StrongerBCSS twitter account.

Also- coming soon... I'll be using the "Remind" app to send out updates and information about S&C programming at BCSS.

Happy training,

DV


Diamond Days Remaining in the 2017/18 School Year:

Friday April 6, 2018
Friday April 13, 2018
Friday June 21, 2018

View the YRDSB significant faith day calendar here.

Semester Two -- Weight Room Training Program for Grade 10 Fitness

Students taking Grade 10 fitness this semester for the first time can make use of this PDF, which is a two-day fitness program builder that allows freedom for selection within types of exercise.

The colour-coded workouts indicate primary and secondary groups, and students should design their weight room workouts by selecting no more than one exercise from each colour group.

Happy training!

Are you sleeping enough? Are you sleeping well?!

With a busy holiday season ahead, busy academic schedules, and for some of us, even busier athletic training and competition schedules- our focus on sufficient and proper recovery has never been more important...

Reducing the likelihood of burnout and fatigue is a top priority, but how does good recovery take place? What does it look like?

While active-recovery methods like yoga, low-intensity spin cycling, de-loaded resistance work, foam rolling, and other mobility exercises should always play an important part in our approach to recovery, often, the most-neglected and yet, most influential factor in effective recovery for athletes is sleep.

So what does good sleep look like?

The National Strength and Conditioning Association recently released a publication on the importance of sleep for athletic performance.

Along with the article, which highlights the importance of sleep duration and quality for the sake of improving athletic performance, reducing injury risk, and improving the overall quality of a training session, the NSCA also published this cool info-graphic, which does a great job of simplifying what good quality sleep looks like for an athlete!

Check it out! How many of these recommendations are you currently following? Is there anything you can do right away to improve the quality of your sleep? And as a result, your athletic performance??

Happy training,

DV

Extra-Curricular Strength & Conditioning Program Orientation Session: This Wednesday!

Hey BCSS!

If you're interested in learning about extra-curricular strength and conditioning opportunities this year, be sure to attend the lunch-hour information session this week!

This lunch-hour session is important for all students who want to participate in extra-curricular strength and conditioning/fitness programming this year at BCSS.

This includes, drop-in training sessions and scheduled, sign-up programs.

The session is taking place in the lecture hall on Wednesday during common lunch from 12:10-12:45. Students who will be able to receive a copy of strength and conditioning / fitness program schedules for the 2017/18 year, and will also be able to learn about opportunities to complete facility orientation sessions and submit requests for custom fitness/strength and conditioning program development.

If you plan on attending, you can sign up in advance at the Athletics Office, or just sign-in at the door on the date of the session.

Hope to see you there!

Happy training,


DV

Program Design Template for SSF / LTAD

Greetings SSF and LTAD students!

This post is just for you!

The link below will provide you with access to the generic 3-day program design template for your SSF and LTAD strength and conditioning programs.

Remember: You do not have to use this template if you would prefer to use your own.

Using the information we discussed in our seminar on deliberate practice and program design, you should be able to create a 3-day strength and conditioning program that is both unique and purposeful to your role as an athlete.

Your program should be designed with consideration to:

1. Exercises that are sport-specific;
2. periodization / the current stage of the training year (off-season, pre-season, etc.)
3. specific fitness goals that you have and areas that best-serve your potential improvement.

Here is a link to the template if you are interested in using it.

Students at BCSS Training Independently This Year

Welcome back smarter athletes!

Those of you who are hoping to train independently this year... this message is for you:

If you are interested in training on your own during a drop-in training session or during a spare period, please download and complete these forms, and return them to the athletics office as soon as possible!

“As many repetitions as possible” probably not your best bet while conditioning during the in-season...

You can hear me out on this one- or turn the other cheek... but I’ve been at this for a while folks, and this isn’t rocket science. 

If you’re approaching, or well-within your competitive season in your training year, the fitness you’ve built up-to-now should be looked at like an investment. Because it is one.

It is your time and your energy packaged up into a measurable state of potential performance...  And if you haven’t been working on it that much- better luck next year. 

Either way, there’s nothing you can do overnight to magically boost it. Truthfully, your biggest goal in-season should be to maintain the fitness you’ve built, avoid injury, and recover well between competitions and training sessions. 

This doesn’t mean that it’s a good time to be lazy or slack off during training sessions either though. Remember, the goal here is to maintain fitness, so you still need to manage your current ability levels when it comes to the fitness you’ve built. 

One of the most effective ways of communicating this in my opinion, has been to tell athletes that during their competitive seasons, they should end their training sessions feeling like they could have done more. 

By reducing volumes, increasing inter-set rest times, and maintaining regular intensities rather than trying to push for new heights in every session, athletes recruit muscular strength and utilize energy systems in capacities that encourage fitness levels to stay where they are while working at non-exhaustive, sub-threshold levels.

So... Don’t call it “hitting a plateau”... call it “maintaining fitness”- when you’re in-season, that’s the whole point.

Happy training, 

DV