The variance principle may at first glance seem counterintuitive when it comes to conditioning athletes. However, team sport athletes find wide and varied stimuli within the context of competition in their sport. When you really look at the nature of these sports and the needs of the athletes, it makes a lot of sense not to implement segmented training strategies.
Conventional training suggests that an athlete perform separate sessions for strength, power, speed, and endurance. This is usually carried out within the confines of an established program with progression. Makes sense, right? Kind of. Athletes need this specific training, however, they must apply it in the circumstances that they can find within their chosen sport. This is more specific to this type of athlete than a program.
So what is variance?
Variance means continuous variation of the training stimulus from one session to the next. This can be seen in training methodologies like CrossFit and our own Personal Evolution methods. Each training is different from the previous one. It’s not often that you find the exact same workout in a short amount of time.
Now this type of training may seem like a random and unpredictable approach, but not if it’s applied intelligently. You wouldn’t go out and have team sports athletes do random, irrelevant drills and exercises. Training still needs to use the energy systems and movement patterns that are applicable to your sport. Soccer players need to run a lot, so the varied training sessions will include strength and conditioning, but also include a lot of running in an endless combination of exercises. A rugby player tackles, jumps, gets tackled, drives scrums, etc. This athlete needs a lot of strength, speed and power training.
So how is variance applied in an athlete conditioning program?
- First, identify the movement patterns they need to develop and the energy systems they constantly use in the context of competition.
- Start creating workouts that use these patterns in a constantly varied way. One day you could be doing Olympic lifts for high reps, the next day it could be a timed workout with four or five different exercises performed continuously at high intensity, the next day it could be max deadlifts using single reps.
- Start with a preparation phase, don’t jump right in. This type of training can be powerful and can lead to injury if the athlete is not prepared.
- Have each athlete record their results in a notebook. This applies to timed workouts, lifted loads, etc. They can then track their performance over time.
Remember, intensity is the main variable to target here. Intensity is what controls the adaptations that take place, rather than frequency, type, and duration.
Variance is king, apply it wisely, track progress and train as hard as possible. This will result in athletes being prepared for anything and everything.
For specific information, visit us at http://www.endlesshumanpotential.com