Setting Up Your Elite Program-Part 2

Mar 17, 2011

I have a little down time in between training sessions at the March National Team Training Camp in Houston so I thought I’d finish up on the blog topic dedicated to setting up your elite program.

In part one I tried to define what I use as criterion for considering an athlete for the elite program as well as what an elite program actually means. As promised I thought I would share the breakdown of our allotment of time in the gym. Again, as I previously stated, by no means do I think our program has all the answers. In fact quite the contrary… I am always searching for the answers. I just have always found it interesting to hear how others used their time in the gym. So here it is in a nut shell…

The Twistars USA Elite Program Training Schedule:

We currently have 4 athletes who are training on the elite track and 5-6 others that are using a modified version (slightly less hours). Training days are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 3:30-8:00 pm or 4:30-9:00 pm and Saturday 8am-1:00 pm. We supplement these main training sessions with Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday AM sessions which run from 8-10:30 am. (This equals 30.5 hours). Jordyn Wieber actually does 31 hours due to adding in a little extra flexibility time. From what I can gather 31 hours falls a bit short of some of the more prominent elite programs around the country/world. We try to compensate by being more organized and efficient in training.

Monday- Tuesday-Thursday- Friday

3:30- 3:45- High Intensity Warm Up which includes running, leaping, jumping and a little stretching. We try to emphasize presentation, amplitude, foot work, etc so as to help compensate for our lack of dance exposure.

3:45-4:00- Pre assigned Physical Abilities and Flexibility. This changes periodically but generally concentrates on the USA National Team Physical Abilities Testing that we do at each training camp. Monday and Thursday have a set of exercises and Tuesday/Friday cover something different. 2-3 sets of the following exercises are divided into Mon/Th or Tue/Fri. Depending on the time of year we may add some resistance (weight vests, theraband tubing etc.).

• Rope Climb
• Chin Levers (10-12)
• Cast Handstand Lower Downs (8-12)
• L-Leg Lifts (15-20)
• Press Handstands (8-12)
• 60 second Handstand Holds
• Ballistic Leg Kicks
• Trampoline Split Jumps

4:00-8:00

• 1 Hour Bars
• 1 Hour Beam
• 30 Minutes Vault
• 30 Minutes Tumbling
• 30 Minutes Floor Dance
• 30 Minutes Conditioning

Saturday

8:00-8:30- Full team choreographed warm up or the USA National Team Warm Up. This will include running, leaping, jumping, sprinting, as well as some general stretches and calisthenic exercises. We have found that Saturday AM (being at the end of the week and coming off Friday night practice) requires a bit more warm up time.

8:30-12:30

• 1 Hour Bars
• 1 Hour Beam
• 30 Minutes Vault
• 30 Minutes Tumbling
• 30 Minutes Floor Dance
• 30 Minutes Conditioning

12:30-1:00

Ballet Dance/Flexibility training or specific assignments.
Tuesday/Thursday- Usually mirror each other

AM TRAINING

Tuesday/Thursday- Usually mirror each other:
8:00-8:30- Ballet Dance
8:30-8:45- Trampoline Training (Tuesday-Back flipping/Twisting)(Thursday- Front flipping and Twisting)
8:45-9:00- Line Drills and Stick Drills
9:00-9:30- Supplemental Balance Beam- If preparing for a competition this time would be used for a quick efficient meet style warm up then 3 routines and parts. During off season this time is used for specific skill development. 9:30-10:00- Supplemental Bars- If preparing for a competition this time would be used for a 2 touch warm up and then 2-3 Full Routines and parts. During the off season this time is used for basic complex work (handstand excellence, pirouetting, single bar elements working on straight arms and hitting consistent handstands).
10:00-10:10- Very intense leg conditioning
10:10-10:30- Hands on flexibility work-

Wednesday:
8:00-8:30 Dance Work- Modern expressive movement or routine section perfection 8:30-8:45- Tumble Trak Complex and Skills into soft landing
8:45-9:00- Line Drills and Tumbling Basics (Round offs, Back Handsprings, Run up punch front tumbling combinations etc.)
9:00-9:30- Supplemental Balance Beam
9:30-10:00- Supplemental Bars
10:00-10:10- Ballistic Flexibility Training- Working range of motion on jumps and leaps using trampoline, tumble trak and theraband tubing.
10:10-10:30- Hands on Flexibility

GENERAL INFORMATION

Generally speaking:
Vault- as much as 75% of the allotted time is spent vaulting uphill. As competitive season approaches that may get reduced to 30%. Drills are often part of the requirements and set up as return stations. In line requirements often include ankle rehab and strengthening stations, proprioceptive training stations and idle time supplemental conditioning. During the competitive season the requirement is 3-5 well executed vaults into resi with competition height landing mats.

Bars- Bar time generally includes a 15-20 basic complex warm up each day. The area of focus alternates from one day to the next between kipping/casting and swinging/shaping. During competitive season the normal requirement is 3 quality routines (with quality being the standard in order to count them). For variety we throw in some variations like routines in a row, pressure sets, stuck dismount to count, team in a row etc. After routines there is usually some additional requirement like 5-10 upgrade skills or combinations, stuck dismounts or problem parts.

Beam- Beam time also usually includes a 10-15 minute complex warm up centering around ankle strength development, alignment and posture, foot work and presentation. During routine season the requirements usually include 6-10 beam routines, 3 Dance through routines, upgrade skills, and problem parts. As a general rule routines with major breaks are not accepted and during certain times of the year (championship season) minor wobbles are not acceptable.

Floor- Since Floor is only a 30 minute rotation the Complex is done as idle time stations and in between routines. The complex generally alternates between a leap technique complex and a turn complex. Routine requirements during competitive season are usually a full tumble routine every other day plus a dance through with select tumbling passes. On the non tumbling days the emphasis is more on the presentation of the routine with added endurance training. Tumbling- Tumbling is a separate 30 minute rotation. Generally speaking we try to get 3-5 of each pass accomplished. During developmental periods we use uphill tumbling and incorporate more basics (speed development, blocking and setting, timers etc.) Tumbling is generally uphill somewhat into a soft landing situation.

Conditioning- 30 minutes are reserved for additional physical preparation. This of course is on top of the supplemental conditioning that may be part of the various complexes on each of the events. Our conditioning program progresses through 5-6 phases.
1- Build Up Phase- General conditioning with the intent of getting the body prepared for more intense strength development. High numbers of general body weight type exercises with low resistance. One or Two 6-8 week phases. If you use 2 build Up Phases the second one would build on the first to become slightly more challenging.
2- Max Strength- This is the phase where we try to get to most strength gain. It is most often used in the off season and lasts from 4-6 weeks. You may need to use 2 Max Strength Phases also where the second would once again compliment and build off of the first one becoming gradually more intense. Numbers during this phase is less but the intensity (resistance) is greater. Never use a Full Max Strength Phases during your main competitive season as the intent is to exhaust and fatigue the muscles thus leaving little energy for full routines.
3- Conversion Phase- This is where you take your strength gain and more specifically adapt it to gymnastics. Exercises would be more sports specific like plyometric, speed training, straight/hollow body work, alignment and form focus. This phases can be 6-8 weeks and usually corresponds with the beginning stages of routine development. Generally low resistance exercises done with speed and precision with plenty of rest in between sets.
4- Maintenance Phase- This phase is used during very important competitions and championship season. The idea is to simply maintain the developed strength by doing s few fairly intense exercises (reducing the total numbers) thus freeing up time and energy for routine perfection.
5- Rest and Adaptation Phase- This is a phase that I introduced after coming to the realization that the body simply can not condition non stop 52 weeks per year. We introduce a Rest and Adaptation phase every so often just to give the mind and body a break. During this time we can do a little extra flexibility or dance training.

In evaluating our current training schedule I always seem to come back to same conclusion and that is we do not have enough Dance and or flexibility time. I am strongly considering reducing tumbling and vaulting to 4 days per week thus freeing up 2 – 30 minute rotations each week. Another consideration is simply adding a 4th AM training day either on Monday or Friday. The balancing act of keeping the hours in the gym efficient yet still having enough time to actually cover the areas that need attention is a coaching dilemma that may never be solved. Too much time in the gym almost assuredly will result in overuse injuries, acute injuries, stagnant training, and motivational issues. Not enough time means not being able to produce the kind of results necessary to be successful at the elite level. With this being said I often go back to a quote I once heard Dr. Bill Sands use in a lecture on periodization years ago and that is “undertrained athletes have a better chance of success than OVERTRAINED”. When setting up your program I would always err on the side of not enough time in the gym rather than too much. Hope this helps. Again if you have any specific questions feel free to drop me a line. If you feel this topic might be of interest to some of your coaching friends by all means share it with them (just click on your social media icon below).