Trampoline Periodization Series: Putting It All Together

Welcome to the Final Article of the Trampoline Periodization Series. So far we have spoken about “Basic Strength”, Hypertrophy”, “Max Strength” and “Power”. Individually all of these programs are very important but equally important is the order in which these phases are prescribed. Here we will wrap up the series by describing how to prescribe these phases and some things to think about while coaching 

                Every sport will go through these phases differently and many sports will have different phases such as a “Speed” phase or “Muscle Endurance” phase. We decide what order will best suit trampoline. There are a few different ways of doing a periodization for trampoline.

                The most logical  way would be to be determining the intensities of each phase and prescribe in the same fashion as our traditional Periodization model. If you remember this is where the intensity starts off high along with the volume and then slowly decreases before competition.  In this case the order of the phases would be the following:

1) Basic Strength

2) Hypertrophy

3) Max Strength

4) Power

By the time the “Power” phase is prescribed the main competition should be about a month and a half away. This allows the athlete to get some good adaptation in before tapering before the competition. No point starting a new phase 2 weeks before a competition. No matter what sport or what level of the sport, “Basic Strength” always comes first. This is because, as mentioned earlier, the body needs to learn how to use the muscles and warm up. “Hypertrophy” is usually the next phase because it is a middle step between “Basic Strength” and “Max power”. The intensity takes quite a jump without the “Hypertrophy” phase in the middle. Then the “Max Strength” phase would be great because it then peaks the strength gains of the athlete before switching the priorities. “Power” is last due to the fact  the other phases have been all in preparation for this phase. Never start with a “Power” phase if the athlete is new in trampoline. Generally for trampoline at the beginning levels this format would be the best. A nice a steady increase of intensity and leaving sufficient time in each phase for adaptation and learning should be the aim.

Another way to do this prescription would be to completely forget about the power phase and focus soley on “Basic Strength”, “Hypertrophy” and “Max Power”. The younger athlete may not need power at this point in his or her career, after all Time of Flight (TOF) is not accounted for so jump height does not matter. I would argue that it teaches proper training mechanics and the athlete should be “shown the ropes” earlier then need be so that when he or she does move up they are already prepared. However if this is the avenue you as a coach wish to take with your athletes then you would want to cycle through these three phases a few times usually decreasing the length of the “Max Strength” phase. Max strength is hard on the body and if the athlete is new at conditioning then potentially the focus should be more on “Basic Strength” and “Hypertrophy” with some max strength added on top as a learning tool.  

Some coaches may chose to extensively prolong the “Basic Strength” phase and keep the athlete doing basic exercises for their entire first competitive season. This is not how I would chose to do it but it is not wrong by any means. It is a slow and steady approach with the long term goal being the focus. As long as the coach explains why he or she is prescribing this format then the athletes should understand and follow without hesitation. Even if you chose to stay in the same phase for a long time you still have to change up the program and cycle though different exercises and keep the children guessing. I would play with trying conditioning at different times of the training. Throw in a conditioning session first thing and make them train on wabbly legs once in a while. Doing conditioning before trampoline may be not the best idea all the time for a few reasons.  If you condition then train your muscles are tighter and most likely not as mobile as before the conditioning. If you try to then stretch before jumping on the trampoline the brain and body relax and essentially the athlete has to re-warm up again and this time the muscles are too loose. Muscles are like Goldilock’s porridge; it can’t be too cold or to warm, it has to be just right.  Once in a while however it will give the athletes a small shock and forces them to work a bit harder that day. Remember the most important thing in these early conditioning programs is to demonstrate the proper intensity and training attitude. Technique will come but attitude has to be instilled right from day one or the athlete will become lazy and have an idea that he or she can do whatever they want.

A coach may choose to try and shuffle the phases interchangeably throughout the weeks. This is not the best idea because the athlete will not get any adaptation, or at least not very much. The phases are a certain length to enable the body to adapt. I do not know about you but my genetics do not allow me to adapt after a few trainings. A form of this training is called Variable Periodization. This is where the athlete tells the coach how he or she feels the day of training and based on a few turns the coach prescribes a plan based on the mental alertness and readiness of the athlete on that particular day. Do not do this for younger athletes. I would argue you should not do this for ANY athlete. For a younger athlete he or she will learn very quickly to “ACT” tired or upset so that you always let them do minimal work. As well, not many athletes come into training 4 days a week in provincial and feel perfect every day. I can count on my fingers that amount of “feeling Perfect” days I have had in the last 17 years of gymnastics and trampoline.  You are almost always going to be slightly sore, upset about a failed test, mad at your parents, friends etc. This is no reason to relax on conditioning. Leave all mental problems at home along with the small physical ones that you can tough through. It helps to develop character and durability as an athlete by fighting through the trainings. No training should feel like it can be accomplished, then it was too easy.  If the athlete believes he or she can accomplish something then obviously the body does not need to adapt because it can already do the desired program. Make that program everyday a program that he or she feels is too hard and if he or she fails then that just means the body has to adapt more. Do not be scared to push younger athletes, they will learn to handle it. Build into it however but after a few months of training the athlete should eb sweating buckets and going to fatigue on the majority of exercises.

This would probably be the best time to discuss a deload session.  This is a training where the conditioning is decreased and the intensity is not as high as a regular training. Undoubtedly for a older Senior athlete this is a must once a week. For a younger athlete however the deload session is not so necessary. First of all the athlete is not training so hard that he or she needs a deload session. I trained 24 hours a week of gymnastics moving up to junior national and we never got a deload session. The odd occasional session would be more relaxed and more fun with jokes and less volume and more chit chat but that would be once a month maybe.  I would argue that it would help an athlete just to take a breather once a week but only if the athlete is doing intense amounts of conditioning a week. A body builder or a power lifter would need a deload training.  This is because a Olympic level weight lifter is in the gym conditioning 20-24 hours a week. In trampoline the conditioning is usually limited to about 4 or five sessions a week usually about an hour long of actual lifts, not including stretching. When you are only doing conditioning 5 hours a week then a deload session is not very use full.

Let’s talk about the Seniors now. Seniors are different from the younger athletes we have been talking about. Their program needs to be amore standardized and by the book so to speak. Senior athletes need to spend less time in the “Basic Strength” phase because they have already been accustom to conditioning so after Worlds they are ready to go and only take a bit of time to get right back into the swing of things. For a senior I would be juggling through “Max Strength” and “Power” with some “Hypertrophy” added in to these trainings. At this point the athlete should be solid as a rock and be able to withstand almost any landing that they may take. Injury should not be an issue at this point because the muscles have been developed so well that there is no rolling of the ankles, wabbles in the knees, looseness in the back etc. With this said, no one is perfect and injuries will still occur but the seniors should be getting less injured then the younger athletes.

With senior level athletes in any sport is when a lot of school education goes out the window. Based on my schooling I have been told to never allow any athlete, ever, to perform a deep knee squat. Have you ever watched Olympic weight lifting? I have been told to always perform a Functional Movement Screen (FMS). Does every athlete need to be standardized to the same model of performance? I have been taught to always have a deload training. Does every athlete condition or train hard enough to need one? The list goes on and on. For the senior athletes I am about to discuss, a lot of it is going to come from my own personal experience in the sports. Here is a few points I would like to mention about seniors.

1)      Use all the phases simutaniously or pick 2 and shuffle back and forth- At this point in the career for a trampolinist the only area of imporvement should be rotation speed, twist speed and height. As the hieght increases the athlete must get stronger so that injury does not occur. The trainings of a senior athlete should be very narrow and focused on these specific areas.  Do not waste your time with a month long “Basic Strength “ phase after worlds. Give the athletes a week of active recovery and then a week of “Basic Strength”, a week of hypertrophy” and then right back into the “Max Strength” and “Power” phases. Remember competition is basiccally all year round so the athlete has to be in tip top shape most of the time. You may say that “ Well a week is not enough for adaptations”. I know but we are not looking for adaptations here. A senior level athlete is not going to get “Basic Strength” gains that are even noticable normally. Remember these are the top athletes and many of them are close to their genetic ceilings if not already. “Basic Strength” for seniors is a welcome package. The imporvements will lie on the trampoline or in the “Max Strength” and “Power” phases.

2)      Some ask “ what about “Muscle Endurance”. Your muscle endurance can be trained simutaniously with any phase by decreasing the rest time. I would not couple this phase with a “Power” phase becasue this contradicts it’s self. Power needs rest in order to keep the neuron firing quickly. Muscle endurance entailes cutting rest to make muscle perform for longer. “Basic Strength”, “Hypertrophy” and “Max Strength” are the phases where “Muscle Endurance” can be focused on.

3)      Seniors should be doing Olympic Lifts atleast 5 times a week if not 6 leaving a rest day. Many come to me and get all upset that I prescribe such high volumes but remember this is Senior not provincial. If you were in Romania training gymnastics then you are doing 7 hours a day, every day with no rest. Your rest is the day that instead of a double training you simply do a morning training and a small afternoon training. If you are in china you are jumping 33 hours a week nevermind the conditioning they do off the trampoline. If you are in the NHL you are condiitoning daily and practicing daily, some times twice a day along with games a few times a week.  The Olympic Lifts will be the main way of increaseing jump height. The more you do the heigher you will jump.

4)      Bounding should be part of the program 5 times a week atleast. As soon as the ankles get time to relax they will and an injury will be the first sign that you relaxed too much.

5)      Do not forget about Aerobic Conditioning. This will increase the amount of work you can do in a training.

6)      Coaches: Do not allow your  Senior athletes to undergo variable periodization. Coaches need to push athletes at any level. The introverted personality is not enough. Every athlete needs that coach to give them a push when they are having a bad day or are tired. No matter how much an athlete wants something internally a push always helps if done the right way. You do not have to yell or scream. The coach talks to the athlete every day before training and they discuss a plan of action for that day. This is not a negotiation!!! This is a “ I expect this, is there anything you would like to focus on ontop of what I have already said?”. The athlete gives his or her two cents and goes on their way. The point of this is that the trainings are similar every day and the athlete gets so good at doing routines that it is second nature even when it is a bad day. Who is to say you are going to have a great day at the olympics. If you train like someone who can not work under bad conditions then you are taking a big gamble the day it really matters. Who is to say you wont twist your ankle in the hall way before march in. If you twist your ankle on the biggest competition of your life are you really going to stop? Most people would fight through no matter what. If you are already use to fighting through because the coach made you do it even when you thought it was impossible then you just have to remember what you did at home.

Take Home Messages:

11)      Instill proper training protocols from day 1

22)      Explain every single piece of information you know to your athlete

33)      Change up the program every few weeks

44)      For seniors focus on a few aspects and train those all at the same time.

55)      All athletes should be pushed everyday but make it fun and have them push them selves

66)      Introverted is not enough to take someone to the Olympics unless naturally they are gifted to extreme levels

77)      Prevent injury by teaching the athlete to take load on their body in different ways such as bounding

88)      Do not let athlete walk away from all injuries. Have them try a few reps on the trampoline and off the 9)trampoline to teach them that they are strong enough to fight through in a worst case scenario

910)      If the progression is too quick injury will most likely occur or minimal gains will be experienced

111)   Coaches need to act the way they want their athletes to act

   This concludes the Trampoline Periodization Series. I hope this has given people some idea for exercises as well as  a general idea of how to prescribe it. As I have said before please feel free to leave comments or questions of any kind. Thanks:)

Trampoline Periodization Series: "Power Phase"

        Hello Everyone thanks you to all of those who have given me feedback on my articles.  I will be continuing the series with the “Power Phase”. This is the next phase after “Max Strength”. Power is a product of strength and speed so it makes sense that the “Power Phase” would fall after the “Max Strength Phase”.

                Power as mentioned in the last article is (Speed x strength). By either increasing speed, maximum strength or both, an athlete can increase his or her power output. In trampoline speed of contraction is important but maximum strength is more influential for jump height. A runner for instance does not need maximum strength but does need a quicker turn over which is the speed portion of the above formula. If a trampolinist is too fast with contraction it will throw off his or her timing in the bed.  I am not saying that speed should be neglected, but it will not have as much influence as strength.Each athlete will have a slightly longer or slower contraction speed depending on their height and weight. A larger athlete will have a slower contraction to time the bed correctly because gravity is acting on the body at a magnitude larger than the force of gravity acting on a lighter individual. Because size is not fully the athlete’s prerogative when taking Time of Flight (TOF) a laser system under the trampoline record the amount of time the athlete is in the bed and subtracts that time from the total timed routine. This is why TOF is lower than a routine timed by a stopwatch.

             For an athlete to increase power output he or she must take max strength exercises and turn them into speed exercises. This can be done in many different ways and as I say almost every article, it is up to the coach to try new and fun forms of conditioning. Here are a few ideas:

Bounding:

             I know I talked about this in the alst few articles but it is so important I feel it needs a bit more depth.  The athlete starts on the ground and jumps off the balls of their feet and land on a block. The athlete jumps back down and without stopping and then he or she jumps back up after only making contact with the ground for about 20 milliseconds. The shorter the contact time the better but this of course depends on the skill of the athlete, the height of the block and the material of the floor. Less absorbent is better for a quick contact time but is harder on the body. It would be smarter to start on a tumble track and then move to a gymnastics floor after there has been much improvement. This exercise is easily one of the most important exercises a trampolinist can do.  First of all it teaches the athlete to use their calf muscles which accounts to about 15% of jump height. The athlete will also learn to take stress on the plantar ligament which is on the bottom of the foot. This is NOT A MUSCLE!! Do not stretch if it hurts. Stretching the plantar ligament will cause further problems that will take a long time to heal. The eccentric loads taken upon the calves and shins will strengthen the ankle joint as a whole, decrease the incidents of shin splints and help prevent the calf muscles from tightening up during training. This also teaches the body as a whole how to be tight because the contact time is the time the athlete would be in the bed. When an athlete jumps up from a flat foot stance and not a bound then he or she does not have to strengthen the core. The legs get stronger, core stays the same; the athlete jumps higher but is not strong enough to land and you get an injury. I have seen too many injuries because this exercise is not implemented into training. In this phase the reps should be higher to increase endurance of the calf muscles. In the last phase it was all about getting the body use to the idea of impact and staying tight at the bottom. Now the idea is to push the athlete until he or she feels a burn in the muscle. This means there are microtears which are good. Microtears  cause a signal to be sent to the brain to increase proteins, enzymes and nutrients to the muscle so it can become stronger. The athlete can take this as a good time to reinforce proper breathing techniques as well. Hold breath at the bottom and release in the air.

Elastic Band Runs:

        Take rubber tubing that you can get at wallmart for $6.00 and run behind your athletes with the band wrapped around their waist. I guess this is a good time to get into the appropriate intensities during a “Power Phase” . The athlete should not be trying to run with a lot of resistance. It may seem like a good idea to put really heavy loads on the athlete so that when the loads are not there he or she will feel light as a feather. Yes this is true that the athlete will feel light but that does not mean his or her muscles are any quicker. It is a trick of the brain more than anything. The general rule is about 15% of body weight should be added. That is the weight that has been shown to produce the highest speed gains in an athlete. WHY? Because the body adapts to any stimulus placed on it. Resistance training makes the bones  stronger (Wolfs Law) as well as being open to bacteria makes the body more immune to the same bacteria. Your body learns by experience just like our brains. If you take an athlete that has to go fast then put a ball and chain on him or her and ask them to run they will not be able to go very fast obviously. The adaptations to make the body fast are not the same as the adaptations to make the body be able to list a ball and chain. Train fast to be fast. Train slow to be slow. With a small amount of resistance the body can learn to be fast and support the new weight which will cause an increase of speed when the weight is gone.

V-Snaps (NOT “LIFTS”)

        This is another huge one that I cannot stress enough. If your athlete can not do fast V-Lifts, which are called V-Snaps then he or she will have a hard time activating the muscles that are required for a back  or front flip. The abs are very important in a front flip and if the athlete is unable to “snap” into a tuck or pike then every skill will be straight. Go and try that on a trampoline, not easy. The idea is that the legs dn arms never touch the ground and the contraction is as quick as possible with a controlled eccentric portion of the V-Snap. The athlete should be able to actually get the entire body to hop of the ground a small amount because he or she is contracting so fast.

Reverse V-Snaps:

       This is when the athlete starts in a V position on their backside and slams their hands and feet in the he ground as hard and fast as possible. Have a soft matt under the athlete at first and when the athlete is older toughen him up a bit by making him or her do it on harder surfaces. You may ask “How is a harder surface going to make my athlete strong?” It won’t. It will help increase the impact their body can withstand. It also forces the athlete to be tight. On a soft matt he or she can literally fall loose. On a gymnastics floor with only a sting matt the athlete will have to be really tight throughout entire body or it will not feel very good.  This can be progressed to a fast back raise while the feet are held by a block or coach. Be sure to instruct the athlete to not hyper extend the back. Go to just past horizontal when working on speed. Do not want the athlete to get a disk herniation. More advanced conditioners can push the limits slightly but generally it will not help too much because the back should never hyper extend during a routine. It is good for injury prevention however. Use your own discretion.

Elastic Band Work:

         This is the easiest way to increase power in the shoulders and arms. Many different exercises can be done and as long as they are being done with a fast concentric contraction and controlled eccentric contraction then everything is great. Some exercises include:

1 1)      Arm Circles

2 2)      Front shoulder Raise: stand on band and perform a front shoulder raise to a straight jump position. Good for prebounce arm work.

3 3)      Pull downs: Kneel under a bar or rail of some kind and pull down in different directions for different muscle group activation. Good for the Latissimus Dorsi which help solidify the spine to decrease back arch when not wanted.

44)      Shoulder Abduction and Adduction

55)      Shoulder extension

66)      Shoulder Stretches

         Keep the Exercises Simple and fast for the beginner athletes. The do not need to get into the complicated exercises yet when the basics are still being implemented. In all honesty I do not want to go through 50 exercises so i will make a list of some that beginners can use for their “Power Phase”.

Beginners:

11)      Wall runs – run against a wall leaning forward with fast turnover

22)      Wheel barrow runs- very fast wheel barrow

33)      Squat Jumps- flat foot jump up and jump down, pause and repeat

44)      Bounding – jump up and down off the toes with no pause

55)      Single leg hops

66)      Clap push ups

77)      Front support run ups- classic run up but instead of the feet  the athlete is on the ground in the push   up position running on their hands up and down. Elevate feet for increased intensity.

88)      Straight jumps across a floor off the toe. 

                  Here are just a few of many to get the coaches started. Now let us take a minute and talk about the top senior athletes and how they can improve their power output. There are three important exercises that need to be addressed here that normally would not be taught to a younger athlete. These are:

           

           Advanced:

Clean and Jerk and Snatch: 

        This is one of the Olympic Weightlifting exercises. This exercise has been shown to increase jump height in all athletes better than any other exercise. This is because the clean and jerk, as well as the Snatch both use triple extension. This is the concept of using the same mechanics to lift that are used to jump.  The difference between the clean and jerk and the snatch is that the clean and jerk lift pauses at the clavical and a over head jump press is used to get the weight over the head. A snatch is when the weight is directly thrown over the head and the legs squat the weight up.

Jump Squat:

         This exercise is only used for older athletes who can take a loaded bar bell on their back. Put on pounds on either side and instruct the athlete to jump onto a small block. Increase the height of that block but not the weight for reasons discussed above.  Make sure you spot the athlete. I know that there are not many gyms with Olympic weightlifting equipment so I will not go into much detail right now. All you athletes, if you want to jump higher go do clean and jerk and snatch. If you would like me to go into a detailed article about these exercises please let me know.

        OK So we have gone through a lot of different exercises  so let us see how a program for “Power Phase” may look.

Exercise	reps	Sets	Intensity (RPE)	Rest
Bounding	15-20	2	15-17	1 minute
Wheelbarrow Run Ups	45 seconds	2	17-18	2 minutes
V-Snaps	20	2	17-18	2 minutes
Front arm Raises	15	2	17-18	2 minutes
Wall runs	45 seconds sprint	2	18-20	4 minutes
Reverse V -Snaps	20	2	17-18	2 minutes

         You may be wondering why I am including rest intervals in this chart when I have never done it before. Before it was simple, rest until the athlete feels ok to move on. During the “Power Phase” it is a little different. The athlete will feel like his muscles are not tired and will tell you he or she is ready to go again but then the next set will always be slower. This is because speed is not a product of the muscle it is a product of the signal sent from the brain. The neuromuscular portion of the recovery is slower than the muscle recovery. The body will send fast signals to the muscle to contract. After sometimes the signal slows down. As we discussed earlier, train fast to be fast. This is when you should cut the exercise and tell the athlete to rest so speed is the outcome rather than endurance or strength. It usually takes about 5 minutes for an athlete to fully recover from a power exercise. You may be wondering why I have such high reps when the neuromuscular signal will usually slow down after about 6 reps. This is because these exercises are not full intensity and the speed is not 100% yet. These are new athlete who have to get use to speed, not the senior athletes who are performing a snatch or jump squat. After about 5-6 reps of a jump squat the athlete will start slowing down incredibly. After 10 bounds onto a block the athlete will not even feel phased. For the younger athletes it is ok for them to feel like the speed is easy, that means those specific muscles are already working properly.  Get the entire body functioning equally before increasing the reps and sets or compensations will occur. As you can see for the wall runs it is a full sprint and you want them going at 100% effort because the chance of injury is small in this exercise because there is no lifting. Other exercises have to be done more carefully as to not snap a tendon or roll an ankle or wrist. At first it will seem boring and easy and that the athletes did not work very hard but after a month and a half to 3 months you will notice much fast and harder conditioning being performed.

For trampoline that is our last phase. This last article of this series will bring everything together and discuss how to properly administer these phases to your athletes. 

Thank youJ