Training with Intent and Intensity
Without intent you can’t accomplish much that will make you better.
Abe Wingfield put on an “intent” clinic yesterday.
Intent is the fire an athlete brings to a session, and how they use it to improve.
The fire can be burning hot and you will be able to push the limits (high intensity- high specificity), or it could be barely lit and you will need to give the athlete what they need to still progress that day (low intensity – variation).
As a coach it’s your job to evaluate what kind of intent you’ll be able to pull from someone on a given day, vs thinking you can throw anything at anyone.
Once you know what the intent capability is, you put people in positions to win , so it can be used effectively to make someone better that day.
That said , it’s ok to pick a low intensity – higher variation day. Think about this as a learning opportunity that pushes the needle forward.
The alternative would be writing a program and holding an athlete to a high intensity day if they got no sleep, are stressed at school, and had poor nutrition. The amount of intent will be low, and injury risk high if you don’t alter course.
Intent comes in different forms, as you can see in all of these videos. It’s not just an all out burst, but it can be fighting a long eccentric, or isometric, being alert to change directions, and sticking landings.
Observe, cultivate, and nurture intent in your athletes. Educate them , and create a learning environment where they can apply it, and click on the image above and watch them go.
Brain Food
What you see – speed ladder training and a general dynamic warm up
What we’re training – R and L 🧠 hemisphere communication (crossing the midline / corpus callosum) , to get athletes CNS fired up, improve sensory, motor, and cognitive development.
If you notice in each video the arms cross the midline of the body, with arms and legs coordinated in movement. Early in a session this wakes up a foggy brain, creates a challenge that excites the nervous system, and takes something done with little intent to one which has great return on investment.
Most in the strength and conditioning industry see the ladder as having low ROI for true speed, which I’d agree with, but find value in creating coordination and firing the 🧠 up to create intent. What we use to improve TRUE SPEED comes next.
Kids with trouble crossing midline experience a lack of motor coordination, trouble reading left to right on a page, tying their shoes , and learning in school.
Take that to the field, strength with coordination is lethal.
Better training outcomes
Better quality of life outcomes
Two 🐦 one stone ✅ subtle but effective. Click on the image to see!
DSP Athlete Commits
Another DSP O.G. just committed! Congratulations to Max Thiessen, one of the hardest working and smartest kids we’ve ever had. Next year Max will play hockey at Amherst College. We all are so proud of him!!💪🏾 #dspdisciple
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