The advantages of using logbooks for multisport athletes

When the strength coaching profession was in its infancy in the 1970s, it was difficult to find information about periodization. Much of the material appeared only in articles published in expensive journals or a few hard-to-acquire books, many not available in English. All that has changed in today’s computer age, but easier access comes with its own set of problems.

High school athletes come in all sizes, but their training should be unified. Braden Smith, far left, is the 2014 BFS High School Male Athlete of the Year and will be playing for Auburn University. 12 programs of the elite competitors in this sport often leave little time or energy to work on other aspects of athletic fitness, such as running or agility. While it’s easy to find information about periodization for track and field athletes, it’s difficult to determine how to apply this knowledge to team sports.

At the high school level the BFS program is great for For starters, much of the information available about all athletes, but it’s uniquely suited for multisport periodization has been poorly translated. For exathletes, due in large part to the BFS Set-Rep System ample, here is an excerpt from a textbook written by and logbooks. There are several advantages for young one of the foremost experts on periodization, the late athletes who elect to play multiple sports, even those sport scientist Yuri Verkhoshansky: “The perfectionwho aspire to earn college scholarships.

ing of a basketball player’s technical-tactical arsenal is also associated with the growth of their functional First, college recruiters tend to prefer multisport athpreparedness and the rise in the stability of the spe- letes. One reason is that seeing how they perform in other sports gives them a better idea of their overall cific motor habits towards the developing fatigue, athletic abilities. If an athlete just plays football and during the intense conditions of competition.” It’s a only one position, what happens when the player pain to decipher phrasing like this, and any coach goes to college and due to the needs of the team is reading it will quickly lose interest.

moved to another position? Also, unless the athlete Another problem is that much of the material availis one of the few who earn scholarships, focusing on able about periodization is geared towards powerlift- just one sport means missing out on many opportuing or Olympic lifting. Within these sports, the focus nities to enjoy other sports and interact with other is on reaching a peak only a few times a year, and the athletes. As for the coaching side of things, when BFS Program coaches have access to multisport athletes, it eliminates the power struggles between coaches of different sports because they aren’t competing to recruit the best athletes in the school.

The challenge in working with or being a multisport athlete is that for the majority of the school year, there is no off season for these athletes. Following an aggressive strength and conditioning program in-season, such as is performed in the summer for football, will leave athletes overtrained and unable to compete at their best. This is where the concept of periodization comes in. Periodization is a solution to the problem of multisport fatigue, because it’s not possible to work on all aspects of sport preparation at the same time.

This means that during the season coaches must modify the workouts so athletes won’t become weakened and sore from hard lifting workouts and will have enough energy to perform at a high level in competition. However, coaches can’t put multisport athletes on maintenance workouts of light weights or they will never get strong. The BFS Set-Rep System manages fatigue by reducing the number of strength training sessions performed, and lets the sport training and competitions take care of other aspects of conditioning, such as running.

The system is also flexible, such that it can adapt to the needs of athletes 13 Multisport high school athletes should squat year-round and strive to break personal records in the exercise year-round. Lusia Angilau (spotting, left) and Clotile Harris both graduated from Hunter High School, which was featured in our Jan/Feb 2010 issue. Angilau earned a volleyball scholarship at Southern Utah, and last year appeared in 24 matches with 17 starts.

BFS Program that are cyclical in nature, meaning they repeat. The BFS program fulfills this requirement of periodization with four set-rep workouts, each lasting one week; after four weeks, the training cycle repeats. In one year athletes would complete 12 training cycles.

Dulaney High School’s unified PE and physical education curriculum created access to physical and athletic fitness for all its students and earned the school the distinction of being named 2011 BFS High School of the Year. Dulaney’s story was featured in our Jan/Feb 2012 issue. who compete in only one sport or as many as four sports a year. Another characteristic of periodization is that the training process is divided into specific fitness phases 14 Those are some of the administrative and physical advantages of using the BFS Set-Rep System and logbooks. There are also psychological benefits.

Psychologist David Schlenoff evaluated the results of a research study involving students at Dulaney High School in Timonium, Maryland, who used the BFS program. The personality test administered was the Piers-Harris 2, which provides insight into an individual’s self-concept and is often used to help identify at-risk youth. Schlenoff found that the girls using the BFS workout experienced significant improvements in many areas that fell under the category of happiness, such as cheerfulness. During this period of evaluation Dulaney’s athletic teams experienced success virtually across-the-board for both boys and girls sports, including a state championship.

Here are some examples of win-loss records in the 2103 season: girls volleyball, 21-0 (state champions); boys basketball, 13-3; girls softball, 13-3; girls lacrosse, 11-4; coed tennis, 9-3; girls field hockey, 13-6; girls basketball, 9-5; boys baseball, 13-9; coed wrestling, 8-3; boys lacrosse, 10-6; boys soccer, 8-4-2.

Especially noteworthy is cross-country runner Isabel Griffith, who won the state championships. With such great results from using the BFS Logbook system as well as the prospect of benefiting from BFS’s extensive collection of teaching resources, the next step was a natural: BFS was integrated into Dulaney’s curriculum as a for-credit class. One hallmark of programs such as BFS that are successful in making athletes bigger or stronger is a thoughtful balancing of all aspects of conditioning.

A big part of a record of achievement that spans 38 years is the BFS Set-Rep Logbook – it’s a training tool that has proven essential in managing the challenges of working with young multisport athletes to fulfill their physical potential.

The BFS Set-Rep Logbook is a great system to monitor training and maximize progress.

• See how to record lifts correctly and track progress • Watch how to break 8 or more records every week! • 63 minutes of instruction • 100 pack $99 • 50 pack $49.50 99¢ • Track 16 weeks #325061BK 1: $5 • 2-19: $4 ea • Over 20 $3 ea The BFS Readiness Program introduces athletes to weight training by emphasizing perfect technique. A solid foundation for all athletes!

(50 minimum) Build team pride!

BFS set rep cards, books and videos are TRADEMARKED Products. It is illegal to reproduce these items in full or in part.

Track 1 Full Year • Includes Instruction Record sets, reps, times, broken records & more! 1 book - $5.00 2-19 books - $4.00 ea Over 20 - $3.00 ea

From BFS Magazine — September/October 2014. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).