The business of privatized
Performance Coaching in North Dakota always slows down during the winter and
early spring. With basketball and hockey being the most popular sports in the
Midwest, just about everyone departs for their competitive seasons through
these months. We always have a few athletes that stick around a couple days per
week to keep things right throughout their competitive season, but for the most
part, cash flow drops dramatically. As a business owner, times like these can
be nerve racking. As a coach and student of strength and conditioning, however,
these are always the most exciting times because you get an opportunity to see
a majority of your athletes reap the fruits of their labor and expand your
horizons as learner.
With the winter winding down and
our state’s most popular competitive seasons coming to an end, it’s great to
have athletes trickling back in to start their off season training. As business
picks up I’m always searching for ways to make things run as smoothly as
possible with the higher levels of traffic. If there’s any way I can give returning
athletes a heads up on what has changed since they were last in and give new
athletes some kind of idea of what to expect on their first day, week, and
month of the program I’m going to try it. When you have a large number of
athletes all trying to learn their individual warm ups and strength programs at
one time you can imagine we’d like our coaches to be able to focus their
attention on teaching and coaching.
The purpose
of this blog is to help give everyone a better idea of what to expect after
they sign up for a 10 Week Program at Heilman’s Performance.
First, Let’s Start with Logistics
At Heilman’s Performance, we train
in 10 Week Programs. We understand 10 weeks seems like a stern commitment to
some but we firmly believe that with the program we offer, this time frame allows
us ample time to achieve the adaptations our clients most desire. It also
allows us the time we need to recognize our programming flaws and change course
if/when we deem necessary. We do our best to design the most effective and
efficient program for everyone who enters our facility, but we’re not afraid to
admit we don’t always get everything right on our first try. When you’re
working with a number of athletes who have little to no experience in the
weight room, it’s hard to tell exactly how they will respond to everything you
apply.
We schedule our programs in 40 minute scheduling blocks with no more than 8 athletes per 40 minutes. For
example: Our summer program begins at 6:00 AM and we bring athletes in at 6:40,
7:20, 8:00, 8:40 and so on and so forth, with 1:40 PM being our last group of
the day. As long as all groups stay focused on the task at hand, we should
never have more than 16 athletes in the facility at one time. With 4-6 coaches
on staff at any given time, the goal is to offer a ratio that is most favorable
to the athlete and to rarely have a conflict with equipment availability.
We allow our athletes to decide how
often they would like to train. We offer training packages in two, three, four,
and five day per week packages. You can spread those days out as you wish from
Monday – Saturday. (The final schedulable
time on Saturday is 10:00 AM.)
Once you have locked down whether you want to train two, three, four, or five days per
week, have decided which days you’d like to
train, and have decided which 40 minute
schedule block fits best for your schedule, you can expect your next
10 weeks to break down like this:
Week One – Assessment Week
FMS - At Heilman’s Performance we’re going to dedicate the
first week to collecting as much information as possible. The first two or
three sessions will likely be dedicated to these assessments. In an athlete’s
first day they can expect to go through what’s called a functional movement
screen. (FMS)
We’re going to use the kit you see
on the bottom of the (above) picture to take the athlete through a series of 7
movements. We use this simply to give us a good idea of where to start with
their initial program. Getting a baseline for where their quality of movement
is and where they might need some work can give us incredible insight into how to
not only keep them healthy through their competitive season, but also to help
them move past performance plateaus by getting them to move more efficiently.
Depending on what we see from the FMS we may ask them to go through a few
additional tests. This will all be fairly new for most athletes, but gathering
this information efficiently and correctly, is a vital part of a quality performance
program. The road to high performance is, always has, and always will be a long
one, and taking time to make sure we’re staying the course is important to us.
Speed, Power, and Strength Testing
After we collect all of the
information we need from our movement pattern assessments we will gather scores
in the following performance tests:
Woodway Sprint Test
Standing Broad Jump Test
Vertical Jump Test
Bear Plank Test
Hang Test
Loaded Carry Test
Loaded Carry Test
If you are a new athlete and
complete all of these assessments early in the first week and have a couple of
sessions left for that week you can expect to go through some basic weight room
principles. Before we design your program we’ll make sure you have a basic idea
of what we expect out of our deadlift, squat, push, pull, lunge and carry
techniques.
If you are an athlete continuing
from the previous 10-week program you are probably already familiar with our
“Challenges Binder.” Athletes moving from one 10-week program to the next will
be in what we call an “instinct week.” We allow them to break away from their
structured program and pick their own workout from our little binder of
challenges. This week can be a lot of fun. It helps break the monotony of
training, allows for a short break from spinal loading if needed and can help
our younger athletes be more accountable for getting in a quality training
session.
Week Two: We Learn
Over the weekend, between the
assessment week and week two, we (the coaches) sit down with all the
information we collected and design programs. The process of putting together
individualized programs for a large group of athletes can be a rigorous process
so please be patient with your coaches when you come in on Monday to learn
them, chances are they didn’t get much sleep that weekend!
Week Two, no matter how hard you
prepare always feels like organized chaos, but it’s where we really get into
the meat and potatoes of the program.
In this week you’ll learn the foam
roll routine, your individualized warm up, any speed/agility/plyometric routine
we think you need, and your strength routine. This week can be information
overload if it’s your first time training, so I’m hoping to break the routine
down for you here:
A session at Heilman’s
Performance will break down similar to this:
10 Minutes: Foam Roll Routine
10 Minutes: Individualized Warm Up
20 Minutes:
Speed/Agility/Plyometrics
40 Minutes: Strength
If you did the math, that’s 80
minutes, or two of our 40 minute scheduling blocks. You’ll spend your first 40
minutes on one end of the gym and your second 40 minutes on the other end. 80
minutes should be more than enough time to get through your daily routine. If
it’s not, we know something needs to change.
The foam roll routine we will use
at Heilman’s Performance looks like this: You should be prepared to do this
every day you arrive to train.
Once you find your individualized program it will look similar to this:
Weeks Three, Four, and Five: Progress
If you examine the program above
you’ll see it’s a template designed for someone who trains four days per week with
sections for set and rep schemes over a four-week stretch. This is the program
you will follow for weeks two, three, four, and five of the 10-week program.
Once you have completed this four-week
training block we will have a better idea of where we need to go with your
training. Volume, intensity, and exercise selection are all variables we will
look at when deciding where to go with your next training block.
Weeks Six, Seven, Eight, and Nine: New Program, New Progress
Over the weekend following week
five, our coaching staff will sit down and redesign you another four-week
training block. We will tweak any variables we deem necessary and try and add
or subtract from our exercise selection depending on what we saw over the
previous four-week training block. If you have demonstrated that you need to be
challenged more, some more advanced techniques may be applied. If you
demonstrated you need to have your programming dialed back, we will do so. If
you demonstrated that you are incapable of acting your chronological age while
in our facility, we will refer you to a baby sitter and give you your money
back, we can’t help you.
Week Ten: Reassess
Week Ten is nearly identical to
Week One. We take all of our athletes through our battery of assessments at the
end of the 10 weeks to see where they’ve made progress and where our
programming and coaching may have disserved them. We use this feedback to not
only show the athlete the fruits of their labor, but to make our programming and
methods more efficient and effective.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Cost?:
The prices of a 10 Week Strength and Conditioning Program
at Heilman’s Performance are as follows:
2 days per week: $450
3 days per week: $650
4 days per week: $850
5 days per week: $1,050
We ask that you prepare to put a
50% deposit down at the start of the program. We will keep track of your
payment progress and alert you of your balance periodically. We understand that
all the payment structures can be a good chunk of money for any family or
athlete, so we are willing work out a payment plan with anyone who is willing
to dedicate him or herself to our program.
Schedule conflicts or sickness?:
If there is an event that has been
previously scheduled (like a family vacation) that conflicts with the athlete’s
program we have no problem pro rating the charge in order to make it fair for
both parties. As long as we know in advance, we can put the best plan in place
for both the athlete and us.
We also understand that things
happen that we can’t control. If an athlete has to miss a session for whatever
reason, we will be as flexible as possible scheduling a make up for them that
week. If possible, we ask that they get any make ups they need scheduled by
Saturday of that week in order to keep them and us on a consistent training schedule.
Outside of reasonable circumstances (like ebola) if a make up cannot be
completed by Saturday of that week, that session will be lost.
Youngsters: over sleeping and your
“alarm not going off” does not constitute as a reasonable excuse for being late
or missing your scheduled training session. It’s 2016; I like to think the
engineers of the world have the alarm clock kinks all worked out. It’s no
secret that most of our athletes that achieve the best results are the ones
that reschedule sessions the least. Make a plan, commit to it, and see it
through, that’s how you attain the results you desire.
How many days per week my son/daughter or I should train?:
This question is one of most
subjective of all the questions I encounter when approaching the start of a new
10-Week program. It’s always going to depend on where your athlete is at in
their competitive year (in-season or off-season), their chronological age,
maturation level, training experience, and level of commitment.
I deal with athletes every day, some
dream of playing collegiate sports and making it to in the NBA some day and
some that just want to make the A team or avoid the last round of high school
roster cuts. Everybody has different launch points and different goals for
their athletic future, and I think it’s important to schedule and program
realistically to ensure long term development.
If an athlete is between the ages
of 10 – 13 and has little to no experience in the weight room, starting them at
two days may be the answer. As athletes grow further into their teens and
develop more focused goals you can adjust the training volume as necessary. Allowing
them to dip their toes in the water and start learning the fundamentals of
strength and conditioning can help them learn early and enjoy growing and
learning to navigate the weight room.
As an athlete approaches competitive
high school sports I think the 3 or 4 day per week options are more
appropriate. This allows us some more flexibility with all the variables of
their program. This is generally the most subjective age group, though. If your
athlete is just looking to get in shape for their competitive season and avoid
roster cuts, it may dictate their level of commitment. If your athlete is looking
to advance to the next tier of competitive athletics (collegiate or
professional) then this should also dictate how often you would like to expose
them to training. Again, there is nothing wrong with just wanting to make the
team, but if you don’t desire mastery of a particular training method or skill
set and plan accordingly, don’t expect to achieve it.
If you have been exposed to
strength and conditioning for a few years or are a collegiate/professional
athlete I would recommend you are dedicating four to five days per week during
your off season. Not every single day has to be as intense as others, but in
order to attain a level of mastery of any skill over the long term; you should
apply yourself in some way nearly every day. I’ve been working with college
athletes for a number of years privately and for a few years now through my
contract with the local university. I’ve found that, in the off-season, four
days per week is usually sufficient, but if programmed properly, a fifth can be
a nice variable.
It’s also important to understand
that training is just the application of stress to the body in order to achieve
a desired adaptation. If an athlete has a lot of other “stressors” surrounding
them, their training stressors should be adjusted. Over-training is a real
thing and it usually has an effect on variables that are more abstract than
joint pain and muscle soreness. As an athlete, your attitude towards the “daily
grind” and your mood can be a great indicator of whether or not you’re overdoing
it. The minute you stop enjoying making progress is the minute you may need to
reflect on your plan.
How do I sign up?
I’m hoping that if you’ve made it
this far, this is what you’re wondering. Your first course of action would be
to fill out the general information questionnaire you can find through this
link.
Once you have filled out this
information you can call myself (Caleb Heilman) at 701-340-3547 to schedule
your days and times and discuss a payment method.
Closing
If you have already signed up for
one of our 10 Week programs I’m hoping this blog does what it was intended to
do. And that is to provide some clarity for you before you even set foot inside
the facility. We firmly believe in complete transparency and honesty with our
athletes and clients and think that it is the best way to ensure our program
runs as efficiently as possible.
If you have any additional
questions please feel free to call or text me personally (701-340-3547), send
me an email at calebjheilman02@gmail.com,
or message us on our FaceBook page www.facebook.com/heilmansperformance.
If you would like to see some pictures and videos of the facility and our
training methods I suggest you check out our website at www.heilmansperformance.com or my
Instagram account @calebjheilman.
As always, thank you for reading.
Hoping to see or hear from you soon.
Caleb Heilman
