If we had to sum up the training philosophy at Gallagher Performance, it would be,

“Our training revolves around the utilization of ground-based, multi-joint, proprioceptively rich movement patterns that are developmentally specific to each athlete during the weight training portion of the program, while concurrently addressing the specific metabolic demands of each athlete with our energy system training. All aspects of our programs adhere strictly to scientifically supported methodologies.”

This philosophy on training has evolved continuously over the years, allowing us to gaining a better understanding how the science of adaptation influences physical, motor, and athletic development.

As a coach, you must understand the principles of adaptation while also adapting the training program to meet the needs of each individual athlete. This is why performing a “needs analysis” is invaluable. Needs analysis accounts for the needs of the athlete, such as the sport of participation, position, etc. Our needs analysis is accomplished through a systematic process that accounts for various sports medicine, coaching, and individual athlete considerations. Coupling this with our knowledge of adaptation, we are able to design a plan (i.e. program) with the focus on long-term development. This is what specificity of training is all about and why athletes require specificity for them to realize their potential.

The plan is everything to athlete. Most trainers and coaches don’t seem to put planning/periodization into practice and wonder why their athletes are not progressing. Effectively improving the various needs of any athlete requires a focused, long-term approach to planning. Strength, speed, power, and work capacity are not simply developed in one session, but through consistent and progressive work done over several blocks of training. This process requires time. A lot of time. Yet, it is becoming increasingly popular for programs to be thought up at the moment and written on a dry-erase board. The majority of this incompetency can be attributed to the lack of coaching standards in the credentialing or certification process within the industry. Periodization is not a new or tremendously complex concept, but it does take time and effort to understand proper application.

As they say, “Plan the work, work the plan.”

The training plan must be specific. The athlete's potential depends on it.

More related reading:

https://gallagherperformance.com/gallagher-performance-training-how-we-are-different/

https://gallagherperformance.com/thinking-of-taking-your-child-to-a-trainer-read-this-first/

https://gallagherperformance.com/commonmistakesindevelopingyoungathletes/