1. If you want to develop strength aim for 25 total reps @ 70-85% of 1RM per session, or up to 10 reps @ 85-100%.
2. For plyometrics, jumps and throws aim for up to 80 sub-maximal contacts per session, or up to 40 maximal contacts.
3. Aim for 120-240m total volume per session to develop acceleration, in reps of 5-40m, with full rest period between reps.
4. Aim for 200-300m total volume per session to develop top-end speed, in reps of 5-40m (at top end speed), with full rest period between reps.
5. For ballistic power development aim for up to 60 reps per session.
6. For high intensity conditioning (alactic capacity) aim for between 40-60 efforts per session.
7. If you want to improve aerobic conditioning, keep heart rate between 120-150bpm for 30-90minutes. Perform 2-4 x per week.
8. Armour build the upper-body, athlete the lower.
9. Be a PhD in your sport. Doesn’t matter how athletic you are if you can’t “catch the ball”.
10. Don’t use body-part training splits. Use the high-low system if you want to train like an athlete.
11. Don’t increase training volume by more than 10% per week (or injury risk is drastically higher). The greatest ability is your availability.
12. Stress is stress – it all fills the same cup. If life stress is high, reduce training stress.
13. (Relating to the above) having some form of autoregulation in your programme is a good idea.
14. You don’t recover by doing more, you recover by doing less. Stop looking for hacks.
15. Tick off the basics: squat, push, pull, hinge, carry, rotate.
16. “For every one pound of increased neck strength, odds of concussion decreased by 5%” (Collins et al., 2014). Train your neck.
17. Ferrari’s don’t run on flat tires. Make sure you train your calves, feet, and tibs.
18. Strength training reduces injury risk by 69%, stretching by 4% (Lauren et al., 2014). Prioritise accordingly.
19. You don’t need 30minutes of mindless mobility. Squat low, stretch deep into RDL’s and calf raises, and do lateral lunges. That’ll fix 95% of lower-body mobility issues.
20. If you’re not assessing, you’re guessing. Measure progress towards your KPI’s constantly (you can track speed and power with an app – MyJump2).
21. Stop eating like child. Stick to the 80/20 rule. 80% of your food comes from whole foods, more protein, and more veg.
22. At each meal, eat 1-2 palm sized portions of protein, 1-2 fist sized portions of veg, 1-2 thumb sized portions of fats, 1-4 cupped hands of carbs.
23. Sleep is a skill. Master it. Less than 8hours of sleep doubles your risk of injury (Mikewski et al., 2011), reduces testosterone by 10-15% (Leprout et al., 2005) and slows skill development (Pallesen., 2007).
24. Train like the athlete you don’t want to play. Screw playing the athlete that sprints weekly, lifts heavy, eats like an adult, turns up to every training session, and studies their sport.
