Yet Strength Coaches will still yell about as if it’s a worthless negative.
“In 2024, we yell about “conditioning” & focus on nuanced agility drills.
With a population of physically devolved, weak kids, whose PE classes consist of sitting in the shade & playing Snapchat.
Conditioning is overrated?
No, conditioning is more essential than its’ ever been.”
-Ray Zingler on X
Most of the team sports our kids play are largely anaerobic.
What this means is, they consist of short, intense bouts of effort.
Think of getting a hit and sprinting to first base and then stopping and resting, at least intermittently, until the next batter comes up to the plate.
You could sprint again in 45 seconds, or it could be an hour and a half before you sprint again.
Whereas in sports like cross country, those athletes rely largely on their aerobic systems for performance because they are performing much longer, consistent bouts of effort.
Well, there is an argument in the S&C community that we shouldn’t focus on aerobic work with anaerobic athletes because it will make them “weaker & slower”.
Not only is that complete bullshit, as a solid aerobic system is critical in developing the quality work capacity required to perform anything, I’ll tell you why that “mindless” running some coaches are having kids perform is EXACTLY what they need.
In 2024, our kids are as technologically evolved as they have ever been, but what is the “cost” of this technological evolution? (We don’t think about this, do we?)
The cost is physical devolvement.
Our kids, in 2024, again speaking collectively, and not to any small, specific group of kids whose parents prioritize physical preparation, are as physically unprepared and weak as they have ever been.
Literally ever. In human history.
So yes, in 1996 when kids spent 40 hours a week outside playing neighborhood games, pick-up basketball, and road their bikes everywhere, we didn’t “need” to focus as much on developing conditioning because it was baked into our daily lifestyles.
Trust me I was bashing the wind sprints and the “mile running” in 2005, when I was having to do it, too.
But today?
With our kids who are as dramatically physically underprepared as they are, we’re going to yell about them running miles they can’t run and focus on “foot placement in agility drills”?
Are you kidding me?
Their levels of general capacity are so astronomically low, none of your “advanced” stuff is going to do a damn thing for them.
And bashing conditioning on twitter?
There isn’t a worse, out of touch, leadership lacking take you could take.
