Training Frequency
There is much variance around how much an athlete should train and for
how long dependant on the stage of the season that they are at. This athlete is
currently at the start of their off season; research suggests that at this time
of the year frequency of exercise can be anywhere between 4 – 7 days without
being detrimental to performance (Baechle & Earle, 2008; Winkelman, 2009).
Baechle & Earle (2008) clarify this frequency range for the advanced
trainer who has been training for at least 1 year; had this athlete been
training for the minimum amount of time as speculated by this study then only
4x/week would have been selected. However, as they have already gained experience
for 3 years, the higher end of this frequency range has been selected due to
training adaptations over this time (Winkelman, 2009). This increase in
frequency in turn will lead to faster performance gains; helping the athlete
reach their goals quicker (Goto, Ishii & Takamatsu, 2004).
Exercise Selection
Exercises were carefully selected so that they would reflect an element of
tennis within them or directly benefit areas of muscle that are used in this
sport. Exercises such as cable crossover, reverse fly, overhead pull, side
lunge and Bulgarian split squats all showed aspects of the movements usually
seen during certain types of tennis shots (Kovacs, Roetert & Ellenbeck, 2008; Kraemer & Ratamess, 2005; Wolf,
2006). Other exercises like the hang clean, push press, external rotation,
overhead squat and piston squat all used muscle groups that play a big role in
any tennis game; deltoids, trapezius, gluteus, quadriceps and hamstrings (Haff,
2010; Parker, 2008; Perkins & Davis, 2006). The final reasoning for the
choice of exercises that were chosen was due to current research into common
injuries seen in tennis. This moulded the prehabilitation component of the
programme as it tried to cover all possible future injuries within one weekly
session plan. Due to the past history of injuries it was important that the
forearms were strengthened especially to reduce the chance of tennis elbow
returning.
Exercise Order
The order was determined as a combination of common programme designs to
best suit the athlete. Chadd (2010) confirmed that by allowing separate days
for prehabilitation and core stability exercise there was a decrease in fatigue
during the power and strength components; in turn also determining that the
quality of the core stability and prehabilitation exercises was increased due
to a rest period beforehand. It was also seen that waste products such as
lactic acid were removed from the body quicker due to an active recovery at
prehabilitation as opposed to passive recovery (Turner, Comfort, Moody &
Jeffreys, 2010). A push/pull alternate style plan was accepted for this
programme as a result of studies showing an increased recovery time between
sets when alternating therefore allowing the athlete to maintain a high load
throughout the session (Jeffreys, 2008).
Training Load and Repetitions
The primary training goal was strength so this therefore is what shaped
the programme in terms of loads used and number of reps. Baechle and Earle
(2008) outlined that strength improvements were seen with loads of 85% of 1RM
or higher when completing reps of 2 – 6. It has also been proven that reps of
up to 10 have still shown significant strength gains when the load is 85% of
1RM or above (Haff, 2010). Therefore, our rep range for the strength exercises
of 4 is well within both ranges as the weight is 85% of 1RM for the majority of
exercises. The exercises’ where the reps have been decreased, the load has been
increased to 90% of the 1RM.
Volume
The volume ranges throughout the season in order to prepare for
competition dates, if the volume was to simply increase throughout then the athlete
would be unable to keep up such high demand (Bondarchuk, 1994). Therefore, the
volume in this periodisation plan rises and fall dependent upon the stage of
the season. Volume is designed to over reach the athlete and elicit greater
gains in performance as a result (Chadd, 2010). Kraemer et al. (1997) stated
that higher volumes are required in order to notice gains in strength for an
advanced athlete. Consequently, this shaped the volume increases in the
periodisation for this athlete as it was determined that we would need to
increase the volume to be able to reach their goal.
Rest and Unloading Weeks
The microcycle allows for one rest day a week as it follows a 6 day split
programme, however there are 3 days between each of the different exercise days
therefore allowing for a more active recovery. Rest between sets and exercise
has been kept at a standard for all strength exercises. Baechle and Earle
(2008) stated that 2 – 5 minutes rest was adequate for strength gains; the rest
given was on the lower end of the scale due to only lifting the lower end of
the rep max scale. For repetitions with a load of 90% of 1RM max and upwards
the rest period would need to increase accordingly (Hoffman, Maresii, Armstrong
& Kraemer, 1991). Unloading weeks have been placed after peaks in the
periodisation programme, after a competition date specifically, and leading up
to the off season to allow a gradual de-training effect.
Periodisation and Peaking
The athletes’ periodsation programme has been designed specifically to help
him peak for his best performances throughout the year. Three key tournaments
were selected; Monte Carlo as they have previously won this tournament the last
two years so its favoured by them, Wimbledon as it is their home event and it
has always been their dream to lift the trophy on centre court and finally the
Paris masters as it is their first year in the tournament so they are looking
to impress. By peaking for these realistic targets it should be expected to see
that there will be a gradual improvement in results prior to the competition
and perhaps a slight drop shortly after (Chadd, 2010).
