Winter Break For College Athletes…
Winter Break For College Athletes: How do we manage it? Are you doing enough?
Almost every college athlete has around 4-6 weeks off during the months of December & January. When we get our college athletes back our goal is threefold:
- Increase strength
- Increase speed
- Increase power
All of these being a priority before sending them back for their season or “off-season” depending on their sport.
Now, you may wonder how we organize our VSP college winter program…
How do we manage it? Are you a college athlete wondering if you are doing enough during your break? Let’s dive in!
How do we manage Winter Break For College Athletes?
Being that we only have 4-6 weeks with these athletes, we try to get straight to the point and train with a little less variability than we normally do.
The way we break it down to build as much strength, power, & speed as we can is:
- Day 1: Horizontal Push/Pull w/ Agility & Acceleration Work
- Day 2: Hinge Pattern w/ Deceleration & Reactive Work
- Day 3: Squat Pattern w/ Max Velocity Work
- Day 4: Vertical Push/Pull w/ Submax Speed Work
- Day 5: Kinetic Tier (Olympic) Focus w/ Deceleration & Reactive Work
This breakdown allows for:
- Increasing Upper Body Strength & Power
- Increasing Lower Body Strength & Power
- Increasing Full Body Compound Power
- Increasing Acceleration & Deceleration Capacity
- Increasing Reactive Ability
- Increasing Maximal Speed Sprinting
Are you a college athlete wondering if you are doing enough during your break?
As a college athlete, once you return to campus after a break, you will be under some heavy scrutiny. Coach will be watching closely to see who put in the work to be better and who slacked off when given the opportunity.
Have you been training? If so, has your intensity matched the level it was back at school? Do you feel like your training has been focused? Intentional?
If the answer is no, you may have some reflecting to do & you may want to reconsider what, how, and where you train in your coming breaks.
Winter break, Spring break, Summer Break… that’s a lot of reps, sets, sweat, & hard work…
What are you waiting for? See ya in the gym!
Written by:
Jake Lebovitch – Sports Performance Coach & Liaison to Athletes
