If you are doing so-called finishers – Whether they are heavy sled pulls or sets to exhaustion, anything in the form of a so called “gut check” to make the athlete tougher – Think again and ask yourself what you are doing? Why are you doing them? In all probability you are negating the effects of the previous segments of the workout by doing something totally incompatible and contradictory to what came before. For example to finish off a max strength session or a speed acceleration session with very heavy 50-yard sled pushes makes no sense. It is easy to make them tired but it is not making them better. If you are doing it for so-called mental toughness that is even more indefensible, there are better ways to build a complete adaptable athlete ready to compete to win. Mindful always trumps mindless, 99% of finishers are mindless.
2 Comments
JJ Butler
Mr. Gambetta,
Criticism holds value (only) when offered with a suggestion to improve or replace. For example, the better ways to improve toughness?
-JJ Butler
PS: My squad does not perform ‘finishers’, while the coach they have the previous years does them. He has the reputation of being ‘hard’. Please know my practices are more rigorous. 🙂
Rich
Vern,
Are you implying that choosing to perform heavy sled pushes at some point following an acceleration workout can, in a sense, run interference?