Coburn Coaching

Why Training your Body Matters

Warm-ups and strength & conditioning aren’t just for elite athletes. They’re what help everyone stay healthy, improve faster, and enjoy their sport longer. A good warm-up prepares the body and brain for movement, improving coordination and reducing injury risk. Strength and conditioning build the athletic foundation that let your sport skills show up under speed, fatigue, and pressure. This is why physical training is crucial for those looking to play at their highest ability. It also can develop general athleticism, giving anyone the ability to try new, and enjoy activities over the course of their life.

Development Phase	Age	Prehab / Warm Up	Strength & Conditioning
Learn to Train / Play to Train	8-12	2-7x / week	1x / week
Train to Train / Train to Play	11-16	3-7x / week	2-3x / week
Train to Compete	15+	5-7x / week	2-5x / week

Explanations

• Development Phase has a lot to do with the physical and mental development of the athlete. While biological growth and development may unlock the ability to train to train and compete, not every athlete will choose these levels of intensity, focus and commitment to a sport.
  • Play to Train may refer to athletes at an age where learning and practice is still play based. Or athletes not on a competitive path who choose to play as a second sport, or recreationally as a part of developing habits and life skills around health and well-being.
  • Train to Play may refer to athletes who desire to play at a local level in their community or through school.
• Age is referring more to biological age, which may differ from chronological age. Certain mental and physical developments are required for an athlete to engage with and adapt well to more intensive and technical training.
• Prehab in this context is referring to mobility, stability, balance and coordination exercises that reduce chances of injury and prepare the body for activity. At 2x / week this would be a warm up routine pre training and game / competition. It could move into the range of 5-7x / week if following a homework plan prescribed by a movement professional for injury rehab or preventative reasons. Proactively training movement is beneficial for everyone, as it takes less time than rehab from injury, reduces that chances one happens, and shortens recovery if one does.
• Strength & Conditioning may happen as separate sessions or as an addition to technical training sessions. The point is to develop the speed, agility, power, strength, and endurance that enhances performance in your sport. Frequency and intensity of sessions range do to the level you are looking to compete at and whether it is in season or off season.

At Coburn Coaching our aim is not just to help athletes perform and becoming their best. We also aim for them to learn skills and build confidence to be active and support the body over the course of their life.