Logo: Wesleyan Athletics

PERFORMANCE PRINCIPLES

1. Sport Specific Training
In order to improve, succeed, and achieve in any sport, one must perform, practice, and compete in that sport. In addition to your specific sport training, a strength and conditioning program designed to compliment your sports needs will enhance your opportunity to reach your highest potential.

2. Multiple Joint Movements
Athletic movement is a chain of linked events as opposed to isolation of movement. During sport, no single body part works in isolation. This is why a strength program for an athlete should focus on "Functional Training". What is functional training? Function is purpose, so functional training is purposeful training and is literally training muscles based on their function. When you analyze most sport events or activities, are they played upright or seated? How many of these activities are performed one joint acting in isolation? Single joint movements that isolate a specific muscle are very non-functional. Athletics is about the integration of muscle groups into movement patterns. This is what you call "functional". The goal is to maximize function and performance and that is why multiple joint movements are an essential piece toward our athletic training.

3. Multiple Plane Movements
Movement in sport and athletics occurs in basically three different planes or movements: forward/backward movement (sagittal plane), side to side or lateral movement (frontal plane), and rotational movement (transverse plane). Free weights and multiple joint movements allow an athlete to train in these planes or movements.

4. Ground Based Movements (Closed Chain)
Sport is multi-joint, multi-planed, and mainly ground based movements meaning you perform your sport on a playing surface (field, court, mat, track, ice). Most sport skills performed begin by applying force into the surface/ground. If you want to run faster, jump higher, move quicker, swing faster, take an opponent down or change direction better, than you need to generate more force into your playing surface/ground. To generate more force into the playing surface/ground than you must continue to get stronger and more powerful. This is a main reason why we follow a structured strength program in the weight room focusing quality time on Olympic movements and variations (Clean, High Pulls, Push Jerk, Split Jerk, Snatch & combination lifts), squats (Front & Back), and various lunges. In our "Speed and Agility" Training, we also focus on plyometric movements and agility drills.

5. Periodization
Periodization is a scientific, systematic training model used to continuously make gains in your training. Periodization uses different combinations of sets, rest, repetitions, and intensity to progressively overload the body avoiding plateaus and diminishing returns you would experience if you followed the same training regimen throughout the entire year or for long periods of time. Periodization usually follows certain phases or progressions such as a "base" phase or hypertrophy, strength & power phase, a maximal strength & power phase, along with a transition phase or "Active rest" phase. Our strength training phases will typically be 3-5 weeks in duration and then recycled through.

6. Nutrition, Rest, Recovery
This is what completes a sound overall program toward attaining, succeeding, and achieving your four-year goals as a Wesleyan Student-Athlete. Proper diet, knowing what to eat, when to eat, getting enough sleep each night, taking care of your body and holding yourself accountable to do these things will enable you to maximize your Wesleyan experience.