Work Capacity

Just like every other S&C coach out there, I often get ahead of myself. I want to coach so many things up that I forget about the very foundation of it all...work capacity. When I was redshirt at Texas A&M Mike Clark put us through what he called "Complex is Life Training". It was the battle cry of every redshirt and we had the t-shirts to prove it.

Coach Clark taught me that there are four basic components that we are trying to develop: Strength, Power, Speed and Work Capacity. Strength is improved week by week, power month by month, speed month by month and work capacity is year by year. At Westside they call this GPP. Whatever you call it, it is a vital component to improving performance.

Mike Clark and Robb Rogers used to set up there programs with this template, and still may:

Monday: Speed Tuesday: Power Thursday: Strength Friday: Work Capacity

I really like this concept and see the merit behind it. However, I really like how Al Vermeil sets up his training cycles. No matter what type of training cycle he is in he will always dedicate a certain percentage of the total volume of work to Strength, Power, Speed and Work Capacity. Depending on the emphasis of the cycle the percentages shift...kind of like Conjugate Periodization.

Methods for Developing WC:

Complex's: See Javorek's Complex Conditioning
Circuit Training
HIIT
Sleg Dragging

Favorite Complex's

BB Squat Complex: Lunge x 5, Step Up x 5, Squat to Push Press x 5, Squat x 5, BW Squat Jump x 10
DB Complex: High Pull Snatch x 5, Squat to PP x 5, BO Row x 5, Upright Row x 5, High Pull Snatch x 5
Clean Complex: Hang Clean x 5, RDL x 5, Front Squat x 5, BO Row x 5, Hang Clean x 5

If its been a while since you incorporated WC Training in your program work it back in. I promise that your quality of Strength and Power work will improve.