Coaches Prep Course: Managing Heavy Days

Join HQ trainer Adrian (Boz) Bozman for a peek into the Coaches Prep Course. In this video, Boz discusses programming heavy days and how to design a class around the WOD.

For a heavy day, Boz suggests a specific warm-up to prepare the athletes for the task.

“We want to make sure that we spend some time experiencing that position, experiencing the demands of that movement before the weight is the limiting factor,” he says.

After the warm-up, the coach needs to explain his/her expectations for the sets and logistics for the group. The coach needs to go over safety protocols and whether or not spotting is appropriate for the lift.

“It might seem second nature to you; it’s not to them,” he says.

Coaching while the athlete is under load is another scenario for a trainer.

“One word, one tip at a time,” is Boz’s suggestion for making corrections. “Pick one. Hammer that one thing.”

A coach should follow up after the lift to work on the details, he says. After the workout, cool-down is important “to restore range of motion to those muscles,” Boz says.

9min 22sec

Additional reading: Heavy, Light and Medium by Bill Starr, published May 18, 2011.