AUTUMN. At the start of the off-season it’s important to make sure that all your gym movements are performed with perfect technique, to prevent injury and develop functional strength in all planes of movement. Pair up and observe each other in the gym, lifting 3 sets of 4-6 heavy reps with 60-90 seconds rest between sets for full muscular and neural recovery. Heavy cable chops and single arm pulls/pushes are great functional movements for throwing events. Keep mobile with regular yoga sessions through the off-season, which will also optimise joint and core stability through the whole body.
WINTER. Lighten the load and perform high reps of multi-joint and isolation exercises in a circuit format to keep the body in overall condition, watching your technique as closely as you did in the autumn so that you have good technique in a state of fatigue as well. Early winter can be used to develop static core strength and stability, and more dynamic gym ball exercises like forward roll-outs and rotations are good in February. Start to lift 3 sets of 8-12 reps in February, using basic multi-joint lifts like pull-ups, shoulder presses, presses, rows, squats, deadlifts and lunges, to build a strong and stable base of muscle mass for later strength and power production.
SPRING. Speed up the reps in the gym, completing a rep in 3-4 seconds in early March, and 2-3 seconds later in the month. In April, start to combine balance equipment with slow lifting, maintaining a focus on key power-producing muscles like the glutes, the lats, the quads and hamstrings. Do a weekly session of light, linear plyometrics in late March, and introduce more complex movements in April and heavier loads in late April. All of these impact sessions need a good warm-up and long rests between sets, and the best stretching method to apply is ‘contract/relax’ – stretch the muscle for 3 breaths, then contract it against resistance for 2 breaths, and then stretch it again, repeating until no further length is developed.
SUMMER. With a one-sided explosive event, it’s vital to restore balance to the body in the gym. Summer is great for twice-weekly high-intensity power sessions, combining jump training with receiving and throwing implements like sand bags and medicine balls. Make sure that you do extra reps to your non-throwing side to restore some rotational balance back to the trunk muscles that support and align the spine. Warm-up stretching for this kind of high-speed activity must be dynamic and integrate the whole body. Step into dynamic lunges, forwards, backwards, or sideways, and rotate the trunk and arms over the front leg to prepare the muscles for the loads and movements to come.
LATE SUMMER. As the competition and training load mounts up you’ll need to reduce gym training and prioritise injury prevention in the time that you have to train. Short weekly sessions with medicine balls will maintain optimal power and speed, but now the focus should be on mid-tempo strength work, 3 sets of 6-8 reps with 60 second recovery periods to optimise strength and keep post-session fatigue to a minimum. Use unbalanced loading and balance equipment like gym balls combined with weight training to demand more of the core stabilising musculature, so creating a more powerful body by integrating its unit parts.