“Triphasic Training: A High School Strength and Conditioning Manual” is a free resource, available for all athletes and coaches. If you haven’t downloaded it, you are doing yourself an athletic dis-service!
After 15 years of lifting weights, learning about programs, reading books, attending conferences, and coaching athletes, I figured I had seen just about every method of barbell training. After reading through Triphasic Training, I realized just how much farther I had to go, and was beginning to become aware of just how big the world of possibilities was for the development of strength, speed and athleticism.
The first time I put together my own Triphasic program, I found that I was able to train harder, for a longer period of time without deloading. Lifting them seemed to “transfer” more to the key sport variables I was looking for. The rewards were increased strength, speed, and power in all arenas. The method forms the base-work of many of my training programs I write for online clients, as well as much of the work I do with the swimmers I work with at the University of California, Berkeley. It is one that is close to my heart as I work through my programming, week in and week out.
With so much information floating around the internet, and so little time to read it all, perhaps one of the most important things any coach or athlete wants to consider is the relevance, clarity and application of what they are engaging in. Listening to a lecture about fascia for 2 hours with little real application isn’t really high on the priority list of the general coaching population. It is that concept that drives my work on Just fly Sports, as I try my best to provide easy to read, straight to the point articles that are an amalgamation of more drawn-out concepts and ideas.
We are constantly taking, condensing, and re-distributing to make the overall training process easier and more manageable.
With that being said, I am taking the time today to review and discuss portions of a great, free book that represents a simple and streamlined understanding of one of the most powerful, effective training methodologies available today, the “Triphasic System”.
The original “Triphasic Training” book is still one of the single greatest books on training in my library and was the most influential works on my own training design since I read “Easy Strength” about 3 years ago. The latest adaption of Triphaic Training is the high school strength and conditioning manual version, which in addition to being a great book by itself, has some nice concepts that you won’t actually will not find in the original.
First things first: If you haven’t bought Triphasic Training, or aren’t sure about the exact methodology, the High School Manual offers a great primer and overview. It is a great way to dip your toes in the water. Not only is this version of the book a great primer for those who aren’t already familiar with the Triphasic system, there is some great stuff in the high school manual that is not in the original book.
Some new areas that I really enjoyed were some of the following:
- Anecdotes on the importance of the feet in transfer to athletic performance
- Plyometric progressions
- A method to incorporate the Olympic lifts within the scope of the triphasic method
- Ideas for GPP construction, especially applicable for the high school level
- Oscillatory and Isometric work as part of the GPP
- Cal’s metabolic injury prevention running circuit
- Simple and effective, multi-level core workouts
- An extremely thorough hip strength circuit
- Recovery protocols for use after heavy spinal loading
- A proposal for a new practice paradigm to optimize the order in which sport skills are performed, relative to high-speed skills
The manual also has a bunch of hyperlinks that go to articles on XLathlete.com. If you have ever been to XL athlete, but weren’t quite sure where to start, going through this manual puts it together in a nice, sequential manner. Much of the information in the book is also available via articles on XLathlete, but it is awesome to have much of it all in one document.
Aerobic Base Injury Prevention Running
Why yes Virginia, there IS a better way to do base training than running endless laps
I’d like to use the last bit of this brief article and review to discuss a few select pieces from the book, and share my thoughts on the methodology, Triphasic method combined with Olympic lifting, and then Cal’s basic undulated method of yearly training.
Triphasic Olympic Lifting:
Triphasic Olympic lifting featuring 2-week blocks of paused, isometric and reactive Olympic lifting woven into a French Contrast method. See the sample from the book below to check out what I mean.
Triphasic training applied to Olympic lifting. Taken from Triphasic Training, A High School Strength and Conditioning Manual
Clearly, Olympic lifting is a nice way to develop power, given that it is used with the correct cues, technique and bar speed. In the past, I have typically just performed Olympic work on its own, and then tied in the Triphasic method to my squat, deadlift, bench and pullup work. The progression above is yet another weapon that a strength coach can use to emphasize cues and core positions while preventing accommodation that occurs from the over-use of any given training method.
Complex training and particularly French Contrast is also an awesome way to develop qualities of power and rate of force development. Within the “High School Manual”, Cal not only lays out a sequence that would be awesome for high schoolers but college-level athletes as well. After all, if you are going to improve power, it isn’t just about magic exercises, but more about the explosive nature by which they are performed, and the sequencing within that leads to optimal motor learning, a positive hormonal and biochemical response, as well as the potentiation effect that works its way through each successive set. In my French Contrast adaptations in the past, I have always loved placing the Olympic lifts in this system, as the total neural and biochemical effect elicits great adaptations in power development.
A Simple, But Effective Undulated Method of Alternating Speed and Strength Blocks
Another piece of gold from this manual is the yearly sequencing of a training plan for high school athletes as shown below. In the model highlighted in the text, Cal moves from a 4-6 week introductory, GPP block to a 4-week speed-strength block, to a 4-week strength block, and then back to a speed-strength block before peaking. This model would work great for high school, as well as many college-level athletes, because, in any sport, speed is the priority, not weight room 1RM’s. Learning how to move correctly, and then do so with speed and power is far more important than the ability to increase one’s maximal squat, deadlift and bench press with questionable technique throughout the year. I have seen this “speed-strength to strength” method work very well for a group of college throwers in a fall semester of training. Get in shape, set the tone of speed, and then put strength on top of that. So many coaches do things the other way around, which can certainly work, but few would think of what might happen if things were the other way. Taking a look at the way that the Russians trained high jumpers as given in “Special Strength Training Manual for Coaches” would also agree with the thought of building speed before significant barbell work is implemented.
Basic Undulated Method of Yearly Training
Basic Undulated Method of Yearly Training. Taken fromTriphasic Training, A High School Strength and Conditioning Manual
As I have said even before I read through this manual, I would rather an athlete learn to do an Isometric reactive squat, with a rapid drop, a quick and unbreakable isometric phase, and an explosive concentric, than simply to be able to handle heavy weight. I think this provides a better fulfillment of the ideology of “movement before strength”. Doing just bodyweight and postural corrections early on won’t prepare an athlete to build their engine nearly to the level as learning the correct posture alongside the means to put serious speed behind it.
Although the weight room can’t hold a candle to sport in terms of specificity, the subtle training of correct positions, and the aggressive nature that can be taught through a biomechanically optimized strength program goes a long way in transfer, and providing an extra edge in competition.
Overall, Triphasic Training: A High School Strength and Conditioning Manual is a great all-in-one resource to get a great context on how some of Cal’s work fits into the big picture. XL Athlete is a really large site, with a ton of top-notch information. This book is one of the best ways to put the core of that information all in one place, in a sequential book format. I would highly recommend that you check it out.
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