1. Always stay in good shape. Becoming addicted to lifting and very brief explosive movements (ie plyos) will take its toll on the body if weekly conditioning work is not performed to increase blood flow, keep the fasciae loose, and keep the heart healthier.
2. Stretch! Not only dynamic stretching during a warmup/cooldown. Alot of my injuries have come from static stretching, because I had neglected stratic stretching. Here's how that makes sense: I would neglect static stretching in favor of dynamic stretching during warmup/cooldown, then later on (weeks/months down the road) I would get an itch to static stretch, and boom, something gets pulled. Now that I have stayed consistent with static stretching, my muscles/fasciae feel so much more pliable, and I don't get any more of those weird pulls.
- static & pnf are my favorites here.. I think neglecting static following an intense session is a big mistake.. only takes a few static stretches for say hamstrings/adductors to really keep them more healthy.
3. Don't put all of your marbles into a deload.. If the training plan is 3 months long, and you're experiencing up and down gains, with more downs than ups, a deload usually isnt going to solve anything. Make sure at least once every two weeks you have a way of reducing fatigue and seeing where you are at... If every two weeks you're still the same or experiencing decreased performance, even after a small deload of ~2 days, then a deload 3 months from now will probably leave you pretty sad.
4. For athletes who have some crazy weird leverages, don't try and CRAM them into a certain form. Take advantage of their leverages and come up with modified exercises that allow them to push the intensity. The worst thing you can do with an athlete is try to cram them into a box where it's an every day struggle to make gains. Changing the rom or form, or using another variation could have them making crazy gains. Re: Eddie & Adarqui : above parallel squat.. + Eddie: 12" barbell stepup
5. If you're coaching people, and you sprint 2x/week.. tell them their numbers on every sprint. Don't hide the info. Some people, may at first, reactive negatively to this: "DAMN MAN IM RUNNING SO BAD TODAY", but you just have to keep instilling in them that they are acting like a pansy, just sprint, hard, whatever happens-happens. I think that "everything is going to be a gain/PR" mindset is retarded.. If an athlete of yours is having a bad day, let them know it, and make them overcome it. I've been around coaches who hide that info, and act like everything is fine & happy on a bad day.. I think thats a disservice.
6. Don't neglect core.. I still neglect it.. and im an idiot for doing so.
7. Post-workout nutrition is huge.. People that neglect it experience significantly less gains from my own experiences with training h.s. athletes in camps. The kids who take the PWO protein shakes post workout, and at least one more during the day, gain so much more muscle/power from the training.
8. Don't get too plyo happy. I've learned this one the hard way.. I don't think anyone on these forums will have that problem though.. 55 depth jumps from 24" in one session left me with debilitating knee tendonitis for 1+ months... ya, don't do stuff like that.
9. Don't neglect some form of submax box height plyo / reactive drill (hurdle jumps etc) year-round.. 18" depth jumps won't kill you.. they'll keep you always prepared for more intense plyos, maintain your force absorption ability (at least for that exercise), and train your plantar flexors quite well (which will enhance sprinting/jumping sessions).
10. Don't quit when things go bad, because they usually go pretty good soon afterwards if you stay committed.
peace
