Making Sense of It All - Part 1 of 4

Written By: Avery Adams

It’s the year 2022 and we are inundated with a plethora of exercise content on Instagram, Facebook and the absolute ether that is the internet.

However - every article contradicts itself, every exercise is flashy, every exercise is targeting specific muscles and you’re struggling to make sense of it all.

It is okay, I have been there.

Early on in my career I would stay up late every night, trying to absorb and make sense of every stitch of information that I came across.

Now this exorbitant amount of time spent diving into the material went on to shape the last 16 years of my coaching career, and for that I am thankful. Like any coach striving to get better every day, I still dive into the best information that I can find, I am just more specific in what I go looking for.

However, are there some simple questions that we can ask ourselves that help direct our intentions? Unequivocally, yes.

One of the most common questions that I receive is “what is your favorite exercise for this or that'', and my answer is almost always “It depends”, and it is for good reason.

The unfortunate part of seeing individual exercises virtually, is that we’re lacking context.

Where did it come from?

Where is it going?

Is this movement a need or a want?

How can I use this ONE movement for my ENTIRE team?

These are questions coaches must ask before they put pen to paper with their program design.

For the sake of this series of articles we are going to look at a few important topics that I think are overlooked in regards to exercise selection, programming and ultimately putting every movement into practice. (See what I did there)

Part 2. Exercise Selection

Part 3. Programming Bottom to Top

Part 4. Coaching Movement with Simple Effective Cueing

So what do I want you to take away from this opening article?

Simply put, I want you to think BIG, think beyond the session in front of you and begin to see how the exercises you are programming fit into your team plan for the duration of an athlete's career.

Talk soon.

Coach Avery Adams, ISSA ST & Nutrition, has a long history of coaching swimming and has a passion for coaching age group athletes. From stints at Lakeside Seahawks, Wildcat Aquatics, Volunteer Coach at Kentucky and most recently, South Carolina Swim Club - Avery believes coach education is a continual process. His work has given him the opportunity to coach at LSC, Zone and National Select Camps as well as work with some of the best coaching minds in the country. This passion for growth has lead to his newest venture in strength training and creating movement programming specific to the developing swimmer. Stay tuned for more on Coach Avery!