Strength and conditioning for competitive athletes.

01

Your competition sets the direction.

A successful training block starts with a clear performance question. What does your sport demand, which physical qualities need attention and when do you need to be ready? A professional athlete with a fixed competition date has a different planning problem from a semi-pro player moving through a long season. Both need a programme that reflects the calendar.

Your sport and role help define the priorities, but they do not tell the whole story. Training experience, current workload, access to equipment and recent performance all matter. Inner Athlete begins with that context, so the work has a purpose beyond adding another difficult gym session. The objective is physical preparation you can connect to the performance you are pursuing.

02

Make the whole training week add up.

Strength, power, speed and conditioning compete for time alongside technical practice, team sessions and competition. Planning each in isolation can leave the athlete with a crowded week and unclear priorities. Bespoke coaching considers the sessions already in place before deciding where additional physical preparation belongs and which demands should take precedence.

For semi-professional athletes, employment and travel belong in that conversation too. A physically demanding shift, an early start or a long journey changes the practical conditions for training. Share those commitments honestly. A programme built around the time you can reliably protect is more useful than one that depends on an ideal schedule you rarely have.

Professional athletes may already have coaches responsible for different parts of their preparation. Explain the support you have, the role you want Inner Athlete to fill and any existing programme requirements. Clear boundaries help avoid duplicating work and keep the physical preparation aligned with the priorities of the athlete and their sporting environment.

03

A different emphasis at each stage.

A period away from competition can offer more room to develop physical qualities that are difficult to prioritise during the season. That does not make the off-season a blank slate: your starting point, next competitive block and other commitments still shape the plan. The purpose of the block should be clear before deciding how demanding it needs to be.

During a season, match frequency and changing availability can affect what is realistic. The coaching process needs to respond to those changes. A week with travel and several competitive commitments will not look like a week with more space for development. Maintaining useful work while respecting the sporting schedule is part of the planning task.

For an athlete preparing for a single event, the event date creates another reference point. Discuss the full lead-in, including technical preparation and any planned changes to the schedule. The programme can then be organised around those demands, with adjustments based on how the athlete is responding rather than simply following an unchanged calendar.

04

Use feedback to decide what comes next.

Online coaching includes video feedback and regular communication. These give the coach information about exercise execution, session completion and how the training fits the week. If a session repeatedly clashes with team practice or the prescribed equipment is unavailable, that is information to act on. A bespoke programme should remain connected to the athlete’s actual circumstances.

Progress also needs context. Completing more work is not automatically the most useful outcome when competition performance matters. Discuss what you want to monitor and how it relates to the block. Relevant training records and athlete feedback help give the review a clear focus, instead of relying only on whether a session felt hard.

In-person performance testing is available separately in Yorkshire, including INSCYD and aerobic testing. It can provide a baseline and help inform priorities when appropriate to the question being asked. Testing is not a requirement for every online coaching enquiry; its value depends on whether the result would change a useful training decision.

05

Start with your sport and your schedule.

Bring your competition calendar, typical training week, available equipment and main performance priorities to a free consultation. Include work commitments and any existing coaching support. If you are unsure what needs to change, describe where the current programme feels difficult to organise or how the preparation is falling short of your expectations.

Jack Daysley holds a BSc (Hons) in Strength and Conditioning from York St John University. Inner Athlete’s coaching covers combat and contact sports, rugby, field sports and developing athletes. The consultation is a chance to establish whether bespoke support fits your needs, with online delivery available worldwide and training completed in your own environment.

Common questions.