Let’s talk about something that’s often neglected: in-season training.
The common belief is that once the season starts, training stops. But here’s the truth I’ve learned after decades in the NFL, NBA, MLS, and high school sidelines: in-season is where your work pays off — or falls off.
When I first took over a private school football program in Dallas, it was their first-ever varsity season. We didn’t have speed. We didn’t have strength. On top of that, academic demands made time tight. We had to integrate our training — not abandon it.
These became our go-to speed and conditioning tool because they got the job done — fast.
We ran these every other Monday — and only when it was above 60°F. The benefits showed up in game-day performance:
Strength matters — even during the season. You don’t need a full-blown lift session, but you do need to maintain gains. Here’s a format I’ve used with success:
JV records don’t matter — development does.
You don’t need to do it all. But you do need to do something. Pull one or two pieces of your offseason training into the season schedule and just keep the wheels turning. The payoff is huge.
