Are you struggling to maintain consistent training quality when schedules constantly change?
Do your athletes disengage during monotonous rehab sessions? As strength coaches, we often find ourselves battling these challenges while trying to optimize performance. In this exclusive interview with RJ Guyer, professional baseball coach from the Washington Nationals, we uncover innovative approaches to fluid periodization, athlete rapport, and movement literacy that can transform your coaching effectiveness and keep athletes engaged, compliant, and performing at their best.
The reality of sports, particularly baseball, presents unique challenges for strength and conditioning professionals. Unpredictable game schedules, rainouts, doubleheaders, and travel demands can quickly derail even the most carefully crafted training plans. Many coaches respond by rigidly adhering to protocols despite changing conditions, leading to suboptimal training, athlete burnout, and increased injury risk. Without effective strategies to navigate these disruptions, both performance and athlete development suffer.
I remember when I first started coaching baseball players, I would create these beautiful periodization models only to watch them crumble after the first weather delay or schedule change. I'd try to force my athletes through the planned workouts regardless of their accumulating fatigue or changing needs. Athletes would disengage, progress would stall, and everyone would become frustrated. The more I tried to control every variable, the more chaotic things became.
Everything changed when I had the opportunity to learn from experienced professionals like RJ Guyer. As RJ explains, successful training in baseball requires thinking like a GPS navigation system: "I have a plan. I have my GPS, but if there's an accident, there's road construction, I'm gonna have to go off those plans." Rather than viewing periodization as a rigid protocol, he approaches it as a flexible framework that adapts to changing conditions.
RJ taught me the value of "training stacking" – combining multiple training modalities into single sessions to maximize efficiency when time is limited. Most importantly, he shared innovative rapport-building techniques, like personalizing rehab sheets with athlete-specific trivia about Pokemon, Marvel, or sports history to combat monotony.
By implementing these approaches, the transformation in my coaching has been remarkable. Now when schedules change, I focus on what I can control – prioritizing key training elements like maximal strength in the first session of the week and incorporating plyometrics into warm-ups when gym time is limited. I've begun personalizing training materials with my athletes' interests, and engagement has skyrocketed.
Perhaps most revolutionary has been adopting RJ's approach to movement literacy – having athletes perform exercises under less-than-ideal conditions (eyes closed, reactionary cues) to identify transfer issues between the weight room and competition.
If you want to implement these approaches in your own coaching, here are the essential steps:
Prioritize adaptability: Create contingency plans for your training that allow you to emphasize different qualities based on changing schedules
Build genuine rapport: Learn your athletes' personal interests and incorporate them into training materials
Implement "training stacking": Combine multiple training objectives in single exercises when time is limited
Test movement literacy: Assess how athletes perform under both ideal and challenging conditions to identify transfer issues
Focus on breath control: Teach diaphragmatic breathing to help athletes maintain technique and performance under pressure
