Strength and Conditioning
International competitive fencing has undergone radical changes in the last decade. With the sport becoming more demanding as athletes become stronger, faster and more physically conditioned.
There is a set of physical attributes that fencers need, including strength, speed, power, agility, flexibility, balance, coordination and conditioning. The volume of training time spent on each component depends on the experience and stage of development.
The 4 PILLARS are:
1. TRAIN FOR IT (MOVEMENT)
2. PREPARE FOR IT (MINDSET)
3. REST FOR IT (RECOVERY)
4. FUEL FOR IT (NUTRITION)
TRAIN FOR IT (MOVEMENT) – 1st pillar refers to the movement
STRENGTH
Biomotor abilities build on each other. Considering this strength might be the most important quality for the athlete to develop because it provides a foundation for both power and speed. For this reason, the strongest, most powerful athletes are also the fastest.
When designing training program for athletic populations we must always consider specificity, overload and progression.
Training experience? Training goal? What phase of the season?
LOAD AND REPETITION BASED ON TRAINING GOAL
PLYOMETRICS
Plyometrics represent a category of movements that are meant to improve overall speed-strength qualities.
They are linking optimal strength and speed during fundamental movement patterns (speed-strength).
How would biomechanical efficiency help fencers? This gives an athlete an opportunity to apply optimal force (strength) and velocity (speed) in the correct direction within the shortest time (efficiency). Which means the athlete will be moving smoothly, effortlessly and more economically.
Pre plyometrics can be used for:
· Part of the warm up
· Practice low-impact landing mechanics
· Enhance body control and awareness
· Introduce ground contact after injury
How to implement it in a training session:
· Simple to complex (linear to lateral to rotational)
· From stable to less stable (2-2 legs, 2-1 leg, 1-1 leg)
· Slow to fast
· From low to high impact force (ground, without arms, with arms, low box, high box)
PHYSIOLOGY
Fencing is an open skill sport in which athletes are required to react in a dynamically changing, unpredictable and externally-paced environment.
Involvement of Energy systems will depend on many factors – training status, gender, style, technico-tactical abilities, opponent, Individual vs team 5 vs 15 - Fencers will be somewhere about the anaerobic threshold (AT), sometimes under sometimes above, depending on how well conditioned the athlete is.
How to develop ENERGY SYSTEMS? How do they work? - All 3 energy systems work together!
Generally, when the technico-tactical abilities of the fencer are better than those of the opponent, the metabolic involvement is high, but always submaximal. With an increase of technico-tactical involvement of both fencers, the metabolic and muscular involvement increase at the same time, and the involvement of lactic metabolism becomes more and more important.
To put it simply: Experience vs inexperience fencer - Fight is more metabolically demanding for inexperience fencer because of knowledge built through deep experience and that is encoded in the brain and central nervous system of the experience fencer.
PREPARE FOR IT (Mindset) – 2nd pillar
There are no short cuts - progress takes time and years of purposeful practise.
Comparing yourself, training results and achievements is a no-win game. Each athlete has a unique genetic code, coaching, sports facility, upbringing etc. They should do the best they can under the conditions that exist.
Through the years of purposeful practise we can develop a subconscious competence - 90% of our actions run in our subconscious, so we have to work hard to upgrade our daily training routines and standards.
REST FOR IT (RECOVERY) – 3rd pillar
We all have 24hrs a day, for athletes it is very often about the other 20hrs that you have. It’s about self-discipline and investing your time in warm up routines, prehab exercises, cool down, sleep routines and nutrition that will minimize a risk of injury and maximize performance.
The truth is that the most successful fencers work smarter than their opponent – tactically - while being the best prepared physically.
WORK + REST = SUCCESS
What is your rest time? The human’s body involuntary actions are controlled by Autonomic Nervous System which is divided into:
PARASYMPATHETIC (PNS) – (rest-and-digest response) controls and restores homeostasis
SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM (SNS) – controls fight-or-flight response.
Many international fencers spend most of their time in sympathetic state which can lead to decreased performance and promote overtraining.
SLEEP
By implementing simple changes in your sleep ritual you will change your hormonal profile over the course of a year.
Growth happens during rest. It’s when the mind and body repair, recharge and upgrade.
FUEL FOR IT (Nutrition) – 4th pillar - food is fuel for body and brain
Without the best foods, the brain won’t have energy and nutrients to work properly.
It’s not about the diets and obsession with carbs, protein and fats. Proper fuelling and hydration strategies improve cognition, levels of energy and endurance. It’s an accumulation and little choices made everyday, over a longer period of time.
Reference:
1. “The Science of Fencing” by Giulio S. Roi and Diana Bianchedi
2. NSCA - National Strength & Conditioning Association by G. Greg Haff, N .Travis
3. Every Day Is A Game Day by Mark Verstegen
4. Developing A Winning Attitude & Mindset: by Allistair McCaw, Denise McCabe
Written by Pawel Osmanski.
