By Coach Matt Russ

When I began coaching individual athletes almost twenty years ago, I had a somewhat simplistic perspective on what was required to achieve peak performance. I believed that with the proper training plan and the right athlete, great things would happen when these two elements come together. It was up to the athlete to bring the motivation to the table and the coach to drive the bus. Although there may be a lot of truth to this, what motivates an athlete, and keeps them motivated, is more complex than this model. Recognizing this has helped me adopt a more flexible strategy over the years and pull the extra “x” percent out of my athletes that is often the difference between a podium or PR.

On the surface group training can be a detrimental. The first rule of training is specificity; you don’t improve your individual performance by training randomly. An athlete’s training must not only be highly specific to their sport, but also highly specific to their individual needs. This is critically important in the case of endurance sports where the athlete is moreover competing against a clock and/or themselves vs. the other athletes on the field. Group training does not meet these requirements. I have referred to group training as the “communism” of training in which the best athletes are held back and few are elevated. It can be a mish mash of intensities, often dictated by the fastest members of the group that are not working nearly as hard as those attempting to keep up. There is no specific outcome goal or objective, or individual pace, speed, power, or interval time to target. It is often too fast, too hard, and too much. And if incorporated too frequently, it may then leave the athlete chronically over reached and in some cases over trained. Why would any athlete or coach incorporate this type of training? Because it can be a powerful tool if used skillfully and prescriptively.

An athlete’s motivations are complex and individual. Motivation is often regarded as a “you either have it or you don’t” component of training, but in fact motivation ebbs and flows with a wide variety of factors. Many athletes love to race and regard racing as the reward for hard training. But what happens when the race season ends, the days get shorter, darker, and colder? This period frequently referred to as the “off” season may be the difference between spending the proceeding season rebuilding fitness, or building upon it. Keeping athletes motivated and engaged through this period, while giving them a sufficient mental and physical break from highly specified training, can be a real challenge. This is precisely where group training and utilizing positive team dynamics may be most useful.

Even the “lone wolf” athletes cannot perform in a social vacuum; let’s go ahead and dissolve that myth. We race only with the ingredients of competition, spectators, support, and recognition of accomplishment. Socialization is a human requirement, and we tend to socialize with those of similar interests and perspectives. When I ask some of our athletes what they enjoy most about our work outs it is not the work itself; it is often the social aspects that go with them. Meeting for coffee after the work out, humor, interaction with the opposite sex, games, and esprit de corps may be what gets them out of bed and on their trainer at 5am.. When you consider that consistency is the second most important element of training, socialization may be what is missing from your training plan.

The real challenge is balancing the key elements of proper training with meeting social needs. A great place to begin is with the format or mode of the workout itself. For example: a two hour stationary trainer work out targeting the aerobic energy system, on the athletes own bike, is more specific to cycling endurance when compared to a general fitness spin class of one hour with a variety of intensities (and push-ups on the handlebars). In the former, each athlete is working individually within their own performance envelope while targeting a specific energy system. By carefully planning these work outs the third element of training, progression, is incorporated. Now we have the most important elements of training being addressed: specificity, consistency, and progression in a social setting. This model can just as easily be applied to running and swimming work outs with the proper planning. Although this is not rocket science, the planning and structure of individual work outs over time is at the very core of improving performance. The most sport specific group training will be the most productive for you if incorporated at the right time and in the right quantity.

The larger the group or team is, the more difficult it becomes to accomplish objectives. This is well known in the military and business world in which large groups are broken down into smaller and smaller pieces until you get to the “squad” or “business unit” level-- where things are actually accomplished. If you have a group (team) of 10 cyclists that are relatively matched in fitness capacity, a training ride with a specific objective is relatively easy to accomplish. Multiply that to 100 cyclists and you have the 10 on the front working relatively consistently, whereas the accordion effect on the back produces a maddening stop and go work out. Not to mention the number of lost athletes, flats, and general chaos increases exponentially.

For this reason breaking your team into smaller units, with team leaders, is the way to go. It also helps alleviate your faster athletes frustration, while developing your newbies without turning them off. Each team leader should have a detailed plan for the work out in advance-- and should not be planning it on the fly. I often give my athletes specific parameters or objectives to be performed within our group work outs. Coaches should not be afraid of group training unless the athlete cannot comply with their work out objectives. Often the competitive stimulus is hard to overcome; but if you know in advance the typical tempo or pace of a group work out you can plan around it and adjust volume accordingly.

I have used the terms “group” and “team” training interchangeably, but there is a difference. Belonging to a team means something. The athlete is contributing to the whole while being supported, and has a sense of competitive pride. It is important to define the values your team stands for, and standards for your team members to uphold. There is an energy that each team member brings, and that energy can be positive or negative. Each team member has the ability to elevate those around them or bring them down. How you manage your team and team members will ultimately reflect upon your success as a team.

By addressing the needs of the individual and the team you can create an environment in which athletes thrive. It requires a lot of work to develop a team, and it cannot be done by one leader dictating from the top down. It necessitates developing leaders and leadership skills. It requires a lot of work to develop an individual, and it cannot be done by one coach dictating work outs to an athlete training in a vacuum. I have witnessed amazing things happen when the two elements of team and individual are merged.

Matt Russ has coached and trained athletes up to the professional level, domestically and internationally, for over 15 years. He currently holds the highest level of licensing by both USA Triathlon and USA Cycling, and is a licensed USA Track and Field Coach. Matt is Head Coach and owner of The Sport Factory. He is also free lance author and his articles are regularly featured in a variety of magazines and websites.