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Simple Answer:  S.A.I.D Principle- Specific and Imposed demands.

What ever the desired effect we want to create we must train for. The body will adapt to what ever demands you give it.

When you warm up, you create higher work capacities, lower rates of perceived exertion (RPE), decreased risk of cardiovascular disease, decreased risk of injury, and more fat utilization.

When you ramp up to your Anaerobic Threshold (AT) slowly, your AT will not be reached until you have a higher heart rate, RPE, and workload. If you do not ramp up slowly, your AT will be set much lower for that workout, promoting carbohydrate usage for more of the workout.

Athlete A:

Athlete A did not warm up well before Competition.  His/her heart rate never reached 80% of his/her Vo2 max before the game where the athletes heart rate will be most of the game. This means that Athlete A’s body will not be able to produce energy as efficiently, so they will build up lactic acid more quickly. 

This athlete did not foam roll before the competition. So, his/her shoulder is still tight from yesterdays shooting practice and his/her knee hurts from the heavy leg set that was done at practice 3 days ago. This meant a reduction in shot speed and leg strength.

This athlete did not voodoo floss before the game, so both shoulders do not get an increase in blood flow causing his or her arms to feel heavy all day.

This was a big competition and this athlete felt and competed poorly. And now his/her shoulder really hurts from the competing today.

Athlete B:

Athlete B trains with Water Polo Strong. Therefore, Athlete B Foam Rolled, Flossed, Breathed, and Activated before the competition. Athlete B also made sure he/she got her/his heart rate up above their anaerobic threshold to make sure that they were able to compete.

Athlete B was ready to go and score 3 goals, drew 2 kick outs, and had a great, braced, shot block. Be like Athlete B

Water Polo Warm Up 2

I know this might seem weird, but the truth is most of our athletes have an incorrect breathing pattern. This is because they were never taught how to breathe for our sport.

FAQs about Breathing:

Breathing is how we metabolize fat.

Being able to breathe easily while doing an activity makes it a low intensity exercise. This means that you will use fat as a fuel source and be able to keep the activity up for a long period of time.  Our bodies use oxygen to metabolize fat. So every breath in allows us to change our energy source from carbs to fat. This process is called oxidation of fat using our Krebs cycle.

Your breathing mechanics are controlled your autonomic nervous system.

Your autonomic Nervous system has two parts: the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Your sympathetic nervous system is your fight or flight nervous system. It is what controls our hormones to make our body ready to react to any situation. Its primary fuel source is carbohydrates. It is responsible for your exhalation mechanics.

Your parasympathetic nervous system is your relax and recovery nervous system. It controls our hormones and makes sure that we can relax and recover from sickness, exhaustion, and pain. Its primary fuel source is fat. It also is used most when you sleep. This is responsible for your inhalation mechanics.

Both these nervous systems are automatic.

 All your core stabilizers are connected to your breathing mechanics.

That means that your breathing mechanisms is an automatic process that you don’t have to think about.

It is what our bodies do the most maybe other than blinking.

So if your breathing mechanism is compromised so is your ability to stabilize your body.  

 1.       Deadlift

The deadlift is huge because most polo players neglect the muscles on the back of their body. This will give the eggbeater and shot more power because the player will have a more stable base.

   2.       Sandbag Carries

Sandbag Carries both help the athletes conditioning as well as internal Torque chain development. This gives the athlete more stability and is our favorite core training tool.

   3.       Kettlebell Swings

A real pain in the behind, the glutes are the control center for an athlete’s legs/ lower back. If this is weak, the athletes will be at greater risk for injury. These swings will target the glutes and help create explosiveness at the hips.

   4.       Turkish Get Ups

The TGU is a real strength builder helping athletes create a better brace while they lift. Its so much more than a lift it is a quality of life movement. Getting up off the ground supporting a heavy weight will keep athletes healthy and improve quality of life.

   5.       Snatch

Many deem Olympic movements not safe but this movement when taught well will lead to greater shoulder stability and a stronger shot. This helped me as an athlete recover from 3 shoulder dislocations. 

The current state of Strength & Conditioning in the sport of Water Polo

To start this off, I wanted to create some food for thought. If you could reduce your risk for injury and possibly avoid it all together, would you?

As a college player, I saw that my strength training routine was just like all my other teammates. The goalies, the centers, the defenders, and the attackers all had the exact same strength training program. Though this was ok as I competed, I have found that my strength and health has significantly changed for the better as my knowledge about strength training has increased.

So here are some questions that I feel as a coach, player, or strength coach we should ask ourselves:

• Is there something we can do to reduce risk of injury?
• Should all players train the same?
• Should the different positions (center, defender, attacker, and goalie) train differently in the weight room as well?

The answer is yes. 

Yes, there are Water Polo Specific problems that must be addressed. There are physical changes that occur from the movements that we perform while competing, which could be seen as performance related fitness. These physical changes can sometimes cause muscular imbalances that must be addressed for overall physical health. By creating a balanced overall athlete, a better athlete will result.

Yes because we all have different performance goals. An attacker does not want to wrestle with his defender; he wants to move quickly by or around him. A center forward is not concerned with winning the sprint at the beginning of the quarter; he wants to have the power to separate from the center back. But, specialization in the weight room shouldn’t happen until late in the athlete’s career just as in sport.

What can be concluded is that, there is a need for separate performance training for each position at our highest levels of competition, but there is still an overall need to create a balanced athlete from a young age.

So what changes can be made?

If we use other professional sports as a model you can see some very obvious differences between what we do and what they do.

Basketball, Baseball, Football:

• Yearly Combine (for sport performance testing)
• Performance Testing Standards
• Well trained and established Strength Coaches
• Numerous Strength Training Books & Literature

American Water Polo:

• Bridge Athletic
• Water Polo Planet: Mike Reid

American Water Polo as a whole is severely behind in the realm of Strength and Conditioning and we are in dire need to catch up. The national teams and top ranked universities have well trained strength coaches but it shouldn’t start there.

Water Polo Planet has been the first and only resource that I have known of for strength and conditioning that is specific to water polo thanks to the work of Mike Reid and the editors at WPP. If you look up these other sports you will find endless companies for Strength and Conditioning specializing in other sports.  Bridge Athletic is the next step but still has not generated enough interest in strength and conditioning.   What can be done in the short term  is the adoption of strength training in high schools, increasing awareness for the need of S&C, and increasing the availability of sport specific material.

Brian Xicotencatl

 B.A., CSCS, USAW-L, FMS-LVL 1