KPI's journey in athletic training is grounded in a rich history of scientific research and practical experience in professional sports. Our approach combines experience-based methods with the latest scientific advancements and passionate creativity to offer tailored training services. Our coaching philosophy at KPI is centred on personalisation. We leverage our extensive experience in sports science to develop S&C training programs that are tailored to each athlete's unique needs, superiorly enhancing their performance improvements in comparison to the norm. Below, we break down 8 key pillars of training with KPI.
Athlete Profiling
Our Athlete Profiling System (APS) is a cornerstone of our data-driven approach. Regular testing and monitoring allow us to tailor training regimes precisely, ensuring every athlete benefits from a program that is as unique as they are.
What is Athlete Profiling?
Our Athlete Profiling System (APS) is our testing and diagnostics session which involves collecting a large amount of insightful data on an athlete's body comp,posture, mobility, movement, power, strength, speed, agility, cardiovascular fitness, injury risk and more..
Why is Athlete Profiling needed?
Testing allows us to build your individual strengths and limitations profile, tailor specific training to you, and evaluate how well you are adapting to the training you are completing. Otherwise, general programmes provide general results!
When and how should Athlete Profiling be completed?
- Baseline testing every 8 to 12 weeks is essential to provide you with confidence in your training and ensure you remain on the right tracks.
- Less intensive testing can be completed more regularly to ensure you're coping through each microcycle, and also provide you with a live-data feed of your performance improvements!
Strength Training
Recognising strength as a fundamental component of athletic prowess, we emphasise high-intensity, low-volume training, especially during the competitive season. This approach is grounded in our commitment to not just enhancing performance, but also in fortifying athletes against injury.
What is strength?
The maximum force producing potential of your muscles.
Why is strength needed?
- Performance - all explosive movements are underpinned by strength
- Injury – strength is one of the biggest modifiable risk factors for muscle and ligamentous injury
- Recovery – a stronger muscle recovers faster, because it is able to sustain higher amounts of work for longer
When and how should strength be trained?
- Minimum once-weekly, optimally twice-weekly
- In-season - low volume (reps and sets), high intensity (load) and max intent (concentric speed). Isometric-strength during heavy schedules
Power Development
Our power training regime, essential for dynamic athletic performance, mirrors our strength training ethos. We champion a quality called rate of force development to enhance force production in short timeframes When approaching competition day, surfing further up the velocity end of the force-velocity curve is essential, to ensure athletes are competition-fresh to perform at their best.
What is power?
The maximum force and velocity producing potential of your muscles
Why is power needed?
- Performance - all explosive movements require an interaction of high force and velocity. High amounts of force in short timeframes is key!
- Injury – muscle and ligamentous injuries occur when muscles cannot cope with high force moments during high-speed, often defined eccentric rate of force development.
When and how should power be trained?
- Minimum once - weekly, optimally twice - weekly
- In-season - low volume (reps and sets), max intent (high force short timeframe) . Reduce impact and eccentrics close to a match.
Movement Skills
We take pride in enhancing athletes' movement skills. Our daily pre-training routines and specialised sessions underscore our commitment to technical excellence, ensuring athletes move with precision and efficiency.
What are Movement Skills?
Defined as a specific movement pattern that is commonplace in competitive sport (accelerating, sprinting, changing direction)
Why are Movement Skills needed?
- Performance – maximising your movement quality helps you express your physical performance capacity on the field of play (strength, power). As the old saying goes, you can’t fire a cannon from a canoe!
- Injury – moving with correct biomechanics reduces risk for muscle and joint -related injuries
When and how should Movement Skills be completed?
- Can be dosed daily in “pre-training” and warm -ups. Full sessions to be completed at least once-weekly
- High technical requirements and knowledge of correct movement quality is required (best with a coach)
Service
Our 'repair and prepare' routine is a testament to our holistic approach to athlete care. This daily routine, requiring minimal equipment, is designed to address any physical discomforts and prime athletes for peak performance , embodying our philosophy of comprehensive care. Our proactive health checks, an integral part of our training philosophy, are designed to preemptively identify and address potential arising issues. This personalised approach ensures that each athlete's training is precisely aligned with their current physical state to avoid over or undertraining.
What is a Service?
- Our version of a “pre-training” programme, or a daily “repair and prepare” programme
- Also known as the “James Milner”, this programme is designed to keep you playing until you’re 40!
Why is a Service needed?
- Repair – your body responds to physical activity in different ways, often stiffening up or giving you pain signals. Without servicing, your body will always resort back to it’s poorly formed tendencies or limit your potential to perform.
- Prepare – preparing for exercise means that your body will be in a better position to perform, to take on workload and to better adapt to the training stimulus.
When and how should a Service be completed?
- Can be dosed daily in “pre-training” or post-training as recovery. Full sessions to be completed at least once-weekly
- Programmes are often light and require minimal equipment so can be chipped away at anytime anywhere
Recovery
We understand that recovery is as crucial as training. Our varied recovery techniques are meticulously chosen to ensure athletes remain in top form, embodying our commitment to sustained high performance.
What is Recovery?
The rate of your recovery from competitive fixtures is not fixed. Depending on your choice of action, you can accelerate or decelerate your recovery, which of course has an influence on your readiness to train and play in the coming days. We know that sleep, nutrition and proper rest are the big hitters, but other techniques can assist with the extra 1%’s required to get to and remain at the top!
Why is Recovery needed?
With the typical requirement of playing matches every 3 days in present day football, and recovery from games taking up to 72 hrs to occur, methods of increasing recovery to better prepare for training and games following is key.
When and how should Recovery be completed?
- Recovery techniques can be used daily, but which ones and when is important to know.
- Ice baths, hot water, blood flow restriction, active recovery, stretching, long-length isometrics are some of many.
Field Training
Our field training sessions are specifically designed to translate gym-based gains into tangible on-field performance improvements. This approach is central to our philosophy of practical, results-oriented training.
What is Field Training?
Training on the field as opposed to gym-work alone provides another level of athletic coaching. Working on physical performance characteristics like change of direction or sprinting, but in position-specific situations with different sport-related constraints is a level up from your gym-based training. It is also one that is vital to ensure you put your gym-based tools to good use.
Why is Field Training needed?
- Bridging the gap between gym-based training and pitch-based performance and seeing your training transfer is the toughest cookie to crack. Optimising movement and performance on the field is a great tool to assist with this process!
When and how should Field Training be trained?
- Specific top ups after training days to work on physical qualities like speed and agility
- Full training sessions during periods of decreased load in the team setting (deselection, poor load management)
Online Coaching
Our Online Training System and athlete training app symbolise our commitment to innovation and accessibility. This digital platform allows athletes worldwide to access our bespoke training programs, extending the KPI experience beyond physical boundaries.
What is Online Coaching?
Our Online Training System (OTS) is made up of a unique coaching app (KPI app) and other video-based remote services
Why is Online Coaching needed?
- For some athletes, full-time support is necessary or a preferred option to their generalised team support
- Training face-to-face at KPI isn’t feasible every single day due to various factors, so online support is required!
How does online coaching work?
- Different levels of support are available for you to choose from to cater for your remote training needs
- Our app-based coaching brings one-to-one individualised coaching to the comfort of your own home!
