The Strength & Conditioning Department

The Strength & Conditioning Department was established at the Hong Kong Sports Institute in 1989 to assist coaches and athletes in developing superior quality fitness programs, with access to a first class fitness facility and strength training expertise.

The Strength & Conditioning Department provides service to all the Elite Sports of the HKSI Elite Training and Development Group, assists in the strength and fitness development of all scholarship athletes and potential junior athletes.

The role of the Strength & Conditioning Department is to provide consultation to coaches, design sports specific fitness training programs, analyze the physical requirements of various sports, introduce and teach strength and conditioning techniques, design injury prevention and rehabilitation programs, and carry out strength and fitness testing, and education.

Consultation Provide fitness training consultation to coaches and athletes. Examine certain aspects of an athlete's physique or movement patterns in order to determine the most suitable program for an athlete. Suggestions are made to coaches following a mutual interaction of ideas.

Fig. 1 Strength Coach and various training tools

Fig. 2 Athlete writing the program on a card

Program Design On-going programs are implemented for scholarship athletes at the elite and developing levels. Pre-season, in-season, competition phase, and maintenance programs are provided for athletes in order to ensure that continuous development can be attained at all times.

Needs Analysis Strength Coaches work with a multitude of sports and therefore are required to analyze movement patterns, energy system requirements, and mental demands of a sport in order to provide sport specific programs to athletes.

Fig.3 Strength Coach with Wushu athlete

Fig. 4 Strength coach teaching lifting techniques

Conditioning and Strength Training Teach lifting techniques to athletes as well as work with them on improving speed, agility, coordination, balance, flexibility, and power for enhancing sport performance.

Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation Programs In addition to the primary role of helping athletes become bigger, faster and stronger; it is also the role of the Strength & Conditioning Department to help athletes maintain an extended competitive life. This requires special attention to strengthening the areas of the body most susceptible to injury, which must be viewed in a sport specific manner.

Fig. 5 Strength coach working with injured athlete

Fig. 6 Coach testing with athlete

Fitness or Physiological Testing Fitness or physiological tests on strength, cardiorespiratory capacity, agility, speed and flexibility are undertaken prior to the commencement of a training program and reassessed following a certain period of training. Results are analyzed and new programs are designed according to the results achieved.

Education Coaches of the Strength and Conditioning Department are often called upon to give lectures and workshops to both athletes and coaches on a wide range of topics relating to the field of strength and conditioning. Education takes place both in the lecture room and on the training grounds.

Fig.7 Hong Kong Strength and Conditioning Conference