This Handball team has been training for two years using Professor Yuri Verkhoshanskis training methods. He is my dear friend since a decade. The training has been a huge success from the beginning. No injuries at all and every player has increased her physical capacity now reaching an normal good level or even more in some cases. The improvement will go on in the next years now when we are ready to use the more intensive stimuli’s in the Hit Shock Method!

During this two years the team (a poorly trained group of kids with a lot of injuries…) has advanced during division 2, division 1, ready for the league just behind the top level (Allsvenskan) and now qualifying for the Top League (Elitserien).

Let´s have a look at some training details which has been used with success.

Many-sided type of muscle work

This training includes different actions- and contractions forms of muscle work such static, concentric and eccentric work and a lighter vertical oriented impulse, medium plyometric work (hurdle jump 1m). The player is a well trained athlete with several years of training experience of Verkhoshanskys methods. [Video]

Many-oriented impulse type of muscle work

This type of training is a form of preparing for Verkhoshanskys high effective training using The Stimulation Method. The many oriented impulse type of muscle work also use some kind of high resistance work for the targeted muscle groups followed by a lighter and faster work using mainly the same impulse directions as in the first exercise. This athlete has just two years experience of well planned training. [Video]

Supporting strength exercises  

This type of work is done all through the season to keep up the strength level in important muscles in an easy way. Often it´s done between series of other type of work. The athlete here shows some medium work for arms and shoulders. It can also be done with a weight west from 4-16kg. [Video]

Stimulating Method

This high intensive training method is also high effective if you are enough prepared for it otherwise you will just get a high risk of being injured. The coach has to create forms witch suite his athletes well.  In the following illustration (ILL.) you can see the handball team’s goalkeeper Frida Granberg using the Stimulation for one of her first times. We were curious to know if she was well enough prepared to use this method and the level we decided for her. The first exercise is a heave one – parallel squats with some 85%1RM and we did two sets x 3 reps with rest of 4´. [Video] We measured both the squat (power (w))and reboundjump5”x20kg (both average height and power) before (Pre) the heavy squat.  The second exercise was rebound jump for 5”x20kg trying to jump as high and as fast as possible with normal bending, knee angel around 90 degrees, during the landing. [Video] We did that 3 sets and measured it 1´, 4´and 7 minutes after the heavy squat. Experienced athletes can do this whole serie a second and even a third time with optimal rest (IMPORTANT!) in between sets and series. As you can see it took some more minutes for her to perform her best than in Prof. Verkhoshanskys example (bottom, right in the ill.) [Illustration] The reason for this might be that it was a high intensive method just at the limit of her capacity to respond positive to.

You can read a lot about this method and learn how to create your own models in Verkhoshanskys book Supertraining (6^th edition) and at this homepage,  see publications. In short this method is explained by Verkhishanskys own text:

It is common knowledge in physiology that any irritant which stimulates muscle activity, however short-term, leaves traces in the nervous system.  The trace phenomenon remains for some time after the stimulation has ceased. These traces can have a significant effect on the subsequent muscular activity; in particular, enhance the magnitude of this activity). “

Our experience was positive. The goalkeeper was ready for this method even if her leg strength is still not on a very high level but good enough. When she is stronger the benefit using Stimulation Method will probably be even better.

In a team, one single players development to a top level makes no big difference but when you have a whole team, 15-20 players, in Verkhoshanskys training methods, it will make a huge difference. The opponents will feel it, it will hurt and the actions will be fast, very fast.  Only teams with great experience of high level Handball games will have a chance to win against this young team.

Nils Holmdahl

Scientific Consultant