Do You Have Purpose?

I enjoy reading about different training programs of different schools around the country and the different philosophies of the coaches.  You'll find schools that have completely opposite approaches who have similar national caliber teams under their wing.  One team may do low volume and high quality, while others may do high volume with lesser intensity, and some may seemingly do high quality and high volume at the same time (I am not condoning a specific method here, only noting team training varies highly).  

One thing you don't find with any of these teams, though, is a coach who doesn't understand why he prescribes those workouts.  You may have two teams doing the same exact training each day, but the team who has the coach who understands the reasoning behind the training will always produce the better performances.

Why?  Well mainly because the coach understands what the training is accomplishing, not just that it "gets you better."  It's not just understanding that doing squats or flying 30s gets you in better shape, it's also has to do with knowing specifically what adaptation is occurring.  

So the question is, when you get out to the track or to the gym or to the field, do you have purpose with the training you have planned for the day, or did you just get the workout off of a magazine or blog?  In what way will your training for the day make you better prepared, specifically, over just a broad generalization by saying "you are faster" or "you are stronger."  Part of being an effective coach is getting to know these things.  Your team will never reach it's potential without it.