The biggest mistake in-season athletes make with the weight room isn’t lifting too little — it’s still trying to run an off-season program while also practicing, playing games, and traveling. The result is accumulated fatigue that shows up as slower sprint times, flat vertical jumps, and nagging soreness right when performance matters most.
This guide lays out a minimalist in-season strength plan: two short sessions a week built around a handful of heavy, high-value lifts, with volume trimmed down but intensity kept up. The goal isn’t to build new strength during the season — it’s to protect the strength you already built, and that takes far less training than most athletes assume.
Quick Answer
To maintain strength during your competitive season, lift heavy (roughly 80-90% of your working max) for low volume — about 2-4 hard sets per major lift — twice a week, using 3-6 total exercises per session. Cut your off-season set volume by roughly half to two-thirds while keeping the load high; this preserves strength, power, and joint resilience without adding fatigue that competes with practice and games.
The Minimalist In-Season Framework
Pick 3-4 “anchor” lifts that cover the whole body and carry over to your sport: a squat or hinge variation (back squat, trap bar deadlift, or Romanian deadlift), a push (bench press or overhead press), a pull (row or pull-up/lat pulldown), and one power or plyometric movement (jump, med ball throw, or Olympic lift variation like a hang clean). You don’t need more than this — extra accessory work is the first thing to cut when time and recovery are limited.
Train these lifts twice a week, ideally with at least 48 hours between sessions and placed on lighter practice days or the day after a game, not the day before. For each anchor lift, aim for 2-4 working sets in the 3-6 rep range at a load you could realistically do 1-3 more reps of if pushed — that’s roughly RPE 7-8, or about 2-3 reps in reserve (RIR). This keeps intensity high enough to signal your body to hold onto strength, without grinding out max-effort singles that leave you sore for practice.
Total working time per session should run 30-45 minutes, including a brief warm-up. If your team already runs speed, agility, or conditioning work, the lifting session slots in around it — it doesn’t need to be its own separate training day.
A sample week: Session A — squat or hinge variation, bench press, one pull, one power movement. Session B — a different squat/hinge pattern or single-leg variation, overhead press or incline press, a second pull variation, and core or rotational work. Rotate exercise variations every 3-4 weeks to keep things fresh and manage joint stress, but don’t change the overall structure.
Autoregulate Based on Practice and Game Load
In-season fatigue is unpredictable — travel, a physical game, or a heavy practice week can leave you far more beat up than your program assumes. Rather than following a rigid percentage chart, use perceived exertion (RPE) or reps-in-reserve (RIR) to pick your working weight each session: if the prescribed weight feels heavier than it should, drop it 5-10% and still get quality reps rather than grinding through a bad day.
A simple rule that works for most athletes: if soreness or fatigue is high, keep the same exercises and intensity but cut a set or two off each lift. If you’re feeling fresh, you can push closer to your top working weight. What you should almost never do in-season is chase a new personal record — save max-effort testing for the off-season, when you can recover from it.
Deload proactively around your schedule rather than waiting for signs of burnout. In a heavy game week, a bye week, or a playoff stretch with extra travel, drop to a single short maintenance session, or skip lifting entirely for a few days and let practice and competition serve as the training stimulus.
Tips / Common Mistakes
Don’t chase soreness. If a session leaves you unable to move well for practice two days later, the volume or exercise selection was wrong for the season — dial it back rather than pushing through.
Don’t skip the power movement. A short set of jumps, med ball throws, or light Olympic-lift variations early in a session helps maintain rate of force development, which tends to fade faster than raw strength when training volume drops.
Don’t let two sessions become zero. The most common failure mode isn’t overtraining, it’s the strength work quietly disappearing once the season gets busy. Protect those two short sessions on the schedule like you would a practice.
Don’t copy your off-season program. Off-season plans are built to add strength and muscle and assume you’re fully recovering between sessions. In-season, practice and games are already a major training stress, so the lifting program only needs to supplement — not compete with — that work.
Do prioritize technique and joint health over load. Movements like single-leg work, rotator cuff and scapular strength, and controlled tempo reps help offset the repetitive stress of your sport and reduce injury risk, even on a minimalist plan.
Explore more: more training and performance guides.
In-season strength training FAQs
How often should in-season athletes lift weights?
Two sessions per week is the sweet spot for most athletes: enough stimulus to maintain strength and power, but light enough on total volume and time that it doesn’t interfere with practice, games, or recovery. One well-planned session per week can still preserve strength if the schedule is extremely tight.
Will lifting in-season make me sore for games?
It shouldn’t, if the volume and timing are managed correctly. Keep working sets low (2-4 per lift), avoid training to failure, and schedule sessions at least 48 hours before a game whenever possible. Soreness that lingers into game day is a sign to cut volume, not intensity.
Can I still get stronger during the season?
Some athletes, especially less experienced lifters, can see modest strength gains in-season. But for most competitive athletes, the realistic goal is maintenance — holding onto off-season strength gains until you can dedicate more time and recovery to building new ones after the season ends.
What if my team already has conditioning or speed work scheduled?
Fold the lifting sessions in around that work rather than adding a separate training day. Two short 30-45 minute strength sessions can typically be attached to existing practice or conditioning days without significantly increasing total training load.
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Photo by Victor Freitas on Unsplash.