Most athletes can lift up to 48 hours before competition, and many hold a short, heavy, low-volume session two days out. The aim is to keep the training stimulus without adding fatigue, so sets are few and reps are low. Your coach sets the timing around your fixture, your travel and how you report pulling up afterwards.

Through repeat testing. Your first session gives you baseline numbers, which may include jump height, sprint times over short distances, strength measures and side-to-side differences. Those tests are repeated at set points across the year, so progress is tracked with data rather than feel. Re-testing also flags rising fatigue, which is useful deep into a long season.

No, the program is built around your team commitments. Your club sessions, games and travel are counted as training load, and gym work is fitted into the gaps. With your permission, your program can be shared with your club coach so everyone is working from the same plan. Athletes playing two sports are planned the same way.

Yes. Starting mid-season is common, and the program is written for the block you are actually in. In-season work is shorter and lower in volume than off-season training, so it can add strength without leaving you flat on the weekend. If your season is nearly finished, the first few weeks may focus on testing and planning the off-season build.

It is modified rather than stopped. Many injuries still allow you to train the rest of your body, hold your conditioning and load the injured area within safe limits. If you are seeing a physiotherapist, your coach works inside the restrictions they set and reports back on what you are managing in the gym.

Strength training is associated with lower rates of some sports injuries, particularly hamstring, knee and shoulder problems. Nothing removes risk entirely, because contact, fatigue and luck all play a part. What strength work can do is raise the load your tissues tolerate and reduce side-to-side differences, both of which are linked with injury in team sports.