Lauri Markkanen in the army | The physical trainer talks about drastic “acidification” and predicts what Markkanen’s Cooper result will be

No no need to worry.

This is how Lauri Markkanen’s physical trainer can be summed up Jani Parkkinen message about the situation of Finland’s brightest basketball star.

On Monday, Markkanen, 25, started his conscript service at the Kaarti Jääkärirykmenti Sports School in Santahamina, Helsinki, which means changes to his summer training.

In the previous two summers, Markkanen has trained under Parkkinen’s supervision at a private gym in Jyväskylä, and the results have been convincing. This season, Markkanen became one of the best players in the world’s toughest basketball league, the NBA, played in the all-star game and is a strong candidate for the most developed player of the year.

Summer training was a big part of getting to the next level. It made Markkase stronger, faster and more explosive.

During this summer, however, Markkanen will complete his military service, which will inevitably bring changes to training as well.

“Now there is still a recovery phase after the season. I have made a program, but for the next 2–3 weeks, Lauri will do what he can and can do. However, the purpose is to remain active,” says Parkkinen.

Last summer this kind of close cooperation is not possible, but there are also joint exercises in the program. The first ones are already in early May, when Parkkinen tests Markkanen’s current condition.

After that, the training plan becomes more detailed and an intensive period of a good couple of months begins.

“Lauri is mostly in Helsinki. Training is either in the barracks area or in Urhea’s facilities. If necessary, I’ll go there to have fun.”

At the age of 25, Markkanen is already an experienced athlete who knows his body and knows how to train really well without a pair of watching eyes. However, there is a precision in the coach’s gaze, which the athlete does not always reach through the mirror.

Parkkinen says that, for example, techniques and methods of execution may have small details that need to be refined. At least as important is sensing the athlete’s mood from body language and adjusting the exercise accordingly if necessary.

“In an ideal situation, we would be in the same state.”

“Testing an athlete is not a single moment. The more you see the training, the better you get the overall picture.”

For training there are no big changes coming. The training sessions of the previous semesters and the subsequent development have confirmed that the duo is on the right track.

Maximum strength and speed are still the focus of training. It is very difficult to develop them during the season, so the work must be done in the summer. That means, among other things, a lot of different jumps and runs.

In total, Markkanen does 4–5 exercises designed by Parkkinen per week. Three of them focus on maximum strength and speed, 1–2 times there is a hard endurance workout on the calendar. The program can also include one exercise focusing on mobility.

One of the endurance workouts is longer, the other more intense.

“In a more intensive workout, there are 30-60 second acidification strokes. It can be, for example, 60 seconds on a bike or running as hard as you can. We get the maximum lactic acid effect.”

“The flute is 4–5 minutes, and 2–10 repetitions are done. Each repetition should be equally effective, that is, if it starts to clot already at the third, then we put the whistles in the bag for that day.”

The relationship between rest and exertion is one of the most significant factors when pursuing development, and for Markkanen, conscript service poses a new challenge.

Defense forces director of the sports school, lieutenant colonel Ville Halonen said on Monday that load monitoring plays a big role. Athletes performing their service are taught load monitoring and load monitoring methods are introduced.

“Many people will be surprised by how much the service burdens,” commented Halonen.

Parkkinen also emphasizes monitoring the load. He doesn’t feel that Markkanes automatically misses something because of his military service.

“You can do everything, you just have to be careful with the total load. If the results don’t improve, then too little or too much is being done or the wrong things are being done.”

Load and recovery are monitored daily through a questionnaire filled out with a mobile phone application.

“We can even make daily changes to the plan if, for example, we have had a bad night’s sleep. The monitoring is the same as on the Utah side, so Lauri is familiar with it.”

“We would like to see progress week by week, small improvements on a weekly and monthly level. If you work hard for many weeks in a row, the results may temporarily weaken. The results will be visible only after recovery.”

From Markkas was asked on Monday as the last thing before leaving the room for thoughts on Cooper’s test. Markkanen said he has never run a 12-minute test run, and there are no expectations.

Cooper’s test and the reduced fitness of the conscripts have been the talk of the town in recent years. The average of young men who started their service in 2022 was 2,376 meters, which is the same as in 2021. The result is the second worst in the measurement history. In 2019, the result was 2,358 meters.

Parkkinen says that the longest test of the basketball players he coaches is the half Cooper, i.e. a six-minute running test. It provides the necessary data with which endurance training can be planned.

Parkkinen has a solid view of Markkanen’s Cooper.

“Based on previous running tests, 3,000 meters is easy.”