TJ Lensch

Off-Season Update

2011-03-21T16:31:00.005-05:00

OFF SEASON, TESTING, AND RESULTS

Over the past few months, it has been a very busy time with training various teams, people, and reading. Now that Spring Ball has started it is time to look back and analyze the progress from the previous off-season programs.

What Was New?
Through new experiences, reading, and research it is expected that programs, methods, and progressions will change. Here are some of the changes we made this off-season in attempt to yield better performance and decreased injury potential.

1. Team FMS
One of the tools that I was able to get implemented school wide with all sports teams was FMS screenings. By partnering with the athletic training department, one of which has been through a mentorship for SFMA, we did all our preliminary screens this winter.

What we noticed was, a majority of the female athletes performed poorly in Stability push-ups and In- Line lunge. Of them, a majority complained of hip pain. For the football team, following the season, performed poorly in the Shoulder and Rotational tests. Of them a majority had anterior shoulder pain.

→Corrective approach
Following is an example of what was required for the athletes whose programs I was in charge of (Football, Volleyball). These would be typical of what we would do prior to team warm up for a shoulder priority.

Also for active rest, certain exercises were paired with corrective stretching to increase relaxation between sets as well as serving to reinforce the postural corrections. The subjective feedback has been great. Many are gradually being alleviated of tightness and the follow up to the test will be performed as they go through athletic physicals in a couple weeks.

2. Speed/Plyo Progressions
This off season I focused a particular amount of attention to our anaerobic power sessions, which were in separate session Monday, and also Wednesday mornings we would have a session completely dedicated to developing this capacity. We then would be transitioning into anaerobic capacity. Our session would mirror what was being reinforced in the weight room such as Starting strength, acceleration mechanics that were utilized heavily and with great success during our emphasis on anaerobic power (AP). AP plays and especially important role the shorter the competitive distance, which is enhanced while developing maximal strength and reactive ability.

Example of exercises for this development of anaerobic power and reactive ability:
→Resisted running from Crouch/Split stance start.
Keys: powerful take off using active movement of swing leg. This reinforces the flexion/extension reflex (Bosch), which will greatly enhance starting power.
Distance/Time: 25-35yds depending on position. Nothing over 8-10 seconds.

→Jump Training divided into “short” consisting of 4-6 maximum force take offs. We used a progression of Non-Countermovement, Countermovement, Double Contact, Continuous, Depth Jump (depth never exceeding jump height).

→Jump Training divided into “long” consisting of moderate take offs with emphasis on advancing ahead as fast as possible. Distances usually 40-80 yards. Jumps used were six fold leg to leg and bounds.

3. Paying more attention to the specialized strength training (SST) of specific groups of athletes.
It is well known that movement pattern specificity has a great deal to do with transfer of training (Stone). This is realized by how intramuscular and intermuscular movement pattern specificity is accounted for. The functional roles of groups of muscles can change in various multi-joint movements and needs to be considered in various kinetic and kinematic roles during performance tasks. This basically meant simple emphasis on certain means for a particular position. Take into consideration a lineman who is static from start of position. Requirements would yield highly toward starting and yielding strength. This opposed to a linebacker who engages an opponent following a countermovement.

→ Special consideration should take place to emphasize Movement pattern specificity:
- Type of muscle action (eccentric, concentric, stretch shortening)
- Accentuated regions of force production (accommodating resistance)
- Complexity, Direction of Movement
- Ballistic vs. Non-ballistic

RESULTS

Developing athletes does not rely solely on the development of muscular strength. Performance outcomes are by far the most reliable way to tell whether or not a program is successful. This involves longevity, speed of execution for a given motor system, and ability to recover is factors that you should use to determine the ultimate success of your athletes improvement from a yearly cycle. For now however, seeing improvements of certain test are a reliable why to determine if certain means are achieved to set up the potential for subsequent training. I am satisfied with average from the first 5 weeks of the Winter sessions. Here are average increases from testing after 5 weeks:

→Bench- Avg. 30# increase
→Hang Clean- Avg. 20# increase
→Squat- Avg. 30# increase
Thrown out were some outliers that test increased above 50.

These are pretty constant with the average increases from the previous testing after our post season lifts before this 5-week block. Strength values are where they need to be and should result in a good transition into a greater emphasis on explosive abilities leading into the summer months.

Plyometrics, more than jumping onto a box Part 2

2010-12-06T10:28:00.002-06:00

Part one we discussed that basic mechanics of what is shown during a SSC. Now in Part II we will look at the optimal ways in which you can train this quality.

What does this say about training reactivity and explosiveness?

The impact of external forces upon ground contact causes a rapid lengthening leading to a stretch reflex. If the muscle is increasing in stiffness (acting isometrically, contracting) but you are still gaining range of motion, then the tendon is what is lengthening. The external forces that cause the body to produce force in this way come in several forms. These all require short ground contact and pretension (muscle rigidity). When the body drops before foot placement, the anticipatory reaction pretenses the muscles witch puts the SEC at somewhat of a pre-stretch. Indicating that drills to develop this capacity should be following a brief landing. Drills that fall in this category:

Double contact jumps: Perform 1 or 2 quick taps with both feet before performing jump.

Continuous jumps/bounds: performing a sequence of jumps with as little ground contact time as possible.

Depth Jumps: Performing a jump from an elevated box with as little ground contact as possible. Box height should never exceed jump height.

What about the good ole’ vertical jump (countermovement)?

In this case, the impact of external forces occurs slowly. This allows the muscle to act eccentrically not allowing the tendon to lengthen as much. This jump would have little to do with reactive explosiveness. In many sports, the case is getting into the air from a running start or rebounding back into the air following a jump, utilizing the methods discussed previously. In many respects the countermovement jump isn’t nearly as “functional” when determining an athletes reactivity and explosiveness.

A Word About Strength
Readiness to perform this type of plyometric work requires a pre-requisite of strength development. In order to get the most stretch out of the tendon the muscle must be strong enough to hold itself isometrically. On a more serious note, if you perform depth jumps and the force greatly exceeds the muscles isometric ability, you will end up with a tear. Again it all comes down to readiness and how advanced you are in your training. A good way to tell if you should progress to the next level is whether the athlete can maintain relatively small hip and knee angles upon landing or rebounding (more upright).

Benefits of progression

This isn’t to say that the countermovement or static jump should be thrown out. These do a great service to build coordination and landing mechanics. An adaptation that reduces co-contraction of the antagonist also occurs. Finally, a static jump is a great companion to starting strength.

Final Note

I hope what you get out of this information is the need to expand across several methods or ways of developing reactivity and explosiveness. By keeping to one method or worse, not doing any plyometrics at all, you are stripping the athlete’s ability to perform at the highest level. Progress, be smart, and stay healthy.

Plyometrics, more than jumping onto a box Part 1

2010-12-01T18:10:00.003-06:00

Part I will discuss the basic biomechanics of what goes on during plyometrics.

Reactivity, elasticity, and sometimes referred to as buoyancy, plays a very important role in all sports and running. The ability to change direction, sprint, and jump rely heavily on the body’s ability to produce force, relax, and repeat force production.

Taking a look at common practice through visiting professionals, reading material, and learning from other great coaches, a very common variation in each persons approach to development is how they incorporate plyometrics. I hear a common phrase; “most athletes aren’t strong enough so I don’t do them.” Which I will expand upon more later. Some think it is all about how many inches you can jump onto a box. Opposite of that some think it is all about jumping off the tallest box you can. I will also explain why the common test for explosive power (vertical jump) doesn’t quiet tell the whole story.

What Happens When You Jump?
First and for most lets take a look at the biomechanics that come into play when performing a jump in relationship to the stretch shortening cycle (SSC). Taking a look at Hill’s model, two of the three components make a serious contribution. The contractile element (CE) composed of muscle fibers, and the series elastic component (SEC) mainly being the tendon. When performing a jump, these components are stretched, allowing them to store energy, and this energy is released upon rapid contraction. The tendon has the greatest capacity to store energy with little stretch do to it being a rigid structure. Unlike the muscle, which is supple, can stretch much further without storing the same amounts of energy. This would promote the concept that a greater the ability to stretch the tendon during a SSC, the more energy that can be released. This stretch in the tendon would be optimal if the muscle does not stretch. Basically, the more eccentrically a muscle acts within a SSC the less stretch you get out of the tendon.

In part II we will look at how you can apply this information and the specific exercises that utilize this component of the SSC.

Building a Foundation

2010-11-29T14:24:00.004-06:00

Building the foundation for subsequent training means can not be neglected. Being so far away from the next season, it is no better time than now to begin expanding the potential for the work to come. This involves extensive conditioning, tempo work, and assessing postural imbalances very intensively.

The aim of the tempo work is to increase the aerobic capacity for Type II fibers as well as hypertrophy of type I. Here is an example of an upper body tempo exercise protocol we use.

D-Lineman: 6'2" 240 lb
Tempo: 2/0/2
Duration:2-3 series of 3 x 40 sec or 8-10 reps
Rest: 60 sec between sets, 5-8 min active recovery between series

This is his last set. It is very hard for them to control the concentric portion when fatigued so constant supervision and cueing is important to maintain protocol. Always have a stop watch in hand. You can do this after high intensity strength work or in series for a workout on its own.

It is important to remember that this is also the best time to reinforce proper mechanics especially scapular. Important cue to really condition the lower fibers is to make sure athletes are relaxing the upper trapezius. It is key to be hands on so you can feel what they feel. Here is a defensive lineman utilizing these scapular cues during a pull down, ensuring proper activation of the lower fibers.

Optimal Hypertrophy

2010-11-25T18:23:00.004-06:00

Size equals strength right? If we get bigger then we are gaining cross sectional area, which is a foundation for strength development aren’t we? Yes and no.

It is very true that increasing the amount of contractile tissue, you will have a greater potential for strength development. But when you gain mass, muscle tissue isn’t the only substance that has ability to grow.

Two types of Hypertrophy

Sarcoplasmic: the volume of sarcoplasmic fluid in the muscle cell increases.

Myofibril: The increase contractile proteins, increase of sarcomeres in series etc…

Any type of hypertrophy is individualized but should never come at the expense of performance. If added mass is essential for an individual, then a balance between both types is optimal. If athlete is already at desired weight or size then any hypertrophy that would be developed should be that of contractile proteins. Lets take a look at the variables that come into play when looking to develop these qualities.

STRESS

Mechanical: Any method that challenges High force or High Acceleration. Goal is to utilize high threshold recruitment (size principle).

Methods: Powerlifting and weightlifting (Olympic)

→Preference for increased size of type II fibers. Heavy eccentrics allow for most muscular damage and highest mechanical stress so don’t limit yourself concentrically.
→Max effort methods offer percentages that yield increase size of high threshold motor units.
→Dynamic lifts will allow you to activate very high threshold MU’s which can be utilized in subsequent strength training.

Metabolic: Methods that induce a local fatigue that will stress aerobic enzymes and substrate causing a reduction as an acute adaptation. During recovery a surplus will be produced as a long term adaptation causing increased size of sarcoplasmic material.

Methods: Bodybuilding, HIT

→Inducing as much fatigue to the muscle is a must. As Zatsiorski would say, if it is not fatigued it was not trained (will not grow).
→Repetition method as seen in Westside Barbell.
→ Timed sets or high intensity training will induce as much metabolic stress with short rest periods. This leads to a beneficial increase in muscle building hormones

As you can see, there are benefits to a variety of methods. It all comes down to what the individual needs. Some athletes fiber composition my lead them to develop hypertrophy better with some methods rather than others. A great way to tell whether or not the size you are adding is beneficial is relative strength.

Random Resources

2010-11-21T19:05:00.007-06:00

INTERNETThere is a site that I was told about a while back that basically has me listening, watching, and reading everything it has to offer. The Canadian Athletics Coaching Centre. This has some great articles from many of the greatest minds in the industry like Verkhoshansky, Viru, Zatsiorsky, and Pfaff just to name a few. Much of it is free articles and podcast as well as some amazing videos well worth the money. I urge anyone to check it out for some serious research and programming from every realm of performance enhancement!!

LITERATUREA book that has been around for a bit that I continuously find myself looking back at is Running by Frans Bosch. Bosch has great insight on many aspects in developing, cueing, and training anyone who runs. He is of course a track coach but much of what he has to say can easily be related to any athlete who makes a living on their feet. Especially his work with plyometrics and observation are priceless.

NUTRITIONThe latest from Michael Pollan, Food Rules, is a great gift idea for the health conscious or someone you know that is trying to eat more clean. It is split up into simple sections and does great job at taking simple concepts that often are confused into complexity by the media. Even for those of you who consider themselves having a strong grasp on their stomach my find some of his outlooks as a reminder of some obvious things you are neglecting.

Educational Road Trip

2010-11-18T17:58:00.004-06:00

Today I had the pleasure of dropping in at the Sanford Running Injury & Performance lab and The National Institute for Athletic Health & Performance in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Each of these places offer unique equipment and are heading some great research involving individual assessment through gait analysis and fatigue related stability issues.

At the running lab they had a force plate treadmill with Zebris software. What this allowed them to do was match slow motion video analysis with an individuals foot strike. Along with this they would hook up EMG to get a look at specific firing patterns up the chain. Take away message:

* The individual may display similar areas of stiffness and/or firing patterns but treatment is different based on the way in which this stiffness occurs. This is based off roll off patterns in the foot, heel motion, and foot structure.
* Single leg stance is still one of the greatest assessments for stability. But with this tool you can measure the parameter in which your center of gravity is displaced. This with EMG can show the degree in which you compensate and with which specific muscles your relying on.
* Many people strike hard on the outside of the heel and almost immediate go to big toe after a hard pronation.

Overall like you would assume, many of these people were stiff anteriorly and externally rotated.
These guys had a fellowship with Gary Gray and use some very integrated corrective strategies as you would guess with Gray.

At the NIAHP, they have easily the best environmental chamber in the US. Here they have done wonders with hydration study and stability.

* Almost everyone losses sweat at different rates. With that, what is lost (different electrolytes) varies quiet a bit person to person. People perform at a substantially higher rate when they replace what is really needed and not as much of what is not.
* After fatigued, athletes showed highest differences in stability in the frontal plane when landing, and in step-downs.
* 50 % of athletes are in a dehydrated state throughout the day. (DRINK SOME WATER!)

A great experience overall. Once again these are just tools. You can come to the same conclusions with different means. These tools however provide a great deal of information allowing you to obtain results with the ability to compare with computed numbers. I see these sort of tools as a use em' if you have access sort of thing.

Defending the Trap Bar

2010-11-16T20:07:00.010-06:00

The topic that probably found itself ranking at the forefront of discussion in the industry over the last year was the debate over lower body bilateral movements. This includes primarily variations of the squat and deadlift. Its my feeling that if you want to take something away it should be for a couple reasons. One, there are other tools that could be better benefiting you in progress to your goals. Two, it is causing harm to your athletes in the form of injury due to poor pattern or poor risk reward. When I look at the trap bar deadlift I can not find a way to justify these questions. Let look at just a few reasons why it can be such a useful tool...

Using the trap bar to teach movement:
It is all too common to find people who are unstable on the deep squat. Stabilization is timing. A key component in the TBDL is the isometric loading you obtain in the start position. This allows the athlete to consciously gauge the feeling of firing the stabilizers first before going into the squat pattern from the bottom up. Also when put into proper position, the only way to overcome the isometric load is them to activate the global muscles through hip extension. This action of isometric loading to active hip extension will allow you to gain the stability so many athletes lack in the deep squatting pattern.

It is easy to modify:
Not every athlete has the warranted hip mobility that will allow them to pick a heavy load from the ground and maybe they are just to tall to safely pick up the standard sized bar. The best part about bar is that the weight is close to the base of support (your feet) and can be safely elevated. This can allow you to make sure that no matter the athlete, proper spine alignment can be achieved in most cases.
Without a lift many athletes with poor mobility/stability lock the back into extension and also will extend the neck as they attempt to bring shoulder back.

With a couple plates or aerobic boxes, you can easily find a range in which the athlete will not have to compromise mobility to achieve the pattern.

Also a great way to reinforce this movement pattern is to do a toe touch progression within a super-set to compliment this lift.

Scapular Stability:
Lets not forget that this wonderful exercise requires strength, stability, and mobility from all areas. A key area of this stability is one that is often missing in many programs. The scap/thoracic region can be stabilized in two ways. One of them, compression, is commonly seen with things like planks and push ups. The second, distraction, is greatly developed in the TBDL. This is when the scapula has to resist a load from protraction. One can identify this when an athlete lifts too heavy of a load and the shoulder drift anterior.

Max Strength and Aerobic Capacity

2010-11-15T18:44:00.009-06:00

Over the last several months and through talking with many colleuges in the field, I found that one of the most misunderstood concepts with development of athletes in many field sports (football, soccer) aerobic energy system development and its key to strength development is often overlooked. Lets look at some of the several adaptations one can benefit from having a optimal aerobic capacity.
At the heart: Increased Left ventricle hypertrophy (eccentric) leading to higher strove volume, increased vagal tone, higher end diastolic volume all creating a larger cardiac output= Increased oxygen supply. Basically, these adaptaions will improve your bodies ability to move more oxygenated blood to the working muscles with less effort. This allows you to accomplish power aerobically before having to rely heavily on the lactic system which fatigues quickly.

At the muscle: Type I fiber hypertrophy, oxidative ability of type II fibers, Increased localized capillarization, Increased mitochondria. These adaptations will increase your muscles abilities to draw oxygen from blood, increased mitochondria will help your muscle regenerate ATP aerobically. Mitochindrial density has also been linked to improvement of muscle contraction/relaxation speed!

Simply, when lifting for maximal strength your body is utilizing the alactic/ATP-PC enrgy system at its highest capacity by quickly breaking down ATP to supply the amount of power needed to execute a maximal lift. The typical rest is 3-5 minutes between sets. What happens during this rest is where the aerobic system is the star. This relaxation is when ATP resythesis occurs in the ATP-PC system. After an intense bout, ATP is reduced to 70% of pre exercising levels and PCr to 20 % PEL. 70% of this is re-sythesized in about 30 seconds and fully in around 5 minutes. The full recovery can be delayed when muscles are occluded from blood flow. Without getting exteremly technical, this fact shows that the adaptations discussed earlier will greatly increase you bodies ability to resythesize the much needed ATP as quickly as possible within the resting parameters.

Don't get me wrong. This isn't saying that you need to be able to run marathons to be able to do maximal strength work. There is however a great benefit of having "optimal" capacity of the aerobic system to set yourself up for success down the road in maximal strength work. Some of hese methods have been discussed previously in my blog (see alactic capacity, Tempo method/oxidative squats). This doesn't stop at max strength but the benefits carry into repeated sprint ability, sustaing power over time, and the ability to produce ATP rapidly aerobically.

Update!!

2010-11-15T08:06:00.003-06:00

Hey everyone!! It has been a LONG time since I have posted. Let me fill you in on what I have been up too and what you can expect for future post.

Summer was extremely busy with lots of hours spent at AP learning from some amazing coaches. College Football season at my school has concluded with a finish of 8-2. There were zero non-contact injuries this year which is what I really am aiming for when developing programs followed by increased performance. The volleyball team is poised to take nationals and also without injuries effecting anything. These were two teams that were plagued with ACL tears and Hamstring strains, both were non existent. One of the high school football teams I was in charge of won the district and made a great run at the state playoffs. Looking back I am extremely proud of these teams and the people in other individual sports that are looking for some great progress in the future. I can't wait to get started in the off season which start today!!

With that being said, I have some great things that I will be implementing with the teams this winter that I am excited to share with everyone. I am also going to be taking a handful of more advance guys and putting them on some different program with more advanced preparations methods more familiar to those who have read up on block periodization. I plan on following these results here showing you everything I am doing with these athletes.

You can also read up on an interview I did early in the Summer HERE!

Hope everyone is doing well and good luck to all those in and out of season.

Summer of Learning

2010-04-15T23:42:00.003-05:00

If there is one thing that I would suggest to any young student or aspiring trainer, strength coach, or performance specialist it would be to take advantage of your free time. The best time for any student to get the most education and experience doing something they truly have a passion for is during the Summer months. There are so many great coaches and trainers offering internships and mentorships that it would only make sense to jump at any opportunity you can get to learn from those in the position you some day want to be in.
I recently have accepted to take part in the Summer internship program at Athletes Performance in Arizona where I am more than excited to get started. I look forward to add to my continuing education and sharing some of the great methods to get athletes and clients performing to the highest potential possible. I look forward to keeping everyone updated on my experience and finding ways to integrate the systems and methods at AP for smaller colleges and facilities like mine. So look forward to some great insight from my internship at AP in the near future and hopefully everyone in my position and age are taking advantage of all the incredible coaches out there putting forth these great educational opportunities.

Means of Sport Form

2010-04-13T06:15:00.007-05:00

In today, the strength and conditioning scene is overwhelmed with such variety of tools, methods, and programs. On the outside some look very "advanced" and often involve a multitude of different training methods and tools (strongman, speed cord, and unstable training). These often look attractive to athletes but will often lead to poor development of sport form due to lack of specificity at the given time.

There is typically 3 different means of sports development. General, General-Specific, and Specific. When looking at your annual cycle or training stage, it is appropriate to correlate the specific mean of training for the certain time.

One example of a way to plan the means of your training would be in the Conjugate Sequencing with a distributed load. (Note: This is not the conjugate system familiar with West Side Barbell) This would involve General during your preparatory or accumulation phase, General Specific during the transmutation phase, and Specific during realization/competitive. During the development of a specific means of training the others are developed at low volumes. In other words, if it is the off season in football your General means (basic lifts, first plyo progressions, non competitive drill) will be of main focus while the other two will still be developed but in small volumes.
The reason it is so important to distribute the means of your sport development is because it avoids injury. This is where the general part plays such a big role. In your General development skills and lifts should involve basic movement patterns, and development of skill should look very basic and focus on improving your local muscle capacity for your sport aside from performing your sport tasks. The General part of General Specific would indicate that the skill should be just different enough to Specific drills to avoid accumulative stress on the muscles if the specific drills were used all year. Specific should mirror the sport as much as possible and within reasonable methods. These would be some appropriate Means of exercise for various sports:

Football

General- Olympic lifts, power lifts, any other lift performed with barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells , etc
General Specific- pushing a weighted implement (e.g. sled, tire, special training apparatus, etc), game simulation wearing a weighted vest, etc for 4-10 second repetitions
Specific- one on one contests against an opponent for 4-10 second repetitions

Powerlifting

General- rows with barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, presses/swings with dumbbells, kettlebells, GHR, pull ups, back raises, step ups, lunges, jumps onto a box.
General Specific- bench presses with different grips, board presses, floor presses, box squats, front squats, SS Bar squats, GM’s, deadlift off of boxes, pins, accommodating resistance with bands and/or chains.
Specific- competition squat, bench press, deadlift with competition gear and varied intensities

The appropriate Means of development is essential to insure that the athlete has developed a functional capacity or potential early on in training to assure that the body can fully develop and adapt to the demands placed on it in the subsequent weeks of development.

For more info see James Smith, Issurin, Bondarchuk

Prep for Competition Phase

2010-04-06T22:46:00.005-05:00

With almost every college sport anymore there are pretty much 2 seasons. The actual season (Regular season, playoffs, tournaments), and an off season competition (Spring practice, Fall Baseball, Spring soccer season). These, although shorter than the normal season in terms of duration, the intensity and frequency of practice can seem very similar. Your athletes must physically and mentally be prepared for both of these "seasons." With the football and soccer teams in the beginning phases of the Spring season here are some considerations in your preparation that you should consider:

3 Keys to Preparation for Competition

1. As a competitive phase approaches it is the time to realize the training abilities developed in a sport specific setting physically and mentally. With the football athletes, we did this physically by progressing them from self regulated fall starts to vocal/visual cues into competitive speed and agility. These drills use the same localized muscles and potential body positions an athlete will face on the field. The competition component forces them to focus on the competition aspect and not other biomechanical things relying on previously learned movement qualities e.g. P.A.L. Mechanics. There are a variety of TAG, Chase, CHAOS drills that in some way or another can serve to fill this component.

2. You also want to avoid any acute trauma via equipment. This is obvious for football...PADS. The best piece of equipment to try and acclimate athletes to weighted equipment is a vest. By utilizing a weight vest in training/ESD/and movement prep, you can gradually get the athlete accustomed to a point that you can avoid too much soreness from that first week of pads. This can make a huge difference in fatigue related injuries. Often the second practice can be seen to have several athletes complain about soreness in the shoulders/traps due to helmet, shoulder pads which can be significantly reduced if properly prepared.

3. With any sport, there is unavoidable trauma that comes along with it so why would you add to that with certain exercises. Take volleyball who is in their spring season right now. They are doing so many repetitive jumps, bounds, and landings that the volume of stretch-shortening in there training needs to be reduced to keep the power output at optimal levels. Also with the football guys who face an abundance of trauma to body parts like the wrist and shoulders. Exercises that require extreme wrist extension or provocative shoulder positions should be reduced or avoided. An example would be replacing hang cleans with high pulls, weighted jumps, or any other triple extension exercise for the time being.

It is amazing how such small aspects of training can help you translate your physical skills that much more while making sure you consider the trauma of sport itself can assure that the developed abilities will be maintained without compromising safety. There are many other things which you may want to consider when approaching these sort of phases in your annual cycle but these three things as seen with preparation, observation, and acclimation can help your athletes perform to the highest potential.

High School Football Results

2010-03-28T23:30:00.002-05:00

I have spoken a few times and written an article about the physical preparation of high school football players. Also I have posted a video of one of the high school football teams following this program here. Recently that team has done a great job and as the article said progressively adding small weight to ensure consistent gains with consistent form and execution. Here are some words from the coach and some great results:

"Of the 18 guys I had comparable information from the last time we maxed out in the fall we gained 385 pounds in bench...that is an average of 21 pounds per. Seniors averaged a gain of around 12.5 per man. 9th and 10th graders exploded...... Corey went from benching 115 to 150, Justin from 130 to 165 (he weighs 115 pounds at most). Shane (soph) jumped from 200 to 230, and Chris went from 225 to 265...awesome.. Squats and cleans showed the same types of gains..."

These athletes have been very consistent with attendance and are a very dedicated team in which most of them are multi-sport athletes too. Along with this there have been ZERO non contact injuries which is of course the most important stat when determining effectiveness of a program. You can't play if your hurt.

Progressing Clients

2010-03-23T20:49:00.003-05:00

Recently my personal training clients have begun the second phase of their fat loss/strength building routines. It is of popular demand right now to attack fat loss clients with high intensity, complexing, and leg numbing workouts. Honestly this sort of protocol can be effective with the right type of people. To be honest, even if this is the most effective route when dealing with fat loss clients, I guarantee many whom are seeking fat loss would drop out of your programs if constantly confronted with HIIT, sledge hammer work, and sprints. You must first establish and teach them and make it clear how important establishing movement patterns is. This was phase 1. Using a progressive approach to establishing quality movement before moving on to higher intensity complexes.
Here is an example of "fat loss" exercises we used with several beginner clients when they came in.
Phase 1 Week 1
Explosive- KB Swings
Hip Extension-Pull Through, RDL w/reach
Knee Dom- Split Squat (w/ support for some)
Horz Push- Push ups, DB bench w/ NG
Horz Pull- 1 arm row, face pulls, cable rows
Vert Pull- cable pull down, chins
Vert push- Curl 2 press

Now after a great phase which lasted 6 weeks, they have made considerable progress and now have progressed to much more metabolic and complex movements. These which would have been possible before phase one but with sub standard form which would have led to soreness in all the wrong areas (low back, knees, etc..) Now everything we do is tri-sets with more of an emphasis on complexing movements. We still focus on strength with much of our first tri-set and from there after it is fairly metabolic.
Here is an example of a Phase 2 workout which we used with a client:

0 sec between lifts 45-60 sec between sets
Tri Set 1
Trap Bar DL- 3x5
NG DB Push Press- 3x8 each
Cable Hold-3x20sec
Tri set 2
SS 1 arm row- 3x10 each
1 Leg RDL w/ KB-3x10 each
Anterior Core- 3x10
Tri set 3
Scaption-2x12
External Rotation 2x12
Face Pulls- 2x12
ESD- 1 arm KB Swing 2 jump squat/BW Squat
10 swings per arm 2 10 jumps w/ 30 sec rest x 6+

This has worked out very well and I look forward to progressing them from here. I know there are a lot of very quality fat loss workouts out there right now but a majority of them are just far to advanced for an first time weight lifter looking to shed some pounds. Start basic and in time the exercise can pick up. Remember, fat loss isn't a quick fix, it is a progressive lifestyle change. The exercise should fit that progressive change they are making.

Training Log: Preparation for Spring Football

2010-03-18T21:11:00.005-05:00

It has been a while since I posted on my training so I figured what better time then at the end of a block. I have used the results from my previous training stage to determine the specific abilities were not where I needed them to be to make up the focus in the stage leading up to spring ball. It is important to note that our spring practices are padded and the spring "season" is pretty much identical to an in season atmosphere. We have pretty intense practices with some scrimmages and a spring game all included. This made it appropriate for me to have to a training stage that would include a accumulation, transmutation, and realization blocks as if I was preparing for one.

NEEDS
After my previous testing my results showed that I needed to improve on my overall power. My strength numbers were where they needed to be so I set my mesocycle/microcyles to use the potential of the developed strength to expand my capacity for producing force at much higher rates. This was obtained through a variety of jumps, throws, Olympic lifts, and some strength speed was still included to a point. Also a fair dose of alactic power work to improve on the speed of my technical, tactical movements in the proper muscle regimes.

RESULTS
Strength
Bench Press- 365-375
Squat-510-540
Hang Clean- 340-355

Skill Test
Vert- 32-35.5
10 yard- 1.8-1.70
Standing Broad Jump-TBD tm

Physical Test
Body weight-210 (same)
body comp- 5%/7% (hydrostatic weighing/Calipers)
RHR-57-60 (varies in this range)

Recovery modalities
Contrast Showers/Baths, Epsom Baths, Cold Plunges, Lots of Foam Rolling, Mobility and Flexibility work, and Tempo Runs with some low intensity recovery work (walks, low intensity circuits, more mobility circuits) anything to get the blood flowing.

Since utilizing the Block Periodization Concept, I have yet to not see improvement in my preparedness which was uncommon in the past. This so far has been a great learning and training experience and will now take what I have attained and use it on the field next week. From here it will be restorative and retaining until the preseason starts. Feeling good about these results and can't wait till final training stage approaches so I can really push the envelope on this.

Key Workouts

2010-03-14T23:22:00.006-05:00

During certain times of an athletes training stage, the focus of the training varies depending on factors such as time of year, level of specific qualities, qualities in need of development. etc... This has a significant structural indications for a microcycle. When focusing on developing a limited amount of abilities to a high extent, it is important to know how to execute this training and when to execute it on a weekly basis in order to obtain the desired result. This is where the "Key" Workout strategy comes into play.

A key workout is a session that is highly focused on the current training emphasis. The workouts include the MOST relevant abilities and motor skills that are of central focus. If it was a block geared toward power, the key workout would include you jumps, sprints, throws, and any other power related bioenergenic means. If strength was your focus, your key workout would include the main exercises that you are using to develop strength for your athletes.

Things to consider when planning your key workouts. It is of highest importance that the tools you use in a key workout are NOT unknown or new exercises. The main point of the key workouts is to get the most out of the session and a high mental focus component is needed and the focus should be on the quality of the work and not execution of a different exercise.

Withing a key workout should include a key exercise or tasks. This would be depended on your sport however. Lets say you were a MMA fighter, your main tasks would likely be a training match but your key exercise may be linked to your needed area of weakness and you target muscle regime.

Key workouts/exercises/tasks are important factors that need to be planned out prior to training stage has begun. Determining you key workout and tasks will allow you to mentally visualize, motivate, and determine most relevant means of monitoring training.

Random almost Weekend Post

2010-03-11T23:03:00.005-06:00

Today marks the day that my short get away form the rain and snow ends. I leave California for Iowa in the hours to come. I did get some quality relaxing in and experienced some great scenery and enjoyed working out outside for once and seeing green plants instead of the white desert of snow.

I did get my copy of Mike Boyle's new book Advances in Functional Strength Training. This couldn't have come at a better time when I needed something to read on my 3 hour flight. Needless to say I missed the LA lights on my landing because I was so glued to this book. Although a lot of it is material I have read or heard him speak about, it is extremely convenient to have it in one resource.

The best part about many of his methods and in some cases theories is that they are backed with empirical evidence and quality science. What I like the most about Coach Boyle's work is that he takes either the information that you get from PT's or the scientist and finds ways to implement that with large groups. It is one thing when you are training individuals or small groups but when you have large groups or teams, time is of the essence and finding ways to be practical and logical are a must.

Also got the opportunity to workout at the legendary muscle beach in Venice. It was fun, probably wont do it again but at least I can say now that I have? It was funny to get glances from fellow lifters (who were oiled up and in speedos) while I did 1 leg RDL's, Hip thrust, and full back squats. I then made my way to the beach for some position specific sprints and a cool down. All in all it was a great break but am looking forward to getting back to train the teams and the start of Spring Football.

Horizontal Pulling: DB Progression

2010-03-09T23:48:00.000-06:00

In all the programs I write for the teams we place a great emphasis on the horizontal pulling movement pattern. As of now we do a progression on the blasts straps and one with the use of DB's. This movement pattern is not just extremely important because of its antagonistic relationship to bench, but in many sports like football a majority of the upper body action is pressing. This movement and others similar will go a long way in combating the everyday overuse of the pressing muscles.

Also, a great deal of emphasis needs to be put on the scapular retraction component during this movement pattern. Often time athletes will initiate the pull with the elbow joint when you really should start this movement by retracting the scapula straight back then proceeding with the arm action. This will reduce the anterior translation of the humeral head by maintaining scapular stability.

The basis for these progressions were to gradually add more of a stability component while being able to maintain neutral spine and keep the load or even increase. As the progressions get more advanced, there is a much higher demand to prevent rotation as well.

Kneeling 1 arm DB Row

3 Point 1 arm Row

1 Arm/1 Leg Contralateral Row

Split Stance Row (unsupported)

Parallel Stance Row (unsupported)

Your Potential For Max Speed

2010-03-07T22:22:00.007-06:00

In many sports, speed is the name of the game. Often times however, many athletes are pulling up lame and injuring themselves during training or they burnout and see little results across their programming. Much of this can be attributed to lack of developing the athlete’s functional capacity for high intensity sprinting/training. This would contribute to high muscular fatigue and after the acute increase of development, a gradual decrease in both speed and motor function which is detrimental to the competitive state.

Work capacity is solely dependent on metabolic energy supply. Any special conditioning should be developed with the goal of increasing this capacity in the specific muscle regimes to a higher level than is actually needed for your sport. If you immediately introduce high velocity workloads to your system, you will quickly run out of your available metabolic energy supply leading to the stagnation, fatigue, and means to realize your potential for maximum speed.

of capillaries/mitochondria must be developed in the specific muscle regimes used in your sport. This is necessary to precede high velocity training volumes because the nature of these high velocity workloads will cause the thickening of artery walls (dystrophy of chamber) and reduction in oxidative capacity due to the reduction of mitochondrion. So based off these characteristics of high velocity training, a surplus beyond what is needed of the former will allow for much less undue fatigue.

Much of the training methods used to develop this particular capacity include: Long duration work below Anaerobic threshold (sled drags, jogging, low intensity med ball circuits), Tempo work (squats, push ups, inverted rows),

When starting a macrocycle, optimal levels of cardiac chamber volume, slow twitch muscle function, and density

and low intensity plyometrics (jumping rope, low hurdle hops, low intensity jumps). All while maintaining other capacities.

Development of these capacities should take place furthest away from the competitive stage. Once you reach a transmutation block, the gradual increase of more specific and high velocity work will allow for a constant improvement of this capacity and will be realized beyond previous levels at the end of the stage leading into competition.

Testing Week: Bench Press and Squat

2010-03-04T20:55:00.006-06:00

In concluding our week of testing I must say that the athletes have put forth some amazing effort. It has been a great 6 weeks of early mornings and late nights working out and running that has really paid off.

Test 2 of 3- Bench Press
Why

1. Force Production- The bench press has an eccentric contraction followed by a concentric contraction. This is important because a concentric contraction is always more forceful when followed by an eccentric contraction. Utilizing the barbell bench press will also help you overload the movement in a controlled manner.

2. Psychological factor- This lift is pretty much universal on Mondays, the lift you compare yourself to others with, and what the random guy does when he has no plan. Also, coaches seem to mark a large majority of a programs success on this lift. Unfortunate...yes. However, if by raising up a group of these guy's bench will mentally make them feel "strong", it will surely help with confidence which goes a long ways in performance.

Things to keep in mind

Stabilize the scapula: "Back and Down!" This base provided by your upper back will stabilize the shoulder girdle to give you control over the bar.

Elbows Tucked: Flaring the elbows during the bench press will put your shoulders in a provocative position while applying more stress on them. Instead, tuck your elbows (approx 45 degrees) and let your triceps you work so hard on take over.

Stay tight: Often times with an athlete who is never taught proper technique, you will see butt off the bench and feet being kicked all over. This immediately takes away any advantage of force to transfer from your lower body/core as you are destabilizing your body. Feet digging into ground, glutes tight, stomach contracted...lift off!

Test 3 of 3- Back Squat
Why

1. Starting Strength- developing force at the beginning of a muscular contraction and the capacity to overcome resistance and initiate movement is something of extreme importance in sport especially in football.

2. Ground Based Compound Movement: There is simply not a better way to load the entire body while standing on two feet. The hip extension, knee/core stabilization, and glute strength needed to complete a proper back squat, can develop these muscle regimes to great capacities.

Why not

There are some athletes on the team that either have underlying injury issue, insufficient hip mobility, or other means serve to better suite there body type. For these athletes a heavy dose of RFESS and/or they are put on the single leg squat progression until they are able to complete a back squat efficiently.

The athletes have performed much better than expected. in our core lifts. Average bench increases were around 20 pounds with our biggest at 45# increase going to 350 from 305. Squat were similar with increases ~30# and some incredible leaps around 75-100 pounds with some athletes (can somebody say honeymoon stage?)

The team couldn't have gotten off to a better start leading into Spring practices. From here we plan on still making some great gains in strength and speed leading into our pre-season phase. Until then I will be sure to keep all updated with our programming, progressions, and results.

Testing Week: Hang Clean

2010-03-02T06:32:00.002-06:00

In preparing for sports and while putting athletes through a program it is important to always be evaluating them for improvements in abilities such as strength, posture, flexibility and so forth. This week marks about six weeks since our last strength evaluation in which we use 3 exercises as our "indicators" for improvement in strength along with a few skill test to determine our progress over a certain period of time.

Test 1 of 3
Hang Clean

Why

1. Ground Based Movement: The ability for an athlete to produce force against the ground will determine the athletes ability to do jump, run, and accelerate. Also, athletes do everything with there feet on the ground, standing up, and getting from A to B as fast as possible.

2. Multi Joint: The primary goal for us while performing an explosive movement is to achieve triple extension. This would be the full extension of the ankle, hips, and knees in the most explosive manner possible. This is important because triple extension happens when running, jumping, and most anytime you try to produce great amounts of force during competition.

3. Athletic Position: It is important to train an athlete in similar positions that he will play. Due to the fact that most all the positions will assume the athletic position through the duration of a game, it would indicate the importance to develop strength/explosiveness from this position. A great article on this topic see : (Don't) Assume the Athletic Position by Coach Kenn.

So far the testing has gone great. We have had an average increase of ~25 pounds with the best being a 50 pound jump from 320 to 370 in just 6 weeks form the last testing. It is important not to just jump into the hang clean with out progressing however. I wrote a while back about our progression in the clean and it has paid off. I used a bottom up approach, teaching the basic concepts of triple extension through jumping exercises, and loaded jump shrugs. They gradually progressed into high pulls and cleans down the road. We emphasized the hip extension portion a lot by programming basic variations of some corrective stretches paired with the explosive lift to coordinate that pattern.

There are many people who may choose to do these from the floor or simply not at all. Why I chose to do them...Results. Our verticals continue to go up, 40's are all going down so I feel like the force developed from the clean has paid off.

Importance of aerobic capacity for football

2010-02-25T21:14:00.014-06:00

In America, the most popular of all high intensity sports would easily be Football. On the outside looking in, you would assume that the majority of all the conditioning would be an accumulation of sprints and repeated bouts until your legs could take no more. Although there is a time and a place for this sort of energy systems training, many people fail to see the importance of the aerobic energy system and it’s ability to improve the performance of an athlete in a high intensity sport. Remembering that football is aerobic/alactic in nature it is necessary to address the aerobic component of this sport to best prepare the athlete.

Why would you do aerobic work for Football?

The are numerous studies indicating that the lack of blood flow to the muscles increase the recovery period between high intensity bouts of exercise. When the muscle experiences high intensity bouts lactate will accumulate along with excess amounts of H+. If these metabolites are not removed, acidosis will occur and that fatigue will limit contractile rate of the working muscles. The majority of lactate is removed through oxidation. This oxidation largely depends on the capitalization and mitochondrial density to allow for the blood flow to transport the lactate/H+.

The adaptations that occur during aerobic training:

1. Increased blood flow because of an increased cardiac output/hypertrophy(eccentrically).

2. Increases the density of capillaries and mitochondria especially in the localized muscles that are used during training. This is important to keep in mind when constructing what tool you use for energy systems development. You want to work similar muscle regimes, as you would use during sport to enhance the density to the muscles that need it the most.

3. Increases the vasodilatation abilities of vessels, which of course allows for blood flow and oxygen to reach 02 myoglobin and working muscles faster.

Aerobic training does have its drawbacks. It has been shown to reduce the effectiveness of power development, which is a primal component of most high intensity sports. There is also evidence showing that there is a ceiling for how much of an influence an enhanced aerobic capacity has on your recovery from repeated bouts. Keeping this in mind, it would only be necessary to develop your aerobic capacity to a point that would make it optimal for recovery and limit its volume extensively during blocks of power development. As I mentioned earlier, be aware of the specific muscles in use for your sport. For example, due to football being an upright sport heavily reliable on the backside dominant musculature (Hamstrings, glutes) it wouldn't make a ton of sense to condition sitting down such as a bike (front side dominant).

Training Residuals: Don't use it you lose it!

2010-02-24T12:13:00.005-06:00

When preparing an advanced athlete for sport it is necessary for the development of specific abilities. In one block model that would include a accumulation block, transmutation, and realization. Using this block model you are able to focus your efforts to advance the capacity for the certain abilities that are necessary for sport form to a much greater extent than that of a traditional approach.

The key to maintain the ability throughout the entire stage and what will likely determine the length of each block would be the residual effect of the abilities trained in the previous blocks. The residual training effect would refer to how long the adaptations developed in your block will last. For example, in my current training, the accumulation block was focused on development of strength-aerobic capacities. This lasting approximately 30 days, I then moved into the transmutation block which is more anaerobic in nature. Knowing that the residual for the strength-aerobic capacities is ~30 days, it is necessary to plan its prolonging in the subsequent blocks.

The answer to this problem would be a mini-block. A mini-block is usually placed at the latter half of a microcycle at a time just before the residual effect from the previously trained ability would diminish. A transmutation block will suppress the aerobic abilities and the heavy strength exercise will make recovery much more difficult. The addition of a mini block will not only prolong the residual, but it will also allow for the needed recovery from the CNS intensity of the transmutation block.

An example of this in my current training is during the 3rd week of my transmutation block I will use a mini cycle at the end of the week consisting of the exercises utilized in previous accumulation blocks. For me this is Tempo squats/push ups, and plenty of tempo runs and low intensity energy systems work. A way to track my maintenance of this ability is by monitoring my heart rate and comparing it to the previous weeks. As of now, since the end of my first accumulation block in September, I still am able to keep my heart rate around 142 during tempo squats of 3x 60/60 for 3-4sets.

Note: Tempo Squat/Push up=2 second eccentric/2 second concentric w/ no pause.

By attaining to this principle you will not lose out on the hard work that you put forth in previous training stages. This is also a great advantage of the block model of focusing on specific abilities in which you can train based off physiological principle.

Blast Strap Row Progression

2010-02-22T20:52:00.005-06:00

It is amazing how fast the off season is going and just how close we are to Spring Football Practice! The football team has been doing nothing short but outstanding and are now challenging themselves more and more as we progress them in various movements and lifts.

One movement pattern that I really value is horizontal pulling. Especially in football, where a lot of what you do on the field is push. Think about a lineman. Virtually every play they are pressing the opponent away from their body. That is why in the off season I feel that it is very important to combat that movement by making sure the ratio of pulls outweighs that of pushing.

In the football program we cover each movement pattern at least once with certain pairings of exercises and at the end we will do supplemental work which usually consist of a tri-set. One of which is a blast strap horizontal pull progression, shoulder prehab, and a core exercise. This tri-set will be utilized on a day we do vertical pulls so that we can get a horizontal pull in multiple days a week.

I really am a huge fan of the blast straps due to the freedom it gives your shoulders to move through a natural rotation and the added stability component. Using a bar is not a bad thing, it is just the fact that as you pull yourself closer to the bar, your shoulders are forced to internally rotate to achieve the full ROM which can end up eliminating this as an option for athletes who have a history of shoulder problems. Here is what we use as our Blast Strap progression for horizontal pulling.

Also note that we often use weighted vest for most players during most all these exercises.

Bilateral row w/ Slow eccentric

Feet Elevated Bilateral Row with 1/0/1 Tempo

Side to Side Row

1-arm Rotational Row

Some key coaching keys that apply to all of these are as follows:
"Stomach/Glutes tight" (this keeps hips extended but not allowing lumbar hyper extension)
"Squeeze shoulder blades" (by initiating the movement by retracting the scapula will prevent anterior migration of the humeral head)