I've been stepping up and voicing my opinion on the overbearing, ego-maniac parents and coaches out there who are hurting their kids with shitty training programs and overall shitty decisions pertaining to training and ultimately, life.
Why is it acceptable to let anyone and their Mom run the high school weight room? I thought this was about the kids?
I understand sport coaches don't like this, so they threaten their players and disallow any of them to train at The Underground Strength Gym.
Why do I stand up and voice my opinion like this?
Stand for something or fall for anything.
Young athletes are near and dear to my heart. Give them the best. No need to threaten high school athletes into "training with the team" unless that service is the best.
The phrases I hear from kids and parents are:
- We do all the same stuff in our weight room
- We're following Coach _______ Program (Insert name of famous NFL or College Strength Coach)
- We do everything in house
- These are mandatory workouts
The school that told me "we do everything in house" had an athlete training with us, when I told him to squat lower, he turned around to look at me while the bar was on his back!
I flipped out! Squat lower means.... squat lower. It does NOT mean turn around with 185 on your back!
There have been countless injuries occur from these dangerous workouts as well as a lack of results. It's NOT just WHAT you do it's HOW you do it.
And, there seems to be a backlash when people like myself stand up and disagree with politics. Oh well, I will not go to the grave knowing I bowed down to political egos.
I don't pretend to be an attorney or a doctor so no need for others to pretend to be a Strength Coach unless you TRULY have the knowledge.
Do NOT "fake it till you make it".
The positive thing is that we CAN help these young athletes and we can also help the Coaches who are stuck in the dark ages. We can help ONLY when they WANT the help.
We CAN give these young athletes the opportunity to experience greater success in a safe, purpose driven environment.
Are ALL Coaches bad? Heck NO. But any Coach who threatens a kid with "If I don't see your face every day in the weight room you won't be playing this year" is full of himself.
There is no need for young athletes to get pushed around by ego driven Coaches. Coaches also have a responsibility to live the pursuit of excellence. They can learn today more than ever before thanks to the power of the internet. Young athletes will always be the
Here Are Some Thoughts On Football Summer Workouts and How to Avoid These Mistakes That Hold Back the True Potential of High School Athletes.
[youtube width="640" height="360"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yfv-IRCa4ps[/youtube]
These Football Strength & Conditioning Mistakes Apply To ALL Training Methods / Sports / Goals, Even Non Competitive Sport Athletes Should Pay Attention To These Training Tips:
1) Get enough sleep if you want to maximize fat loss, improve lean muscle gains and improve strength gains. Lack of sleep kills your performance. Training at 6 AM is great in the respect that you get the job done, BUT, if you are going to train at 6 AM then it's lights out by 10 PM.
2) Younger athletes need to eat breakfast AND get in a post workout meal to maximize their training results. They need to regularly feed the machine plenty of quality proteins, healthy fats and moderate carbs. At the D1 level, most teams have protein shakes ready to go with an option to mix their protein with milk or water. When I talk to high school kids they don't eat after training so they now have to wait until lunch time.
What happens here is they now skip breakfast AND skip the post workout meal which puts their body in a catabolic state, when you need to be in an anabolic state to maximize muscle, strength and performance gains.
3) You can't spend 6 days a week in the gym for 2 hrs a pop & expect to maximize results. Instead of training, you will be texting and checking your hair in the mirror every 3 minutes and wasting time to drag these long training sessions from start to finish.
As Arthur Jones said decades ago, You can train hard or you can train long but you can't do both.
4) In a nut shell, you must train smart AND hard. The incoming freshman need to be on a separate program compared to the experienced lifters on the team.
5) There is NO need for high school athletes to perform 1 Rep Maxes. We can measure their strength by simply tracking their progress and seeing improved technique, acquiring more reps, showing less fatigue from each workout, increasing weight on movements, etc.
Risk VS Reward
- Thanks to the internet, we've got some dangerous training happening out there that is NOT applicable for High School athletes, especially at the high school level.
High School Football players don't need to carry logs overhead unless a Special Forces soldier is running this drill AND, the athletes are actually strong enough for such a drill.
Guess what?
MOST Football Players I have seen (including Varsity Football Players) struggle on proper technique on push ups, full range strict pull ups, bodyweight squats and lunges. Do they REALLY need to have a log over their head?
Does a kid struggling on push ups and lunges need to perform a 1 rep max squat, bench and clean?
It doesn't take an expert to ask that question.
I've seen rusty chains and other junk yard tools used as well because the coach thinks "we're gonna get tough". It might LOOK cool on instagram but who cares, put the kids first and get rid of stupid. Stupid is out of style!
TIPS FOR SAFE & EFFECTIVE EXERCISE SELECTION
- Choose simple / non complex movements that have a high return on results.
- GET GREAT AT THE BASICS EXERCISES.
It's not as easy as you think. I am still teaching D1 Athletes how to properly set up their feet and hands for squats, benching and deadlifts.
I am coaching them through every set of every workout on how to brace their back / trunk ("core" for youtube coaches).
The details are where the magic lies. It's so simple, it's complicated. Those who know, know.
Here's a short list of simple and effective execises for high school football / high school athletes:
- Farmer Walk using Kettlebells, Dumbbells or Sandbags
- Sled Drags
- Sprints
- Med Ball Throws
- 1 Arm DB Clean & Press
- Sandbag Squats
- Walking Lunges
- Calisthenics of all types
- Trap Bar Deadlift
- Lunges of all Types
- Back Extension
- Band Exercises (Face Pulls, Pull Aparts, Triceps, Leg Curls)
- DB Shrugs
Tire Flips? Looks great on youtube, right? ONLY when an athlete is READY do they EARN the right to perform tire flips!
I build up athletes through carries, trap bar deadlifts, LOTS of unilateral lower body exercises / lunges, back extensions, band pull aparts, direct arm work, etc.
The most basic exercises are often the best exercises. When performed properly and at the right time, they are also often the safest. Our High School STRONG Program looks simple but it's tough and results proven.
Fancy exercises don't equate to greater results. Consistency in training and nutrition are KING. Summer Workouts should not be the beginning of training, they should be PART of the overall training plan.
How many sets and reps?
Incoming Freshman will need a different program than your experienced lifters.
Choose moderate ranges to avoid poor technique which leads to greater chances of injury.
The experienced Strength Coach will know how and when to cut the set BEFORE technique breaks down, not WHEN technique breaks down.
A young athlete who is untrained does not have the mental readiness or the physical coordination to max out on back squats, bench presses and power cleans.
At the end of the day, anyone assuming the "Coach" position must live and breathe the pursuit of excellence. Give these young athletes everything you've got and nothing less. Never stop learning and become a die hard student of ALL facets of the game.
Copying a program from a popular web site means NOTHING. If ALL squats are equal and we're all "doing the same thing" then why are we not all squatting 800+ lbs like Westside Barbell?
It's HOW you do it.
If strength & conditioning is not your forte, team up with an expert and bring him / her in to help you.
Serving your ego serves no one else and as a Coach, it's ALL about serving others. As you serve others the best knowledge, you ultimately rack up more wins.
It's a simple equation.
Live The Code 365
--Z--
10 Responses
You da man Zach! I hope this reaches the ears of parents and coaches alike and the necessary changes start taking place.
I also hope the same, brotha!
Oh so true!
I like this post! I was the captain of the linemen,myself. I took great pride holding the wall with my brothers. I too, see a lot of unnecessary training protocals put in place that made no sense. For instance, our coaches forced us to run mile-long jogs, sometimes twice. First of all, why do mile-long jogs!? All we do is sprint after sprint in the game, yet our conditioning in the game SUCKS because the coach was havng us jogging miles. It pissed me off to no end.
1 REP maxes are inferior compared to endurance strength when it comes to football, but Of course I believe the stronger the athlete is–the more sudden power they’ll have, but ultimately they need the endurance strength. We did a mixture of high rep combine benching and max reps, but frequently I included heavy static Holds on my own, where I just unracked the weight and held it for time, and sometime at the 90 degree angle. Because often times in the game, when we blocked—(If we are not pushing them away) we were “holding” them in place. I felt it helped tremendously to my blocking game.
If anything, the number one thing a high school athlete is lacking is high quality sleep. And we all been down that road! haha!
Proper nutrition too, for that matter. Looking back, I don’t think i ever had more than 100 grams of protein to be honest, not while I was in high school. Coaches need to drill proper nutrition.
DM – A kid with even 1 year of lifting experience isn’t ready for a 1 rep max, they won’t have coordination.
Like I said, we can test their strength by measuring progress, no need 1 rep max them, it also increases injury chances for these younger kids.
Very true, Zach! Very true.
Another issue I seen is tht with smaller 1A schools, most of the kids join ALL the sports. Due to the fact, we needed every player. Being a well-rounded athlete is awesome, but if like one of us was lifting and prepping for football the coach has a different training protocol in mind—then when they go into Basketball, the boys completely abandoned lifting all together and the coach had them run, run, run, and of course a lot of basketball drills. Then our wrestling coach was more of bodyweight only guy. The kids had to constantly adapt to each coach’s belief. I can personally see football and wrestling working together. I can see basketball and track athletes working together. But—if the coaches are not on the same page (or at least the same book), it’s a lot of pressure on the kids
You are so right. I coach the summer workouts and I am with 100%.
Good stuff Zach!
You mention “ego driven” coaches. Yes, there are plenty of egos in coaching, but many coaches don’t know that they don’t know.
What makes things even worse …I don’t know if they even want to know. So many except the “status-quo” as good enough ’cause it was good enough back in the day.
Keep spreading the word, Zach.
Something a Coach should always know:
1) How can I make myself better to better the athletes I coach?
2) Continuing Education
3) Assemble a team to build strength and greater success for the athletes
4) never stop learning
Zach you are %100 correct. Thank You for putting this out there. I hope some will take your advice. Keep it up.
Excellent stuff here, Zach.