1.)Incomplete range of motion on dumbbell pressing. It seems that for many individuals, it is acceptable that Dumbbell Bench Presses do not need a full range of motion, while Bench Presses MUST touch your chest. This is truly stupid. When you are Dumbbell Pressing, you should draw an imaginary line across the dumbbell handles to envision how deep you are working the range of motion. Work the full range of motion in ALL of your lifts, unless joint pain prevents you from doing so. In this case, you probably shouldn’t be doing the lift at all. Sorry if I just crushed your excitement from pressing the 110’s.
2.)Assigning rep ranges without being aware of tempo. Do you think your brain has a little “rep ticker” in it, or even a “contraction ticker” that is programmed to make you stronger when you add reps to your lifts? Sadly, it does not. Your body DOES respond and adapt to increased time under tension with intense resistance training. With that being said, am I advocating ultra slow negatives on every lift? No, I am not, but I do believe that if you are allowing resistance to plummet to the ground like a meteor just so you can get another “rep,” you are limiting your gains. In exercises where tension is never absent (bodyweight exercises, banded movements), rep speed doesn’t matter as much, but at least CONTROL the negative. MY 12 reps could be very different than YOUR 12 reps if our tempos are very different.
3.)Assigning a “4-2” tempo. Honestly WHO uses a 4 second negative. I think your average lifter is probably lucky to get one FULL second on the negative of each lift. And why even assign a positive tempo? To get stronger, it is well documented that you need to INTEND to move the weight as quickly as possible on every concentric, whether or not that takes you .5 second or 2 seconds.
4.)Training “Movements not Muscles. I really hate this, but it seems like 95% of NCAA strength coaches adhere to this. Basically, what this rule says is that “I, Joe Strength Coach for Jones University, am NOT a bodybuilder. In no way shape or form, do I use bodybuilding in my programs. Those rep ranges of 8-12? Oh well, we are just performing movements in those exercises, so, um, we are NOT bodybuilding…we are working strength by focusing on the movements, not bodybuilding.”
It all comes down to muscular contraction initiating movement. These coaches can refute the fact that their program is not a “bodybuilding” program, but in a sense, it is all bodybuilding. The major difference is that the goal is not vanity, but rather injury prevention and improved athletic performance. Many factors come into play when determining the completion of a lift. Lever length, gravity, and momentum/torque just to name a few. If we were to focus SOLELY on the movement and not the muscle, then I think we are in for a rude awakening when we step into an athletic competition. Not ONE of the “movements” we train will be present in competition, but guess what? All of our musculature will be firing on all cylinders! And what about the mighty CNS? If we need to focus on the movement, move each resistance with as much intent as possible, and you will maximize the CNS efficiency that your genetic potential allows.
Let me ask you a question. As a football player, when do you want to be your strongest during the year? In March? June? Or in October, when it matters most? If you guessed October, give yourself a pat on the back! For the life of me, I cannot understand the phenomenon that still seems to exist in high school football that you need to lift your behind off in the winter and spring, only to stop once the season starts. It doesn’t matter how strong you are in March! Your strength in the 4th Quarter of an October Friday night could be the difference between winning and losing, and as strength coaches, our goal in season is to maintain the gains you have worked so hard for all off season.
Listen, I see a lot of football players in season, and I know you guys are tired. I know the mindset after practice: “forget this, I can’t lift like I used to off season, so I’m just going to go eat dinner and go to bed!” As a football player, this is the single WORST decision you can make. Your muscular strength and power affect your resistance to injury, your speed, your explosiveness, and the amount of lean muscle tissue on your body. When you stop training, your body will literally start shrinking after just 2 weeks, and I know that none of you want that!
The thing about in season training is that you CAN’T lift like you did off season (multiple times/week for over an hour each time)…there isn’t enough gas in the tank. That is why I recommend lifting twice a week during the year, and lowering the intensity level, volume, and duration of each lift. In the past, I have recommended 2 Full Body Workouts, but I have found that these workouts “gas” the athlete a little too much, so now I simply recommend 1 Lower Body/Core/Grip workout, and 1 Upper Body workout. Here is a sample plan for those of you that play on Friday Nights to maintain your strength in season. If you play on Saturdays, just shift everything back a day:
Saturday (Day After Game)
Core, Grip, Neck Exercises may be used as “Fillers” between lower body lifts.
Always perform a THOROUGH dynamic warmup!
1.)Box Squat OR Squat, Work up to 2 Sets of 3 Reps at 75% of your 1RM
2.)DB Reverse Lunges, 2 Sets of 6 Reps on Each Leg
3.)Partner Glute Ham Raises X 8
4.)Neck Harness/Machine, 2 Sets of 20
5.)Abs Choice, 2 Sets of 20
6.)Abs Choice, 2 Sets of 20
7.)Wrist Roller, Up & Down, 2 Sets
Monday OR Tuesday
After the Bench Press, “Superset” the exercises in pairs to make your workout more efficient (2 with 3, 4 with 5, 6 with 7).
1.)Box Jumps, 5 Sets of 2 Reps
2.)Bench Press, Work up to 2 Sets of 3 Reps at 75% of your 1RM.
3.)Chinups or Inverted Rows, 2 Sets of 8 Reps
4.)Incline DB Bench Press, 2 Sets of 8 Reps
5.)DB Shrugs, 2 Sets of 12 Reps
6.)Plate Shoulder Raise, 2 Sets of 12 Reps
7.)Bicep Choice, 2 Sets of 10 Reps
8.)Tricep Choice, 2 Sets of 10 Reps
Eat well, rest, foam roll, stretch and recover ! This plan is sure to keep your strength up in season, which in turn will keep your weight up, injuries down, and your performance at an all time high.
Good luck this season, please e-mail me with any questions,
If there’s one thing I have noticed in this big wide world of brawn and iron is that you simply can’t put enough emphasis on exerting max effort while training. Press, pull, squat or pull that bar like you were hit with a healthy dose of gamma radiation and had a new affinity for purple pants. This holds true for any max effort lifting or max sprinting. Approaching either like a sloth and you can bet those wheels will be spinning like a carnivals tilt -o- whirl!
Whether it’s something dark and brooding or manic and energetic, that heightened sense of awareness has to be present when you step on those rubber mats. Obviously everyone has their own little quirks and methods for reaching that state of mind. From talking to themselves, the bar and any other inanimate object in their line of sight to applying chalk like an aging Vegas show girl does makeup, pick something that works for you.
Its universal, the guys who really get their CNS jacked up and motor units firing like a V12 Lamborghini are the ones who seem to consistently hit their lifts. What I can promise you is if your training persona resembles droopy dog after a long nap then don’t expect to make any considerable gains. The intent is key and the intent has to be there, even if the bar is moving an inch a second. Forget what the weight on the bar is; push it like you are going to throw it through the ceiling and into a parallel universe of fire and brimstone.
Don't approach your training like this guy!
Don’t completely disregard form to achieve this; we want to hit the muscle the lifts were designed to hit. But we want to hit them hard and intensely causing your body to say “whoa, I gotta make a change.” With proper rest and recovery, your body will grow and strength will be sure to follow.
I am a big believer in training for a REASON, whether you are a 17 year old middle linebacker or a 64 year old grandmother. If you train for a reason, and VISUALIZE this reason becoming a reality, you are far more likely to reach your goals. And don’t give me any BS reasons why you train, like “to keep in shape” or “to look good?” That is such a cop out, I want to know EXACTLY why you are training. What are your goals? What do you want from the program? Do you want to lose 2 inches off of your waist? Do you want to run the 300 yard shuttle in 50 seconds? Do you want to squat 400 pounds when your team is tested in mid August? Go ahead, take 5 minutes, and record your goals on a small piece of paper.
Now that you know what your goals are, I want you to tape them where you cannot hide from them, on one corner of your bathroom mirror. This way, you will never forget them, you will look at them every night, and every morning, and consequently, you will be far more likely to realizing your dreams.
