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 4^th 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:

                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

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,

Matt