Science & Common Sense

Systematic resistance training and conditioning has become accepted as a precursor to increased athletic success and an important component for reduction of athletic related injury. Nearly all high school and college football programs participate in some type of weight training, speed, agility and conditioning regimens.

The football coach can find the available information related to strength and conditioning training both vast and conflicting. This can lead to confusion and training programs that lack a systematic approach.

In preparation for the writing of A Chance to Win – A Complete Guide to Physical Training for Football, Dr. Caterisano and I attempted to provide an easy to understand rationale for the how and why of program design.

At Virginia Tech we design programs based on principles of specificity and priority.

We will address the following issues related to priority and specificity.

I. Specificity Principles
A. Muscle Group Specificity
B. Energy System Specificity
C. Strength and Power Specificity
D. Position Specificity

II. Priority Principles
A. Athlete’s Age, Physical Maturity and Experience
B. Time of the Training Year
(Off-Season, Pre-Season, In-Season)

Muscle Group Specificity

While a balanced and comprehensive approach to strength training is important, certain muscle groups that are prime movers in the activity should receive priority. Pre-habilitation of muscles that surround often-injured joints should also be prioritized. In football the muscles of the hips, legs and the extensor muscles of the upper body are important to every position.

The strength and functional ability of the athlete’s “core” or torso must also be trained in order to decrease the chance of injury to the lower back and to allow a more efficient transfer of power from the lower body to the upper body. Because of the violent impacts inherent in the sport, the muscles of the neck and upper back must be trained in order to protect the player.

The greater the hypertrophy and strength of the knee extensor and flexor muscles the greater the integrity of this often injured joint. Any strength-training program for football should prioritize exercises for the hips, legs, neck, upper back, shoulders, triceps, abdominals and lower back.

Energy System Specificity

Football is an anaerobic sport requiring great bursts of energy for short durations with frequent rest intervals for recovery – all conditioning programs for football should reflect this. The predominance of conditioning training for football should be variations of sprint intervals. The volume and intensity of these sprint intervals will be determined by: the time of the year; the age and physical maturity of the athlete; the training experience of the athlete; and the athlete’s position on the field.

Obviously, the younger or less experienced athlete will not be able to tolerate the volume and intensity of an older, more experienced athlete. In general, the level of anaerobic conditioning should increase as the competitive season nears.

Most aerobic conditioning designed to improve cardiovascular conditioning and to reduce body fat in targeted individuals should be done in the off-season. Aerobic conditioning done at the expense of anaerobic conditioning may actually decrease anaerobic performance.

Strength verses Power Specificity

In weight training, the actual speed of movement and the amount of resistance will have an influence on the ratio of the development of power verses strength. Strength has been defined as Force X Distance.

Power has been defined as
Force x Distance
Time

Many times the terms of strength and power are used incorrectly. Power is often mistaken for strength when we witness an opponent dominating his opponent. We often lose sight of the fact that sport performance happens in the split second reality of the game. When you watch a fast player sprint down the field, how long is each foot in contact with the ground? It is only tenths of a second in which maximum force must be generated in order to propel the athlete forward. This is unlike the unlimited time that an athlete has to generate force during a maximum squat attempt.

The bottom line is that, although there is a relationship between strength and power, specific training for power is different from the specific training for strength. In simple terms, when training most specifically for the development of power, the exercise should be performed with lighter weights and more speed. When most specifically training for strength, the athlete should use heavier resistance and the speed of movement isn’t as important.

The most correct program is one that incorporates both strength and power training. The percentage of each type of training will be determined by the age, maturity and experience of the athlete as well as the position played and the time of the training year. (See Figure 1)

Position Specificity

In football, beyond the youth league level, the physical demands of different positions vary. All players require muscular hypertrophy, strength, power, speed and agility to be successful; however, because of the specific physical requirements of their position, the percentages of importance of each of these attributes may vary greatly.

We typically divide the training of our players into three groups:

1. Skill or Speed Group – Receivers,
Defensive Backs, Tailbacks, Quarterbacks and Specialists.
2. Intermediate Group – Linebackers, Tight Ends, Defensive Ends and Fullbacks
3. Line of Scrimmage (L.O.S.) Group – Offensive Line and Defensive Tackles

Obviously, at the university level, our speed/skill group will devote an overall greater percentage of training time on specific speed and agility training than their L.O.S. teammates. The speed/skill group must remain active in strength and power training but their total volume of this type of training is less than the intermediate and L.O.S. group.

The intermediate group requires all elements of training: strength, power, speed and agility. During speed training this group of athletes may concentrate on acceleration drills rather than some of the top speed training of the speed/skill group. While they must have a great deal of muscular size they may not need the same degree of muscular hypertrophy training of the L.O.S. group.

The L.O.S. group must train for acceleration and agility but the greatest percentage of their training at the college level is related to muscular hypertrophy, strength and power. (See Figure 2.)

Training Priorities – Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced Training

It is our belief that younger post pubescent athletes, ages 12-16, or older untrained athletes should devote the majority of their training time toward the development of muscular hypertrophy and absolute strength. Muscular size and strength form the foundation upon which power, speed, and agility are built. (See Figure 3.)

The young or inexperienced weight trainer while training primarily to develop strength will also see increases in power and speed, a related result of strength training. This improvement in power and speed can be measured by tests such as vertical jump, long jump and short sprints, i.e. 10-40 yards.

As the athlete becomes more physically mature and experienced, more specific power, speed and agility drills will be required, in addition to strength training, in order to continually yield positive results in these areas.

The beginner training primarily for strength should concentrate on multi-joint, closed chain exercises such as press variations, squat variations and rowing variations, etc. These exercises should be performed with moderate loads (55-80% of 1 rep max), for moderate to higher reps (5-12 reps). The volume of sets can range between 1-4. The rest interval between sets should be 1-2 minutes.

Additionally, exercises designed to strengthen the core of the body (abdominal and lower back) must be introduced. These exercises can include abdominal crunch variations, leg raise variations, glute ham raises, reverse hyperextensions, etc. Simple exercises for the neck and upper back such as the four way neck machine and shrug variations should be introduced to the beginners football-training program.

Shrugs Overhead Press

Weight training exercises such as overhead presses, and upright rows will begin to prepare the novice for the advanced variations of Olympic weightlifting variations to come later. Entry-level plyometric exercises can be performed such as clapping push-ups and jumping rope. Drills to develop proper running mechanics should be introduced such as fast arms drill, heel to butt kicks, and the A series of running drills.

Intermediate Training

As the inexperienced athlete becomes bigger and stronger, after six months to a year of training, more power related weight training exercises and more advanced plyometric exercises should be introduced. These exercises could include Olympic weightlifting variations such as push press, various pulls from the hang position, Olympic deadlifts etc. Plyometric exercises could include non-weighted box jumps with the athlete stepping down from the box between jumps, bounding, power skips etc.

The speed of movement and proper technique are the most important factors in the Olympic weightlifting variations. Always favor proper technique and speed of movement over the amount of weight used in these movements.

Programmable agility drills such as the 20-yard shuttle, and various cone drills should be introduced along with lower level reaction agility drills such as tag variations.

Alternating Dumbell Press

The frequency of weight training exercises per week could be increased from the 2-3 days per week of the beginner to 3-4 days per week for the intermediate athlete. There can be an increase in the intensity of the strength building exercises (75-90% of 1 RM) such as press, squat and row variations while the reps per set may be decreased (i.e. 1-5 reps) commodate the increased intensity. Rest between sets may be increased to accommodate heavier loads. Increasing the number of sets per exercise (i.e. 3-5 sets) will increase total volume of training.

Some form of overspeed training can be introduced to intermediate athletes such as downhill running. Agility drills may also increase in difficulty; for example more reactive drills such as mirror-drills, get up and sprints, tennis ball drills, etc., can be performed.

Advanced Training

Athletes that are physically mature and experienced in training, over a year generally, should be prepared to involve all aspects of strength, power, speed and agility training at the appropriate prescription. How is the appropriate level of training determined for the advanced athlete? By the needs of the individual, based on his particular strengths and weaknesses, his positional needs and the time of the training year.

Priority Training Consideration

The time of the training year (Off Season, Pre Season, In Season) as it relates to the competitive season should be a primary consideration when developing a training program. (See Figure 4.)

The further away from the competitive season the greater the percentage of training time should be spent on increasing muscular hypertrophy and increasing absolute strength. As the competitive season nears, more training emphasis should be placed on the development of power, speed and agility. Sports-specific conditioning must be increased to prepare for traditional practice sessions.

During the pre-season period more time should be spent working on specific skill requirements of the position: throwing, catching, etc. While power, speed, agility and conditioning must be peaked.

The competitive season brings the actual practice of the sport, and specific skill and agility requirements are practiced on the practice field. Appropriate levels of strength and power training must be maintained in order to assure that the gains made during the off-season and pre-season are preserved. Generally 2-3 days a week of weightlifting in season should be sufficient.

Conditioning drills should be performed 2-3 days a week during the season in order to maintain a high level of conditioning in season.

Summary

Having made a case for specificity and proper prioritization of program design, it now becomes time to put it together. The training pyramids presented should serve as a reminder as we begin to write or evaluate our program of choice.

It is beyond the scope of this article to cover all aspects of training. We have chosen to address the more often confused elements. For example, we have not addressed flexibility training, yet we perform flexibility exercises of various types before and after most training sessions.

Due to the principle of accommodation, which indicates that frequent changes in exercises, volume and intensity are required to continually force the body to adapt, our workouts have great variety within the context of this article.

In our book, A Chance to Win, we include an entire year’s worth of training for the beginner, intermediate and advanced athlete. A Chance to Win is available through Amazon.com and Beamerball.com.

In closing, let me say that regardless of the program you choose for your athletes, the daily involvement of a coach who understands what he is trying to accomplish and is able to translate, educate and motivate his athletes, will be successful. They truly don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
Best of luck with all your training.