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The Mean Green Way: North Texas' Multi-Year System of Training

by: Frank Wintrich
Director of Football Performance University of North Texas
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“As to methods there may be a million and thensome, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.” 
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

This quote hangs in my office as a daily reminder of the dichotomy of our profession. Truly, there are countless methods to improve athlete performance. Ask 125 FBS football strength and conditioning coaches how best to train an athlete, and you’ll likely get 125 varying, sometimes vastly different answers. So how do we make sense of it all? Many different training means can provide a positive athletic result. Rather than try to convince you of what training means are best for you, I instead will give you the ability to make that decision, and in doing so, create a system of training that best fits your unique needs, utilizing a principle-based approach.

Develop your own system of training based on what works best for your kids, your team, your situation, your style of play and your coaching style. This takes a great deal more time and effort, but your athletes will be grateful and in the long run your results will speak volumes about your ability and character as a coach.

Here are the principles that guide the Football Performance Staff at the University of North Texas, specifically those principles that led to developing the multi-year system of training we refer to as the Progressive Athlete Development System (P.A.D.S.)

WHAT IS FOOTBALL PERFORMANCE TRAINING?

Football performance training is a multi-year, multi-lateral, student-athlete preparation program with the singular purpose of developing sport mastery in football.

We employ ten program principles:
    •  Safe
    •  Develop sport mastery
    •  Manage fatigue
    •  Utilize injury prevention protocols
    •  Intensive instruction
    •  Variation within simplicity
    •  Balanced development
    •  Master progressions
    •  Team
    •  Develop the “Mean Green” warrior mindset
 
    Our program strives to enhance the performance of our athletes throughout the course of their four or five-year career, by simultaneously managing multiple training traits and taking into account that our athletes are full-time students. Our athletes are preparing to compete, so we must develop and conduct their training appropriately.  Sport Mastery is the ability to excel at one’s sport with the least expense of energy. When discussing our multi-lateral approach, we must train with the intent to develop the physical, psychological, technical and tactical preparedness of the athlete.

Throughout the multi-year training process, we keep in mind that while everything works, nothing will work forever. All our training programs by their very nature are flawed and incomplete. It is therefore necessary for us to ensure that we apply the optimal means of training at the appropriate time. We can all agree that many training means are effective but it is essential for us to use sound judgment. Before programming any activity we ask ourselves:  Is this safe? Is this structurally (orthopedically) sound? What are we accomplishing by doing this (what is the training effect?) Do we understand what the training means and what its residual effects are and most importantly, can we coach it? To this end, we begin our training at all levels with a focus on fundamentals. Basic movement fundamentals lead to improved and more consistent performance. By teaching, emphasizing and demanding proper movement patterns, our athletes become more technically proficient, mobile and most importantly, healthy throughout training and competition.

Putting it all together

 Proper programming is essential to the success of any athletic development regimen. We always begin with simple movements and progress to more complex. It is important not to overestimate the ability of the athletes by being too complex too early. It is always possible to add to the training load once the training has started. However, it is impossible to take training away once it’s been executed. Throughout the different levels of training, our progressions are logical and based on long-term training goals. Therefore, changes and variations to the training load are based on the individual performance of the athlete. Remember, an increase in the training load does not necessarily mean more work. Quite the contrary, the better trained an athlete becomes, the less work is required of them to net a favorable training effect. Variations to the intensity, speed of movement, time under tension, accommodating resistance, body position, etc., can all make movements more challenging and create continued positive adaptation.

The Plan

Our ultimate goal is to provide the appropriate training to the athlete at the appropriate time. We have divided our training into five phases:  Pre-Developmental, White Developmental, Green Developmental, Delta, and Elite.

Phase I - Pre-Developmental

Our pre-developmental group initiates our multi-year system of training with a battery of evaluations, including the Mean Green Physical Readiness Test. This battery of 20 movements is coupled with anthropometric assessments and our Field Testing Battery (vertical jump, broad jump, 3 hop, and sprints to 40, 33, 20 and 10 yards). This initial screening gives an outstanding baseline evaluation of all newcomers. Our Pre-Developmental program is a minimum of six weeks and consists of basic calisthenics, jumping, skipping, hopping, running, gymnastic strength exercises, and tumbling. This phase of the training is crucial as the athlete is required to consistently learn and demonstrate body control.

During this program, we introduce our athletes to the concept of the “Mean Green Warrior Mindset”, commit to memory our core values and core beliefs, and indoctrinate the athletes into the North Texas training process. At the conclusion of the six-week program, athletes re-take the Mean Green Physical Readiness Test. Those who pass with a score of 90% or better graduate to the White Developmental group. Those who do not pass the test repeat the Pre-Developmental training program for another six weeks.

Phase II - White Developmental

Our White Developmental group continues with more advanced versions of our callisthenic and gymnastic movements that include higher volume, more time under tension, variations in body and limb position, weighted and partner variations. During this time, we begin to implement single-limb dumbbell movements, and non-weighted barbell techniques, including the bench press, squat and pull from the deck. This program is four weeks in length and concludes with a technique evaluation of the core movements. If the athlete is able to demonstrate proper technique in the core movements, they graduate to the Green Developmental group.

Phase III - Green Developmental

 The Green Developmental program marks the beginning of training with significant external resistance. To this point, athletes have demonstrated their ability to move and control their bodies in space and shown proficiency in the traditional barbell movements, albeit with the barbells unloaded. The program is designed utilizing a classic linear periodization model, where one training trait is targeted at a time. Most athletes lack adequate muscular development when they enter our program. With this in mind, the initial training block of the Green Developmental program focuses on developing muscle hypertrophy.

Our subsequent training blocks then focus on the development of maximal strength and power, respectively. The Green Developmental program will cover the span of one training year and include a performance test to evaluate a 5 RM in the back squat and bench press along with the field testing battery. The overall training volume throughout this phase is high. Athletes who achieve a qualifying relative strength ratio for his position group, along with technical proficiency in the barbell movements, will graduate to the Delta group.

Phase IV - Delta

Athletes in the Delta group have spent a minimum of one training year in the Green Developmental program, and have demonstrated proficiency with the barbell movements. These athletes have shown adequate relative strength and require a more advanced means of training.

The Delta program is designed utilizing a concurrent approach where multiple training traits are developed simultaneously. With a solid muscular foundation built throughout the “developmental” training phases, our emphasis now changes to the development of absolute strength, strength-speed, and speed-strength. This is achieved through the use of the Max Effort Method and the Dynamic Effort Method that was developed by Lou Simmons of Westside Barbell. Dynamic effort movements are performed utilizing accommodating resistance in the form of chains. 

During this time, volume training is still implemented as the athletes continue developing and maintaining a sound muscular foundation, but this is no longer the emphasis of the training regimen. The overall training volume throughout the course of this phase is moderate. The Delta program covers the span of one training year and includes a Performance Evaluation of a 3 RM in the back squat and bench press, along with the Field Testing Battery. Athletes who achieve qualifying relative strength scores and demonstrate outstanding technical proficiency in the barbell movements will have the privilege of graduating to the Elite group.

Phase V - Elite

Members of the Elite program represent our most powerful athletes and our most sound technicians in the weight room. They have spent a minimum of two years in the program and qualified for advancement by demonstrating outstanding relative strength. Their training preparedness represents a need for an advanced means of development. Once athletes reach the Elite program, the quest for absolute strength maximums comes to an end. As an example, we have a 185 lb defensive back who is capable of back squatting 530 lbs. That represents the ability for him to move more than two times his body weight. The risk associated with trying to get him to a 535 or 540 squat is not worth the minimal reward this would net. Instead, we utilize more intensive means including advanced techniques such as dynamic effort movements with chains, bands, the shock method and the contrast method.  

Due to the small and selective nature of this group, we are also able to more finely tune the individual training programs of each athlete. This is essential because as the athlete reaches a higher training age in his program, changes to his training variables must become that much more precise. We do this by allowing the athlete preparedness to dictate his training load. Variations in volume and loading that fit the day’s desired training effect are presented to the athlete during the training session. As the session progresses, the coach and athlete communicate as to when the appropriate work load has been attained for that day.

Summary

We have created a definition and a list of guiding principles for our football performance program. These guidelines help us demonstrate a multi-year system of training our players. Similar models can be adapted for any level, with the different programs being adjusted to fit the individual needs of the team. With great thought, and great planning, training for your athletes will be optimized and outstanding results will be realized.

About the Author: Frank Wintrich enters his third season as strength coach at the University of North Texas this fall. He previously was the assistant director of strength and conditioning at the University of South Florida. Wintrich also coached at the Citadel, Utah State, Arizona State and Hardin-Simmons. He received his bachelor’s degree from Kentucky Wesleyan and was a two time All-America at linebacker.






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