RAISING THE BAR - Transforming your Training Facility

Master Strength & Conditioning Coach Troy Jorgensen of Missouri Southern State  University has transformed his training facility – with the help of Samson Equipment.

Top collegiate programs are well aware of the importance of having facilities that will impress recruits and give their athletes an edge. That’s especially true with strength and conditioning facilities.

But what about smaller colleges – those non-FBS schools that generally operate with much smaller budgets? Is it possible for them to have premier S & C equipment and effective training facilities?

In the case of Division II Missouri Southern State University, the answer is a resounding “yes”. Master Strength and Conditioning Coach Troy Jorgensen was recently given the opportunity to not only expand the size of his weight room but to also replace his equipment with state-of-the-art, customized power racks from Samson Equipment. To learn more about how Samson helps programs at every level achieve their goals, we recently spoke to Coach Jorgensen.

When you joined Missouri Southern, what were some of the challenges you faced?
 
The biggest challenge I had was changing the overall philosophy of the strength program. The previous program was machine-based, so I had to move all the machines out of the room and pull the old racks out of storage and set the room up based on my style of training. I had to buy a lot of bars and bumper plates in a hurry. Fortunately, the staff and student-athletes welcomed my philosophy change with open arms. As with any Division II program, staffing is always a challenge. I had myself and two interns to run 13 varsity sports in a 3,000 square-foot room, which leads to scheduling issues with the teams.

What does it mean to you to have achieved the title of Master Strength and Conditioning Coach?

It is a great honor to have the title of Master Strength and Conditioning Coach and a privilege to be a part of such a great fraternity of other great strength coaches as well as a great organization in the Collegiate Strength & Conditioning Coaches Association. The best part of having that title is being able to mentor younger strength coaches and pass on what I have learned over my 16 years of experience. As a Master Strength and Conditioning Coach, I am able to help with the practical part of the CSCCa examination and evaluate young coaches, which is I feel is very important to moving our profession forward and making it better.

What are your keys to a successful strength and conditioning program?

    I think attitude and effort are our two basic keys. Attitude starts with me and my staff having our athletes buy in and believe in the program we are giving them. Once they believe in what we are doing, they want to be coached, they want to listen and learn, and they have the right attitude toward the program once they come through the door. From an effort standpoint, I tell our players I need 100% of everything they have every time they come in the room. Some guys may be only feeling 75% that day, so I need 100% of that 75%. As a strength and conditioning coach, I believe most of our job is motivating our athletes to give that 100% effort - to do the things they don’t think they can. You can’t get the results you are looking for without great effort.

How do you and your football athletes
approach in-season training?

    We approach our in-season program with an off-season mentality. We still train hard and lift heavy percentages, just not as many exercises. Our main goal is not to lose what we have gained in the off-season, but keep it going. We will train three times a week during the season. We will also put more of a focus on the mobility aspect of our training to keep them loose from the pounding we take during practices and games. There is a fine line in keeping them fresh and feeling good, yet still pushing them to continue to make the most gains during the season.

You worked closely with Samson Equipment in the product selection and layout of your strength and conditioning center. How did Samson help you customize your facility to meet your specific needs?

    When we first started talking about a new facility, I wanted to set ourselves apart from anyone in the country. I sat down with Brian Schroeder at Samson and told him what I was looking for in our racks, everything I wanted on them to make our room not only look fantastic, but be very functional at the same time. Samson took what I wanted and created a rack that is one of kind - you will not find anything like it in any other facility in the country. Every part of our rack is customized for us. The graphics they are doing are incredible and give our room that “pop”. Samson is a great family-run business that is very committed to making durable, functional and good looking equipment. I couldn’t be happier with how our room turned out thanks to Samson!

How does your new facility compare to the previous one?

    We have about 2,000 more square feet in our new facility compared to our old one. Our ceiling is almost twice as high as well. We can now do box jumps without hitting our heads on the ceiling! We went from 11 racks and 6 platforms to 13 racks and 13 inlaid platforms. We did not have any lat pulldowns/seated rows or cable columns, now we have four of each. Every rack has a set of their own PowerBlock dumbbells, so there is no waiting on dumbbells. We have a 10 yard by 25 yard turf area in our new room with a dedicated med ball wall. So now we have room for our med ball work, plyometrics, and warm-up without being in the way of the racks and platforms. Overall, our athletes are able to do the workouts more functionally and efficiently in the new room.

What has been your athletes’ experience with the new Samson equipment?

    Our athletes have absolutely loved the new room. The whole atmosphere and attitude during workouts has changed because of the room. They are excited to workout now. There are so many new exercises we can now do with them which makes their workouts more appealing.

Does having such great equipment from Samson make your job easier and help your athletes become more successful?

    With the new Samson racks we are now able to have 52 athletes workout at a time with no wait time on anything because everything they need for 95% of the workout is at their rack. It allows us to train more than one team if we need to as well. With the great functionality of these racks we are now able to get more done in the same amount of time. With the equipment from Samson our athletes have all the tools they need to become the best that they can, without a doubt!  p