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AFM Magazine


Maximize Player Performance:

Building Football Strength
by: AFM Editorial Staff
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Basic strength training is the cornerstone of any football program. After all, stronger muscles produce more force, thus increasing the athlete’s ability to produce greater speed and power, that typically means a higher level of on-field performance. Well-conditioned athletes are also less susceptible to

4 Tips to maintain speed and agility while building football strength

Dennis Kline, University of Wisconsin at LaCrosse strength and conditioning coach, said it best in a previous article of American Football Monthly when asked whether speed or strength is more important to a football player: “Speed is important, it doesn’t matter how strong you are if your opponent is five yards ahead of you.”

Kline’s words are a direct testament to the old adage “speed kills,” and perhaps in the world of football it does. In fact, building speed has become one of the most important priorities to strength and conditioning coaches around the country. But how does an athlete – specifically a football player – maintain or increase speed and agility while building football strength.

According to Notre Dame strength and conditioning coach Mickey Marotti, too...
many football athletes – especially at the scholastic ranks – place priority on the wrong exercises to develop greater football strength and speed. The bench press, shoulder press and bicep curl can develop significant upper body strength and an impressive physique, but they do not increase an athletes lateral agility and explosive force that is so very crucial in today’s game.

And don’t forget about the importance of hydration. Lack of fluids can become the cloud that hovers over the entire realm of strength and speed training and must be addressed by every strength coach. Without proper hydration from sports drinks, like Gatorade, that supply necessary carbohydrates and sodium, an athlete’s body will not perform at its optimum efficiency and potential, even when it comes to brief power efforts.

Here are four speed and agility preserving techniques that every coach can use to make each athlete a better football player, versus a better poser:

1) Lunges - This effective exercise can be done by anyone, anywhere with any athletic ability. Lunges are very effective in providing quadriceps, hamstring and glutei strength training, which will enable more long-term explosive speed output. The dumbbell version of the lunge is the easiest to start with before advancing to a barbell.

2) Crunches
- The abdominal muscles do more than just link the upper and lower body together. They control rotational movement, back support and arduous breathing during sprints. To totally work two thirds (upper and middle) of your abdominals, lie on your back and crunch away with your shoulder blades off the ground.

3) Plyometrics - Plyometrics are any exercise where the muscle is contracted eccentrically then immediately, concentrically. The muscle is stretched (i.e. loaded) before it is contracted. A good example is box-to-box jumps (high intensity). Start slow and work through the mechanics to reduce the chance of injury with the bounding movements.

4) Sprints - This is considered a subcategory of plyometrics, however, it deserves special consideration. Hans Selye’s Principle of Stress and Adaptation states that to get stronger, one must lift more weight more often. The same theory applies to speed. To get faster, one must run their fastest more frequently.

injuries or delayed recovery periods following injuries.

Weight training has always been a partner in building winning, championship teams. And with the growth in popularity of strength and conditioning coaches throughout the country, the emphasis on weight training has increased. In 2002, strength and conditioning coaches around the nation refer to football strength training as needing to be “functional” or “position specific” strength training.

In essence, functional training consists of practicing the practical techniques that will help athletes improve at their specific position. After all, drills practiced by an offensive lineman should vary greatly from those for a defensive back. And those drills for a strong safety may, in fact, vary only slightly from those for a weak side corner.

“Training varies from position to position,” said University of Florida strength and conditioning coach Rob Glass. “We train sports specific, then position specific and then within the position we train individual specific.

Creating different variables in weight and speed conditioning per position are not the only improvements in football strength training ideology. Once taboo, in-season workouts incorporate high-intensity sessions that rival their off-season counterparts.

“Strength training in football is a yearlong endeavor,” said Glass. “A lot of people have lived by the misnomer of only trying to maintain strength during in-season workouts. But we believe in always getting stronger. Our workouts in-season are very intense, although they may not be as long due to time limitations.”

The key for athletes to gain football strength is relatively easy. If they want to get stronger, they have to lift more weight for a given exercise or muscle group. If a player can lift 100 pounds five times on the bench press, he will have to either lift 100 pounds six times or 105 pounds five times to gain additional muscle strength. It is that simple. Hans Selye’s Principle of Stress and Adaptation is the foundation that all exercise programs are developed upon: An athlete needs to stress the muscle for it to adapt.

“The 53 players on the Houston Texans are lifting more weights and/or doing more reps. They train their whole body and they work their hardest during the season,” said Dan Riley, strength and conditioning coach for the Houston Texans.

Riley has spent the past 20 years in the industry including 17 with the Washington Redskins.

“If you are looking for what makes up a good strength program at any level first and foremost is the in-season strength training, it is critical,” said Riley. “Everyone is concerned with their off-season program. Our in-season program mirrors our off-season program. I would hope a player would want to be protected the most from the first day of summer camp until the last game of the season.”

“Athletes lift weights to get stronger, but also to protect themselves,” Riley continued. “Doing two hours of plyometrics and weight training in May doesn’t help if you stop on the first day of practice. If you don’t lift or run, you decondition rapidly. It is not easy, football players get beat up during the season and are tired, but in-season strength training must be a priority. Otherwise, your athletes will not be at their peak physical fitness when they need it the most.”

The first – and probably most important - thing for a coach to do in preparing any strength-training regimen is getting to know the players. Vital information, such as their own personal statistics including height, weight and diet – which includes daily fluid intake – must be gathered. Also, their abilities must be recorded, such as how high they can vertically jump, how fast they can run (time for standard sprinting distance) or how strong they are (max 1RM for critical muscle groups). Gathering this information through a series of tests can help a coach determine what kind of program would best fit his team’s personnel. These tests can also provide a motivational tool as these recordings can be used as a benchmark progress for each subsequent athlete.

“Testing daily fluid intake could be the most important of these factors,” said Leslie Bonci, a registered dietitian and nutritionist for the Pittsburgh Steelers. “Without proper hydration, an athlete’s perceived effort of exertion can be altered. For example, an inadequately hydrated athlete may become confused on the number of reps they have completed and the amount of weight used, and each task may seem to be a little harder without really being harder. Proper fluid intake can help keep a player motivated and mentally alert. Remember, an athlete will naturally hydrate himself or herself more adequately with a sports drink than with water. Sports drinks provide sodium to stimulate thirst for fluid replacement that is in line with needs.”

Another key issue is to select exercises that will enhance the player’s ability during activities that they will encounter on the field.

“To say that if our athletes perform one of the competitive lifts or Olympic lifts that is going to make them a better athlete ... I’m sorry, but that’s contrary to what motor learning experts tell us,” said Riley. “They tell us if we want an athlete to get better at a football skill, don’t practice something similar to that skill. Instead, practice the exact skills that you want to get better at. So, if you want to get better at throwing the ball at a moving receiver, have the receiver run and rerun the appropriate pattern. Don’t jump rope backwards.

“In the weight room, train every muscle that moves and get it as strong as you can get it, and use whatever equipment or philosophy you want to use and the players will take the ability to transfer that strength onto the field.”

Hydration Guidelines for Peak Performance
Proper hydration is crucial in an effective strength-training program because it helps protect players from the ever-present risks of dehydration and performance impairment. Football players, like all athletes, can benefit from drinking more than water alone, even in the weight room. Sports drinks, like Gatorade, help replenish the fluid, electrolytes, and carbohydrates lost during strength training activity and allow athletes to work longer and harder.

What is true on the field is also true in the weight room: the cooler they stay, the harder they can play. Here are four guidelines that will help make sure that your players are well hydrated and performing at their best:

1) Bring it - Frequent fluid breaks, that allow players to drink and cool down, should be part of every training program. If a sports drink is not available, encourage your athletes to bring it with them. Research consistently shows that drinking an optimally formulated sports drink before, during, and after high intensity activities like strength training helps athletes stay better hydrated and fueled than when they drink water alone.

2) Prepare for it
- Ensure your athletes show up well hydrated. Encourage them to drink up to 2-3 hours before practice or competitions. Water, milk, fruit juice, non-caffeinated soft drinks, and Gatorade are all acceptable beverage choices during this time. By starting a workout well hydrated, your athletes can get more out of their workouts.

3) Take a break - Train your athletes to drink at regular intervals. Their goal should be to drink enough to minimize weight loss without overdrinking. This is easily monitored by having them weigh themselves before and after each workout. Remember, any weight that is lost during practice is fluid loss, not fat loss.

4) Put it back - For athletes who do a good job drinking but still finish practice dehydrated, the best rule of thumb is this: have them drink at least 20-24 ounces per pound of weight loss to assure rapid and complete rehydration. For example, if a player is down two pounds after practice, he should consume 40-48 ounces of fluid within the next couple hours.





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