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AFM Magazine


Strength Report (Expanded) – Position Performance Training: Defensive Line

by: Nick Pinkelman
Assistant Athletic Performance Director, Explosive Edge Athletics
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When it comes to performance training for linemen, the common thought is to have them lift as much weight as possible. On the surface, this might seem to make a lot of sense due to the fact that linemen have to move heavier loads at the point of contact in most cases. But what’s going to affect the point of contact most is the movements the linemen go through before contact. Factors such as how one comes out of his stance, his body positioning, and the efficiency of his steps prior to contact will all correspond more to performance on the field. We need to think more comprehensively about performance training for defensive linemen.

The play starts with the snap of the ball. The quicker a defensive lineman can move after the moment the ball moves will go a long way in determining his success against the opposing lineman. Most coaches think that it is about reaction time. However, reaction time isn’t trainable. Reaction time is defined as the time between a stimulus and response (initiation of movement). That is, from the time the athlete sees his visual stimulus until after all the signals are sent to the muscles to move. A very important quality, then, for a lineman is starting strength, which is the ability of the muscles to develop force at the beginning of the working contraction, before external movement occurs.

These two concepts are telling us that for a lineman to get off on the snap of the ball it is about the manner in which they contract their muscles prior to the movement of their body rather than reacting to the ball being moved. In other words, it doesn’t matter if you use a visual stimulus. The lineman just has to be able to efficiently put more force into the ground in a shorter amount of time.

An excellent way of increasing starting strength is through isometric exercises. Although there are many different styles of isometric exercises, I like using variations that produce a concentric movement. The most basic isometric exercise to use for coming out of a stance is what I refer to as an isometric push from the stance (See Photo 1).

Photo 1.

To perform this exercise, an immoveable object like a brick wall is needed to push against. Have the linemen go into their stance facing the wall as close as possible. From there, they will take their off hand and place it on the wall, followed by their down hand. The angles of the joints other than the shoulders shouldn’t change from their three-point stance.        

Next, have the linemen try to drive through the wall as if they’re coming out of their stance. The athletes need to be driving both feet through the ground to their fullest capabilities. Eight seconds is plenty for each set. This may not sound like a lot but the intent is not to make the athlete fatigued. Rather, it’s to have them contract their muscles with maximum force. In addition, most methods of isometric training will be demanding on the central nervous system, which will need much longer recovery periods than other, more traditional training methods.

Once the athletes start their initial movement, they have to continue accelerating throughout that first step, displaying good acceleration strength. Acceleration strength is the ability over time to quickly achieve maximum external force while developing muscle tension isometrically or at the beginning of a dynamic contraction. By having the concept of accelerating through the first steps, like a sprinter, they will create greater force in a shorter amount of time. It is these two factors (greater force and shorter amount of time) together that will determine the success of the lineman. This is one of the reasons why ladder drills and one-repetition maximum lifts do not translate to success on the field for a defensive lineman. These two very important characteristics are being trained independent of each other, but they should be trained together.

In order for linemen to come out of their stance efficiently, they have to have the correct motor units firing and motor patterns in place. An athlete that doesn’t activate his glutes coming out of his stance will compensate by using other muscles that will result in coming out higher, slower, or in an inefficient position. In most cases, a combination of those characteristics will occur compared to what their body would be capable of with a little training. Hence, a key component of any performance training program for a defensive lineman should account for making sure the player can effectively activate his glutes in a fashion that will allow for the hips to contribute force into the ground, propelling them forward. The use of bird dogs and glute bridges are a couple of exercises that help activate parts of the glutes. However, once they are activated, this won’t necessarily help to create the correct motor units. This means that the glutes and all the other muscles in the motor pattern need to be trained at the firing rate (speed) the task requires. These are all factors that must be taken into consideration to make training specific for defensive linemen.

Before the linemen can go into their second step, their foot has to make contact with the ground. As common sense would indicate and as simple as this may sound, this phase is often not trained properly for defensive linemen. The manner in which the foot contacts the ground is every bit as important as the push off of that first step. If the front foot isn’t stable when it hits the ground the following action won’t be efficiently executed. Imagine what is going to happen to the lineman who’s leg isn’t supporting the momentum of his steps when they make contact with an offensive player. Or the type of pass rush a lineman will have if, for each step he takes, his leg takes longer to stabilize. These are reasons that defensive linemen need to train eccentric strength. Eccentric strength is defined as the resistance strength of (developed by) the contracting muscle when it is stretched. Exercises that will help train eccentric strength are squats with band and plyometrics that focus on landing positions.

If eccentric strength is going to be maximized, landing technique becomes paramount. Remember, the key is how fast the leg can stabilize after contact with the ground. As a coach, you have to start with lower amounts of force and work up. Most athletes will not have correct landing positions and eccentric strength capacities to start with. Because of this, starting with just a simple lunge stick is recommended. To perform this exercise, the lineman will fall forward landing and stabilizing his entire body in a lunge position that simulates the first step of coming out of his stance (See Photos 2 and 3).

Photo 2.


Photo 3.

In order to add more force, the coach can push the athlete from behind and then work into having the athlete step off a box. However, realize that even coming off of a 16 inch box could impose 3.5 to 4 times one’s body weight and the athlete has to be stable when making contact with the ground. The size of the box used should be fairly low and only progress should be made when the coach can be sure the athlete is absolutely prepared.

Depending on the lineman’s assignment, he will either make contact with the opposing player on the first step or continue taking more steps prior to contact. All the qualities that were discussed earlier about coming out of a stance hold true. That is, from the moment the body starts moving forward, or in a positive direction, or accelerating. However the force that was just created with his first step becomes a negative force or decelerating action when the other foot makes contact with the ground. The athlete’s reactive ability is what determines how fast he can change the direction of this force from negative to positive.

Reactive ability is the switch from stretching (eccentric) to active contraction using the elastic energy of the stretch to increase power of the subsequent contraction. So a lineman needs to be trained to overcome the rapid stretching that the muscle goes through every time his foot hits the ground. Keep in mind that, in most cases, the defensive end will take more steps, building up speed and force prior to contact as compared to a defensive tackle. They will then need to be more reactive. Reactive ability exercises would include depth jumps and multi-response jumps with minimal ground contact time.

If you are going to train for reactive ability, a few things have to occur – the athlete has to get off the ground as fast as possible, the position he comes out of (and lands in) has to be one he will experience on the field, and maximum force has to be put into the ground with every jump. Multiple response lunge jumps will train reactive ability unilaterally, as it occurs out on the field. In this exercise, the athlete will jump and land in a lunge position multiple times alternating legs. The focus should be on getting off the ground as quickly as possible, minimizing the time the foot spends on the ground and jumping with maximum effort with each rep. The progression with this exercise is to start by having your athlete perform them vertically and transition into jumping horizontally. The number of jumps performed in a set should stay low, somewhere between two and six total repetitions.

Performance training for defensive linemen has to go beyond concepts. A coach has to train the positions the athlete will be in within the given concepts. For example, training for the second step is of little benefit if the same joint angles that are created on the field aren’t trained. As coaches, we have all heard that you play the way you practice. The same holds true for training. The joint angles that are used in training are the positions that will adapt to the stresses of the training. This is why so much attention needs to be paid to the positions a D-lineman is in when training for performance, whether it’s an exercise in the weight room or a drill on the field.

In the performance training of a defensive lineman, a lot of details have to be paid attention to that are often overlooked. Often, an overall concept is trained instead of the scientific details that go into that concept. There are a lot of different athletic qualities that go into how a defensive lineman will perform, even prior to making contact with the opposing offensive player. Understanding the complexity of all the movements a lineman goes through will help you to maximize your performance training for him. u


About the Author:  Nick Pinkelman is owner and Assistant Athletic Performance Director of Explosive Edge Athletics. His company trains athletes at all levels and he also serves as a consultant to coaches and their athletic programs. Pinkelman’s area of expertise is football-specific athletic development. He can be reached at his email: nick@explosiveedgeathletics.com 






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