Strength Report: Northern Illinois’ Mass Development Program

At Northern Illinois University, we believe in the complete development of our student-athletes. Our athletic department motto is “we develop champions in the classroom, in competition, and in life.” I believe it is paramount that when a student-athlete enters our program, upon graduating they will be a better individual in all aspects of society. We coach all aspects of life in our weight facility with strength development only being part of our overall mission.
One aspect of player development that we are asked to accomplish is mass development. Recruited players are either a little undersized for their position in college or the athlete is asked to move to another position that requires him to be a little bigger. Mass development is a misunderstood concept with many student-athletes because they do not understand that in order to grow bigger they must consume large amounts of calories. If the calorie consumption is not there, the increase in size will be minimal at best. The following program began as a phone conversation between myself and a very good friend. What transpired has brought tremendous size and strength gains to the student-athletes that have experienced this program. This program has been used for two consecutive off-seasons with a handful of “hard gainers” and in just six weeks has seen 5-10% increases in body mass as well as astounding increases in strength in 1RM squat, hang clean, and bench.
The foundation of the program is the squat. We will be using it or a variation of it five days a week. Besides the squat, the other foundational lifts of our program are the bench and the hang power clean. The basic premise for the program is to use a variation of the squat everyday of the week. This will not only promote growth and hormone release, but will also help perfect squat technique.
Each workout will begin with a dynamic warm-up that will utilize body weight movements and hurdle mobility drills. It is very important to make sure the hip girdle is properly warmed and that mobility is maintained or increased. (On a side note, good hip mobility is one factor that is often lacking in our incoming freshmen.)
On Mondays, the emphasis will be placed on the traditional back squat (See complete weekly chart). For my athletes, that is a high bar Olympic style-squat. The bar is placed on the traps with a shoulder-width stance. Emphasis is placed on pushing the hips back and down and trying to maintain a vertical shin angle. We coach the athletes to pull themselves down into the bottom of the squat. Once proper depth is reached, they push hard into the ground to drive upward. I use a moderate loading scheme for the back squat of 70-80% for 3-4 sets of 3-4 reps, after performing 2-3 warm-up sets. We will conclude lower body work on Mondays with the DB Bulgarian Squat (rear foot elevated split squat). The rep scheme for the DB Bulgarian Squat is three sets of 3-4 reps per leg. The weight used should mimic the intensity of the back squat.
The second lower body workout of the week is performed on Tuesday mornings after the conclusion of the morning sprint/agility session. Since their core temperature is already elevated, an emphasis is placed on hip mobility and strengthening exercises. A combination of hurdle drills and glute activation exercises serves as the “warm-up” for day two. The Low Box Box Squat is the first exercise. The box height ranges from 10-12 inches based on the height of the individual. The student-athlete will take a wide stance by placing his feet along the supports of the rack. This extremely deep squat depth will increase hip flexibility and the ability to display strength at extreme angles. The athlete should sit back and down, same as the traditional squat, until resting comfortably on the box. Again, emphasis is placed on pushing the feet into the ground to drive the hips out of the bottom while maintaining an upright torso. This exercise will be difficult at first because the extreme depth requires superb hamstring and torso strength. The load is kept light with 3 sets of 5 at 50% being the norm. After the Low Box Box Squat, the athlete will move on to the Bulgarian Squat. At this time the exercise is performed with the bar on the back, as in the traditional squat, as opposed to dumbbells, which were used on Monday. A very light load of 30-40% will be used for 3 sets of 4-5 reps. The objective is to maintain the vertical shin of the lead leg as well as take the rear knee to near floor depth. We will conclude this workout with more hip mobility exercises and a static stretch for the hamstrings, glutes, and hip flexors.
Wednesday is the third squat workout of the week. Pause squats are the order of the day, with a two second pause at the bottom. It is important to note that the two-second count does not begin until the athlete has reached bottom and is no longer moving. On the up command, the athlete will drive up as forcefully as possible. The pause squat is performed for 5-6 sets of 3-5 reps with a modest load of 80-90%. After the pause squat, the athlete will perform a series of different exercises for the hamstrings and lower back. They will begin with the snatch grip deadlift. Emphasis is placed on a good low-hip depth to start, with chest up and a hard push into the floor to get the bar moving. For this exercise, the athlete will perform three triples with a load around 90%. This will be followed by Glute Ham Raises and our Good Morning routine, each exercise consisting of 2-3 sets of 3-5 reps.
Thursday’s workout is similar to Tuesday with the Low Box Box Squat and Bulgarian Squat. This sets up the grand finale of the week, Friday’s Concentric Squat. It is probably one of the most talked about exercises of the Huskie weight room. Concentric Squats are a low pin squat in which the athlete sets the bar on the safety catches of the squat rack and has to create tremendous starting strength to drive the weight up. Pin height should put the athlete at parallel or slightly below. The loading scheme for this exercise is 5 sets of 2-3 reps with a load of 85-95% of 1RM Back Squat. Friday’s workout will conclude with more hamstring, glute, and lower back work just as it did on Wednesday.
With the emphasis of this program being on mass development and lower body strength, our other core lifts are not emphasized as heavily. Interestingly, with very low volume and moderate intensity in the Hang Clean, we have seen an average of a 10% increase in their 1RM. The bench press also received the benefits of improved lower body strength with an average increase of 7%. It has long been said that the squat is the king of exercises and this program definitely helps support that claim.