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AFM Magazine


Coach to Coach – Maximizing Your Speed, Strength, and Conditioning Programs

by: Bryon Hamilton
Head Coach, Foothill High School, Palo Cedro (CA)
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As I write this column, March Madness is upon us, spring training is winding up and weightrooms across the country are filled with ambitious and determined football players who know that football season is right around the corner. Training the body for the demanding sport of football is nothing new. When I was playing in high school our head coach would give us a goal sheet and some basic workout instructions and send us off for the summer. We knew that he expected us to return in August in some kind of football shape, but organized team workouts were not part of our summer schedule.

Times have changed. Today, the majority of successful football programs put as much emphasis into the planning and execution of their “off-season” training as they do their in-season preparation. The results of this focused effort are faster players, stronger athletes and a division of coaches whose jobs center solely on the running of year-round strength and conditioning programs. I am a firm believer that many of our victories are being won right now. The sweat, the strain, the focus and the brotherhood being forged within the walls of the “Cougar Den” (our football weightroom) is predetermining the outcome of many of our games.

In realizing the importance of this phase of our program, I have made our off-season training regimen a point of emphasis for our entire team and staff. Many of the implemented strategies were gathered from studying successful programs. The methods being implemented by strength and conditioning coaches across the country are numerous, varied and imaginative. The focus and purpose, however, is always the same - build the fastest, strongest, most durable athletes possible. I want to share with you a few of the ideas that we have implemented at Foothill High School to maximize our strength and conditioning program. These are ideas that we have used to motivate our athletes. They have allowed us to utilize our time in an efficient manor and have been of great benefit in our quest to best prepare our athletes for the gauntlet of a fierce and highly competitive football season.

4 ways to maximize your off-season workouts:

1. Hire a Strength and Conditioning Coach.

“Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don’t interfere as long as the policy you’ve decided upon is being carried out. “ - Ronald Reagan

Until the 2009 season, I had shared the strength and conditioning duties with several assistant coaches on staff. We developed the program, split the time between us and implemented our program. This approach was fairly successful and our results were adequate. However, in my continual quest to improve our program, I studied the strength and conditioning programs of several successful football teams. The one commonality that I found was that each program had a designated strength and conditioning coach whose focus was solely on the physical training and preparation of the athletes. This was different to the approach that we had taken, but one that I felt would enhance our entire program.
After a short search, I was able to find a terrific coach. I offered him the position of head strength and conditioning coach and he took it. That has been one of the best decisions that I have ever made as a head coach. Our strength coach has been able to develop our athletes in the area of strength, flexibility and speed. He pushes our players every day and his enthusiastic attitude has been a tremendous benefit to our entire program. If your team does not have a strength and conditioning coach, I would encourage you to explore the idea. There is probably someone in your community who has the training and experience to improve your program. If you get the right coach, your program will be greatly enhanced by his contribution.

2. Demand That All Players Participate.

“Coming together is a beginning.
Keeping together is progress. Working
together is success.” - Henry Ford

One of the problems that I occasionally encounter is players who want to train at “their” gym or with “their” personal trainer instead of with our team. Often the players and/or their families are willing to spend a lot of money to train at a “better” facility and with the trainer that they feel is the best. On the surface this may seem like a minor issue or it may even seem like a good idea, especially if the trainer that they want to work with is very good.

I discourage our athletes from working with private trainers who are not “on board” with our program. However, if they choose to work with a trainer who is on board, it must be in addition to our workouts and it must safely complement our program. The issue is usually not with the trainer’s expertise or their intentions. The problem with working away from our facility is that  our players need to see their fellow teammates sweat. They need to push and encourage each other throughout a grueling workout. That type of environment builds respect and trust among the players. Being witness to a teammate working extremely hard to attain his goals is contagious. The atmosphere in the weight room when 50 players gather around the squat rack to cheer a teammate as he attempts to lift a personal best is exciting and exhilarating and it drives our athletes to push themselves past their self-imposed limits. Much of our team’s identity will be forged in the sweat produced in a sweltering gym during the summer workouts. Leaders will be born, confidence will be built and a champions work ethic will be the result of our team working together on a daily basis.

3. Reward Progress.

“Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life
as by the obstacles one has overcome while trying to succeed.”  - Booker T. Washington

It is important to reward progress in the weight room and not just overall strength or speed. On our roster we have players who are really strong and/or really fast and those who are not. There is a natural tendency to reward those who are gifted with natural strength and speed. Often these players have worked very hard to achieve their success and their achievements need to be acknowledged. I have found, however, that on many occasions the players who are on the bottom actually make the best gains and improve the most. I realize that these players also have the most room for improvement and their gains will, by percentage, often surpass those on the top of the scale. But it is important to recognize those who have made significant gains regardless of their overall ranking.

We have a testing phase after each six week training cycle. Athletes who make significant gains are publicly acknowledged and lauded for their achievements. Those who reach certain totals are rewarded with an “Iron Cougar” shirt and those who achieve top totals are rewarded with a “1200 lb. Club” shirt. Rewarding progress and acknowledging hard work in the weight room and on the track is an important part of our strength and speed program.

4. Maximize Your Training Sessions by Being Creative and Extremely Organized.

“Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, add what is specifically your own.“ – Bruce Lee

One of the areas that we are continually striving to improve is efficiency with the time that we devote to our strength and speed workouts. We have the challenge of training a lot of players in limited space, in a minimal amount of time. In order to maximize our time, our strength coach is extremely organized and very efficient.

Our basic weekly structure consists of three 50-minute weightroom sessions and two 45-minute speed and agility sessions. During the weight lifting sessions our players are placed into teams of 6. Each team starts at a specific station and is given a specific number of sets and reps to accomplish. The coach uses a whistle to start and stop each set thus controlling the amount of time it takes to complete the set. The players then quickly rotate until each person in the group has completed the assigned number of sets and reps at each station.

This strategy assures that every player is completing the workout in an organized and rapid manor. There is no wasted time. Being organized allows us to train our 50+ athletes in an intense and high-paced manner. It is also conducive to building team unity as each player is involved with helping and encouraging their lifting group members. Our speed and agility workouts are structured in a similar way. Players are assigned to groups based on the position that they play. Players are responsible for monitoring their groups and encouraging those who are struggling to complete the vigorous workout. By staying organized, having a detailed plan and bringing energy and passion each day to the training session, we have been able to maximize our teams strength and speed.






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