Routine ??

[flabby 31]

I was lookin at my sons high school lifting routine and was wondering if anyone could give us some input. he is football player and is lifting for size and strength. It is a 5 week cycle and runs for the entire school year.

week 1 core lift is 5 sets of 15,12,10,8,6 and the auxillary lifts are 2 sets of 8
monday - bench, reverse grip bench, incline db bench, bicep curls
tuesday - Squats, push press and straight legged dead lift
thursday - hang clean, push press, military press, bent over rows
friday - deadlift, incline bench, db press curls

week 2 core lift is 5 sets of 8 everything else same
week 3 core lift is 5 sets of 5 everything else same
week 4 core lift is 5 sets 3,3,2,2,1 everything else same
week 5 is max out on all core lifts
repeat

 

[ZiR RED]

I see a few issues with the program in general, and then some questions.

As for the program its all primary movers without any exercises directed towards core, stabilization or fixator muscles. This is a recipe for muscular imbalances and increased risk of injury.
2. There are no unilateral movements. Split squats, RFE split squats, lunges, etc. are all useful when creatining a balanced coordinated athlete.
3. There is no unloading period.
4. There are not nearly enough pulling exercise. No program is complete without pullups.

A lot of high school football coaches like to put the horse before the carriage...especially if they have no formal training in youth strength and conditioning.

My questions than would be in regards to his training experience. I am a big proponent of a quadrenial model for high school athletes. An example of such would be something like

Freshman year (low training experience): Focus on movement patterns predominantly. The first phase would be teaching athletes how to perform body weight squats, pushups, pullups, body weight deadlifts, etc. with good form, and working to correct muscular imbalances that affect these movements. The next phase would be on actually doing these exercises with weight and still working to create the base. the goals of this year are all process based, not performance based. Athletes should be encouraged to master movement pattern, not significantly increase weight or performance.

Sophmore year: During this year the movements become more specific and the goals are a mix of process and performance. Here we are trying to improve specific aspects of athlete performance...such as running faster or squatting heavier.

Junior year: The training becomes more specific, such that the goal is to improve sport specific performance. Here is where the hang clean might would be introduced now that the athlete has a good base of movement pattern, a strong core, and the coordination to make the most of the movement.

Senior year: Peaking. This is where a typical periodization program would be used culminating in repetition maximums toward the end...such as that in your sons lifting program.

I refer you to the following paper.

Jeffreys, I. 2008. Quadrennial Planning for the High School Athlete. Strength and conditioning journal, 30(3), 74-83.



Br

 

[flabby 31]

He is 16 and has lifted with his friends for a couple of years. One of my concerns was the recovery time and the 5 week cycle lasting for the entire year. He started the year getting stronger and has hit a wall for the past couple months and his coach just says he isnt working hard enough. Im frustrated for him and we are thinking of going to an am/pm split so that I can work with him at night, just not sure whats best.

 

[ZiR RED]

Lifting with your friends doesn't equate to a lot of lifting experience nor learning correct technique or movement patterns. The 5 week cycles lasting the entire year without an unloading period or any sort of periodization lends me to believe his coach doesn't have much experience with strength and conditioning. And the fact that he says your kid isn't working hard enough (ie. putting the blame on the athlete, and not on the coach for poor programming) tells me even more.....

Br

 

[flabby 31]

He has lifted in the past with other coaches using a different lifting routine (BFS), but never anything routine .It has always been in the summer or betwwen sports. This is the 1st year his school has had an actual lifting class where they got a chance to lift everyday during the week. Thats what the new coach was hired for and came in with this new system that they are doing now. All of the kids seem to have gotten stronger, but most had never lifted before at all. The ones that have been doing it all year seem to be stuck with no or very little gains .

 

[ZiR RED]

He has lifted in the past with other coaches using a different lifting routine (BFS), but never anything routine .It has always been in the summer or betwwen sports. This is the 1st year his school has had an actual lifting class where they got a chance to lift everyday during the week. Thats what the new coach was hired for and came in with this new system that they are doing now. All of the kids seem to have gotten stronger, but most had never lifted before at all. The ones that have been doing it all year seem to be stuck with no or very little gains .

That's a red flag right there.

You know what...Check out Jim Wendlers book 5/3/1 for football training program. Its a great read, first of all. And second, you will gain insight into how to periodize and train a football player.

http://www.elitefts.com/documents/531_football_interview.htm

Br

 

[JudoJosh]

+1 for 5/3/1 for football

 

[flabby 31]

OK thanks for the help I will check out that website for sure.

 

[themondtster]

I was lookin at my sons high school lifting routine and was wondering if anyone could give us some input. he is football player and is lifting for size and strength. It is a 5 week cycle and runs for the entire school year.

week 1 core lift is 5 sets of 15,12,10,8,6 and the auxillary lifts are 2 sets of 8
monday - bench, reverse grip bench, incline db bench, bicep curls
tuesday - Squats, push press and straight legged dead lift
thursday - hang clean, push press, military press, bent over rows
friday - deadlift, incline bench, db press curls

week 2 core lift is 5 sets of 8 everything else same
week 3 core lift is 5 sets of 5 everything else same
week 4 core lift is 5 sets 3,3,2,2,1 everything else same
week 5 is max out on all core lifts
repeat

Yeah 5\3\1 is good, I love it but technically this routine is basically the same with more volume and technically week 1 would be the deload when you repeat as long as it starts in the 40-60% range. I've tried my share of programs and all have their differences but most are the same as they steady increase weight and decrease reps then start over again. The only difference is it has a max out week every 5 which I think should be spaced out more but maybe that's what they use to figure week1s starting weight on the repeat. Personally I feel deadlifts, hang cleans, and bent over rows should be on the same day. And military press, incline bench, and press curls same day. Also every two cycles the exercises should changed and maybe throw a 2\4 week light volume phase.

The main thing with young or inexperienced lifters is learning proper form. As long as he has proper coaching from someone who knows what they're doing he should be fine.