High school Football Guys.

[PumpHouse]

Just got a job as Assistant Strength & conditioning coach at the local high school. Very excited about it. I'm looking to come in with a bunch of ideas and really try to impress the athletics department.

So my questions for you guys who used to play football. College or HS. What kind of training did you go through? What worked well abd what didn't? How common were training injuries? Knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently?

I have some ideas already of what I'm going to bring to the table, but just want to hear from some athletes and coaches.

 

[Swanson52]

Just got a job as Assistant Strength & conditioning coach at the local high school. Very excited about it. I'm looking to come in with a bunch of ideas and really try to impress the athletics department.

So my questions for you guys who used to play football. College or HS. What kind of training did you go through? What worked well abd what didn't? How common were training injuries? Knowing what you know now, what would you have done differently?

I have some ideas already of what I'm going to bring to the table, but just want to hear from some athletes and coaches.

We just lifted. Even in college & beyond the S&C programming that I partook in was subpar at best...I typically did my own thing & just filled out the progress sheets accordingly.

During the season, the emphasis was on mobility & active recovery. Nobody gets stronger in season, and it's simply a race to stay healthy and maintain weight/strength.

Offseason, I really like 5/3/1 for this age of athletes, with plyos mixed in as accessory work. I've had luck trimming it to 3 days, and putting in a minimum of 2 speed, positional, and/or explosiveness drills.

Training injuries were/are very infrequent.

If I knew 20 years ago what I know now, I would've eaten & squatted more.

 

[kenpoengineer]

My stepson plays football as a HS Junior, nose tackle. He complains they use crossfit training routines for conditioning and very little lifting. As nose tackle he goes up against players that are 260/280 lbs! He keeps saying he needs strength to properly defend.

As a parent I notice that it's 90 degrees and they still run them without water and breaks. Half the time he comes home exhausted and dehydrated. This is a school ranked 12th in the State!!

 

[PumpHouse]

Thanks for the responses guys.


Do your respective teams put any emphasis on sled, prowler, and tire flipping/dragging, as conditioning? Or is it mostly scrimmaging and sprints and drills?

 

[PumpHouse]

And by Crossfit style conditioning, do you mean high rep OLY stuff or what?

 

[kenpoengineer]

Thanks for the responses guys.

Do your respective teams put any emphasis on sled, prowler, and tire flipping/dragging, as conditioning? Or is it mostly scrimmaging and sprints and drills?

Scrimmaging, sprints and drills. Crossfit routines are Oly, push-ups and pull-ups.

 

[Swanson52]

Thanks for the responses guys.


Do your respective teams put any emphasis on sled, prowler, and tire flipping/dragging, as conditioning? Or is it mostly scrimmaging and sprints and drills?

Offseason yes, in season there simply isn't time.

 

[mtinsideout]

You'll need to train the line and the running backs differently I would think. The lineman you'll want doing power lifts and gaining mass, while the running backs you'll want speed and reaction time. There is a lot to think about and many variables to play with...

 

[JudoJosh]

Buy this http://www.flexcart.com/members/elitefts/default.asp?m=PD&pid=3362

 

[Swanson52]

Buy this http://www.flexcart.com/members/elitefts/default.asp?m=PD&pid=3362

Yuuuuuup.

 

[PumpHouse]

Already purchased.

 

[mtinsideout]

Buy this http://www.flexcart.com/members/elitefts/default.asp?m=PD&pid=3362

Lol I should have guessed there was a book on this topic... Much better than me guessing I'm sure

 

[JudoJosh]

http://jasonferruggia.com/renegade-football-strength-is-back/

https://www.defrancostraining.com/store/product.php?productid=16134

 

[musclefool]

The lifting I did was 5x5 and 3,3,3. Mostly chest and legs. Kind of dumb. As soon as football was over I hit the gym and got way bigger and stronger than I did in football. I think the kids these days would get way bigger focusing on one body part a day instead of focusing on just legs and chest.

 

[CountryLiftin]

I agree with swan and several of other other guys.5/3/1 off season with a focus on mobility and agility like plyometrics as well. Work in the prowling work as well in addition to other normal drills. Diet is key and make sure they get fed and watered. Lol. And line, corners/WR, QBs, and running/full backs should have different or slightly different training. Maybe less weight more. Volume for your speed/skill guys. Line, line backers etc should be great on 5-3-1.

Our lifting was a complete joke. Circuit style bs. I think I got weaker when I did their workouts back then.

 

[PumpHouse]

Well I'm currently writing up a diet guideline PDF for parents to download off the website and read over if they'd like.

First game was yesterday. We won 77-0. So it may be a good season lol.

 

[jimbuick]

I like Joe DeFrancos training systems for strength training for athletes, especially football players.


Check defrancostraining.com, he's got tons of DVDs for it and articles, along with his Ask Joe blogs.


When I played FB in HS, we did a lot of Squatting, Power Cleaning, Front Squatting, and OH Squatting.

Summer S+C camp there were rotating stations with Yoga (on certain days), Strength Training (similar to 5/3/1, but more volume), conditioning (tires, sleds, sprints) and of course speed drills (ladder, sprints, cones, etc.)

When training on my own I used the WS4SB template, and still think that is a great outline for training most athletes.

 

[PumpHouse]

Great stuff Jim. That's more or less what I was thinking. I'll look into defrancos stuff though.

 

[overworked]

Our high school uses the Nebraska system. It works really well as a foundation but I think that sleds and tire flipping would be very beneficial. They would also keep it interesting which in turn will help motivate.

 

[jimbuick]

Great stuff Jim. That's more or less what I was thinking. I'll look into defrancos stuff though.

Even if you don't use his WS4SB template (or anything similar) he has a ton of good info on his site and tons of experience with athletes, especially football players.

Dude knows how to get people big, strong, and fast.

 

[scherbs]

The lifting I did was 5x5 and 3,3,3. Mostly chest and legs. Kind of dumb. As soon as football was over I hit the gym and got way bigger and stronger than I did in football. I think the kids these days would get way bigger focusing on one body part a day instead of focusing on just legs and chest.

Bigger is not automatically better.
Better to train movements, not "one body part a day" for FB (or any sport)