Football 2003 in-season insights for strength and conditioning

Coach and Athletic Director, August, 2003 by Ken Mannie

The demands and time constraints that engulf football coaches during the season can be overwhelming. We invariably find the coaches decrying the lack of time for strength and conditioning and asking us for schedules: "What should we work on and how much of each exercise should we do?"

These are valid questions, since overtraining and adequate recovery from the weekly grind of practices and games are legitimate concerns.

Up to this point, the coaches have spent the long off-season putting their troops through the paces with strength training, agility, general conditioning, and position-specific sessions. As fall approaches, the emphasis changes dramatically from the myriad conditioning variables to the specifics of practice and games.

For the strength coach, the most important objective during the season is the mental and physical preparation of the team for game day. Strength training and conditioning sessions are still important, but must be tempered with prudence and common sense.

We will leave the X's and O's, tape breakdowns, and practice scripts to the coaches and move on to the guidelines for the physical preparation of the athletes.

STAY STRONG

We are always surprised when a high school coach tells us that his team had a great off-season strength-training program, but that time constrictions have forced him to abandon it during the season.

This is unfortunate for two key reasons: first, because strength and power are most needed during the season and, second, any time you shelve a program you are going to experience a rapid loss of strength.

With all of the additional stresses imposed on the players during the season, it would be specious to believe that all of them are going to be able to maintain their pre-season strength levels.

However, we do know that with just a minimum investment in time they can salvage much of their strength and use it for both performance and durability purposes.

A sound in-season program consisting of two non-consecutive training days a week for at least the first half of the season will enable the athletes to maintain between 80% to 95% of their pre-season strength levels.

Think of it: How much good, productive strength work can be accomplished in those 30 to 40 minute sessions!

As the season wears on, and especially for those who are fortunate to become involved in bowl games or playoff situations, the frequency can be reduced to one day per week. Each coach can decide on tiffs, based on his evaluation of the physical stresses that have been imposed on his players.

SOME CONSIDERATIONS

How many of the kids go both ways and/or are on several--if not all--of the special teams units?

Is your squad so small that the players get more than their fair share of practice reps?

Are there younger kids who get a lot of practice time via scout team duties, but little, if any, game time?

Our point is that the more field work and game time a player is receiving, the more attention the coaches must pay to the recovery process. Two lifts per week will be the upper limit for the high-premium players (to avoid draining their fuel tanks).

Conversely, a younger athlete who is not getting much practice/playing time can actually get up to three non-consecutive weight room sessions in order to accelerate his development.

Exercise selection, sequence, equipment, and set and rep schemes are bountiful, and are usually dictated by each coach's background and ideology.

Some prefer fast-paced, circuit-type workouts that involve one to two sets of medium reps (i.e., 6-8) that incorporate the "push/pull" system for the upper body. This involves sequencing the exercises (free weight, machines, or both) so that a pulling movement always follows a pressing movement.

Three to four presses are strung together with the coinciding number of pulls to achieve a balanced workout for the anterior and posterior muscular chains of the torso.

Another common approach is the use of multiple sets of designated exercises in either percentage-based (of a one rep max or estimated max from reps) or range-determined pyramids (e.g., 8-10, 6-8, 4 6, etc.). This is the traditional system of stringing together several sets of the same exercise before moving on to the next exercise.

Note: Any sound strength-training program for football includes work for the neck region. Last August, we shared our neck-training series and you are encouraged to revisit that article for a refresher.

Lower-body exercises can vary as well. Many practitioners prefer to place the multi-joint movements first (e.g., squats, lunges, deadlifts, leg presses, etc.) followed by a sequence of single-joint movements (e.g., hip/back, hip flexion, leg extension, leg curl, abduction, adduction, etc.).

The thinking here is to incorporate the "big lifts" first, while the musculature is relatively fresh.

A different stimulus is initiated when the multi-joint and single-joint movements are placed in an alternating sequence. For instance, a set of leg extensions may be followed by a set of leg presses, followed by a set of leg curls, followed by another set of leg presses, and so on.