Before I go off on my soap box and you think I am a self proclaimed expert, let me say this. I have 37 years of high school football/strength coaching experience under my belt and if you do something long enough, you may not always become an expert but you will certainly evolve into an expert on what works for you and your program. What you are about to read is what works for me and mine.
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I have been through the gambit of strength development for high school athletes, most primary, football players. And during that time I have, at various points in my career, found myself convinced that this method or that was the end-all, be-all workout for my athletes. And much of which is indeed good for them. But I have also gone full circle on what it is we are supposed to be developing in these young athletes. Size and gross strength were the demi-gods we used to all worship, the bigger the better.
Everyone knows that if a muscle is big, it is strong so you wanted your athletes to be big, at every position. Of course, that didn't mean that your wide outs had to squat 400 and bench 300 but they had to be bigger and thus stronger than the people they played against. So, they had to spend time in the weight room just like the o line and linebackers, et el. That concept is not wrong it is just over worked. Yes, they need to be in the weight room but not necessarily on the fast track to max lifts and "records".
Side bar; I have come to believe that most of the records we keep in weight lifting and on the wall are nice for a very select few and not the masses and thus who really pays them much attention? And I have been through the programs where you list athletes by position, by age, by class rank, etc. and all that does is create more names that no one pays attention too. I bet any coach reading this article, right now, can think of more than a few of the best athletes you ever coached that were not on top of the charts for weight lifting but were on top of the charts for winning and carrying your program.
And, I bet those same athletes were your best conditioned athletes with the most attitude to get things done. That conditioning, that athleticism, is what carried them to greatness. They were playing just as hard in the fourth quarter as they were in the first which meant those they were playing against were in trouble if they did not possess the same quality. I have come to believe that one part of that quality is "durability". Because they are in great shape and condition they can take the attitude to the end. That is what I mean by durability. They are in the game.
Creating durability is not simply a matter of overall strength. Bigger is better [thus the term "beach muscle" ... looks good on the beach] cannot be your one guiding principle. Building a stronger athlete is commendable but building a total athlete is even better. This is where I break from what I used to believe. Heavy weight, fewer reps and max outs are not guiding principles. Moderate to heavy weights, high rep/sets and repetitions create a program of overall body strength development and more importantly, endurance, core development and durability to perform skills and movement over and over and over again.
"Functional Training" became the latest catch phrase several years ago. It's a good term when you use it properly. Functional training is quite simply training the movements that your game/sport calls for. Focus in on those things which will make you a better player but you may not need a 350 pound bench press to be a better football player. You may need to be able, however, to do that movement over and over again (ie~Offensive line) well into the fourth quarter. Thus, you need a combination of strength AND endurance ... functional and durable.
One of the best examples of lighter weights being repped over and over again and building strength, endurance and durability is a carpenter, or even a brick layer. Shake hands with either of those professions and see what you get. You'll get a hand shake with tremendous strength and power. They didn't lift heavy weights for a few reps, they lifted a light weight for a thousand reps, every day. Now that doesn't mean that the athlete who lifts heavy weights, fewer reps, won't develop a good grip; he will. But how many of your daily athletes will work at that level; only a few. If, however, you can get them to work with implements that are lighter but more functional and less mind numbing, you can get the durability you seek.
Enter odd object lifting, old school. You will derive more benefit from tires, logs, sandbags, ropes and stones than stand alone, movement locked, machines. Implementing a program utilizing these objects will give you development in your athletes like you have never seen before. The reason for this is simple. You can incorporate more total lifts and core lifts in a shorter time. For example, let's say you really want to work your athletes in rear-chain movements to strength the back/hips combo. Put them on a tire flipping workout and stone lifting or sandbags and see what you get. In a shorter time you'll see great improvement in these areas and more durability because the entire body will be anchoring and stabilizing while your primary muscle groups work the implement/lift. Your core development will soar. Your shoulders will get hammered and wait til you see what it does to your grip. Your athletes will be crying the first few workouts.
One last word about this type of workout for your back, go back in time and look at some of the pictures of the old masters. Not in the last ten years but long ago, the old legends. What you'll find are backs that are super strong and have the classic v shape from hip to shoulder, but it will be somewhat rounded compared to today's lifters. Reason being, they lifted from the ground up.
They did not unrack a loaded bar from a squat rack and proceed to squat it. They lifted their loads from the ground to start with which means that they had to squat down deeply and get under it. By doing that, the body naturally curves the back and shoulders to get there. The entire rear chain had to fire, had to contract, to get the weight up. You would be amazed at how much work you can accomplish with your high school athletes with sandbags from 25 to 50 pounds. I guarantee you I could wear them out in a very short time.
Okay, enough of my soap box. Suffice to say I now utilize two types of training methods to achieve my goals; odd object lifting and kettle bells and kettle bells will be for another day to discuss. If you are at all interested in what I have written about, go to my web site and check it out. You'll like what you see. And send for our free eBook on a sandbag workout from Josh Henkin.
Greg Meyers has 37 years of high school experience training football/strength athletes. He utilizes his old school techniques with the athletes he trains and his clients.
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