After consulting with Ben Prentiss and implementing with my athletes, here’s a BRIEF description of the system. Download the 12-week program!
An often-overlooked squat variation that should be held in constant exercise rotation is the Zercher squat. Here’s why.
Now, it’s time to get our hands dirty… Let’s start with the internship search. You have to ask yourself what you want. Assuming you want to be a strength and conditioning coach, ask yourself the following questions (part two of three).
Here’s an excellent example of how to place extra workouts in a weekly off-season football training schedule along with what an extra workout accomplishes (or should).
Running sports are tangential in nature, so in order to optimize transfer from the weight room to the field, both vertical and horizontal movements need to be considered. To this end, the program I am going to outline will look at elements of training to ensure all bases are covered.
Here, in this article, you will find the answer to why accomplished coaches and athletes I’ve been fortunate enough to know gravitate toward the iron and have made it a core element of their life.
I’m no wizard when it comes to baseball, but I’m about to blow your mind: My team lifts heavy, keeps volume down on max effort work, does a lot of speed work, and I don’t condition the strength out of them.
What are the pros and cons of being a strength coach at the collegiate level or in the private sector? The similarities? The differences? Coach Brian Bott, former University of Wisconsin strength coach-turned-founder of Sports AdvantEDGE, tells all in an interview.
You know, we hear coaches complain about their athletes’ excuses… but let me tell you, coaches can be just as bad. Case in point: The excuses coaches make for not making their kids do box squats.
I am currently working as a consultant for a pro rugby team, and I was asked about the type of player I would require moving into a pro team. Fair warning: What I wrote here may be considered heretical in the strength and conditioning world…
Before you go find yourself a hill to sprint up via Google maps (steep hills, such as those in landfills, are ideal), don’t forget to warm up and stay hydrated. It’s a sprint, so go all out!
These off-season lane options are meant to keep them in the ballpark of being in game shape without beating the crap out of them. They don’t have to be ready all the time; just ready to get ready. If you think they are not sport-specific enough or intense enough, that’s why.
In order to show real strength, arching isn’t the way to go. In order to build more strength for different sports, arching is pretty much a waste of time. But I’m not criticize arching. On the contrary, there are advantages to it if you are a competitive powerlifter.
Watch out, Dave — there’s a new host in town. Actually, there are 3 hosts in town, and they’re taking over Table Talk Podcast while Dave is on vacation. Expect some wild stories with Vincent Dizenzo, Matt Rhodes, and Jim Wendler as they answer your questions.
During Richland High School’s last football season, I combined the conjugate method and the tier system for programming game day lifts. Seeing the results thus far, I intend to continue the program with a few adjustments — but not before sharing it.
In the first three parts of this series, I discussed the current failings of the strength and conditioning fields. In this fourth and final installment, I’ll try my best to solve some of these problems — something that could very well take decades but needs to be done.
Xpress Fitness, located less than 2 miles away from the elitefts S5 Compound, is a product of support from the rural London, Ohio, community at all levels: family, friends, neighbors, and businesses, all built strong from the ground up.
In this episode of Table Talk Podcast, Dave Tate talks shop with Phil Matusz, the associate director of strength and conditioning for the Ohio State University football team.
“There’s only one way to build confidence, David…” JM Blakley, the creator of the JM Press, isn’t afraid to call Dave Tate out… by his full first name, then, in true coaching fashion, breaks down what it is that good trainers and coaches do.
To this day, I still have new members of my gym argue with me on nutrition and training, only to regret not listening later on. Follow these tips and you will not only continue to get stronger for years to come, but you will also stay injury-free.
I don’t know why my tae-kwon-do instructor did this after I told him I couldn’t afford lessons, but he said, “You’ll be back, and you’ll teach the kids’ class.” He gave me an opportunity to become a coach, which changed the direction of my life.
A few years ago, I attempted to bring 4 strength sports together into a training plan for rugby. This time, I want to delve deeper into the framework that makes up the programming of these sports and how we can program them into a usable athletic development plan.
You won’t ever find my old programs on a typed-out card. Why? Because I don’t run the same program each year. I meet my kids where they’re at, which is why this program isn’t a program. It’s an outline.
Self-determination theory is an approach to shift motivation from extrinsic to intrinsic. As coaches, we can make small changes to the way we already do things to cause great changes to the athlete’s performance and motivation source.
The suggested strategy to build trust from the sports coach involves a particular approach to the strength and conditioning process. A natural consequence of this approach defines the scope of practice of strength and conditioning.
Cardio can help you cut weight, get shredded for the stage, and increase athletes’ performance. But with so much cardio out there, where do you start? Start here with elitefts team members’ top-3 cardio items, based on their sports or areas of expertise.
Here’s a red pill for you to swallow: The conjugate system is like an XL shirt that fits differently on different people. With a few modifications, that shirt can be made to fit just about anyone. Same goes for the program in this article.
For those new to the game and for seasoned vets alike who’ll be attending the CSSCa National Conference, here are some do’s and don’t’s that will make your annual trip a success — both in terms of enjoyment and employment.
Get to know Dr. Bryan Mann, from his humble beginnings to his current position at the University of Miami, and how he became one of the leading experts on Velocity Based Training.
Frequently, athletes understand the lunge movement but do not understand what should be moving and what is the primary goal. You can fix this by regressing the athlete and utilizing these tips to help them better understand the proper mechanics of the lunge.
In this episode of Table Talk Podcast, you might want to grab your headphones because Dave Tate has some choice words on a variety of topics.
It’s not every day that you get to listen to an interview with the only strength coach who’s won a championship in both the NFL and NBA. That means today is your day! A few topics we cover are recovery, early morning workouts, trends, intensity, injury, calf exercises, buy-in, and more!
Your foundation needs to be deeper and stronger than your core values. It must be a part of your being, some things that you will never give into or allow to change. These can also be small things that will get you, your staff, and your players through just about anything.
Generally speaking, if we can get an athlete stronger, that athlete will get faster. But at what point is the athlete strong enough for continued speed improvements? I hope you weren’t looking for a quantifiable answer on this one…
Science has proven time and time again that having a football player running endless 100-yard sprints isn’t the best option. In fact, it shouldn’t even be thought of as an option. Instead, use current information about energy systems to improve training.
With all the knowledge we have available to us, you would think that we have gotten past the idea that distance running will get an athlete in shape for any sport. So how should we program for athletes? Sport-specific? Sort of. In order to approach something that is actually sport-specific, we must take into account the actual demands of the sport.
Your athletes’ load and acceleration will vary greatly depending on the skillset and experience of your athletes. Your athletes’ levels of experience will impact the ability of what they can and cannot do, as well as how you can assess and train these athletes at each level.
Sprinting with a weighted sled has become my go-to exercise for improving an athlete’s ability to accelerate because it teaches and trains those mechanics. My athletes have consistently improved thanks to to sled sprints!
Head’s up: If you’re looking for reps, sets, or percentages, you might want to look elsewhere on this website. Or take the time to make a sweet gesture for your significant other today, just like I’m about to do for my wonderful wife in this article.
If speed is what we’re going after, then why do the weights on both our heavy and light days continue to climb, and bar speed continues to fall? As we get deeper into the competitive season and continue to put more tonnage on the athletes, we are burning the candle at both ends.
Reading Al Miller’s “The System” made me think about my most successful program. I’ve dubbed this hodgepodge of six years in strength and conditioning “Performance Drive Response,” which is a culmination of a bunch of different systems I’ve used, seen, and been in or part of.
Evaluate hamstring general function, range of motion, asymmetry, strength, potential for injury and more with Dr. Eric Serrano’s hanging hamstring raise.
A big yoke equals instant respect. No one wants to screw with a guy that has a big neck and a thick yoke.
This is the first question you should ask yourself when training a team. To get this point across, I’ve attached my entire fall football training program.
Young strength coaches, go back to the basics to improve your athletes’ performance.
You can have the holy grail of training programs, but if it doesn’t fit your job, it isn’t any good.
With dynamic effort work, we use the guidelines that Bryan Mann has written about extensively. I’ve tweaked his approach to fit our small budget and large team setting.
The healthier you can keep your spine, the longer you can train heavy and grow muscle. Here are my top-10, spine-friendly exercises.
I don’t know how many questions we’ve gotten about how to train certain weak points. Of course, almost every question is in regard to a weak muscle group or a certain portion of a lift.
As I see it, there are three directions that this profession can go. I know I favor one and I’ll explain why.
The goal was to create a training model that would maximize hypertrophy in minimal time and that would be “low tech, high effect” in its design.
On my 40th birthday I reflect on the things I learned for each year of my life.
My viewpoint runs counter to much of the current climate, which is dominated by the short-term perspective of a “hypertrophy phase.”
How can you sell your vision when it’s difficult to score your vision? Start with goals!
You took a step forward and now it’s summer. This time of year means nine weeks of strength and conditioning bliss and nine weeks of scheduling, programming and executing our own version of “the master plan.”