The workout was the same as last week's. They did 70% for their Squat, Bench and Trap Bar numbers. I also allowed them to use a weighted belt to do dips and pull-ups if they wanted.
Conditioning-wise we did 6 hills on Tuesday and the Short Ladder on Thursday. The only addition was working back down the ladder. The day looked like this:
- 10x10 yards
- 8x20 yards
- 6x30 yards
- 4x40 yards
- 2x50 yards
- 2x40 yards
- 2x30 yards
- 2x20 yards
- 2x10 yards
I had them use various starting positions: 2-pt, 3-pt, kneeling, kneeling lateral, on stomach and on back.
Nothing sexy, some may say boring. But, another pretty good week.
I've paid more attention to how guys are feeling/acting to determine if I make changes to the workout instead of just doing what's written. I know it has only been two weeks, but I noticed Tuesday kicked their butts. I gave them Monday off because of Memorial Day... actually, I gave them a choice. Come in Monday and run a normal week. Or, come in Tuesday and do our normal conditioning session and Monday's lift. That's what they opted for.
Tuesday went well. We did everything from both days. Wednesday they were feeling it. I could tell by how quiet they were when they came into the weight room. Simple fix. I just dropped sled pushes that day. Again, I gave them a choice. If we drop sleds then conditioning on Thursday has to be perfect. PERFECT. No false starts, no toes on the line, no slowing down before the line - all the discipline things necessary to be a successful team. If there were any mistakes we would double the conditioning workout. There was no need to double it. They performed as I had hoped. Friday we came in, did the full workout and banged out our heavy sled work.
At the end of each lift I have them do 100 reps of abs (useless movements - sit-ups, crunches, v-twists, leg raises - the gym bunny, fluff and puff crap that really does nothing except make you cramp). I get sick of just watching this and I'm sure they get sick of it, too. So today, we put on a song and they had to do sit-ups (they chose the exercise) for the duration of the song. I chose Stairway to Heaven. Anyone who grew up in the 90's knows that was the best song ever when it came on at the end of a high school dance and your favorite girl said "yes" to you for the last dance of the night. By the end of the 9m 45s your hands had wandered to areas they probably shouldn't have been, but she didn't say "no." Anyway, 9m 45s of sit-ups ended the day.
Next week is their heaviest so far. They'll use 80% for their big lifts. I'll most likely have them take their last work set for rep max (short of failure, obviously).
Looking forward to the weekend. Next weekend or the following I'm going to South Carolina. One of my GA's is doing an internship with football down there. I get to see the facilities and watch an SEC team workout. Should be a good time. Plus, I'm out of Morehead for a few days. Always a nice change of pace.