The first week of school is coming to an end and most things seem to be going well.  The athletes that were here early for pre-season camp seem to be holding up pretty well (Football, Soccer, Volleyball, Cross Country).  Obviously, there are some injuries.  All of them appear to be overuse/out of shape injuries.

Cross Country/Track Sprinters

I’m experimenting with a new format for my Cross Country/Track template.  The basic set-up will remain because it works, it’s efficient and my new assistants have figured it out (more or less).

Track – Sprinters (2x per week)

  • Main Lift (Week 1 – Trap Bar/Push Press/Week 2 – Squat/Bench)
  • Supplemental Lift w/Upper Pull – 4 Rounds
  • Power Zone Circuit – 3 Rounds
    • Hinge or Single-leg
    • Upper Back
    • Abs

Cross Country (2x per week)

  • Main Lift (Trap Bar (Tuesday)/Push Press (Thursday)
  • Power Zone Circuit – 3 Rounds
    • Hinge or Single-leg
    • Upper Back
    • Abs
  • Assistance Circuit – 2-3 Rounds
    • BWT Hinge (Posterior Chain) or Single-leg
    • Abs
    • Upper Push (Trap Bar Day)/Upper Pull (Push Press Day)

LOTS of mobility and stretching for these kids.  LOTS!  We start the lift with it and end the lift with it.

Women’s Soccer

We’re sticking with what we did last Spring for our Soccer team.  The girls really had a “light bulb” type awakening last semester and started to take the weight room seriously.  They actually asked their coach if they could lift 3x a week during their spring season. 

With a full Fall season ahead of us we’ll train 2x per week.  It’s been an awesome turnaround for them.  Last Spring they had a rough go of it.  They played unbelievable defense, but just couldn’t get that little round ball into the rectangular goal.

Why do I tell you this?  They had their weight room awakening and worked their butts off.  They really cut way back on their complaining – about everything.  They just kind of stopped.  It seems like they figured out that their success has little to do with me, their coach or any of that nonsense.  It really rests on their shoulders and it feels like they’ve embraced that.

Despite their rough go last Spring they came back equally, if not more focused this Fall.  There was little to no “get back up to speed in the weight room”.  They really just picked up where they left off.  Only four didn’t pass the conditioning test (33 on the team).

So, they committed to making changes to their approach and it still didn’t “work out” as far as wins go.  They just played their first game yesterday and won 2-0.  Obviously, its game one and there’s a whole season ahead of us.  But, I’m hoping that the win builds their confidence.  That coupled with the work that’s behind them that got them to this point…

I can’t seem to get my thoughts organized, but what I’m trying to get at is that I hope they have a good season and they can look back on the changes they made and realize that those are part of the reason for their success.  If that happens, we have “buy in” and it’s a lot easier to keep them focused when they come in here.  If they have another rough season it’ll be hard to sell them on the fact that their work paid off. 

Unfortunately, just because you do a lot of things right, winning and success aren’t guaranteed in the time frame that you want.  This generation gets a lot of shit from us old folks about their toughness, but there’s some truth to what us old guys think. 

I’m starting to ramble.  It’s been a good start and I’m hoping for the best.

Their template from last Spring and this Fall looks like this:

  • Main Lift (Trap Bar (Tuesday)/Push Press (Friday)
  • Circuit – 8 minutes (as many rounds as they get done)
    • Single-leg/Hinge
    • Upper Push
    • Upper Pull
  • Miscellaneous Stuff

Mobility and stretching to start and end the lifts.

I also have a “Feel Good” lift for Fridays if they’re really beat and just need a little break.  The criterion for this change are:

  1. Road game Thursday and/or Sunday
  2. Look like shit when they walk in (quiet, moving slowly, a little cranky).  If they show these signs I have a girl that I will get straight answers from and her answers will be part of the decision process.

The “Feel Good” lift is two, 3 Round Circuits with bodyweight or light DB’s.

Circuit 1

  • Squat Movement
  • Upper Push
  • Upper Pull

Circuit 2

  • Hinge Movement
  • Upper Pull
  • Abs

Football

As usual, I have ideas.  Trying to fine tune things and make everything more efficient and effective is a constant goal.  What I’ve fallen on for the remainder of pre-season (2 more weeks) is:

Monday – Trap Bar

  • Main Lift
  • Circuit – 8-10 minutes
    • Upper Push
    • Upper Pull
    • Hinge
  • Real Abs
  • Neck (Done at any time during the workout)

Wednesday – Bench

  • Main Lift
  • Circuit – 8 minutes
    • BWT Upper Push
    • Upper Pull
  • Traps/Neck (can be done in the Circuit if they want)
  • Team Abs

Both workouts start and finish with mobility.

The Progression may change a bit, but for now it looks like this:

Week 1: Trap Bar – 75%/Bench – 80% w/1-2 singles if they look good (my decision)

Week 2: Trap Bar – 80% w/1-2 singles if they feel good/Bench - 75% for 3-5 sets

Week 3: Trap Bar – 75%/Bench – 85% w/1-2 singles if they look good (my decision)

Week 4: Trap Bar – 85% w/1-2 single if they feel good/Bench – 75% for 3-5 sets

It’s easier to see it like this:

Week 1: Trap Bar - 75%/Bench - 80%

Week 2: Trap Bar - 80%/Bench - 75%

Week 3: Trap Bar - 75%/Bench - 85%

Week 4: Trap Bar - 85%/Bench - 75%

This basic set-up last Spring led to 3 All-time Trap Bar PR’s and 27 guys having their Bench numbers (Training Max) increased during the season.  Now, I understand that last Spring was a unique animal.  We played one game, had a three week “break” and then played six in a row.  This season we’ll play three non-conference games followed by a Bye week and then eight conference games in a row.

I will run this through the non-conference schedule and by then I’ll have a decision on how I’ll continue during the conference schedule.  The other option I’m giving guys right now is that they can Squat in place of Trap Bar.  As of right now, that choice expires when we get to our Bye week and into the conference.

Let’s see how all of this plays out.  Maybe I’m a genius?  Maybe I suck?  We shall see.