Thanks for all of the cool ideas and feedback about in-season training for football! Its pretty clear to me that many of you are true professionals that really take the time to understand the physical demands of the sport you are training AND make it a priority to educate yourselves on the science and application of sports strength and conditioning.

One coach that has really helped me to understand the bio mechanics of sports based movement is Eric Cressey.

All of Eric’s books, DVDs, and presentations seem to shed light upon some of the most overlooked aspects of training… and his new program The Show & Go Performance System is no different, in fact it’s better than some of his other books because he really makes some of the more advanced concepts very applicable for coaches and athletes who are “in the trenches”

I think he may be offering it this week for a few bucks off, might be worth a look if you are into designing high quality strength and conditioning programs.

=> CLICK HERE to take a look at his website.

Well, I promised that I’d tell you my thoughts on designing in season strength programs for athletes… so I made the following video for ya!

Let me know if it is helpful or if you have any questions.

Elliott at 16 yrs old (high school)

When I played football in high school and college I was OBSESSED with getting bigger, stronger and more powerful in the off season.  I loved off season bodybuilding and power lifting so much that I made a career out of training athletes for sports performance!

But, I had a BIG PROBLEM when the season was in full swing.  You see, no matter how much food I ate or how much time I spent in the weight room I always seemed to lose around 10 pounds of muscle and experience a dramatic loss of strength and power.

The real problem was NOT that I was losing size and strength… it was that I was training my muscles and nervous system in the WRONG WAY.

This is what the  in-season weight training / conditioning that my coach had the team perform typically looked like…

Everyday: 

Suicide Sprints / Gassers x 5 – 15 sets done daily after practice (except the day before a game)

Monday:

Power Cleans 3 x 8 – 12

Squats 3 x 10

Bench Press 3 x 10

Chin Ups 3 x 10

Crunches 1 x 100

Thursday:

Push Press 3 x 8 – 12

Front Squats 3 x 10

Incline Bench Press 3 x 10

Seated Rows 3 x 10

Crunches 1 x 100

I’d say that this program is pretty basic, you may see this being done in high school weight rooms all across the nation as we speak!  This program covers all of the most important lifts and is designed well.

The only problem is that it DOES NOT WORK!

First of all there is far too much volume (reps and sets) for an in season training program.  Also, in my opinion there is too much conditioning and the fact is that as a young athlete 200 crunches per week will wreak havoc on your posture and ability to recover from exercise.

I know that there are about 9 other things about this in season training program that can be corrected and made to actually build strength and power for athletes DURRING the in season.  I’ve been using a very effective method for keeping the athletes that train at Strength Camp while in their sports season strong and powerful… in fact, several of our athletes ever get STRONGER and MORE POWERFUL while training for their frequent game days!

We fully intend to see many of our athletes exhibit extraordinary Post Season Power!

Let me help you:

1. In the comments area below post your current in-season training regime.

2. Let me know if it is working for you or your team right now.

3. If you have any ideas about how we may be able to make it better, please let me know.

Squats are another essential exercise for building athletic strength and power… the problem is that most athletes get it all screwed up AND most coaches end up bald from pulling their hair out trying to teach it!

I’m a big fan of using visual and verbal cues to get my athletes moving like, well… athletes!  Here is a video I made that teaches you a few of my best cues for teaching the squat to young weaklings!

Strength Camp, St. Petersburg Florida, high school football players Hunter Thomason, AJ, Stanford & Drayton Neeely kick butt with these 2 strongman workouts for football training.

A clip with some of Strength Camp’s high school and college football players ripping it up!

Learn more about Football Strength, Speed and Conditioning in St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Tampa Bay
by calling Elliott at 727-501-6811 or e mail StrengthCamp@gmail.com

Here is a short video with some highlights of Baseball & Football Players training at Strength Camp.

Learn more about our Strength and Conditioning programs for football and baseball players and athlete.

Call Elliott at 727-501-6811 or e mail StrengthCamp@gmail.com