In-Season Training, Football & Performance pt 1.

KEEP PERFORMANCE HIGH and REDUCE INJURIES....IN-SEASON TRAINING PT 1

In-season training for football arguably plays as big a role in performance as any other aspect of the in-season schedule. Football players have such a unique sport in that there is generally only 1 competition per week after many hours of practice, skill work, film study and other forms of mental and physical conditioning. Football requires great power, strength, aerobic endurance, mental focus, athletic skill and attrition. The nature of the game is explosively aggressive and takes a simple yet well designed in-season plan if athletes are to continue meeting the various demands required to play at high levels.

During the off season the training begins with a focus on building general work capacity, strength, mobility and endurance. Athletes enter into lifting programs that help build what we call GPP or general physical preparedness. This general approach is essential for setting the ground work for the demands that will be placed on  the athletes' later in the training year. Programs most likely start by focusing on building a good aerobic base, establishing sound joint mobility and tissue flexibility and good baseline strength. There is usually very little focus on sporting skill at this juncture. Most skill position football players (basically all non-lineman)  do some form skill work whether it is throwing, catching or basic route running or footwork. But this work is at very low volumes and with little to no intensity. As the season approaches the element of speed ,explosive power comes to the forefront. Since the game is played in very short powerful spurts of time, the training begins to mimic those biomechanics  and metabolic demands, perparing the athete for the game of the football  itself. This transformation in training approaches is what we call SPP or special physical preparedness. The final piece to the off-season approach employs the all important aspect of conditioning. This element of training is the most over looked and most misused form of training done by most sport/physical preparation coaches. While this can be an entire article within itself, the goal approximately 2 months out is to build the athlete's specific work capacity to handle the specific demands of the sport itself. When the training is laid out properly, the athlete enters the season prepared to make an immediate impact.

Now that we're about 2 months into the season, athletes are starting to feel the effects of the rigorous life of a football player. Strength levels have probably dipped a bit and most of the players are dealing with little nagging aches and pains that they've got to deal with and play through. This is the portion of the season, unlike the off-season, where training (practice) is 100% specific. So in order to keep performance levels high and reduce the amount of damage done on a daily basis, athletes must focus on their strength, mobility and regeneration.

My recommendations for staying fresh, strong and performing at high levels has a lot more to do with how you handle your body as a whole during the season. Just doing any 1 or 2 things will not produce the results you desire. As the war of attrition commences, athletes need to understand the global affects of all the different demands on their bodies and their time. Today we lay the ground work for how to be at your absolute best for the stretch run.

We will start with talking about strength training:

Strength training is absolutely critical. Everyone understands the fact that a football players' body takes a pounding. So in an attempt to reduce the trauma from going toe to toe down after down, you must train regularly! The tempo of your workouts must be moderate to high. By this I mean, no slow body building type workouts. You want to train for 40-60min at a good enough tempo to get your CNS (central nervous system) kicking. This means a healthy up-tempo warm-up full of ballistic/dynamic movements and using both ground based and standing movements. Just keep in mind, the overall goal of strength training during the season is to maintain the highest level of performance for the longest period of time.

I believe that athletes need to maximize their time in the weight room by utilizing exercises that give you the most bang for your buck so that you don't over train and cause more damage. Squats, pull-ups, bench press,  Deadlifts and other multi-joint compound movements will give you the greatest return on investment. I generally like to have my athletes work in the 60-85% range with these lifts with fairly high intensity and at low volumes. 3-4 sets of 3-5 "quality" reps. This means no half-stepping!

We generally keep assistance work to a minimum during the season. This basically means we dont load up kids with a ton of sets or reps in their secondary exercises. This will create a nice "pump" feeling, but can really be overkill if not performed correctly. Instead we do more "pre-hab" type work at high reps. This means we do pre-habilitation work like "band-pull apart's" or band TKE's (terminal knee extensions) to help stabilize joints in the hips, knees, ankles, and shoulders mainly. This also keeps the major muscles from taking the brunt of the blow down after down. What many people fail to realize is that muscles take 1-3 days to recover from trauma, but connective tissue like (ligaments, tendons & certain forms of cartilage) can take much longer. This means we have to be cognizant of the amount of blows a player is taking, and plan his training accordingly.

One of the Shore's Best players, offensive lineman Brad Henson has been a part of our system here at Key 2 Sports for 2 years now. Brad has done an excellent job at understanding the importance of off/in-season training and dedication to being the best. Brad drives over an hour both ways to train with us twice a week and still excels in class and in his community. There is no wonder he has offers from 5 major 1A schools with 10 or more schools planing to bring him is for visits. Brad is a specimen of an individual standing at over 6'5 and weighing almost 270lbs and the best part is he's only a junior! Here is a glimpse of what Brad does at Key 2 Sports 2 times a week:

(photo by Hallmarc photography)

Day 1 - Low Volume/Heavy Day
*dynamic warm-up/foam roll/lax ball soft tissue work/bands and other forms of pre-hab performed.

1. Log Clean and Press 4x3 moderately heavy
- we do these because of the neutral grip on the bar being less stress on the shoulders. this is also a great exercise that can be used as a full-body Olympic lift variant. We don't do much pressing for lineman during the season but this exercise certainly makes the cut for our athletes.

2A. Safety Bar Box Squat 4x5
-this is another great exercise that helps Brad stay explosive in the hips and glutes but doesn't leave him overly sore due to the box variation. The box makes this a more concentric lift lessening the eccentric load and decreasing stress. The Bar type reduces shoulder stress and requires a good deal of core strength.

2B. Band Pull-ups 4x3-7

3A. DB Bench press 3x5-8
3aa. Peck stretch on squat rack

4A.1arm DB Row (w/ fat grip bar attachment) 3x6-10
4B. Low Back extensions

5. Abdominal Roman Chair Knee Raise 3x10-15

Day - 2 Medium Volume/Light Day
*dynamic warm-up/foam roll/lax ball soft tissue work/bands and other forms of pre-hab performed.

1A. Barbell Front Squat 3x5-8
* we reduce the vertebral loading here and focus on great bend and abdominal/core strength

1B. Lat Pulldown 3x6-10

2A. DB Shrugs 4x25
2B. Band Pull-aparts 4x25                                                                        
*both exercises are using a slow twitch muscle where higher reps should be performed.

3A. Seated Cable Row 3x12-15
3B. Swiss Ball reverse hyper extensions 3x15
*the lower back is trained every single session during the in-season. It's critical for lineman to have a strong posterior chain.

4 Bi's and Tri's - Pick any two you like. My personal favorites are Iso-hold DB curls and band tricep pushdowns. Both dont require much time and can get the desired affect after 2-3 sets. More importantly, because of the motion and the use of bands, tendinitis flare up and other muscle issues are eliminated. We do 2-3 sets of 10-20 reps each.


There you have a simple layout designed for one of the top lineman in the Shore. Before you rush off to begin training I want to remind you of a few things.

1. Your workouts should coincide with your work load. If you aren't playing much, you should still be training just as hard as you did in the off-season. No reason to de-train if you aren't playing. 
2. If you are taking an innumerable amount of snaps, adjust your training to fit what you can handle. Your main objective is recovery, so don't go crazy in the weight room. Remember, performance is number 1.
3. If you are injured, you should train hard at what you can and rehab like a madman. Get back on the field and then go back to training as a regular participant. Focus on your re-hab/exercises and be smart with heavy weights and range of motion. There are a ton of ways to stay strong, don't just jump into something cause you saw it some where. Get the recommendation of your trainer 1st. 
4. Your program should be somewhat specific to you. Do not just engage in any old program. Doing so can and will lead to injury. Heavy powerlifting, Olympic lifting workouts as well as cross-fit and other forms of high threshold training are not recommended for in-season football players. Train hard but also train smart. 

Stay tuned for part 2 on the importance of regeneration and rest. Until next time:

GET STRONG BE EXPLOSIVE!!

For more information on Key 2 Sports Training and Cornell Key, please visit www.Key2sportstraining.com or email him @ key2sportsperformance@gmail.com