5-3-1 template

[Calis]

@James_Smith

I’ve only loosely used the template in times past and loosely is an understatement.

It was only used on the bench press, as I do not have my guys press overhead and we only perform RDLs twice a year and not heavy; and I no longer use percentages for the squat (I prescribe volume and the weight is up to my guys)

One of the myriad of Charlie’s teachings that I firmly adhere to is that weights, specifically general weights in my case, always follow speed.

Thus I do not prioritize general weight training; particularly because its so damn easy to develop in relation to speed, movement skill, specialized ability and neurophysiological adaptations in the form of improved speed of processing visually received information and responding to it rapidly with high coordination.

I really can’t emphasize how easy it is to develop general strength to sufficient enough levels for athletes.

I don’t mean to insult anyone by making this statement; its simply the reality of my experience in working with my athletes; irrespective of here at the university, high school level, and earlier.

This has turned into a really interesting thread, thanks for all the info James.

I really like the look of your programme in general. One thing is was wondering about though is the above quote. I understand where you are coming from in that general strength is one of the easiest qualities to develop in your athletes as a strength and conditioning coach. I believe that most football S&C coaches put far too much emphasis on it at the expenses of other elements of their programmes. However I am slightly surprised at just how little emphasis you seem to put on it.

Simply looking at it on paper I would have thought that only the most gifted athletes would develop the strength and size necessary for football without more emphasis on weight training. Obviously this is not the case as your athletes are doing tremendously well.

I would assume that the answer probably lies in the other elements of your programme such as sprinting/jumps/med ball work driving the progression of weights and allowing you to use lower volumes/intensities. Would you agree with this?

If you had a player come into your programme that was skilful but much weaker than they should be for their position, do you think a greater emphasis on strength work would be necessary, or would the way your programme normally works be sufficient to bring them up to the desired strength levels?

Thanks for you time.