strength training program

Expert Discussion Weightlifting
1

i was wondering if this is a good strength training program for the off season for track athletes. im trying to increase explosion and my speed

sorry if this is not the right section

Monday-
snatch-3x6
squat-3x8
hang clean-3x6
deadlifts-3x8
leg curls-3x6
standing calf raises-3x6

Tuesday-
Db bench press-3x10
Db Military press-3x8
front lat pulldowns-3x8
dumbbell curls-3x8

wednesday- off

Thursday-
Power clean-3x6
squat-3x8
clean & jerk-3x6
good mornings-3x8
ab work-3x15

friday-
Tbar rows-5x5
bench press-3x8
push press-3x8
straight bar curls-3x8
back lat pulldowns-3x8

btw i created this and should i add more plyo workouts?

2

Make changes to the program:

reduce overall volume
reduce reps on ol

3

Agree with tamfb.

One my football players, who I prepared for NFL pro day, ran a 6.65 60yd in training with me (electronically timed from first movement) on field turf in football cleats at 5’10" 206lbs bodyweight.

At our pro day he:
vertically jumped 40in
standing long jump 10’8"
benched 225 x 25
40yd dash 4.45 (hand timed by NFL scouts)

To give you an idea how strong he is, in training ,during a max strength block, I stopped him from going heavier than a very easy 380lb bench press and a similarly easy 525lb squat.

To give you an idea of his true maximum strength potential, he is around a 400lb bench and the better part of a 600lb squat.

Want to know what his training exercises consisted of during the 13 week prepatory program I constructed for him for pro day…

  • sprints
  • tempo runs
  • bench press
  • back squat
  • seated cable row
  • partner reverse hyper
  • jumps
4

Not to hijack but, James, what are your thoughts on the frequency of drop and depth jumps in a training year? For how long and how often do you feel they can be used? I’ve read 2-3x a year at a max of 4-6 weeks at a time. Could this all be done in one off season, or would you wait to use them 4-6 weeks in advance of something big? Or, if volume and recovery are adjusted and fluctuated accordingly, can they be used at any time for any period?

5

I Agree on both.

6

Monday-
snatch-4x2
squat-3x8

Tuesday-
Db bench press-3x10
front lat pulldowns-3x8

wednesday- off

Thursday-
Power clean-4x3
squat-3x8

friday-
bench press-3x8
back lat pulldowns-3x8[/b]

7

I would have guess his 40yd time would have been faster after running that 6.65yd elec time.

8

the fastest he had ran in training with me prior to the pro day on a hand timer was low mid 4.5 range; however I never encouraged him to run as if it were race day (always fast and relaxed) so I knew he would go 4.4 and change after the taper and considering the energy and demand to perform on pro day.

I wouldn’t have been surprised with a high 4.3; however, I wasn’t counting on it either.

He is truly the most impressive genetic specimen I have ever coached with a level of muscularity and musculo-tendonous elasticity not often seen.

9

It really depends on a host of variables which, in turn, makes it difficult to have a discussion without having more specific context.

In general, however, dosage and duration are the primary regulatory mechanisms that, in the end, determine whether or not a training irritant presents a negligible, optimal, or excessive demand on the organism.

You must provide sport, competition calendar, programming strategy, preparation of athlete, etcetera in order to have a meaningful discussion.

10

sport, competition calendar, programming strategy, preparation of athlete,

OK. An intermediate athlete (basketball) with a high work capacity and a training age of almost 2 years. This is one of my teammates. He has a very important tryout in mid-May, another one in early August and his season begins in October. He has decent strength, good RFD, below average to average reactivity, but very good movement efficiency and coordination. His training (which is very similar mine) looks like this. There is currently a little more than a month until his tryout. After taking 2 weeks of active rest after the season, he began training 2 weeks ago.

Following a hi-lo split

Week A
Day 1-Workout 1-Drop Jumps 4-6x3
Squats
unilateral work
hamstrings

Day 2-Workout 2-200-250 yds. of sprints (made up of mainly 10 and 20 yd. sprints)
Bench
Chins
Arms

Day 3-Workout 3-Drop Jumps 4-6x3
Deadlift
unilateral
hamstrings

Week 2
Day 1-Workout 4-Sprints 200-250 yards (made up of mainly flying 20’s and 40’s)
Heavy chins
DB Pressing
Arms

Day 2-Workout 1

Day 3-Workout 2

And then following that for the next four weeks, except that after next week, drop jumps are changed to depth jumps. A week out, drop all lower weight work and all hi activities 3-4 days out. He plays on the hi days and does easier skill training on the low days, where 1,000-2,500 yards of tempo are completed, along with other things like mobility, abs, foam roll etc.

I was planning on, as long as his improvement dictated continued improvement of reactivity, more so than explosiveness, that each phase could include depth jumps. Possibly after his may tryout, the next 6 week cycle could include 3 weeks of box jumps, followed by 3 weeks of depth jumps. Would their value become diminished at this rate?

11

wow u hijacks my thread
but its cool

12

program suck, ur during lower and jumps one day and speed the next, that plan may work for about 3 weeks then ur athlete will be shyt. No need for a bb athlete to do max v work, also i dont understand how ur following a hi-lo spilt.

13

Each high intensity workout day is separated by 48 hours, with lower intensity work done on the days in between. The training is therefore grouped by its intensity and effect on the nervous system, thus a hi-lo split.

Why would he be shit after three weeks? Is there a law that says you can’t split up jumps from sprints and lower weights? Maybe some more explanation with some facts would help your argument. Every single athlete I have ever trained has followed something close to this layout and improved dramatically, consistently?

For reasons beyond my control, at his tryout in May, he will be tested on his 40 yard dash. When I tested right before he started training, he ran a 5.1 40 yard dash. His best 10 yard dash is 1.66, his best 20 yard dash is 2.9. He obviously needs a lot of work on his max v. That is why that is in there. Otherwise, his sprints would be all-acceleration oriented (under 40 yards).

14

ok, i didnt know about the low int work, i was going by ur days which you have day 1= monday and day 2= tue, you should have day 1 weights and day 3 speed which would make it easier to understand. You need to time his runs using a electronic device esp for the 10 and 20, bc the numbers you have listed dont make sense.

15

I know how weird the times sound. He says he has spent his whole life never doing any sprint training and I mean any kind, not just sprints with full recoveries, besides sucides etc. he’s done in practice. But he said he has also, for two or three years now, always worked on his acceleration on the court, with a ball, albeit it without appropriate recoveries for true speed work. But, my guess is this lack of never going anywhere near max v played a large role in his sprinting discrepancies. But we timed it, by hand, a few times and the results were the same consistently. His sprint from 20 to 40 is basically abysmal.

16

You’ve stated nothing of his strength preparation as the words decent, good, very good, below average, etcetera are rooted in subjectivity and mean different things to different coaches.

All you’ve listed are some sprint times with some tremendous discrepencies.

As a result, as far as I’m concerned, we are still unable to have a meaningful discussion regarding his training.

So you can see I am confused as to how you might state that he has good RFD, good movement efficiency, good coordination, decent strength, and runs a 5.1 40yd dash?

Despite the fact that you state he has done no sprint work beyond very very short distances it is not accurate to consider the 40yd range as max v work unless this man is in the 300lb range of bodymass. I’d use very tall height as a possible excuse as well;however, I don’t see a near 7 footer cutting 1.6 in the 10.

I have +300lb linemen that run 5.1 in the 40 and all in all they do a hell of a lot less running then a basketball player. One of our 1st round candidates just ran a 5.3 40 at 6’6 330lbs.

List your guys numbers so we’re all on the same page.

17

20 years old 6’2" 175 lbs.

1rm- squat-255 deadlift- 305

No-step Vert-24 in.

Running one-leg vert-26 in.

He has had obviously very little technique training regarding his sprinting, so I figured a 1.6 10 yd. was pretty good. And since his strength levels are ok, but <1.5x bw, and one’s 10 yard dash and their explosiveness are directly related, I figured his RFD was pretty solid. Is this thinking wrong? Thanks James.

18

Thanks James I totally agree with everything you said earlier, his training age/test numbers etc is that of a 16yr old someone who could use everything bc they haven’t develop any of the training qualities. Example a 16yr kid who has a 16inVJ and run a 5.7 40yd dash, why try and specialize his program to work on max v or reactive strength this athlete need to work on everything (flex, mobility, power, speed, agility, strength, coordination, fitness). My point is the athlete we are talking about run a 5.1yd dash so I didn’t understand why his coach felt like he needed to develop his max v.

19

I would argue that all of the things you mentioned are being trained in his program, with the main focus being on strength. The max v work, which is in reality quite small, is being used to develop reactive ability as much as max v.

20

Ok, now we can move on this.

In reality, his physical preparation is very low especially considering his chronological age.

Just as tamfb stated, and despite the fact that he is 20years old, this man will experience tremendous mileage by simply improving his general physical condition and is no where near the level of strength preparation that requires shock methodology to further stimulate the increase of motor potential.

This is not to state that specific training is not warranted; but rather to state that the physical training other than sport practice and work capacity exercise should be general.

training the special work capacity via energy system training that includes physical work which satisfies dynamic correspondence is well warranted.

Regarding the program,

I favor the performance of the same primary exercises throughout individual training blocks while allowing a slightly greater leeway in varying the auxiliary work.

I would drop the deadlifts from the floor and replace those with an RDL, back raise, reverse hyper, etcetera while leaving a press in the plane of the scapula and a squat as the primary barbell exercises.

Auxiliary work encompasses all other exercises that are performed at a capacity that poses negligible impact on recovery because the intensity is not as high as the primary work. This work includes any work that builds the muscles and serves a preventative maintenance/prehab capacity.

I like the same primary work performed more frequently throughout the microcycle in lesser volume per session because this facilitates stronger adaptation and as Charlie has pointed out allows the training irritant to be more evenly distributed throughout the course of the microcycle which, in turn, allows for more efficient fine tuning of the day to day loading as the next exposure to the same irritant is always just around the corner.