xlr8

xlr8,

I’m 15, in the 11th grade and new here. i need you to help me organize speed program that will get me ready track next year and ultimately football. i’m playing my first year ever of football this year i’m strong and somewhat fast but havent really learned th game yet so i’m not playing that much. bcause of this i figure my only chances of playing football in college is if i go to a high school combine and go to a camp over the summer and get seen. My goal is to gain some size, strength and alot of speed. i looking for a program to do after football is over (Decemeber). After i will be able to train from 4-7 mon-fri and sat&sun whenever

position: cornerback, but i wanna play SS or LB
weight: 170
height: 5’10"
squat: 385
bench: 275
vertical: 34"
40 yd: unknown

i have access to my school weight room but no track but i do have access to stairs

this is not just to xlr8 but to neone who can help

My advice is

  1. Find Xlr8’s planning for combines thread. Read it it has tons of good info.

  2. Check out elitefts.com They have some good S&C Coaches with training logs there plus a few older articles on strength training for football.

  3. Write out a basic plan with agilities, speed, tempo, strength. No need to get too fancy here.

  4. Use what ever tools you have, ie. if you do not have any one that can teach you PROPER olympic lift technique, do not include them, find alternatives.

  5. Don’t go overboard on plyo’s, which is all too common.

  6. post the program here and ask for a critique. You’ll find a lot of constructive criticism. There are a lot of good minds here (David W xlr8 clemson, Charlie etc…).

  7. Assimilate the feedback, and make changes as YOU feel are needed.

after looking around here’s my new program. ne suggestions?

Daily Workout
Speed drills Monday and Thursday

  Sets	  Development	Peak

Warm-up Warm-up routine
Stretching Stretching
Starts 6-10 Form starts x5 reps Form starts x5 reps
position starts x5 reps Position starts x 5 reps
Sprints 6-10 Buildups x4 reps Buildups x2 reps
Hollow sprints x 2 reps
Flying 10s x 2 reps
Flying 20s x 2 reps
Flying 30s x 2 reps
Plyometrics 6-10 Power skips for distance Power skips for distance
X 2 reps x 2 reps
Bounding x 2 reps Bounding x 2 reps
Right, left, jump x reps
Bag jumps x 2 reps
Resisted 6-10 none Stairs x 3-5 reps
Mobility Mobility routine Mobility routine

Agility drills Tuesday and Friday

Warm-up Warm-up routine Warm-up routine
Stretching Stretching routine Stretching routine
Rope drills 6-10 Every other hole x 2 reps Every other hole x 2 reps
Every hole x 2 reps Every hole x 2 reps
Lateral step x 2 reps Lateral step x 2 reps
Rope weave x 2 reps Bunny hop x 2 reps
Rope weave x 2 reps
Bag drills 4-8 Straight run x 2 reps Straight run x 2 reps
Lateral step x 2 reps Lateral step x 2 reps
Change of direction Change of direction X 2 reps X 2 reps
Cone drills 4-8 Rag x 2 reps Zigzag x 2 reps
Dodging run x 2 reps Rag x 2 reps
Nebraska agility x 2 reps Nebraska agility 2 reps Four-corner carioca
X 2 reps
Jump rope drills Jump rope routine Jump rope routine

This looks like a workout from “Complete Conditioning for Football”
by Mike Arthur and Bryan L. Bailey. The biggest problem that I see with it is that you are htting the CNS hard for 4 days in a row. I would prefer you to work on an MWF schedule and use TTh for tempo. Also there are a lot of general agility drills. I would reduce the number to work on some basic movement patterns and spend more time on raw speed and acceleration.

right now i weigh 175
do u think it is possible for me to get up to 190-200 while gaining speed

I’m not sure that it is a wise idea to squat with really heavy weights at 15 years old. I remember reading in an old issue of ‘Hardgainer’, in the chiropractic section by the late Dr Keith Hartman (chiropractor and powerlifter), that males should not put heavy weights on their backs until they are over 18 years old. The reason (if i can remember correctly) is that the osification (sp?) centres of the spine are still soft at your age and are thus succeptible to permanent compression (in other words you may not reach your potential height). They do not harden until around 18 years of age. Though if you are of recent African ancestry (black in other words), you may be able to start squatting 1 year earlier than this because the spine matures (the centres close) at this faster rate in black males.

That being said, you should make the most of training (as you are doing) at the age you are at now, because you are in your peak testosterone years and progress should be rapid if you do things correctly. Just don’t use weights or exercises that compress an immature spine.

To some of the more experienced guys on the board, is my advice correct as YOU understand things? Also what could he use in place of heavy barbell squats? He seems fairly strong (especially for his age) so i don’t think advising him to perform higher reps in the squat would work because sooner rather than later he is going to be handling a fairly heavy weight in those e.g he is probably capable of 275lb x 20 reps now.

I know it’s way too specific, but what about leg press? Though having said that, he could do split squats or lunges as this would reduce the load his spine has to cope with. Any thoughts??

Over what time frame? If you are looking to put on 20# in the next year, you will definitely get slower because much of that weight will be fat. Over the longer term, it certainly is possible. I weighed about 170 coming out of high school and over the course of about 6 years put on over 30 pounds and am faster now than I was then.

I recommend that you sort out your needs take care of any ‘looks right, flies right’ issues first in your accumulation phase, then start training for max strength and speed. Your muscle mass will sort itself out based on the demands you impose.

Can anyone comment on this?

This is quite an important issue, as there are many highschool athletes like longwood5 who are squatting very heavy poundages at an early age. Yet, it is very difficult to find reliable information about this on the internet (most of which on health websites is just hear-say and does not go into a lot of detail).

I know that Mel Siff did a force plate study and concluded that forces on the epiphysal plates of the knees and ankles during heavy squats were significantly less than those encountered during jumping and running. He also said ‘Fortunately, the materials comprising the different elements (especially the intervertebral discs) of the spine are viscoelastic and poroelastic, so that shock loading to the spine is fairly well damped in the healthy spine (an ability which decreases with dehydration, age and certain diseases).’

Could some of the experienced members comment on this? I’m sure a lot of us know younger guys who squat very heavy loads (though in a safe manner - progressively), if it can potentially stunt their growth, it is important to let them know.

I thinks its possible to have a substantial mass gain in the off season (which for me is after next week until august 11 2004) becuase i never touched a weight before this previous year and prior to weight training I was 5’11" 200lbs 13%body fat and only began the april before(thats about 4 months and two weeks of lifting) and by the time the start of football rolled around i was 227lbs and 12% body fat, much faster than before, and while not much leaner(im not trying to make exscuses but if you were to see my family they all are naturally a little large), so I think one could put on 20lbs of muscle without the gain of fat or only gaining a little.

Between now and the next football season

at your age,it is possible to put on great muscle mass gains in one off-season. however i wouldnt commit to putting on x amount of weight, just put on lean muscle at a steady rate-if you try and blowup really quick alot of it will be fat. but like i said at your age it is possible.
also, your 15- and you already have size for your age. my advice would be to look at it over the course of your high school career. if you try and put on all kinds of weight now its a possibility that you could get slower. if i were you i would aim for putting on solid, extremely lean mass, and getting fast as hell. in three years when your a senior, if you take the weight gain steady (maybe 10lbs-12 a year(for three years) rather than 25lbs in one year) you could be 215lbs hard as a rock and real fast.
point being as a fb’er one tenth of second faster on the 40yrd dash is more impressive than 5-10lbs.

In football max speed isnt really that important, acc. is, you rarely get to run 40yds in a str8 line in a game, its all about going 5 yard, cutting then accelerating as fast as possibly, as because of lateral and backwards movement you do not get the chance to get to top speed.

my thing is that i’m a junior in highschool now. and next year will be my last year to play higschool football so i wanna make the best outta my senior year

As well a huge factor in football(if your a linebacker) is reading the linemen and reacting to the,(playing at gamespeed) and this along with agility and acc. should be your focus, not top speed, cuz truthfully as a linebacker your not going to use it unless in pursuit on a long run by the opposition.

i guess i misunderstood where your at (junior).
im a fb/lb as well. still i wouldnt concerntrate on putting on “as much weight as possible”. put on as much muscle as you can-acceleration and agility are more important.
if your looking to go to the next level the first thing they look at is game film, so dont take plays off. you can always fudge 5-10lbs on paper, but you cant change whats on the film. ive been through it all before so just trying to help…

hey thanks alot for the help everyone