High School Football Conditioning

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

I hope this is where this goes!!! I have a dilemma. My son just started the summer football lifting/training program at his high school(he’s a rising freshman). I am a weight lifter, trainer, and fitness instructor, so I know my way around as far as workouts go, but have never trained football athletes.

Here goes–I don’t agree at all as how they are having my son train. They are lifting every day- chest(bench usu), some sort of legs(squats, lunges), mixed in with some variety of shoulder work, cleans, abs, biceps and tris in the 4 days they meet.

So, is this normal??? Is this really how they train High School athletes? If not, how do I confront a Football Staff, that will think I’m just an over re-acting momma, even if I know what I am talking about!!!??

2

It’s probably not the best program for him, but as a freshman he needs to do what the coaches have planned, as long as he is not in danger of getting injured, etc.

I train a lot of kids, from 10-18, who go to high school and try out for sports. A lot of times the high school coaches have some ridiculous conditioning or lifting program, but I tell the freshman to just suck it up and do that.

After they make varsity, it a little easier for them to say to the coach, “I have a trainer that I work with,” once the coach knows them and knows their work ethic and that they actually are going to be doing something, not just slacking off.

3

[quote]Hoppy1015 wrote:
… If not, how do I confront a Football Staff, that will think I’m just an over re-acting momma, even if I know what I am talking about??? [/quote]

DONT EVER CONFRONT THE COACH UNLESS YOU WANT YOUR SON TO BE THE LAUGHING STOCK OF THE TEAM. Seriously. lol

The coaches have a program and a plan. It might not be what you think is ideal but let him be. Just enjoy watching your son play on Friday nights and cheer him and his teammates on

.greg.

4

Well, I really don’t want to confront them for that specific reason, —but— if he gets hurt due to their ridiculous program, they will hear from me!!!(you know it’s a momma bear thing!lol) It’s just so frustrating how many people don’t know what they’re doing, esp. when dealing with other peoples kids!

5

[quote]Hoppy1015 wrote:
Well, I really don’t want to confront them for that specific reason, —but— if he gets hurt due to their ridiculous program, they will hear from me!!!(you know it’s a momma bear thing!lol) It’s just so frustrating how many people don’t know what they’re doing, esp. when dealing with other peoples kids![/quote]

yeah I understand that. My mom was the same way back when I started playing highschool football. Does your son have a print out of the teams strength and conditioning program?

Your first post was a little confusing so I have a question. Is the coach having them do bench, squat and powerclean all in the same day? And then having them do that every day of the week? I was a little confused on that part.

hope I can be of help

.greg.

6

They do some type of bench everyday-different reps, incline, decline, heavy, light, then they do squats of some type everyday, lunges are mixed in on some of the days, deadlifts(it seems they are NOT teaching form-ughh-he was showing me what he’s doing, which we had a lesson in form-lol) mixed in too on various days. They add in cleans, cleans w/oh press and a squat,also, on varying days. The coaches just write out on the board what they want done that day and it’s not the same coach everyday. It seems there is no rhyme or reason!

7

I need to add that, they also have some kids that come every day(mine is one of them!Scared -he’ll miss something!) and then some come here and there, so I wonder, if they just put up a workout to “cover” the basics thinking if the guys missed a day they’re covered, not thinking about the guys that attend everyday!

8

Why not just train him yourself. My brother will be in 9th grade next year and I already started training him a little. I plan on keeping him with me throughtout highschool too.

I guess it depends how the coaches are but it seems to me they don’t really care about their strength and conditioning program they just want kids to show up. As long as your son is getting bigger, faster and stronger who cares where he’s training, Right?

9

This is why football coaches should not also try to be S&C coaches.

10

^^so you’re saying if you were an incoming highschool freshman trying to make the football team you’d be cool with telling the coaches and other players “Hey I’m not gonna be coming to weights anymore cause I’m gonna go workout with my mom. She’s gonna train me. See ya guys tomorrow”??? (no offense Hoppy)

I don’t think he’s gonna wanna do that but that’s just me.

OP is the highschool really small or something? Is the football team not any good?

.greg.

11

My arrows didn’t mean tinkled to your comment steel nation :slight_smile: good point though

.greg.

12

it would be good to have some other experienced voices in here of folks who S&C coach highschool football. would be happy to connect you with a few.

BUT

You are a pro trainer hoppy; have you met the kids’ coach? assuming a guy, does he seem like a descent bloke? if so have you considered having a chat with him? Let him know you’re also a pro, so you’d like to understand his plan for your kids, and based on your experience and knowledge of the research/practice, how is this approach not overdoing it?

you may want to look at some other training programs of successful teams at this level - see how they compare - i’d be happy to connect you with some of my colleagues who coach uni level S&C for football teams in california.

And gregron, if my mom were more qualified that the coach, and i ended moving better and moving stronger and faster, and i trusted her more than a coach (what’s his success record, by the way), ya i’d consider being out of there.

IF the coach is a secure person, he’ll want to have this convo with you because it’s in his interest to make sure parents are with him, not against him. If he can’t rationalize his program in terms of established programming principles, then there is a real potential problem, and you have cause to be concerned.

WHo knows he may welcome you with open arms saying “heh i just inherited this program from coach X - i just know how to teach football” and welcome you with open arms to take over some of the S&C planning.

dr mc schraefel

13

It is a small school(1000 enrollment for 9th-12th), and they do have a successful, winning record for the past several years. I don’t mind training him and have since he’s showed some interest(for about 2 years now). I feel the best thing for me to do is to monitor him(for injury and over soreness), make behind the scene suggestions(esp in form and weight) and step in if I need to. The head football is a really nice guy—but-- we live in the south and I don’t care if I had certifications ans degrees out the wazoo, most men down here would be offended if I said something! LOL!!! But I will say something if I need to and I’ll encourage him and be my son’s biggest cheerleader at his games!!!

14

That is one screwed up program they got going on… What the coach is doing by basically doing the same major muscle groups every day or every other day, is the kids are not going to be improving in any way. If it was my son or daughter or whatever. I would confront the coaches anyway. That is a horrible S&C program i have ever heard of. I been trained with D1 strength and conditioning coaches and all my years training with one, never ever been through that. Plus this could potential harm kids, i mean IE: squatting every day or ever other day. And with the cleans, to tell you the truth i only have done about 100 cleans in my life time.

The point of cleans is to understand the motion, so if the kids dont know the motions or right actions and they just jump right in, in the long run they are going to end up with nothing for not doing it right. The coach that trained me we would do alternative explosive lifts, like : Dumbbell snatch’s, granny tosses with medicine balls, Power throws, and alot of glute and hamstring movements to strengthen power and hip explosive movements. My advice would be since you have a good background with training… train him on the side… still let him go to regular weights but tell him to do light… i mean light weights. And then train with you a good schedule would be like…

IE:Group A:High school weights 6:00 a.m. Group B: training with you 4-5 o clock pm or whenever you have time to train him.

I have done that before with my junior and senior year in high school while my afternoon session was training with the Certified NSCA CSCS and BS Exercise Science. My morning weight lifting session at my high school I just did light weight while doing the workout. Just make sure he gets at least 6-8 good healthy meals. And if he is wanting to take supplements i know of some good supplements that will work.

I hope i gave good advice, if any other questions just ask. And i agree with Steel Nation … high school coaches shouldnt be the one to run a high school S&C program.

15

Unfortunately you’ve got to deal with it. You walking into a coaches office and telling him how he should be training his players is going to give him a good laugh and keep your kid on the bench for the next four years- especially if he’s got a winning program.

I played for one of the most successful programs in New Jersey when I was in HS, and our lifting was total-body, three days a week- long, grueling workouts with squats, bench, military presses, hang cleans, etc. It was probably the best that you can do for kids that are loaded with all kinds of other shit to do besides worrying about football (although let’s say it was quite a concern for you.)

Leave the coach alone. Do not “step in.” The coach isn’t walking into your gym and telling you how to train your clients, so don’t walk into his and tell him how to train his players.

Regardless of whether you know your shit or not, you will likely seriously offend him, and he’d have every right to be offended.

16

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
Unfortunately you’ve got to deal with it. You walking into a coaches office and telling him how he should be training his players is going to give him a good laugh and keep your kid on the bench for the next four years- especially if he’s got a winning program.

I played for one of the most successful programs in New Jersey when I was in HS, and our lifting was total-body, three days a week- long, grueling workouts with squats, bench, military presses, hang cleans, etc. It was probably the best that you can do for kids that are loaded with all kinds of other shit to do besides worrying about football (although let’s say it was quite a concern for you.)

Leave the coach alone. Do not “step in.” The coach isn’t walking into your gym and telling you how to train your clients, so don’t walk into his and tell him how to train his players.

Regardless of whether you know your shit or not, you will likely seriously offend him, and he’d have every right to be offended.[/quote]

Wow, you guys really have a terrible view of a person’s ability to listen to concerns.

Teachers and coaches actually have an obligation to be accountable to parents who effectively pay their salary.

there’s nothing wrong with asking questions or for that matter establishing a rapport with a coach.

i work with quite a few highschool coaches in working with athletes on their teams and it’s rare to find a coach who’s so insecure that questions with respect are not engaged well.

sorry so many of you have had such crap experiences. even in the south.

mc

17

[quote]-mc- wrote:
Wow, you guys really have a terrible view of a person’s ability to listen to concerns.

Teachers and coaches actually have an obligation to be accountable to parents who effectively pay their salary.

there’s nothing wrong with asking questions or for that matter establishing a rapport with a coach.

i work with quite a few highschool coaches in working with athletes on their teams and it’s rare to find a coach who’s so insecure that questions with respect are not engaged well.

sorry so many of you have had such crap experiences. even in the south.

mc
[/quote]

?I would have to agree with the others. Many HS coaches are very closed minded.

My personal advice would be for the mother to work with the son outside of the weights portion of the workout. Teach him proper form on all the movements they will be using during the football lift and then add in some glute hams, RDL’s and some sort of upper pulling movement. 2-4 sets of each. Hit the backside with a short but hard workout and master the lifts the coach wants done (light weigts, maybe for a warm up). Do this a couple times a week.

18

In my experience with high school football coaches you should not question them. I went to two different schools for high school, the first was a military academy with impressive football credentials, we were state prep league champs and the next year we were runner ups. The coach didnt know shit about weight lifting, but if someone questioned him it was usually ten minutes of ass chewing going on after that. The second school was a newish public school, with a coach who used to coach at Tulane and was an NFL QB coach (he took the job to be with his kids). He was an amazing football coach, we won the state 3a championship my junior year with only one loss and lost in the state championship senior year. This guy had no idea about proper strength and conditioning. I can honestly say every football coach I have played for has been an incredibly good FOOTBALL coach, none of them have known a damn thing about S&C. I would just monitor your son for injury, make sure he is using proper form (the way my coaches taught power cleans made me want to cry), and NOT give the coach an earful, even respectfully, he would bench your son for a long long time. I’ve been where your kid is, best of luck to him.

19

[quote]-mc- wrote:

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
Unfortunately you’ve got to deal with it. You walking into a coaches office and telling him how he should be training his players is going to give him a good laugh and keep your kid on the bench for the next four years- especially if he’s got a winning program.

I played for one of the most successful programs in New Jersey when I was in HS, and our lifting was total-body, three days a week- long, grueling workouts with squats, bench, military presses, hang cleans, etc. It was probably the best that you can do for kids that are loaded with all kinds of other shit to do besides worrying about football (although let’s say it was quite a concern for you.)

Leave the coach alone. Do not “step in.” The coach isn’t walking into your gym and telling you how to train your clients, so don’t walk into his and tell him how to train his players.

Regardless of whether you know your shit or not, you will likely seriously offend him, and he’d have every right to be offended.[/quote]

Wow, you guys really have a terrible view of a person’s ability to listen to concerns.

Teachers and coaches actually have an obligation to be accountable to parents who effectively pay their salary.

there’s nothing wrong with asking questions or for that matter establishing a rapport with a coach.

i work with quite a few highschool coaches in working with athletes on their teams and it’s rare to find a coach who’s so insecure that questions with respect are not engaged well.

sorry so many of you have had such crap experiences. even in the south.

mc
[/quote]

LOL. Listen, maybe your coaches were of the sensitive, accepting new-age type, but mine were old school fuckin hardasses.

And if someone’s mother came in and ever told the coach how his players should lift, that poor bastard would not only ride the bench, he’d be laughed off the team by the rest of us.

20

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:

[quote]-mc- wrote:

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
Unfortunately you’ve got to deal with it. You walking into a coaches office and telling him how he should be training his players is going to give him a good laugh and keep your kid on the bench for the next four years- especially if he’s got a winning program.

I played for one of the most successful programs in New Jersey when I was in HS, and our lifting was total-body, three days a week- long, grueling workouts with squats, bench, military presses, hang cleans, etc. It was probably the best that you can do for kids that are loaded with all kinds of other shit to do besides worrying about football (although let’s say it was quite a concern for you.)

Leave the coach alone. Do not “step in.” The coach isn’t walking into your gym and telling you how to train your clients, so don’t walk into his and tell him how to train his players.

Regardless of whether you know your shit or not, you will likely seriously offend him, and he’d have every right to be offended.[/quote]

so that happened a lot did it? that a mom asked a question and this was the effect?

Wow, you guys really have a terrible view of a person’s ability to listen to concerns.

Teachers and coaches actually have an obligation to be accountable to parents who effectively pay their salary.

there’s nothing wrong with asking questions or for that matter establishing a rapport with a coach.

i work with quite a few highschool coaches in working with athletes on their teams and it’s rare to find a coach who’s so insecure that questions with respect are not engaged well.

sorry so many of you have had such crap experiences. even in the south.

mc
[/quote]

LOL. Listen, maybe your coaches were of the sensitive, accepting new-age type, but mine were old school fuckin hardasses.

And if someone’s mother came in and ever told the coach how his players should lift, that poor bastard would not only ride the bench, he’d be laughed off the team by the rest of us.[/quote]

i’m sorry for your experience in growing up with mean spirited, small minded men who had your training, physically and psychologically in their hands, and gave you such foul models of intelligent interaction about same, especially with women, and somehow could only retaliate by taking their in securities about their skills on the field, about their communication and their facility with women out on children.

The important thing is that you - and the rest of your colleagues who have such the same here - have transcended that, are well rounded, strong, independent men, who can engage in a discussion about practice - esp with women - without being reduced to fears for your male member.

WAY TO GO.

mc