Football summer strength and conditioning program

Our goal is to help them achieve their optimal strength potential both in the weight room and on the playing field. Our strength training philosophy incorporates all components of strength training and is not particular to a certain genre. We believe that all divisions of strength training Powerlifting, Olympic Weightlifting, Strongman, etc.

It is also our belief that combining the various styles provides maximal stimulation to the athlete while keeping them from becoming overtrained, bored or stale. It makes all weight training sessions a positive rather than a negative experience for all our athletes.

The purpose of conditioning is to allow athletes to recover faster from high-intensity work plays, practice reps, etc.

Our goal is to reduce the level of fatigue that athletes would experience working and competing at maximum tempo. Realize that conditioning is task-specific. In other words, you can be in maximal running shape, but sub-maximal game shape. Contrary to popular opinion, no amount of running, bounding, hill sprints, etc. It is not until you practice and eventually play the game that you will achieve the conditioning effect necessary to play at a consistent high level.

It is important to understand that the conditioning done in the off-season will help your athletes develop a more efficient energy system. This will allow your athletes to recover faster and get into game shape faster.

Choosing to neglect off-season conditioning is not recommended. Coming into camp de-conditioned and un-acclimated to the heat will only prolong the time it takes to attain the level of football shape necessary to proficiently practice. There will be and should be situations where fatigue will be a direct result of your maximal effort; however, if fatigue is a result of your poor conditioning level, you deserve what you get.

There are three conditioning components that we stress in our training. It should engage different activities to develop increased levels of physical conditioning be it endurance, strength, speed or flexibility.

It is an excellent way to work on weak points. This type of workout usually stresses your anaerobic system. This system is used sparingly in football, usually on long breakout runs. It is used to help build your football recovery system. Warm-ups: Football forces you to put your body in awkward and unnatural positions. The way your body handles these situations is one of the keys to remaining healthy and making or not making plays. Through proper warm-ups, training and cool downs you can increase your chance of making plays and decrease your chance of injury.

Prior to every training session, whether it is strength training, conditioning or agility drills, a thorough warm-up must be done. The goal of all warm-up sessions is to increase body temperature and to prepare the major joints and muscles for strenuous activity throughout their full range of motion.

Full range of motion can reduce the chance of muscle tears, ligament strains, and injuries to connective tissue. The conditioning workouts combine various running and agility drills to improve players' foot speed and keep them in top physical shape. Exercises include the zig zag cut drill, back pedal and cut, various sprints and pro agility. The University of Alabama football strength program was created by strength and conditioning coordinator Scott Cochran. It too can be found for free on Stack Magazine's website.

The program lasts 15 weeks during the summer and is geared toward improving player strength, speed, conditioning level and power. The goal is to get players stronger, faster and more powerful.

According to Cochran: "Coach Saban wants us to be a fast, physical, dominant team. He wants us to be in better shape than the opposition in the fourth quarter. Exercises include forms of squatting, upper-body pulling movements, upper-body push movements and Olympic weight lifting. Exercises vary with each workout, as do rep and set ranges. The team conditions four days per week. Summer conditioning exercises include yard sprints, ladder drills, stadium stair runs and rope jumps.

Nebraska football was the first to lift weights in-season, the first to take a portable weight room to a bowl game, and the first to computerize lifting progress charts for individual student-athletes. Husker Power created the most advanced strength equipment in the country.

As a result, the Husker Power program is recognized as the finest in the country, because Nebraska has led the nation in strength and conditioning innovation.

The work ethic of the Nebraska student-athletes is remarkable. When you combine a great work ethic, with a great strength program, the results can be pretty amazing.

For example, the following walk-on football players earned All-American honors:. Related: How to Build Power for Athletes. Mount the treadmill with your legs straddling the running deck. Step on the deck and beginning sprinting while holding on to the front handrail. Sprint for 15 seconds and dismount. Rest for 1 minute — 30 seconds and continue this procedure until you have completed ten reps.

Cool down. Quick warning on these, they may make you hate life as we know it. During this workout, you will run one set of yard sprints. From a stance, sprint yards. After crossing the finish line coast ten yards and turn around. The rest interval begins as soon as you cross the finish line. Rest 45 seconds and again sprint yards. Continue until you have completed ten yard sprints.