How I Write Programs: Epsisode 9 - Running

This is a topic that someone asked about a while ago. I conveniently forgot about it because I don't really enjoy the running part. And, I'm not very good at it. I keep it very simple and straight forward. I like to have them do a few things and get really good at them. Running/Conditioning is different at different times of the year. I can control a good amount of what we do in the winter with the exception of the Friday Team Run when the coaches are involved. Regardless, I try to treat this the same way as I would handle the summer when I'm in total control.

• Monday - Speed
• Wednesday - Conditioning
• Friday - Agility

In the early summer Wednesday and Friday are flipped. Since we do 8 stations on Fridays in the winter it's Agility work. I use the Wednesday as a recovery and general conditioning day. Once we get into July we add a day of running.

• Monday - Speed (Lift)
• Tuesday - Agility
• Wednesday - No Run (Lift)
• Thursday - Agility
• Friday - Speed (Lift)

Speed Workout

• Starts: 6-10 reps (vary positions)/10-15 yards/60-90 seconds rest
• Single-leg Hops: 3-5 reps each leg/10-15 yards/60-90 seconds rest
• Skater Hops: 2-3 reps/20 yards/60-90 seconds rest
• Bounding: 2-3 reps/20-30 yards/60-90 seconds rest
• I usually wait until Week 3 or 4 to add Bounding. When I add Bounding I cut the Single-leg Hops back to 1-2 reps each leg.
• Flying 10's/20's (Done on Friday only): 2-4 reps/40 yards/60-90 seconds rest
• The Fat Guys (OL and interior DL) will do 10 and 20 yard sprints (basically starts all over again)
• The Big Fellas will also do half the reps and usually a little less distance with the SL Hops and Bounding. Those are very taxing on big people.

Agility Workout - Cone Drills

• Also known as "Perfection".
• Choose 4, 4 Cone/Box Drills (5x5 or 10x10 yard boxes)
• Must perform 4 reps of each drill without a mistake before we move on to next drill
• 16 reps (minimum - perfect day) up to... It all depends on how focused everybody is

Agility Workout - Line Drills

• Similar to "Perfection" - Choose 4 drills (I usually do 3 every week and have a 4th as some variety)
• I use the NFL Pro Agility, Nebraska Agility and Squirm. The 4th drill changes every week. If I have assistant coaches around I'll have the DB's do a Backpedal drill in place of the Squirm and the "variety" drill
• This is basically short burst of straight line change of direction as opposed to the Cone drills where there are variations of Straight Line, Crossover Run, Lateral and Backpedal)
• I usually tell them, "Put your foot in the ground and go back the way you came."

Conditioning Workout

• If I use variety, this is where it happens. I have a yardage goal for each week. I usually have 3-4 different drills. The reps for each add up to the yardage goal for that week.
• Early in the summer/winter these are longer and easier (70-80% effort) (1/2 Gassers, 50's, 120 yard Shuttles...)
• Last 4 weeks of summer/winter they get shorter and harder (85-95% effort)

If I'm organized and explain things well, Warm-ups and Speed/Agility workouts take about 25-30 minutes total. As we get deeper into the training cycle and the kids know what we're doing it drops down to about 20-25 minutes. If you do the math, the rest periods will make the sessions longer. The basic "rules" I follow are:

1. They get rest while their teammates are doing their reps.
2. I do "sets" with short rest. Once the sets are done (X number of reps) we get a nice little break to catch our breath and continue.

Total workout time in the weight room is around 45-50 minutes and 20-30 (including warm-ups) on the field. A little more than an hour. I make adjustments to the running/lifting based on where we are in training and what the injury report looks like. I also listen to and watch the kids move. If they look like shit and the warm-up doesn't help much I'll make a game time decision. We may just do Tempo type runs instead of what's planned. This is where the art of coaching comes in. I finished training about 15 minutes before this idea came into my head. I feel like I'm starting to ramble. I hope this makes sense. By no means is this perfect. It is consistent. We start light and progress slowly. We take breaks/make changes when needed. We get really good at a few things that can help improve speed and agility. It is not comprehensive. I don't do everything that can help speed and agility. I don't think you need to. I think you touch some of the basics and as mentioned, get really good at them. Magically, it seems to work.