What's Most Important?
This is a question that we need to ask ourselves as many times as possible year after year because everything we do on a daily basis needs to be grounded on our answer.
Win Games by Waving Volume
Most college programs that I’ve seen basically run three sets on all accessories. I didn’t want to be most college programs. I had to find a way to do a ton of work and build work capacity but also not run the kids into the ground. That’s where waving volume came into play.
Does the 225 Bench Press Repetitions Test Even Matter?
In a published journal article, we examined 31 football players on the 225 Test (and we also collected some velocity data, so hold on to your hats for future publications from this data set) to see if this test made any difference in playing time.
Integration of Strength and Power Programming for the Lower Body in Spor...
Running sports are tangential in nature, so in order to optimize transfer from the weight room to the field, both vertical and horizontal movements need to be considered. To this end, the program I am going to outline will look at elements of training to ensure all bases are covered.
WATCH: I am JM Blakley
“Our human potential is much higher than we recognize.” elitefts coach and columnist JM Blakley might be the namesake of the JM Press, but he hopes his impact in the strength sports world will go far beyond that and the weights he’s lifted.
Smarter Programming for the Competitive Box Athlete
Believe it or not, it is possible to train multiple qualities at the same time. Athletes all over the world are training that way and making huge strides.
Phase 1: How You Should Start Young Athletes in the Weight Room
If you’re not sure where to start training a 12-year-old who’s a complete novice in the weight room, this program might just be the place.
The Good Trainer
You don’t need to hire the Stephen Hawking of all trainers, but you’ll still want a knowledgeable, safe, efficient, and successful trainer.
The End of My Era as a Strength and Conditioning Coach
I have left collegiate strength and conditioning because I’m concerned with where we’re going as a profession. I still want to be a positive force for the profession, but I’m not sure how to help. I’ll try to keep being a voice of change for positivity.
Common Strength Pitfalls to Avoid
Here’s an idea: If your team is losing a game, how about instead of celebrating one good play, try focusing on how you and your team can muster a win.
Caught in the Middle
It’s a double-whammy when you’re the last person standing from the most recent rounds of strength staff layoffs. You’ll have to deal with new head coaches and new staff members. What do you do in that situation? Follow these tips, and you’ll have a good grip on the handle if this happens to you.
Do You Have a Task- or Process-Oriented Mindset?
A couple of years ago, I was fixated on all the wrong things. The big picture was out of scope. I urge you to take the time to slow down on accomplishing tasks and enjoy the process. Build relationships and make memories — you’ll regret it if you don’t.
RPE Method for the Max Effort Lane
Believe it or not, sometimes max effort work is not the best option. Here are a few scenarios where that may be the case as well as what you can do to fill in the gaps where the max effort method would be.
The Education Disconnect
A third-year sports coaching strength and conditioning major told me he had learned more about exercise technique in two 10-minute sessions under my instruction than he had over the entirety of his degree to that point. How can we ensure these students are getting the best education?
How Athletes Come to College
I never cease to be amazed at how messed up new collegiate athletes are when they start lifting in the weight room. Year in and year out, this keeps happening without any sign of improvement. Why does this keep happening?
Interview: Brewers' Aaron Hoback's Individualized Template
If you’re looking for sets and reps, you’re in the wrong place. But if you wanted some insight on players’ knowledge bases, individualized programs, and how new technologies are becoming more reliable, from Aaron Hoback, athletic trainer for the Milwaukee Brewers, you’re right where you should be.
The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team: Lack of Commitment, Avoidance of Accountab...
In my last article, I went over 2 of the 5 dysfunctions of a team. Here, I’ll cover the remaining 3 and how to bring the team closer together.
We Pick Things Up and We Put Them Down
A coach once asked me, “Why do you lift?” My reply: “If aliens landed here and saw a basketball game going on, they wouldn’t have any clue what was happening. But if they saw lifting, they could at least wrap their heads around what they were seeing.”
Selecting Appropriate Exercises for Youth Athletes
Parents are understandably worried about their children starting strength training. Ease their minds by selecting appropriate exercises for their kids.
Neck Training Guidelines to Reduce Incidences and Severity of Concussions
A strong neck is critical to preventing concussions in athletes participating in contact sports — but what are the best ways to strengthen necks?
LISTEN: Table Talk Podcast #34 with Ross Kolodziej
Before the Buckeyes face off against the Badgers, University of Wisconsin’s head strength and conditioning coach Ross Kolodziej joins Dave for a late-night Table Talk Podcast episode.
Is This the Right Fit?
Not every job is going to be the right fit for you, no matter how hard you try to make it work. Know who you are, what you believe in, what you are willing to sacrifice, and what you will and will not do.
Progressions in Exercise Selection Based on Technical Proficiency
I firmly believe you have to start at the simplest movement that someone can master correctly, and then, over time, progress from that simple movement to the more complex movements. The process is one of progressive skill acquisition.
Practical Prilepin Plans
It is this article’s intention to impart an easily identifiable progression in accordance with Prilepin’s stipulations and practical examples of it, all of which I’ve used at the Division I level.
The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team: Absence of Trust and Fear of Conflict
I used the book The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team to help bring my athletes closer together, especially when there was a major shift in the team. These exercises helped bring us closer together and improved performance and morale.
5 Alternatives to Olympic Lifts
I have nothing against the Olympic lifts. They’re fantastic movements that create explosive power. It’s just that there are safer alternatives that still force the lifter into triple extension.
LISTEN: Table Talk Podcast Clip — A Message to High School Coaches
Ideally, the kids should be learning from the coaches’ example. So what does that say about coaches who are calling kids lazy?
Combining Dynamic Hip and Stabilization Drills for Runners
Strength training for runners is the chassis that underpins the abilities of speed and endurance to help these withstand practice and compete at a higher level — no meathead approach here! Plus, all you need for this program is a buddy and a band. Easy peasy.
How My Programming's Improved Over the Years
I love and hate programming. When I’m doing research and reading stuff, my brain goes a million miles per hour. Of course, everything I read seems like the greatest idea ever, so I have to dial it down, but I’ve gotten better at it over the years, and it shows.
Don’t Let The Things You Love Destroy You
The things that gym owners and coaches love to do are destroying them. Find what you love to do without it taking too much of a toll on your health, both mental and physical. #BeThe1ToAsk others if they need help.
Specialized: The Baseball Training Manual
I’m no wizard when it comes to baseball, but I’m about to blow your mind: My team lifts heavy, keeps volume down on max effort work, does a lot of speed work, and I don’t condition the strength out of them.
To Hell With Ankle Mobility...
In the strength industry, we’re putting too much emphasis on the side dishes. We’re combining the main course and the dessert. When’s the last time you smeared your cupcake frosting over your fat juicy steak and mushrooms?!
Applying The French Contrast Method to Beginners
As with all great articles and ideas, this one was inspired… by a controversial tweet. Rather than rail against the idea that newbies shouldn’t use the French Contrast Method, I argue that this training method actually may be suitable for beginners in some situations.
WATCH: Matt Rhodes' Problems with Sports Coaches
Strength coaches have a lot of problems to deal with. Some of those problems come from the strength coaches themselves, but don’t even get him started on the sports coaches… too late, though. We got him talking about them.
7 Items Rugby Players (and I) Can't Lift Without
I am seeing that the specific injuries that are inherent in rugby need a modified program that’s not using traditional training equipment to get results, so here are 7 of my non-traditional tools of the trade.
What You Will Gain From a Strength and Conditioning Internship
You’ll learn a lot from your strength and conditioning internship — but there are some things you might glean over. Keep these points in mind, and you’ll get even more out of your internship than you thought possible.
How to Effectively Train Core Strength
My idea of developing core strength is by both locally and globally training all the musculature that is attached to the hips, specifically by focusing on programming planks.
My Biggest Mistakes as a Strength and Conditioning Coach
These are just a few of my mistakes, and I’ve made many more than the ones listed here. Remember, mistakes are just lessons, so if you haven’t made any mistakes, you haven’t learned any lessons.
Items Every Weight Room on A Tight Budget Needs
Not everyone has been there — there being a facility on a tight budget — but I have. If you’re feeling the financial squeeze but desperately need new equipment, these should be more than enough to get your weight room by.
Collegiate vs. Private Sector Strength and Conditioning with Brian Bott
What are the pros and cons of being a strength coach at the collegiate level or in the private sector? The similarities? The differences? Coach Brian Bott, former University of Wisconsin strength coach-turned-founder of Sports AdvantEDGE, tells all in an interview.
Don't Be Afraid to Try
A self-made millionaire once told me that we all have great ideas; it’s just that 99% of people don’t act on them. Those words came to mind this summer when I took the largest step I’ve ever taken out of my comfort zone…
3 Quick Fixes for a Stronger Deadlift
Quick fixes: They’re usually bandages on a leaky pipe. But in some cases, a quick fix might be more like the duct tape that fixed the Apollo 13 module. These 3 technique fixes are like duct tape for your deadlift, so wrap up and strengthen that lift.
6 Keys to Starting A High School Strength and Conditioning Program
When starting a high school strength and conditioning program, be sure to implement rules early on and communicate clearly… and those are only a handful of things to get your program off the ground running.
Listen and Learn: How I'm Developing My Staff
When you sit and yammer at people, like most of us do in our leadership developments, we aren’t developing leaders… We’re gaining followers. Be quiet and listen to others’ ideas and examples and learn from them, just as they’ll learn from you.
Why You Should Never Box Squat Your Athletes
You know, we hear coaches complain about their athletes’ excuses… but let me tell you, coaches can be just as bad. Case in point: The excuses coaches make for not making their kids do box squats.
Stirring the Pot, Volume 1
I’ve been told I do a good job of being a heretic of the strength and conditioning coach profession, so I might as well keep it up and stir the pot with some of my hot takes on sumo deadlifts, box squatting, and more.
WATCH: Matt Rhodes Gives Advice to Young Coaches
A few pro tips from Coach Matt Rhodes: Not everything you learn in a book can be applied to strength and conditioning. Open your mind to new ideas and influences, and learn how your mentor wants things down.
Build a Professional Rugby Team Through This Academy Program
I am currently working as a consultant for a pro rugby team, and I was asked about the type of player I would require moving into a pro team. Fair warning: What I wrote here may be considered heretical in the strength and conditioning world…
Have Young Athletes Really Changed?
Enough with the “back in my day, kids did this…” crap. Today is today. Things haven’t changed that much, and if you can’t adapt to what has changed, maybe you shouldn’t be a strength coach.
3 Things Physical Therapy School Taught Me About Being A Strength Coach
I could write a big article covering every detail about physical therapy and strength coaching, but I’ve chosen to spare your computer screen space and discuss the most important topics about what physical therapy school taught me about being a strength coach.
A Career Development Plan for GAs and Interns
Although this article is directed at those supervising GAs and interns, if you’re a student reading this article, you can use these strategies to help to plan your own professional development as well.
Concepts of High-Level Strength and Conditioning Methods Applied to the ...
Over the last few years, I’ve had more time to visit some major universities and professional teams and talk shop with some very good strength and conditioning coaches, and these are some of the trends we’ve noticed in the weight room and think powerlifters should start implementing.
The Travels of a Strength and Conditioning Coach — Jonathan Leitch'...
I quit my personal trainer job to become a strength and conditioning coach. I lived in my car, slept on a couch, and I even had a raccoon living in my apartment wall at one point. But all of these struggles and sacrifices were worth it.
It's On Us to Become Better Strength Coaches
I’m here to remind everyone that we all have a part to play in making our field better and safer for our athletes. It’s on us to ensure our athletes, schools, and overall profession are all the best they can be. Start by implementing these 5 simple steps in your program.
The Definition of Insanity
Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again to get a different result. That pretty much sums up the strength and conditioning industry, doesn’t it?
45 Minutes or Your Money Back
Someone once told me when it came to programming, their objective was to be able to get as much bang for your buck as possible. That stuck with me, so I ensure my programs are of good quality and don’t last more than 45 minutes.
Conditioning Without Running
Stop killing kids by making them run so much. Stop running them into the ground with running… and in general, stop it. It defeats the purposes of building them up.
Off-Season Conditioning Lanes
These off-season lane options are meant to keep them in the ballpark of being in game shape without beating the crap out of them. They don’t have to be ready all the time; just ready to get ready. If you think they are not sport-specific enough or intense enough, that’s why.