The Practice Squad
I recently reconnected with an old client: Don Cherry, whom I first met as a 16-year-old football player. Over the last several years, I've been lucky to watch that kid I trained in the belly of the Beast become a college and NFL football player and most recently, one of the voices behind a great podcast.
The Art of Programming for Injury Prevention/Risk Management
I believe the most important role of a strength and conditioning coach is to create programs that minimize the risk of injury. Armed with knowledge from a study on rugby injuries, I wrote a program that focuses on strengthening injury-prone areas. Here's what I came up with.
Your Strength and Conditioning Blueprint for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
While training myself and others, I’ve started to notice areas where most BJJ guys and gals are lacking when it comes to their strength training: fundamental movement patterns, mobility, stability, core and upper back work, and recovery. Here's how to improve.
12 Rules for Becoming a Better Strength Coach
These 12 rules are a culmination of experience and mistakes and were written for younger strength coaches, who I hope understand the long journey they have in front of them. While your principles are and should still be forming, it’s always a good thing to have some rules to keep you on track.
Men of Strength Sports Performance Podcast #4: Jeff Ward
This episode's guest is Georgia Southern University’s director of Olympic strength and conditioning: Jeff Ward. Coach Ward was a part-time assistant when I started working there, and he made a huge jump to the director position. He's got a good story of how he got there, so listen up!
General Criteria to Consider When Writing a Program
It's important to note that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all training protocol, and these are just some general suggestions based on a few successes and countless failures over my career that I consider when writing a program.
Goodbye 2018, Hello 2019
My life went through a lot of changes and adjustments during 2018, which meant I had to learn and re-learn things. Lesson 1: the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, but sometimes it is, so watch your lawn and don’t forget that some grass is better than yours.
How to Get In and Stay In
If you think you have what it takes to become a strength coach, you've got to start with an internship. This one's for the future interns who want to get on the field and on the strength and conditioning path. Just know there's little to no money or prestige in the gig.
WATCH: I am Ashley Jones
elitefts columnist Ashley Jones is Australian by birth, a New Zealander by choice and marriage, but first and foremost, he's a strength and conditioning coach with 40 years of experience under his belt with plenty of passion and advice to spare to future coaches.
The ABCs of My Life in Strength, Conditioning, and Fitness
I started my career as a strength and conditioning coach nearly 40 years ago. Throughout those 40 or so years, I picked up and learned a lot from other people. I tried to name as many of these people and their ideas as possible, so here it is, in an easy-to-read ABCs format.
Circuits and Supersets for BAMF Wrestlers
Steve “Kono” Konopka and I cover our daily pre-practice warm-ups, bulletproof shoulder circuits, what we call the “f@#k the bottom, you belong at the top” conditioning circuit, and answer a couple of questions in the third part of our #BAMF Wrestler series.
Belt Squat Overcoming Isometric
In an effort to accomplish the goals of both athlete preparedness and strength, power, and speed development, the Belt Squat Overcoming Isometric can be utilized effectively and specifically to an athlete’s sport.
Through the Players' Eyes
Coaches, athletic trainers, physical therapists, equipment personnel, and league officials all have distinctly different vantage points on the same subject matter. Somewhere along the lines, one of the most critical perspectives gets lost in the shuffle: the players’.
The Strength Coach’s Guide to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
As Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu grows more popular, so does misinformation about training for the martial art. This article will provide both empirical and anecdotal information about strength and conditioning for this particular combat sport.
The Simplicity Project: Expanding to Two-A-Days for Strength and Size
The people have spoken, and I have answered. After receiving plenty of emails and comments about my last article, I decided to create and share a complete program based on The Simplicity Programming Project.
Program Guidelines for Young Strength Coaches
Approach programming as you would approach written materials relevant to our field. One doesn’t simply open Supertraining, and begin perusing its contents. Supertraining requires a foundation of knowledge prior to endeavoring to cognize its contents.
Why I Don’t Incorporate Agility Training
Perhaps you’ve seen the video of an athlete moving through the agility ladder with his feet hardly visible because they are moving so fast. This remains the common mainstream perception of agility training. Does this, however, actually make athletes more agile on the field?
Samoan Rugby Union Returns to CARE Program
The program I am currently running features the CARE program in a new format that I feel better allows the player to get a workout in without going too deep in the RPE continuum, especially if he or she is coming from a unit or a team session.
Determining the Needs of an Athlete
If an athlete is training on heavy squats but is unable to get into a good technique, he is risking injury, plus he is not getting the most of his training because he is in bad positions. First things first, let’s start with an assessment.
How to Teach a Team to Lead Itself
If the majority of leadership has to come from coaches, that’s usually a sign of a rough season ahead. In my experience, I’ve found this to be 100% true.
So You Want to Be A Collegiate Strength Coach: Untold Truths of the Job
Here are some rarely discussed things to keep in mind when asking yourself if you really want to become a collegiate strength and conditioning coach.
WATCH: Jeremy Frey's 2018 elitefts Sport Performance Summit — Front...
Missouri State University Director of Strength and Conditioning Jeremy Frey has a few ways to make front squatting easier to learn and more effective for your athletes. Here are the things that are most important to focus on.
S&C Programming Considerations for College Football Freshmen
What we all want is to set our freshmen up for success for the future. How we go about it isn’t about ego and “our system” or anything like that; it’s about taking the time to put thought into what you’re doing and what will be the best for them.
Learning from Those Around You: 10 S&C Lessons from Friends, Mentors...
If you aren’t open to the knowledge and expertise of those around you, you’re only holding yourself back. These are some of the most influential things I’ve learned from others in this industry.
Transforming Strength and Conditioning at Livonia High School
In three years, Chad Smith has revamped an old practice gymnasium into one of the best training facilities in the country. It’s amazing what you can do with some drive and showing your administrators some initiative.
Do You Eat, Sleep, and Breathe School and Sports (Like the Lions)?
When the Gateway Lions Academy approached me a few months ago to train their soccer athletes, I was excited. Almost 100% of them are just pure raw talent, and their skillset and work ethic are unreal.
WATCH: Jim Wendler's 2018 elitefts Sports Performance Summit Presen...
In the previous videos, Wendler discussed his general mindset and approach to strength and conditioning for a high school football team. In this segment, he goes into detail about how he has designed the training sessions.
Don’t Fear Failure — Hate It
Everyone loses sometimes, but that isn’t the mentality you should mold your life around.
The Impact Show Episode 25 with Guest Mark Watts: A Coaching Journey
Sets, reps, and exercises alone have never made a great strength and conditioning coach. With host Jim Kielbaso, this podcast focuses on the things that truly have an impact on athletes.
Developing Strength and Conditioning in the Same Training Session
Our goal is to help our clients become better versions of themselves in terms of fitness, longevity, and body composition, so well-rounded concurrent fitness is often the best course of action.
How to Set up a Conference at Your University
One question I often get asked is, should I set up a conference at my college/university? Then I’m asked how to go about doing that. I hope to answer those questions here.
Georgia Southern Adds Donald Day as Assistant Football S&C Coach
No stranger to the collegiate weight room, Donald Day has earned himself a spot at Georgia Southern University as the assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Eagles football team.
Strength 101 from Westside Barbell
If people would take their heads out of their asses and set their egos aside, they would see that what Louie teaches has nothing to do with multi-ply powerlifting.
Irresponsible Social Media Practices in Strength and Conditioning
Social media can be a very powerful tool to enhance your learning and your network, but you have to use it with some responsibility.
'If You Build It They Will Come' — Remembering My First Champi...
How do you build your team? How do you take a group of athletes from every aspect of society and get them pulling in the same direction toward a common cause?
A Letter to the Next Me
I’ve often heard people ask the question, what would you tell a younger you? This is a great question all strength coaches should answer.
A Weekend of JL Holdsworth — My Introduction to Reflexive Performance Reset
I had the opportunity to take one of the RPR courses this week when JL asked to hold a clinic at my university. Whether you love or hate the idea of Reflexive Performance Reset, it works!
Weapons of Metabolic Disruption
This compilation of training sessions is drawn from the minds of many great coaches, and includes initial and periodic testing to ensure intensity and distance per session challenge the metabolic systems of the athletes.
We Better Get It Right — Securing the Future of S&C Before It's...
This is real stuff that is happening right now — not just my opinion, but what is really going on. I am not bitching, but I am calling for change in the right way. This is what needs to happen.
Changing the System from Within
Our job is to be better than those coaches who let the kids believe football is life. Our job is to make sure these athletes leave us better than when they arrived.
Seek First to Understand
There is one simple rule to follow to circumvent many of the issues that cause animosity between the sport coach and the strength coach.
Four-Week Block of Baseball Fall Training from Conjugate U for Position ...
Power is power and strength is strength. No matter what position you play, we have to develop both to the greatest potential. Here are the first two phases and the differences between positions.
Introducing New elitefts Columnist Nic Bronkall
"It's an honor to be able to give back to the site and the people that have given me so much. My goal with this column is to help young strength and conditioning coaches get the information that they need to succeed when starting out."
WATCH: The Strength Coach Development Center — Deadlift Progression
One of the best movements to build strength but also one of the hardest to teach for many coaches is the deadlift. It’s worth your time to learn correctly.
Planning the Week, Month, and Year
I have attempted to be as detailed as possible in presenting to you a comprehensive program based around the variability that makes up a complete year of rugby.
The Real State of The Industry — 3 Imperfections of S&C
We are the most egotistical profession in the nation, right next to actors and those people who work at Baywatch (a documentary I’m definitely about to see). Let me break it down for you.
Social Media in Strength and Conditioning
Life was meant to be lived, not read. Cars were meant to be driven, not parked. The harbor is safe, but a ship was meant to sail. Don’t let articles and books convince you that you understand it all.
WATCH: Table Talk with Nate Harvey — How Important Are the Quads for a R...
You want debate? Go to a powerlifting meet and ask the lifters in the warm-up room if you should be focusing on your quads to build your squat. You’ll hear a lot of opinions. Who’s right?
The Law of the Paint Can: Delegate and Say No
Our ambition may be endless but our abilities are finite. When we try to take on too much, something is soon to go wrong.
Belly of the Beast: The Hardships of Strength and Conditioning
Things aren’t all sunshine and rainbows in this field, and even when you’re winning, sometimes it doesn’t feel like you’re winning. Can you handle it?
225 Bench Press Repetitions Test — What Are We Really Testing?
The strength of the athlete determines what kind of preparation will produce the desired training effect: more reps. We need to stop and ask three questions.
Coach Strong Not Scared
It is a noble profession — one that helps prepare young people for life, building not just their bodies but also their minds. Don’t lose sight of this when you end up in any of the following situations.
S&C Meeting of The Minds — Training A New Generation, Bandwagon Tren...
Coaches Kitchen, Clapp, Nosak, and Showers are back to answer more questions about succeeding in the strength and conditioning field.
Play for the Song and Coach for the Athlete
Drummer sensation Brandon Khoo gives insight into what makes a great drummer. Strength and conditioning coaches, listen up. His answer is genius.
Evolution of a Collegiate Warm-Up
Over the last five semesters, we’ve made a lot of adjustments to how we warm-up our athletes. Here are the most important changes.
Introducing New elitefts Columnist Donald Day
We're glad to gain a new perspective from a coach that quite doesn't have it all figured out, yet is eagerly learning from the best.
WATCH: Coach Kav Returns to the S4 Compound
Every topic they discuss leads to one crucial point: We’re all here to make this industry a better place. What are you doing to make that happen?
Spot Tots & Spot Minis
The Spot Athletics is offering a new program for children 18 months - 7 years old. This program is designed to help build special skills and confidence in your "tots and minis."
Mark Watts on The Impact Show
Mark Watts does an interview on the podcast: The Impact Show. The takeaways are more than what you would expect.