What Do I Have to Work With?
This is the first question you should ask yourself when training a team. To get this point across, I've attached my entire fall football training program.
Win the War — Day-to-Day Battles of Strength and Conditioning
This is not a list of excuses, but the reality of what really goes on, no matter what level or program you are at.
The Evaluation of a Strength and Conditioning Coach: A Process-Based Pro...
Why do strength coaches quit and the people that hired them don't care? Before exploring some possible answers, let's look at the problem.
The Absurd Effectiveness of Simplicity
Young strength coaches, go back to the basics to improve your athletes' performance.
6 Things I Learned About S&C When I Moved from College to High School
After 15 years at the collegiate level, I didn't think I had anything to learn from high school. I was wrong.
WATCH: Personal Training vs. Online Coaching
Not all clients are serious strength athletes and not every coach prefers to work in-person. In this video Christian explains several key differences and shares his opinion on working with general population.
Programming 201: The Realistic Strength Program
You can have the holy grail of training programs, but if it doesn't fit your job, it isn't any good.
Identifying Why — 4 Steps to Perfecting Your Program Philosophy
Here are a few steps I have used over the years that have helped me, my staff, and our athletes be on the same page in understanding our purpose.
Programming for the Loose Forwards in Rugby
A loose forward must be one of the fittest players on the field. This requires a specialized approach to the strength and conditioning program.
3 Programming Considerations for In-Season Football Training: Scheduling...
When should the athletes lift? Where is the total training volume based from? How is intensity individualized within a team setting?
Using Velocity-Based Training Dynamically
With dynamic effort work, we use the guidelines that Bryan Mann has written about extensively. I've tweaked his approach to fit our small budget and large team setting.
Which Way Should S&C Go?
As I see it, there are three directions that this profession can go. I know I favor one and I'll explain why.
The Dying Art of Strength and Conditioning
Between art and science, the pendulum has swung massively to one side.
40 Years and 40 Lessons
On my 40th birthday I reflect on the things I learned for each year of my life.
The CVASP Podcast: Episode 15 with Dr. Bryan Mann
Bryan cuts to the chase and shares the latest topics that are making his skin crawl.
Communicating Your Vision
How can you sell your vision when it's difficult to score your vision? Start with goals!
Summer Programming — Eliminate the Two Steps Back
You took a step forward and now it's summer. This time of year means nine weeks of strength and conditioning bliss and nine weeks of scheduling, programming and executing our own version of “the master plan.”
The Innovator, Imitator, and Integrator
There are three types of people in the world of strength and conditioning — which one are you?
WATCH: Periodization Differences Between Small and Large Groups
In a question-and-answer session, Dave Tate and Mark Watts talk training with a group of strength and conditioning students.
Logistics of Coaching — Working With What You Have
You can have an amazing battle plan but if you can’t support it with beans and bullets, it’s worthless.
My Weekend of Strength
With a clinic and meet scheduled on back to back days, I was surrounded by influential members of the strength community and made a few discoveries.
Communication in Strength and Conditioning — The Heartbeat of a Successf...
With your athletes and with your staff, communication is all you have for keeping everyone on the same page. If you won’t talk to them, you won’t understand them, and your program will fail.
WATCH: Julia Ladewski Q&A — Hamstring/Glute Exercises, Youth Trainin...
Responding directly to your questions, Julia offers training insights in these short clips.
Football Testing Season — Five Weeks to Gain Strength
Entering the time period away from pre-season or in-season training, our head coach made his expectations clear: “I want to see bench presses go up by 20 pounds and squats by 40 pounds in the next five to six weeks.” Easy, right?
How Do We Get to the Steak, Not the Sizzle?
There’s nothing wrong with trying the newest, flashy technique, but if you don’t know how it will help your team, stick to the basics.
LISTEN: Ashley Jones — Incorporating Games in a Pre-Season Program
With proper consideration of neural, mechanical, and metabolic elements, this podcast covers the methods used for developing a proper pre-season plan.
From The Quote Guy
In an endless flow of meaningless words, latch onto the lessons that challenge your mind and dictate your actions.
Dynamic Effort Day for Athletes
Your athletes are not powerlifters. Programming them as if they are will not lead to stronger, faster competitive performance.
Meditation for the Coach: Starting the Recovery Process
If you spend all your time in high gear, you need to find a way to downshift. This technique is what works for me.
RMU Strength and Speed Conference Recap
Instead of telling you about the event, I’ll do you a favor: here is an eight-hour video of every presentation.
The Four Steps of Establishing Your Program
The success of your program depends on your ability to balance what your head coach wants to do, what you want to do, and what your team really needs.
Certification Craze: Profession Flaws and Our Responsibility
If we want to get better, if we want to improve the future of our profession, we need to be honest with ourselves. We need to understand and address the real issues.
Training Beginners: A Different Approach
When new athletes come into your program you don’t know their abilities, training history, or technical proficiency. This is a crucial part of your program: preparing your athletes for their sport.
You Never Know How You'll Find Your First Job
Whatever your plans are for breaking into this industry, forget them. It’s never going to work out how you plan.
Strong(her) Squat Progressions for the Novice Female Lifter
Use these cues and coaching methods to teach an inexperienced lifter how to squat safely and build a foundation for future strength.
Keep It Simple, Stupid: Programming Collegiate Athletes
When it comes to training athletes in the weight room, remember that just because you love science doesn’t mean your athletes do. Learn to speak their language.
Starting Your Career as a Collegiate Strength Coach
Breaking into this profession is difficult and requires determination and sacrifice but if you’re in it for the right reasons, that won’t be a problem.
Programming for Rugby Inside Backs
These strength and performance methods for positions 9, 10, and 12 maximize individual player abilities on the field and produce more capable athletes.
Programming for Athletes: Beyond the Sets and Reps
Ensure your athletes are physically prepared for specific sport demands by properly programming these aspects of training success.
Crazy Mistakes Strength Coaches Make
These 10 coaching mistakes can hurt you, your team, and your entire program. Are you making any of them?
The Murkiness of High School Prep: Are Collegiate Athletes Prepared?
How prepared are freshmen athletes for the rigors of strength and conditioning at the collegiate level? A recent survey asked this question and the results are in contention.
Stay the Course
I have made the mistake of letting other programs distract me from my own. It is a waste of time and effort and I vow to never do it again.
The Most Important Thing You Can Do As A Strength Coach
It isn’t the squats. It isn’t the cleans, nor the reverse hypers or pull-ups.
The New Era of Athletes
Expectations and beliefs about work ethic are changing. Are our kids striving to maintain high energy, good health, and proper nutrition in order to train hard consistently?
The Top-10 Things I Learned as an Intern
As an intern, it’s up to you to make the most out of this experience and push yourself to be the best coach you can be. Remember, this is your chance to make an unforgettable impression and rise within the profession. Good luck!
Greasing the Groove by Training the Coach
The emphasis is always on the athletes, but keep in mind, in order to be a productive leader, you must go through what you’re asking others to do.
A Brand New Start: Advice for Taking Over A Program
Your actions from Day One will determine the success of your program and athletes. Know your philosophy and have a plan for executing it.
The Best Positions for Training and Coaching Your Athletes
Use the art of coaching to determine where you stand as a facilitator of strength and conditioning. Are you where you ought to be?
Rick Razzano's Pain Train Fitness
From watching his father play for the Bengals to being Eli Manning’s fullback to being drafted by Jon Gruden, Rick has experienced it all. At his Daphne, Alabama gym, he’s passing it on to his clients.
So You Want to Work in the Health and Fitness Field? How to Decide Your ...
Trying to determine your best path through academia and into professional health and fitness? Here’s a guide to choosing the right degree.
Newtonian Laws in Motion: Physics in the Weight Room
The three laws of motion are the roots of athlete programming. Find out how to apply these rules and improve your athletes.
Iron Warrior Gym Drives Progress Through Competitive Atmosphere
Business partners J.J. Stepien and Seth Lee lead the development of strength in this Denver, Colorado training facility.
Fourteen and Broken: The Female Athlete
Discourage injuries through coaching basics that will appropriately prep your athletes for the field and weight room.
Did You Win or Lose the Day?
Build your winning culture the same way you build in the weight room: every session, every set, and every rep leading to game day.
Solving the Summer Challenges of Coaching Collegiate Athletes
With summer programming for athletes, control what you can control and don’t sweat the rest.
Single-Legged and Semi-Functional?
Can proper implementation of unilateral exercise produce healthier, higher-performing athletes?