Sport Specific Conditioning

Football season is fast approaching, so it got me thinking. How the high school football teams are training these days? I took a drive down to my old school and sat in on a conditioning practice. I was absolutely blown away at the drills they were and were not doing. At the beginning of practice the coaches had the kids do a 1 mile timed run. After practice is done they performed 300yd shuttles. In the game of football most plays last on average 4 to 6 seconds, so why have your players do monotonous distance training for a sport that lasts 4 to 6 seconds. The best conditioning drills for football is playing the actual game. Having your players run routes or doing specific drills geared for football. I have my athletes in the offseason run tempo runs and 6 to 10 second prowler pushes with 25 second rest to mimic the game clock. Here is another conditioning drill that I performed at Defrancos Gym with his NFL crew.


The sprint only last 4 to 5 seconds with about 30 seconds rest in between. We did about ten of these for conditioning. Now if guys in the NFL are doing these types of drills why do high school coaches think it is best to do 1 mile timed test to condition. Because they did it in school so it must be right. Do your research and help improve your player’s performance not hinder it.

Pressing Power

In order to make your bench press go up you have to factor in a lot of things. Form is a major one, motor unit recruitment, triceps, shoulder, and chest strength are also invaluable for a strong press. Here is one of Samson's football players performing 2 Board Presses to bring up his triceps strength.


He went close grip on those as well to really put emphasis on his triceps. This is a major weakness of his that we will continue to make strong. I will keep you posted on his gains on and off the field.

Grip Strength

As many of you know who read this blog, I was having problems with my grip. It gave out on me in my 13th rep of deadlifting at my last show. Well I have been working on it and these are the exercises I have found to be the most useful. First off is the actual deadlift it is phenomenal for building a good grip. Hex holds and Captains of Crush are also very valuable. High rep shrugs and DB rows not only kill your grip but they also fry your back and traps. Here is a video of me doing some plate pinches with the stone trainer. 115lbs for 5 sets of time.


Remember to have the smooth side facing out on both sides.

Smashing PR's

Deadlifting today for a new one rep max and set a new PR. Once I put some more weight on and perfect my form I will be smashing 600lbs real soon.

Tricep Strength

A key ingredient to a strong bench or OHP is strong triceps. There are many ways to build them up but I have found that basic dips are a good foundation. The variation I like to use is weighted dips with chains. This is something you have to progress up too, so do not try them right off the bat. Check them out.

Building a Big Back

Today was my event training day. I performed 700lbs tire flips, Atlas stone lifts up to 280lbs, hand over hand prowler pulls, and finally prowler pushes.
The hand over hand pulls are a killer exercise that builds a strong back, grip, biceps, and core. It will also kick your butt if you are not in good shape. It is a great movement to incorporate into any program. Take a look and tell me what you think.

Pressing Time

Doing some log presses in preparation for the upcoming show.


Than I hit some floor presses with chains.


Leave some comments let know what type of stuff you want me to post up.

Deadlifting

Worked up to a 3 rep max today on deadlifts. Then hit some Box Squats and Zercher Squats. I finished it up with Farmers Walks and Heavy Banded Abs.


Leave comments and let me know what you think.

Triumph

Yesterday Samsons own Mike Montgomery shatters his previous best time in the Key Biscayne Triathlon by three minutes and thirty seconds in just four weeks of working with me. We managed to lower his resting heart rate 7 beats per minute and drop over 3% body fat. Next up for him is the Miamiman 1/2 Ironman.

Strongman Training

The events for my next show were just posted and look like this.
Log Press for 60secs
Deadlift Medley
Tire Flip/Sled Push
Hand over hand sled pull
Famers Walk
Atlas Stone Load
Here is a video of me doing some event training this past weekend.


Post comments let me know what you think.

Doing Work

Samson athlete preparing for the 1/2 Ironman in November and getting ready for the police academy. Check him out getting after it today.


I would not recommend trying to out run this police officer.

Explosive Power

The dynamic effort method is something we like to incorporate into our training programs here at Samson S&C. The dynamic effort method is the lifting of sub maximal weights as fast as humanly possible. We like to use alot of plyometrics to achieve this but we also incorporate some 1 arm DB snatches. This helps our athletes become super explosive and creates alot of power in thier hips and glutes. Here is one of our football players performing some 1 arm DB snatches, just 7 months after ACL surgery.

Programs

Samson Strength and Conditioning

Upper Body Strength Training
Lower Body Strength Training
Speed & Agility Training
Plyometric Training
Strongman Training
NFL Combine Preparation
High School Combine Preparation
Police, Fireman, Military Training
On-site seminars
Conditioning
Powerlifting Training

Bottom line is we help athletes become bigger, stronger, and faster. Come check us out and prepare to go to the next level.

Tri Training

Here is a circuit workout performed by two of my triathletes.
Push Ups x 15
Walking Lunges x 12 Keg
Seated cleans x8 15lbs
Pull Ups x 6
Hammer Hits x 60 seconds
Burpees x 12
Ball tosses x 12
Box Jumps x 10
Repeated circuit 3x Mike 145bpm rest/ Randy 140bpm rest

Friday is the Day

Friday the gym opens and the people will come in normal and leave as freaks of nature.
Here is a poem that I stumbled across on the internet...

Down this road, in a gym far away,
a young man was heard to say,
"No matter what i do, my legs won't grow."
He tried leg extensions, leg curls, and leg presses, too
trying to cheat, these sissy workouts he'd do.

From the corner of the gym where the big men train,
through a cloud of chalk and the midst of pain,
where the noise is made with big forty-fives,
a deep voice bellowed as he wrapped his knees,
a very big man with legs like trees.

Laughing as he snatched another plate from the stack,
chalking his hands and monstrous back,
said, "Boy, stop lying and don't say you've forgotten,
the trouble with you is you ain't been SQUATTIN'."