High School Happenings

It has come to my attention of late that many high schools are under-served in the strength and conditioning department. I recently went back to my old high school to observe how the football team is training, and what the coaches know (or don't know) about training. It wasn't pretty. As if I was walking into every college rec center in the nation, the first thing I see when I walk into the field house is the entire group of players benching. Not only are they benching...but they are maxing out! Are you kidding me?! The first kid I see bench almost lifts his entire body off the bench to get up the weight. Then he jumps for joy afterward because he believes it was a good lift. WRONG! I told him what he did wrong as he glared at me from the other side of the room. I then asked if they did lower-body the day before, with the response of "yeah, but we do full body each day, so we'll do squats after we're done benching". I'm thinking, "wait a minute", at this point. I explain to them why they should be squatting before they bench and tell them to meet me at the squat rack when they're done.

They already had 225lbs on the bar from whoever had used it last and didn't have the time to rack the weights. I was curious what would occur if I stripped the bar. I did and then waited. Not surprising to me, the first kid to come to the rack loaded two 45s on one side before I questioned him. "What are you doing? Did you warm-up yet? Oh, your first warm-up set IS 225lbs"? I explained to him that 1) he will benefit greatly from starting his warm-ups with lighter weight and 2) 225lbs is very close to his 'true' maximum, so starting with it isn't a good idea. He told me that his "max is 365lbs". This is where I couldn't help but laugh A LOT inside because this kid was no more than 145lbs soaking wet. I asked him to show me his squat with 135lbs on the bar...he pulled a box into the rack with him that allowed him to get to approximately 45-50 degrees knee flexion. Again, I laughed inside. I pulled out the box and told him to try and do a full squat. He didn't like this very much, but I explained that he would get a lot stronger if he did them this way and would save his knees in the process.

I said I laughed at these kids, and I did, but I really did expect to see what happened. The long overdue point is that many high schools around the country are in this situation and more of us need to step in and help where we can. This was my old high school, so I thought I might help out a little while I was home for a weekend. Many of you can do the same with your old stomping grounds. I don't blame the kids for what they were doing. I was doing the same thing when I was in that stage of my life. I don't even really blame the coaches. They could do a better job of educating themselves, but these are coaches that have other full-time jobs on top of coaching.

As professionals in strength and conditioning, I think many of us, myself included, need to do more to help our communities with knowledge about training. This could be as little as sending an informative e-mail with sources of good information to your local coaches, or actually making a visit and working with the young athletes. Either way it will be better than the alternative.

Smolov: Week 2, Days 1 & 2

Today was day 2 of the second week. I can tell I am adapting to the higher volume because my legs are not nearly as sore as they were the first week. I am definitely making gains with this program. I feel stronger with the warm-up sets and haven't had that much trouble, relatively speaking, with any day so far. Sure, some of the sets were not the greatest, but I've made it through every repetition. Today I had 5x7 at 124kg...fun stuff! I can't wait for this program to be over! Not because of the difficulty, but because I want to see what gains I've made in my max. I'm hoping for around a 10kg gain. The plan is to take a week of rest and go into a short cycle of triples, doubles, and singles along with my Olympic lifts. Then, after a few weeks, I will have a max day.

Continuing Education

I should not have to mention how important it is to continue to educate oneself after finishing the highest level of schooling one may attain. This goes for any and all professions. For instance, if a chef was to stop learning and experimenting with their cooking skills, they would be preparing the same food day in and day out for their customers. That same chef could continue to learn new methods of cooking or new dishes to prepare that could very well help them get to the next level in their career and distinguish themselves among the many other chefs out there. The same goes for strength and conditioning coaches. We must continue to read on the new literature that is available to us in order to apply that to our athletes. The application of scientific findings is a huge part of what makes this job difficult, but rewarding. This is one of the ways to separate oneself from the coaches who just "go through the motions". The difficulty comes from finding the time to be able to read up on what's new, and also using that time wisely. This is always something I think about on a daily basis..."is this a reliable source of information", or "should I read this journal or this book with my available time"? The most important part in deciding what you should read is simply what will help move you forward in your knowledge, and in your career. If you are lacking knowledge in a specific area, make it a habit to read an article or two every day, or every other day. Just like training and nutrition, you make the effort and good things will come. Remember, strive to learn and apply the new knowledge!

Smolov: Week 1, Days 1 & 2

I started the Smolov base cycle this week. It consists of: Day 1 = 70%1RM x 4 x 9, Day 2 = 75% x 5 x 7, Day 3 = 80% x 7 x 5, and Day 4 = 85% x 10 x 3. I started this after a week of relatively no training. The reason I am doing this program is obviously to increase my squat, but also because I tweaked my elbow in the OH state meet...so I'll be giving my elbow some much needed rest for this cycle. I am still doing the weightlifting movements, but they are very low intensity and volume. It will be very interesting to see how my body adapts to this very new training stimulus. I have squatted up to 4 days/wk before, but that was a mix of back and front squats. This time it is all back squats. Train hard, train smart!

Time Well Spent

I often wonder why I enjoy being in the same gym day-in and day-out, over and over again. Sometimes it may be because I am in a great training cycle and I feel like just being around the weights and the stronger lifters increases my performance. These are times when you can't go wrong with whatever you are doing, whether it be your training regimen, diet, or sleep patterns. Everything seems to be on key. On the other hand, I've been injured a time or two in the past year, yet seem to have the same feeling towards being in the gym. I want to be there, whether I can perform up to my standards or not. Then I realize....I want to be there because I enjoy seeing others succeed. Not only to see them succeed, but to also see them strive for success, which is all the better. This is especially true when you become close with some of the members/trainees within the gym. You may not get to know them outside the gym, but for the couple of hours you spend with them in the gym, you are friends. You want to see each other succeed and push each other to greater heights of performance...beyond anything any of you thought you could ever achieve. THAT is why I spend so much time in the same gym. I want to push others to succeed and I want them to push back!

Changes in Training

So, I just competed in the state meet for Ohio on the 17th and hurt my elbow on my third snatch attempt of 102kg. Whippeeee! :( I was able to finish the meet and actually attempted a PR clean and jerk attempt of 122kg. Because of the elbow injury, I will be taking on a large task in my training. I will be starting the Smolov base program for squats. The problem with this is that my knee actually hurts now for some reason. I've felt this before and it has been something I could train through and eventually disappeared. Hopefully this happens again. Time will only tell, but I am really excited to take on this squat program. My goal is to raise my squat max to 165kg. My elbow should be good to go once this 4-week Smolov program is completed. From there I will begin to focus more one my Olympic lifts. Train hard, train smart!

The Chinese...

Are CRAZY!!!!

It's no wonder that they are so good! I went through a training session today that was similar, but minuscule, in resemblance to their sessions. I snatched and clean and jerked, but did many, many reps. For Snatch, I did (kg x sets x reps): 60x2x4, 70x3x3, 80x3x2, 90x3x1. For C&J, I did: 60x2x4, 80x2x3, 90x1x2, 100x2x2, 110x3x1. I was completely beat after this because the rest was very limited as well. I did all of that in about 55 minutes! It kicked my ass and I complained a little, but I know that it did me some good. My technique felt really tight by the last few sets. Todd saw most of my snatches and said that many of the attempts looked the same, which is really good. I guess I will try this out and see where it gets me in the next few weeks.