Checklist for football's winter strength and conditioning program.

As the football season winds down, our strength and conditioning coaches go into high gear formulating their winter training programs.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Depending upon the bowl or playoff picture, the off-season program can kick-off as early as mid-January, with the running and agility procedures usually following shortly thereafter.

An overview of our winter program should help you generate some ideas, and even if your system differs from ours in certain respects, the information should at least provide a workable template for designing your program.

Following is a checklist of the vital components for a comprehensive winter program, along with our suggestions and troubleshooting strategies.

PHASE I: STRENGTH TRAINING

Our first order of business when the players return from their Christmas break is to crank-up the lifting sessions. Upon arriving on campus, we usually give them an additional week or so to get their academic schedules in order, and to comply with the NCAA mandated discretionary period. The discretionary period is a series of weeks over the winter and spring where no scheduled/mandatory workouts can take place.

The organization and administration of the program requires some thought and planning. Here are some key bullet points and suggestions for each:

Frequency. Several options are available, with none having a distinct advantage over the other. Some coaches prefer total body workouts performed on non-consecutive days (e.g., M-W-F) for recovery purposes and/or having the option to use the non-lifting days for other aspects of conditioning, speed mechanics, and agility training.

Others like the split arrangement, where upper and lower body workouts are separated and performed on consecutive days, i.e., Monday: upper body, Tuesday: lower body, followed by a rest day on Wednesday. The process is then repeated on Thursday and Friday.

Another tactic calls for a combination of both approaches, which may look something like this--Monday: total body, Tuesday: off, Wednesday: upper body, Thursday: lower body, Friday: off.

Suggestions. Lifting frequency should be predicated on the other physical stresses placed upon the body. As you will see, we perform very minimal, light running / agility activities in the initial phase of our program. This allows for much more involved, intense strength training sessions.

As the running volume increases, we may manipulate the lifting volume, especially for the lower body, to avert overtraining.

Volume and Duration. These two variables can be combined, since one dictates the other. Once you've determined the frequency and format of your lifting sessions, you can then plug in the exercise and set scripts.

Two athletes working together on a 15-20 set lifting script should be able to complete the workout in about 75 minutes. Obviously, the two major determinants are set duration and respites between sets. Experienced, well-conditioned athletes with an aggressive mind-set and intense training approach tend to take less recovery between sets and exercises.

As a coach, you must determine the body segment-targeting format: total body, split, or combination scripts. These choices will also be factors in workout duration.

Suggestions: Due to their comprehensive nature, total body workouts are usually at the higher end of the total set schematic (e.g., 15-20 sets). Since a recovery day (at least from lifting) normally follows one of these sessions, most coaches are likely to amp-up the lifting volume. Caution is still the operative word, though, especially when the running program enters the picture and accelerates into high gear.

If nothing else, consider tweaking the lower body exercises and/or sets during that period. The split framework usually calls for less total sets per session (e.g., 12-16), but by design it requires at least two back-to-back training days.

If you choose any variation of the split format, our advice is to schedule the more involved running procedures on the upper body lifting days.

Exercises: The choices here will be predicated on your philosophy, background, and personal preferences. In past issues, we've discussed a wide array of exercise prescriptions, equipment considerations, and the advantages of implementing both multi and single-joint exercises to build a solid, comprehensive training package.

Two take-home points on exercise selection: Thoroughly evaluate the chosen movements for safety precautions, and seek advice from qualified practitioners on all of the finer aspects of technique and proper execution. We will continue to offer suggestions on this topic.

PHASE II: SPEED AND AGILITY SCHOOL

Once the lifting program has solid footing, which usually takes 2-3 weeks, we gradually and progressively incorporate what we term speed and agility school, which is held in our indoor facility.

We select two non-consecutive days (usually Tuesday and Thursday) and teach speed improvement mechanics on one day and agility techniques on the other day. These are not necessarily meant to be full-blown conditioning workouts, but rather lead-in activities that place a high priority on the fundamental aspects of sprinting and changing direction.

Each session, including both the warm-up / stretch period and the cool down / post-stretch period, takes approximately 50 minutes to complete.

Our warm-up period, which we refer to as dynamics, consists of a series of across-the-field running drills (e.g., high knee runs, skips, shuffles, backpedaling, etc.), leg swings against a wall, and hurdle drills (e.g., over/under, knee leads, straight-leg scissors, straight-leg kick and skips, etc.).

Note: Check the January '04 issue for a complete description of our dynamic warm-up procedures.

Following is an overview of the fundamental aspects of each session:

Speed School. The large training group is divided into three smaller sub-groups with an assigned coach teaching specific speed mechanics/techniques. These subgroups will be rotated approximately every 8-10 minutes.

We teach some very rudimentary, yet extremely vital aspects of upper and lower body running posture. After giving full explanations and demonstrations for each technique, the coach will give the athletes one-word cues as they run through the drills at half speed:

Station 1. Upper body mechanics:

Focus: Direct the eyes straight ahead in what is called a "conversational plane."

Avoid head tilt in any direction.

Arch: Sustain a slight arch in both the upper and lower back regions. This will help maintain an erect torso and keep the hips in proper position.

Fix: Position and lock the elbows as close as possible to a 90-degree position.

Rotate: While maintaining the fixed elbows, rotate the arms at the shoulders, not the elbows, and take the hand from chest level through the hip pocket.

Squeeze: Keep the elbows tight to the body during the shoulder rotation. Avoid bringing the arms across the mid-line of the body, as this will produce inefficient rotational forces that impede forward motion.

Station 2. Lower body mechanics:

Punch: Drive the lead leg up and out. Don't make the mistake of merely lifting the leg; it must be driven, or "punched," forward, as well.

Plant: Snap the leg down so that the foot is under, not in front of the knee, and follow through to a position beneath the hips. The foot should plant naturally on the ball and toes, not the heel.

Extend: Lock the down leg into full extension in order to maximize the power production of the stride.

Station 3. Stance and Starts:

A key coaching point regarding the speed stance is that it may be completely foreign to any of your players (especially the linemen) who have never competed in the sprint events in track. For them, the stance will feel awkward at first, and take a great deal of practice before they become comfortable with it.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Here are the basics of the 3-point sprinter's stance:

* The front foot's distance from the starting line will vary with the athlete's size and leg length, but it will usually be between 3-6 inches.

* The placement of the toes on the back foot can vary from the heel of the front foot, to a few inches deeper than the heel. Again, this will vary with the athletes' comfort level and leg length.

* Place both feet at approximately hip-width in what is termed a "bunched" stance. A bunched stance is more conducive to a smooth start, efficient foot placement, and maintaining balance on the first 2-3 steps.

* Set the down hand directly beneath the shoulder.

* Position the opposite hand so that the thumb is in line with the hip and the elbow is locked at approximately 90 degrees.

* Distribute your weight comfortably, with most of it on the front foot and down hand.

* The butt should fall somewhere between head level to slightly above head level--never below.

* Simultaneously scrape the down hand back through the hip, punch the back leg forward, and drive the back arm forward to at least chest level.

* Underscore the forward focus with your eyes and understand that eye focus changes as the head gradually rises.

We perform 6-8 five-yard starts, followed by 6-8 ten-yard starts in this station.

Team Twenty's. Upon completion of the three-station rotation, all of the sub-groups come back together into one large group to finish the session with 6-8 perfect twenty-yard starts. The objectives are to combine all of the start and sprint mechanics and put them into practice as a whole. Occasionally, we videotape these bouts to assist the teaching process. Video is a tremendous coaching aid, since many athletes can't "feel" their mistakes; they need to see them in order to understand their flaws in mechanics.

Agility School. The second day is devoted to a bevy of drills that require very sharp cuts and changes in direction. Some of the drills are position specific; others are general, widely used cone and line drills. We normally choose 4-6 drills for each session and practice patience and care in teaching and demanding the correct execution of each.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Remember: Regardless of your agility drill preferences, be a stickler on excellent mechanics and techniques.

We have described many of our favorite drills in past issues (April '02, Sept. '04), and we will offer more suggestions in the future.

PHASE III: CONDITIONING

Once we have 3-4 weeks of strength training and speed / agility school behind us, we progress to our early morning (5:30 am), 3-day-a-week conditioning program. This is a compilation and expansion of many of the drills we utilized in the speed / agility school, along with several new drills that place an emphasis on anaerobic conditioning.

Each of these sessions lasts approximately one hour with a rapid-fire tempo designed to stress the initial segment of the anaerobic energy continuum--the ATP-PC system.

The team is split into seven groups of 10-12 players per group, and they rotate every 7-8 minutes through eight stations of various agility / reaction drills. Each drill the players run through within a station takes 6-10 seconds to complete at high speed and with a relatively short respite between reps.

The stations may vary day-to-day and include movements utilizing bags, cones, ropes, "quick feet" ladders, and a host of footwork-specific reaction drills.

Note: For a comprehensive overview of agility mechanics and excellent teaching cues and drills, we recommend the text Speed and Agility Revolution by Jim Kielbaso, which is available through Crew Press (www.crewpress.com).

FINAL REP

The true substance of success goes largely unnoticed because its foundation is always built in small, inconspicuous stages.

It's January, 2006. There are no fans in the stands, no pep bands, no media hype. These are just ordinary days, but it is the time for hard work and preparation for the special days that lie ahead.

Remember: "Champions are made on a thousand invisible mornings."

By Ken Mannie, Head Strength/Conditioning Coach

Michigan State University 

RELATED ARTICLE: TIP FROM THE TRENCHES

Supplement warning to athletes. Student-athletes must understand that they are responsible for examining the label on any purchased supplement for possible banned substances. Since the supplement industry is not stringently controlled and regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), it is truly a "buyer-beware" market.

All supplement purchases should be approved by the appropriate athletic department representative before consumption. This is especially true for NCAA collegiate student-athletes, who may unknowingly consume a product containing one or more banned substances for which they will test positive and face a suspension.

Student-athletes must also be cognizant that supplements may be improperly labeled and / or contaminated with undisclosed banned substances, making a comprehensive investigation of the product all the more important. Ultimately, the onus is on every student-athlete to be responsible and extremely cautious regarding supplement use.

For more information on this vitally important subject, log-on to www.drugfreesport.com.

Ken Mannie ([e-mail])