PHLI WEIGHT

Strength and Conditioning Preparation for High School Football
By Christopher C. Spurlock

Strength and conditioning for high school football athletes is essential for the longevity of their career in the sport. Due to the impact the body takes during a football season, athletes should take training schedules serious. Complete basic training for stability and endurance, body building and weight lifting to develop the muscles in order to protect the skeletal system, and participate in circuit training that promotes agility and flexibility. A complete strength and conditioning program includes phases of training during the season and off-season.

Currently, I am the head varsity football and wrestling coach at Kenwood Academy located in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. In addition, I am a dedicated personal trainer with the knowledge and skills necessary to develop and execute training programs for beginning and experienced athletes and non-athletes alike. Prior to becoming a certified personal trainer, I competed locally, nationally and internationally in Olympic weightlifting.

First and foremost, a sport’s physical is necessary to make sure an athlete is physically able to play the sport of football. There is a great importance to develop a base of training to prevent injury. The first step for any athlete, whether seasoned or de-conditioned, is cardiovascular training to strengthen the heart. Running on turf, track, sand, or grass provides the least amount impact on your joints and is the activity most like the sport. Another activity that strengthens the heart is swimming which provides low impact resistance training. These two activities provide good training with the least amount of impact on the body. During this phase of basic training, proper push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, and dips should be developed.

The next step for football athletes is bodybuilding and weightlifting, which is used to build muscle mass and gain explosive power. Bodybuilding can be broken down into workouts that are dedicated to specific muscle groups and they should follow an anterior and post-terior schedule. For example, this would mean three chest exercises followed by three back exercises. While bodybuilding develops slow twitch fibers, it should be coupled with the clean and jerk, which is an Olympic movement, that develops fast twitch fibers and helps gain explosive power. It is most effectively taught from the hang position, also a proper dead lift form should be taught. After this step is completed, the athletes will have developed muscles to protect the skeletal system.

The final step to the phase of this program is agility drills and sports specific training, which is obtained through circuit training. Exercises that are used in circuit training should be sports specific such as the shuttle run for the purpose of cutting and quick direction change, ply metrics for agility, and strength movements for power. These circuits should be performed with maximum energy output. Basically, this means go hard or go home.

A deconditioned athlete should be in the basic training phase for four to six weeks. They should then proceed to the bodybuilding and weightlifting phase where they focus on technique. At the coach’s discression, they should then move into the third phase, which is the most demanding on the body, circuit training. Again it should be emphasized that an athlete, should perform circuits at optimal performance.

Once an athlete has become accustomed to training, it is easier for them to take time off and then resume training due to muscle memory. For these athletes, the same cycles apply but with a different approach. Basic training should be two to four weeks. The coach throughout the season can evenly distribute bodybuilding, weightlifting, and circuit training.

Strengthening and conditioning is vital to prevent injuries and promotes longevity in the athlete’s career. The edge in football is when individual athletes are able to play at their optimal performance level for the entire game. This is only achieved through proper strength and conditioning training,

Greetings PHLI WEIGHT , While busy preparing Kenwood Academy's Football team for the upcoming season I have not posted much for you all. I appreciate all the contacts and questions . Please keep them coming . Here is a throwback of (ME) Coach Spurlock, training for Olympic Weightlifting. I can't say enough about how strong anyone can get from this sport but it takes a lot of practice. Form is everything when weightlifting. If you have a team or athletes and you need this training contact Coach Spurlock at PHLIWEIGHT@PHLIWORLDWIDE.COM.... Enjoy