Learning, practicing, and repetition are key to skill development as well as the development of strength. Executing a repetition better than you did before is important in progressive overload. If you are using manual resistance in your program, make sure each athlete learns the rules, practices the rules and performs each repetition optimally.
Manual Resistance Rules
1). Each athlete must know and understand the rules.
2). The Lifter begins each exercise with the goal of 6-8 reps. This requires pacing. In other words, the first repetition is not an all out effort. The effort must be increasing for every subsequent repetition.
2a). The Spotter should allow the lifter to perform each repetition at the same pace or speed of movement. This will require different amounts of pressure by the spotter during the rep (because of leverage). The lifter will feel as though the resistance is similar at all joint angles (the resistance will feel smooth).
3). The lowering phase of every repetition should be slower than the raising phase. A guide in learning manual resistance is raise the involved limbs up in 1-2 seconds or at a 1-2 count and lower them in 4-5 seconds or at a 4 or 5 count.
3a). The Spotter must make sure that they feel more force by the lifter during the lowering phase of each repetition.
4). The Lifter should continually contract their target musculature during the raising phase and the lowering phase of every repetition.
4a). The Spotter must give feedback to the lifter to ensure there is always a constant contraction on every repetition performed. The spotter should identify any relaxation or loss of force by the lifter during the movement.
5). The Lifter should pause with pressure against the spotter's resistance at the top of every movement. Pausing with pressure and no relaxation is extremely difficult.
5a). The Spotter should insure the lifter is applying force at the top of the movement. The spotter must feel if the lifter is relaxing. The spotter must ease slowly into the lowering phase of the exercise. Slowly easing into the lowering phase or decent is extremely important.
6). The exercise is completed when the athlete reaches momentary muscular failure.
One of the great weight rooms in the country, exclusively for the sport of football, is located in Lawrence, Kansas. The Kansas University Football Weight Room also has an indoor agility field, as well as a ramp for hill running.
Pendulum Grippers
Pendulum 3 Way Rows
Pendulum Leg Curls
Pendulum Shoulder/Inclines
Pendulum Seated Squats
A few things to chew over
The Pendulum 4 Way Neck
* The maximum bite force of athletes is significantly higher than the bite force of non-athletes.
* Athletes who belong to combative sports such as rugby and judo have higher bite force than most sports in general.
* If you habitually chew on a particular side of your mouth the bite force will be greater than the opposite side.
* There is a significant positive correlation between biting force and grip strength and back strength in athletes.
* There is a strong correlation between biting force and the numbers of chin-ups an athlete can do, the results for the side-step test and even times for the 50 meter dash.
Pendulum 5 Way Neck
After you run your athletes always take a moment.
Mike Gittleson was the Director of Strength & Conditioning at the University of Michigan for 30 years and was a part of 15 Football Championships in that time. He explains, training after the run.
I always talked to the team after we ran. For me it was as important as the run. I brought them together as a group. We came together as a team. It was a great time to communicate. You have their attention as the heavy breathing begins to subside during recovery. Ending the run with something verbally significant develops the mind and spirit. After all it is college and they are student athletes.
On one occasion I introduced the players to 'Thomas Gray' - an English poet of the late 1700's. Gray was a professor at Cambridge University, he was raised by his mom who ran a milliner shop in London. What is interesting is that his collected works are less than a 1,000 total lines, yet they contain phrases which have entered the common lexicon.
* "Far from the madding crowd"
* "The paths of glory"
* "Celestial fire"
* "Kindard spirit"
Writing so little and achieving so much is a lesson in itself. A lesson related to the game of football, sport and life. I explained to the players that even if you play a little your contributions can become "the lexicon of lore". You may cause a fumble, you may recover a ball, you may make the game saving tackle, block, kick or turn the game in a mengerie of ways that is never forgotton historically. Or maybe your beneficence has nothing to do with playing, but is related to changing the effort of those around you during conditioning. Our contributions are measured by not 'how much we do,' but of 'what we do.'
Thomas Gray wrote "Full many a flower is born to blush unseen", many of the greatest men I have coached have been unseen by the public eye yet have changed our program through their participation in unexpected and unwritten ways.
Far from the 'maddening crowd' we achieve 'the path of glory' with a 'celestial fire' and 'kindard spirit' when Getting Strong.
Belted Chin-ups on the Pendulum Power Rack
The Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches association (CSCCa) is holding the Annual National Conference May 8-10, 2013, in Kansas City, Missouri.
Rogers Athletic will be there. Stop by our booth and see what is new or come to the 'Early Bird Workout' and Get Strong.
At the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine conference in San Diego, Dr. Daniel Herman and his constitutes presented important and interesting findings regarding the concussed athlete. Herman and colleagues examined several sport programs for a five year period, they looked at football, women’s basketball, soccer, and lacrosse. They found that athletes within 90 days of a concussion were 3.79 times more likely to get a muscle or ligament injury. The assumption is that changes in reaction times and decision-making could lead to further trauma.
Once an athlete is injured the rehabilitative process begins so the athlete can 'return to play'. Return to play refers to reentrance to activity safely at a pre-injury level. It is widely known that inadequate rehabilitation after sustaining an injury puts the athlete at further risk.
One of the most frequently occurring conditions in the head and neck area is whiplash. Whiplash appertains to the movement of the head and neck during a collision or other high velocity forces on the body. Excessive forces on the neck are known to cause sprains, strains, varying amounts of soft-tissue damage, as well as concussions.
To have adequate rehabilitation for whiplash or a concussion the athlete must return to pre-injury levels of strength, as well as pass the appropriate neurological evaluation. The conundrum is that the pre-injury levels of neck strength must be known.
Make sure neck training is a part of your exercise program. Knowing the strength levels of an athletes neck is certainly and arguably more important than knowing the values of the bench press, squat or clean.
Get the head and neck Strong and Keep it Strong.
The Pendulum 5 Way Neck Machine
Get Ready for The Power and Skill Football Clinic in Clare, Michigan.
Event Schedule
Saturday, May 4th
7:30AM - 8:30AM
Continental breakfast and check-in
8:30AM - 12:00PM
Football strength and technique clinic
12:00PM - 1:00PM
Lunch (provided)
1:00PM - 4:00PM
Football strength and technique clinic
4:00 - 5:00PM
Optional Rogers manufacturing facilities tour
Dan Enos - Head Football Coach, Central Michigan University
Blaise Winter - 11 Year NFL Player
Matt Mitchell - Head Football Coach, Grand Valley State University
Mike Cummings - Offensive Coordinator and Offensive Line Coach, Central Michigan University
Jay Hooten - Director of Performance, Northwestern University
Mark Naylor - Strength and Conditioning Coach, The University of Michigan
Robert Taylor - Former Head Strength Coach, Loyola University Maryland
Pendulum 3-Way Row
Hospitality & Travel
Doherty Hotel
604 North McEwan
Clare, MI 48617
(877) 236-4378
*Mention Rogers Athletic when booking to receive the group discount rate
Visit Website
http://www.rogersathletic.com/clinic/
Pendulum strength training equpment located in the 22,000 square foot, multi-level University of Tennessee Football Weight Room.
The Pendulum Squat Pro
Pit Sharks
Pendulum Hip Presses
The Big House has a Big Strength and Conditioning Clinic in the Glick Field House and the Schembechler Hall weight room. The clinic was run by Aaron Wellman and his strength staff.
Mark Naylor, former Ball State University Director of Strength and Conditioning and now Assistant Strength Coach at the University of Michigan, takes an athlete through a rigorous workout.
Neck extensions on the Pendulum 5 Way Neck
Dips on the Pendulum Power Rack
Pit Shark Belt Squats on the Pendulum Rack
Rope Pulls on the Pendulum Rack
The Pendulum Power Squat Pro
The greatest athletes are less than great if they do not perform optimally. You can have a difficult running program, but it is not necessarily a 'Championship Running Program.'
Mike Gittleson was the Director of Strength & Conditioning at the University of Michigan for 30 years and was a part of 15 Football Championships in that time. He explains, Championship Running requires rules.
As a young coach I often got lost in the drills. I thought the drill that you did was in some way responsible for the results. If I wasn't getting the desired conditioning my initial attitude was to require the athlete to do more. In actuality more is not necessary, running a drill better is. Drills have importance, how you do each and every movement is what running is about. The bottom line is that I was a Coach and my job was to teach the athletes to get the most out of 'themselves'.
'Themselves' is an important word as it also refers to the group, 'the team.' If each athlete gets the most out of 'themselves' then the entire team improves optimally.
The following are rules for a Championship Running Program. Athletes need to know what is required and if the program is run properly the upperclassmen will insure every drill is carried out. Each drill and each athletes' performance is what brings the group closer to a Championship.
The rules are simple, they are in no particular order with the exception of the first two.
Running Rules:
1). Never miss a workout or fail to follow a rule.
2). The seniors are responsible that everything is always adhered to.
3). When starting a drill a hand or foot is never over the line.
4). When running a drill that requires you to run through a line, run through the line. You must also lean through the line to insure that you are getting across as quickly as possible.
5). Never slow down near the end of a drill. If you have doubt where you finish keep running someone will stop you.
6). You must run every step of a distance on any drill. The last cone, bag or rope is as important as the first or it wouldn't be there.
7). Never cut a corner or any object placed to go around. There are no short cuts to success.
8). Always run on the field. Once you are on the field run to each drill.
9). When there is a break, run to water and once you have completed drinking, run back to your drill.
10). During rest you are allowed to stand up.
11). Never complain about your workouts to anyone at any time. The workouts are necessary for competing for a Championship. A good attitude is required. Let your opponent complain.
12). Always stay low in drills that necessitate it.
13). Try to win each drill. An athlete should always try to win. If a person is faster, you can beat him somewhere, somehow. Win.
14). Never be late.
15). Never be reminded of a rule.
In the above photo the third athlete has two fingers over the line. This is unacceptable and a teammate should correct it.