Piece 1 of The Athlete Puzzle

Putting the Puzzle of a Complete Athlete Together

Step 1– Assessment

When beginning to build our strength and conditioning programs it is vital to know where we are as a team so that we can determine where we are going. This will ensure that we are building the proper base for our athletes and setting them up for success both in the weight room and on the field. A proper evaluation of our athlete’s movement patterns as well as their athletic performance will give the you the answers to these questions and allow you to build a strength and conditioning program with purpose and progression to build a complete athlete. Below we will go over some simple athletic evaluations that can be used in a high school team setting.

Movement Assessment – There are many different movement assessments out in the performance world right now. Some of them look at gross movement patterns while others will break the body down into parts to evaluate. A few things to remember when choosing an assessment in a team and high school setting are:

1. Our athletes body function and move as one connected unit
2. Our assessment needs to be simple, effective and time effective
3. One of the main exercises in most of our strength programs is the back squat

Over Head Squat Assessment- With these points in mind, a simple and effective assessment to use for your high school athletes is the over head squat assessment. This assessment tells us as coaches many things about the way our athletes function and mimics a movement that we will be asking them to do repeatedly over the duration of our program. The main things that the over head squat assessment will tell us about our athletes are:

1. Ankle Mobility – Lack of dorsiflexion in our athletes’ ankle complex can be a major culprit of poor squatting patterns. With out this mobility athletes can not sit back into their glutes and use the proper muscles in the squatting pattern. Causing a decrease in strength and stress on our athletes’ connective tissues.
2. Lack of Core Strength – Everything begins and ends with our athletes’ core region. Weakness in this area will lead to decrease in performance as well as increase risk of injury.
3. Squatting Movement Pattern – when a kid has a proper squatting pattern he usually possesses the physical attributes that we are looking for to perform a squat correctly such as the ones listed above. Gray Cook talks a lot about not adding strength on top of dysfunction. If an athlete can not squat properly with out any weight with his hands over head then he will not be able to squat properly with a load on his back. If we put them into the rack with weight when they cannot squat correctly then we are allowing our athletes to use the wrong muscles, have poor form and stress their connective tissues each and every time they perform a squat. Adding to their dysfunction and setting them up for injury down the road.

Setting Up the Overhead Squat Assessment

1. You will need a un-weighted stick of some sort a broom stick or dowel rod works perfect
2. Have athlete stand with feet slightly wider than hip width apart and toes straight ahead
3. Place dowel on top of head grasping the bar with elbows bent at 90 degrees
4. Lift dowel directly above head and extend arms fully

Performing the Overhead Squat Assessment

1. Once athlete has assumed starting position have them squat down as deep as possible
2. Do not coach them on what you are looking for in the assessment. Allow them to perform squat naturally so that you can see their natural movement pattern.
3. If athlete cannot perform squat properly, elevate their heels onto a board or plate that is around an inch to an inch and a half high. 25 pound plates work well. Once heels are elevated have them perform squat again.

What to Look For When Performing the Over Head Squat

1. Do your athletes’ toes turn out when they squat down?
2. Can the athlete keep the bar over his head and feet during the squat?
3. Can the athlete sit back on his heels when he squats staying off of his toes?

Grading your Athletes Over Head Squat Assessment

Grading your athletes over head squat will tell you where you need to begin with your strength and conditioning program. If the majority of your athletes perform poorly on the assessment then you should take the time to correct these patterns before throwing them into the squat rack. If some of your athletes perform poorly then set up a program that allows them to correct their pattern with out messing up the flow of your program or having them miss sets or reps. If your team does very well on the assessment then you have done a good job with programming and its time to get after it in the racks!

Perfect Score = Athlete is able to perform squatting pattern perfectly keeping the heels on the ground, toes straight ahead and keeping the dowel directly over their head and feet. These athletes are clear to begin a squatting program without restrictions and can properly perform the squat pattern. No corrective exercises are needed for these athletes.

Medium Score = these athletes were unable to perform the squatting pattern with their feet flat on the ground. They had one or more of the following: heels came off the ground, toes turned out or the dowel went forward past their toes when they squatted down. After the initial assessment the athletes were asked to elevate their heels taking the calf complex out of the equation. Once their heels were elevated the athletes were able to perform the squat pattern correctly. These athletes need some corrective strategies to help them while squatting but are able to squat in the racks. Working to get them to a perfect score is a priority in order to maximize their strength, flexibility and power gains.

Low Score = Athletes in this category are unable to perform the squat pattern correctly both with heels flat on the ground and with heels elevated. These athletes have severe movement dysfunction and cannot correctly use the correct muscles to perform a squat pattern. The athletes in this category need a corrective exercise program to correct their dysfunctional pattern before being allowed to squat with a load on their back. Allowing these athletes to squat in this state will reinforce their poor squatting pattern leading to over use injuries, joint dysfunction and less strength and power gains due to their inability to use the proper muscles in the squatting pattern.

Maximizing Your Space with your High School Strength Program

Maximizing Your Space and Equipment for your High School Strength Training Program

When it comes to High School Strength and Conditioning one of the biggest issues that we face as coaches is lack of space and equipment. We do not have the 20,000 square foot weight rooms and unlimited budgets that are available to collegiate programs. Our weight rooms are usually small with limited equipment available. Too many these may be a negative but I believe with proper program design, planning and a little creativity the limited space can become a good thing and make us better as coaches.

When it comes to maximizing your space for training your athletic teams there are a few things that need to be considered when planning your strength and conditioning program. I will go through these below as well as how to maximize each to have a safe and effective training program that produces max results in the smallest amount of space.

1. Number of Athletes – Knowing how many athletes you will have in each training session is vital to planning your training sessions. Knowing this number allows you to plan each of your training stations and groups for the day. For Example if you know you have 20 Athletes and have 5 Training stations then 5 groups of 4 kids would be the best way to set up your training program. This will allow for there to be 1 kid lifting on the primary lift, 2^nd man lifting on the auxiliary exercise. While the 2 other kids are either spotting or motivating.
2. Number of Platforms or Stations – Knowing how many stations and platforms you have available will allow you to break up your team into their proper stations. For Example at Apopka High School we have 3 platforms, 3 bench racks, 3 squat racks in the weight room. This allows us to have 9 different groups in the weight room. Depending on the number of kids training, each station will have 3- 4 athletes at it. After each group has been through the proper number of sets and reps at each station they will rotate to the next. Allowing us to get a lot of work done in a short amount of time and with limited space.
3. Super Sets – Being able to super set or cluster exercises together allows you to get double the work in a short amount of time. Also allowing you to maximize your space that you have available. Depending on the phase of the training program you are in and your training philosophy your super sets can be anything you want. An example would be to have the athlete Squat in one rack and super set with Pull Ups on the pull up bar in the same rack. The athlete has now performed 2 exercises of different muscle groups in the same rack.
4. Using all of your equipment – Being creative with the equipment that you have available is a great way to maximize your space. Plates can be used for just about anything from core work, to holding them for step ups and lunges. Using them for weighted push ups or just about anything you can imagine. If you have dumbbells single arm variations on exercises such as bench, rows and snatches will allow you to maximize the limited number of dumbbells with a large group of kids while providing variety to your program.
5. Use Every Inch of Floor Space – Using every inch of the training floor whether it be by the door, between machines or in the office. If there is floor space available then it can be used for training. Body weight exercises such as push ups, squat jumps, plate squats, lunges etc. Are great for the open floor space that you have. It is not uncommon for us to have kids face to face with a door and another one with half his body in the office while training. We literally look to use every inch of our weight room for performance.
6. Go On the Whistle – To maximize time and organization have your whole workout on the whistle. Each group of 4 will have a 1, 2, 3 and 4 man. When the workout is ready to start blow the whistle for the 1 man to start his exercise. When he has completed his set give them 30s or so to change the weight and then blow the whistle for the 2^nd man to start training. Follow through for all 4 guys this will ensure that everyone is performing all of their sets and keep a tempo that allows for a good amount of work to be done in a short time.
7. Be Creative – This may be the most important aspect of maximizing your space in your weight room. What things can your athletes do with the space that is available that may be a little unconventional? Can they grab a broom stick and do over head squat, jump over a bench, lift a blocking dummy over his head. Anything that mimics a kid lifting, jumping or moving anything will work to make your guys stronger.

Hope this helps with maximizing your space that you have available. I enjoy being in a tight space while training our guys. I believe that it allows us to have more eyes on more athletes while making us be creative as coaches in order to maximize our training time and results.

Coach Hunter Wood NSCA-CSCS,NASM-PES

Owner Coach Wood Strength and Conditioning

Head Strength Coach Apopka High School