Thanks Coach Collins for sharing this great information on in season traning. A great inside look from one of the best teams in the land!
In-Season training is probably my favorite time of the year. Sure, we all love the intense, hard-core off-season workouts that push our student-athletes both mentally and physically, but nothing beats the approach we take for our guys during the rigors of a collegiate football season.
TIME - I learned a long time ago that TIME is the “MOST NON-RENWEABLE RESOURCE”. That means that WE cannot WASTE ANY TIME! It is the most precious thing in the whole world, because you can NEVER get it back. What you do with that TIME is what will MAXIMIZE not only your student-athletes, but your entire program.
In the off-season we are blessed with a lot of TIME. There’s no practices, no individual meetings, no film sessions, just total Mind-Body-HEART development! Obviously with an “In-Season” schedule, you throw all of those demands on their plate, on top of figuring out a way and TIME to have them continue to train and develop. Student-athletes already have an extreme amount of stress in their lives; mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally, socially, you name it-it’s out there. The last thing we want to do is add any extra stress to our guys, so the approach we take is something that I know works BEST for each of our guys.
IN-SEASON GOALS
· Train SMART & HARD
o Our primary focus is to physically and mentally prepare our student-athletes to go perform at an ELITE level—TRAIN TO WIN!!
· Perform Recovery: Thru workouts and pre & post practices
o Foam Roll
o Body Tempering
o Band Stretches
o Cold / Hot Tubs
o Float Tanks / UV Beds
o HYDRATION
· Sound Nutrition Plan
o Pre & Post Workout and Practice Recovery Shakes and Smoothies
o Fueling Station
o Training Table / Cafeteria
o Individualized Plans for certain guys
o Weekly Nutrition Meetings
o HYDRATION
· REST
o Promote 8-12 Hours of Sleep / Room temperature set to 68 degrees
· GET STRONGER!!!
o We don’t want to “maintain” strength, we want to continue to develop and IMPROVE our strength as the demands of the season increase
· ATTACK THE WORKOUTS
o MENTALLY prepared and DISCIPLINED
o Maintain Bodyweights
o Redshirt / Development Guys = GET BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER, TOUGHER!!
IN-SEASON SCHEDULE
· Saturday: Game Day = WIN!
· Sunday: Travel Guys / Played in the game = TOTAL BODY LIFT
o Primary Movements: NECK, Clean Pulls, Squat, Incline Bench
· Monday: Non-Travel/Developmental = TOTAL BODY LIFT
· Tuesday: Practice
· Wednesday: ALL LIFT – Upper Body Emphasis
o Primary Movements: Neck, High Pulls, DE Box Squat + Bench Press
o Practice
· Thursday: Practice
· Friday: Non-Travel/Developmental = TOTAL BODY LIFT
Wednesday is our BIG day. The Non-Travel/Developmental guys will train early in the morning, and then the Travel guys schedule a time with us and come in for 1-1 training. Sometimes there could be another athlete with them, but we schedule our guys around their personal schedules so that we do not add any extra stress and demands to their daily routines. In my opinion, it is the absolute BEST thing for those athletes individually, and for our program. We can train our guys 1-1 and can make any adjustments or modifications to that individual if need be. It’s also great because we can continue to build and strengthen our relationships that we have with our athletes.
LOWER BODY PROGRESSIONS
· Sunday = SQUAT
o 4x3 @ 65%
o 5x2 @ 70%
o 5x2 @ 75%
o 4x2 @ 75%
o 4x1 @ 77%
o DELOAD WEEK = 4x5 @ 50%
§ We are fortunate to make any adjustments and modifications to our athletes if need be via Leg Press, Leg Extension/Leg Curl, Pit Shark, MVP, etc.
§ We will also perform 3x5 BB RDL’s on this day – but can substitute DB or Band Good Mornings as well.
· Wednesday = DYNAMIC BOX SQUAT
o 4x2 @ 55%
o 4x2 @ 55% + CHAINS = on the backend of the season
§ BIGS (OL-DL) Guys will perform 2x5 RDL’s on this day, and our BIG SKILL and SKILL guys will perform either BB RDL’s OR Band Negative Hamstring 2x5.
UPPER BODY PROGRESSIONS
· Sunday = INCLINE BENCH (with a small block OR Hammer Machine)
o 4x6
o 4x5
o 4x4
o 4x3
o 4x6,4,3,2
o DELOAD WEEK = Lighter Loads OR Log Bar Incline Press
§ We will also perform 4x of Lat Pulldown’s OR Pull-Up’s on this day, with our emphasis always stressing +1 rep than what were pressing. We will also add 4x BB, DB, or Ham Machine Shrugs.
· Wednesday = BENCH PRESS
o 4x5 @ 77%
o 4x4 @ 80%
o 4x3 @ 85%
o 5x2 @ 87%
o 6x1 @ 90%
§ Once our percentages get ABOVE 80% - we will add a BENCH BLOCK for our BIGS and BIG SKILL guys. This will accommodate those heavier loads by reducing the range of motion, and alleviating any extra stress put on the athlete.
§ BIGS are always grinding in the trenches against one another during practices and on game day, so this is safe accessory way to continue to build their strength.
o DELOAD WEEK = Log Bar Bench Press 5x2 @ lighter loads OR DB, Hammer Chest Press
§ Just like with our routine on Sunday’s, we will superset our Bench Press with 4x Hammer Rows, or DB, Cable Rows. Our emphasis will still be to hit +1 more rep than our pressing or match the reps. Shrugs will also be included during the superset.
§ We will also add some accessory movements in after the primary lift. Usually it consists of a couple rounds of Push-Up variations (BIGS x 10, BIG SKILL x 15, SKILL x 20) superset with some Band, DB, or Cable Shoulder/Deltoid work.
WARM-UP / PRE-HAB PROTOCOLS
We don’t just simply walk in the weight room and get going – you MUST have a proper and thorough warm-up / pre-hab routine for your guys when they come into the weight room. A great warm-up will set the tone for the rest of the workout. Below are just some of the following protocols we use within the week for our warm-up / pre-hab:
· MB Slams & Jams
· MB, Plate, BW Abs
· Quick Feet Hops
· Hurdles
· Jump Rope
· Stick Stretch
· Band Hip Up N’ Outs / Clams / “Saquons” = Glute-Groin-Hip
· Proprioception
· Band Good Mornings
· Band External Rotations
· FacePulls
· Plate Squeeze
· Band Rear Delt
· Deadbugs + Quadripeds
· TRX I’s, Y’s, Rows
· Band Shoulder Stretches
· Kneeling Hip Mobility Circuit
NON-TRAVEL / DEVELOPMENTAL GROUP:
This group will train 3x a week: Monday-Wednesday-Friday. The workouts are very similar to the TRAVEL guys, but we will obviously increase the intensity and add some more accessory lifts to the workouts.
As I stated earlier, In-Season Training is my favorite time of the year. The intensity is still the same, our coaching styles and philosophies are still the same, but we know what the ultimate end goal is: PERFORM AT AN ELITE LEVEL ON SATURDAYS. The only way we can do that is to continue to strengthen both their bodies and minds and help keep them healthy. A collegiate football season is NOT EASY. There’s going to be up’s and down’s, outside and inside stressors, injuries, soreness, etc. That’s why one of our Core sayings around here is, “DURABILITY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ABILITY.” No doubt we all love when a kid makes a great run and busts thru for a long touchdown. But does that athlete have the strength, the endurance, the TOUGHNESS to do it not just one time, but every quarter? For the entire season? It’s a tough task, but through SMART-HARD-TOUGH training and education on taking care of their bodies with recovery protocols, it can be done.
I’ve been very fortunate to have been around some of the greatest strength coaches in this business: Ray “Rock” Oliver, Ted Lambrinides, Matt Balis, Rick Court, and Mickey Marotti. The one thing I will always take away from each of them was their LOVE and COMMITMENT towards their athletes. It’s not about the sets and reps-never has been, never will be! It’s how can you get each athletes MINDS and HEARTS? That’s where TRUE DEVELOPMENT happens. As coaches, we rip open our chests and give these athletes our hearts every day! We’re tough, demanding, intense, RELENTLESS in our pursuit of development, but it all comes from LOVE. In order to MAXIMIZE an athlete, we must do so with a REAL and HONEST relationship built with TRUST, RESPECT, and LOVE.
Train them HARD, SMART, with a RELENTLESS PASSION AND LOVE, and build their minds and bodies to go play the game they LOVE!!
BRADY COLLINS
DIRECTOR OF FOOTBALL SPORTS PERFORMANCE