4.28 Manual Notes and Guide
Philosophy
Coach Lamour believes that the strength and speed programs serve as a means to increase athletic performance and decrease risk of injury. We focus on exercises that affect more than one muscle group, foster athleticism, and develop an increase in force production. Our program believes that the body is a living organism, which is constantly changing and evolving. The changes in the state of the body are monitored during the workout to ensure that recovery and progression are used to increase the sport performance of the athlete.
Strength Training, Conditioning & Nutrition
I. Focus on the Posterior Chain
The engine that creates a faster athlete are the muscles that you can’t see in the mirror. These muscles include the abdominals, glutes, hamstrings, spinal erectors, and hip flexor muscles. We have found that athletes that increase the strength of these muscles have a great foundation to develop speed. Our program has decided that the squat gives us the best benefit because it can be taught fairly quickly, as well as, loaded with progressive amounts of weight.
II. Warm- Up
Our approach to the warm-up is to make sure that the athlete’s body is prepared for movement by increasing their core temperature, increasing mobility of the joints, and increase recruitment of the muscle fibers. We progress from movements that are slow like static stretching to faster movements to allow the body a chance to prepare to move and decrease the likelihood of injury. Football is a sport that requires a tremendous amount of power from the posterior chain, so we make sure that the glute muscles are firing to decrease the risk of hamstring injuries. Also, the upper body is activated through arm swing movements and pressing movements to ensure that the sprinting form is not inhibited in anyway.
III. Nutrition
We give nutritional advice that will increase performance, promote health, and reach goals. The program believes the athlete should have the optimal amount of protein daily to promote muscle repair and recovery. All athletes should increase their intake of complex carbohydrates to provide a steady flow of energy throughout the day. Good fats should also be included in a sound nutritional program to ensure proper hormone production, health, and fat loss. We do not encourage supplements as a replacement for meals, but as an aid to a plan that includes whole foods. We promote never going more than 2 to 3 hours without food. Water should be taken at a formula of ½ the body weight of each athlete in ounces on a daily basis.
IV. Speed Training
Speed is developed in our training by increasing maximal strength of each athlete and the acceleration of movement. We derive this theory through the formula for Force. Force is equal to Mass x Acceleration. Maximal Strength is developed by progressively increasing the weight or intensity of the lift on a weekly basis. We favor low rep ranges when increasing the weight of the lift, but rarely do we attempt lifts at a 1 Rep Max. Our program is interested in developing fast, explosive athletes, and not powerlifters or bodybuilders. Acceleration is developed in our program by using plyometrics, medicine balls, and sprinting. Our only concern when developing acceleration is moving our bodies or objects with the greatest amount of speed as possible. We also believe that using proper sprint mechanics can help an athlete who has developed a great strength foundation. Our drills reinforce proper body alignment, optimal sprint angles, and enforce maximal sprint intensity to teach the body to move explosively continuously.
V. Flexibility
Increasing the range of motion of certain connective tissue is very important in football players. The correct amount of flexibility in the hip flexors can affect the ability of the athlete to extend their hips, which is very critical in sprinting or jumping movements. My vertical jump increased from 39” to 42” in 2 minutes by learning
