Your Total Program
By Dr. Greg Shepard This year's theme for our journal's special edition is the TOTAL PROGRAM. Articles dealing with this topic will appear throughout this journal. I will focus primarily on how to integrate this Total Program in the High School situation. Certainly, we have passed the stage where athletes do a few Benches and Curls and think they've completed a conditioning program. It is far more complex. Today's coach must be aware of important innovations available the high school coach and athlete in an easy-to-understand package that fits like a glove.
TFlexibility Lift Flexibility Speed Agility Agility Plyometrics Technique I realize, at first glance, the average high school coach could say, "How in the world can I do all that stuff with only 45 minutes in a class period." You can l I'm going to show you how! It is important to let your kids decide what they want to do. They should want to win a championship. If they are normal, they should all want to reach their potential. They should be willing to sacrifice a little time. Everyone understands that principle. If you organize correctly and give your athletes the proper feedback, they will be different. They will be motivated to keep working consistently all year round.
When you see your lifts go up, your speed improve, your weight increase with an improved vertical jump, you have a tendency to be psyched-up and on fire with enthusiasm. It can be very contagious. They will become, what I call, Upper Limit athletes! Now the privilege of being called an Upper Limit athlete requires personal responSibility. I urge coaches to select at least 5 Upper Limit Off-Season captains to help monitor this personal responsibility. Every athlete in the BFS Program does his 10 minute flexibility program on his own time. He spends one minute daily on his agility.
The Upper Limit captains help a coach make sure that everyone is completing the flexibility agility and nutrition requirements. Some technique-of-sport time should also be done by the serious athlete, especially on Saturdays. Coaches, if you can organize and motivate your athletes to do this 11 minute personal responSibility Upper Limit requirement on their own time, EVERYTHING WILL FLOW NICELY! CAUTION: It is a horrendous mistake at any level to lift hard 6 times per week. I don't even like four times per week. The tendency is for all to over train and neglect flexibility, plyometrics, speed training, agility and technique work!
In-Season: During this period, athletes should lift twice Flexibility Speed Agility Plyometrics Technique per week. They should continue, out of habit, to do their flexibility and agility on their own. Coaches should take at least one 10 minute period per week to improve speed.
LENGTH OF WORKOUTS: OFF-SEASON Lifting: 45 to 60 minutes 3 times per week Flexibility: 10 minutes daily Speed Training: 15 minutes 2 to 3 times per week Plyometrics: 10 minutes 2 times per week Agility: 1 minute daily Technique: Depends on position and sport(s) In-Season: Lifting workouts take two 30 minute sessions. Flexibility and agility are the same as the Off-Season.
WEIGHT ROOM ORGANIZATION I recommend you divide your total number of athletes into 3 groups. (Example: 3 groups of 20.) Then put one group by one Core Lift, another group by another Core Lift and the 3rd group by auxiliary exercises. Divide your Core Lift athletes into groups of four. (One lifter and 3 spotters.) In our above example, the weight room should have 5 Squat Racks and 5 Benches to accommodate 3 groups of twenty. Now all you do is rotate every 15 minutes, if you only have a 45 minute class period. If you have 60 minutes, then rotate every 20 minutes. Remember, your athletes have done their flexibility and agility already on their own time.
Now you can concentrate totally on lifting 3 times per week.
TOTAL PROGRAM: OUTLINE Core Lifts Page 9 Flexibility Page 84 Plyometrics Page 88 Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . Page 85 Squats Page 40 Sets and Reps Page 20 Auxiliary Lifts Page 77-82 Nutrition Page 86-87 Readiness Program Page 24 In-Season Concepts .. Page 83 Cleans Page 63 Dead Lifts . . . . . . . . . Page 64 Benches Page 65
From BFS Magazine — November/December 1986. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).
