Author
Kim Goss.
158 articles
Kim Goss contributed 158 articles to BFS Magazine, from 1997 to 2014 — part of the coaching voice that shaped the BFS Total Program.
Recurring themes include Squat, Power Clean, Football, and Safety. Every story is free — read it online or open the original magazine layout as a PDF.
Olympic Legends: The Dufour-Lapointe Sisters
An unprecedented highlight of the 2014 Olympics was seeing the three Dufour-Lapointe sisters, Justine, Chloé and Maxime, dominate in mogul skiing. Justine won gold, Chloé came away with silver, and Maxime, the oldest at age 25, rounded out the trio by finishing an impressive 12th
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Upgrade Your Coaching with the Six Absolutes
In the coaching profession there is an overwhelming amount of information available about biomechanics. If you want to know the optimal position of your thumbs at the start of a 40-yard dash, you could probably find some research study on it. Although these details are important
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Boot Camp and Strongman Training on a Budget
Training and Equipment BXI racks and rigs are built with primarily 3-inch x 3-inch steel tubing for maximum durability. Boot Camp and Strongman Training on a Budget The BXI line of rigs and racks is revolutionizing an industry At the college level, strength coaches often purchase
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Multisport Powerhouse Sesely Omli
football and strength coach, Terry King. “Sesely is an amazing talent.” What makes this high school senior so impressive? Sesely is, first of all, a student-athlete. She carries a 3.96 GPA and plans to attend college to study kinesiology and dietetics. She also is involved in man
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BFS Goes Viral
A Message from BFS Editor Kim Goss, MS vide free, downloadable PDF files of every article exactly as they appeared in the magazine. We’ve heard from countless coaches who make many of these articles “bulletin board” material, along with health science instructors who use BFS arti
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What's Happening
FROM THE EDITOR A Message from BFS Editor in Chief Kim Goss, MS That’s Why They Play the Game! Every summer I head to the local bookstore and pick day this magazine reaches your mailbox, those predictions up several of the college football preview magazines might not hold up. One
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What's Happening
FROM THE EDITOR A Message from BFS Editor in Chief Kim Goss, MS The Voice of Reason the standard by which you are measured professionally – it’s ne of the best things about being the editor of BFS your behavior in your profession. Let me put it another way: magazine is chatting w
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Secrets to Developing Rotational Strength
BY KIM GOSS Over the past decade there has been a trend in the strength coaching profession to distract athletes from getting stronger. I’m not talking about training that is augmented with complicated periodization programs that require a slide rule or at least a basic knowledge
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For Women Only: Hard-Core Fat Loss
TRAINING & EQUIPMENT Baylie Divino (left) and Makayla Betz (right) are Level 10 gymnasts posing in front of a hard-core training tool that can help make serious athletes lean, a BFS Push/Pull Sled. Alternative views on the fastest ways athletes can improve body composition BY KIM
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Preventing ACL Injuries in Women Athletes
Women athletes in sports such as soccer, basketball and volleyball are up to eight times more likely than men to suffer ACL injuries. Preventing ACL Injuries in Women Athletes Valuable advice for reducing the risk of incurring this devastating injury BY KIM GOSS Although virtuall
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Beyond Aerobics: Another Look at Step-Ups and Lunges
A new perspective on exercises that can make a difference in athletic performance Ever since Gin Miller created step aerobics, step-ups and lunges have been associated with aerobic fitness and general lower-body toning exercises for women. Perhaps this connection reflected negativ
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How to Armor-Plate Your Lower Back
A strong lower back is needed to make great tackles, such as this one of Joe Cerrone of Wayland High School in Wayland, Massachusetts. Wayland went 13-0 in 2006 and 10-2 in 2007. ow much can you deadlift?” is a question not commonly heard in the sports media when it comes to inqu
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The Knee Injury Solution
To prevent knee injuries, a sound strength and conditioning program is a must. Shown with one of the basic tools for success is Alise Larson, a sophomore at Hunter High School in Salt Lake City, Utah. Solution Secrets to decreasing the risk of knee injury in athletes Acontinual c
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The Truth About Periodization
Team BFS weightlifter Maegan Snodgrass used a Bulgarian periodization model prior to breaking the School Age American record in the snatch. Maegan hopes to compete in the 2009 National Championships. Why much of what you think you know about this important training concept is jus
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BFS Launches New Website
Greg Minear and Richard Knowley used the latest in high-tech computer technology to develop a great website for BFS. A pictorial essay behind an internet service that takes sports education and customer service to the highest level BY KIM GOSS Every business has a website. Some a
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Hard "Core" Training Made Simple
Made Simple The next step in functional abdominal training BY KIM GOSS straight and you stopped the movement when they reached 90 degrees, that would be considered the external range of the exercise. If you were to start from 90 degrees and curl the barbell to the top position, t
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The Forgotten Secret to Jumping Power
Jumping Power How shock training can jumpstart your athletes For more than 32 years BFS has promoted plyometrics for all levels of athletes. The reason is that plyometrics is a powerful training tool that can significantly improve speed, power and overall athleticism. Unfortunate
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Beyond Calf Raises: A Few Words with Dr. Michael Ripley
BY KIM GOSS In every profession there is always a group of experts, gurus if you will, who are a step ahead of everyone else. There are the computer hackers who see algorithms and matrixes that are invisible to others, musicians and artists who find unique ways to express the hum
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Developing Power, (and Much More!) with the Plyo Bar
BY KIM GOSS When I was serving in the Air Force in the ’80s, I was approached by one of the best tennis players in the military who wanted to know more about plyometrics. I happened to have a videotape on the subject that demonstrated many box jumping exercises, and I loaned it t
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Run Faster, Jump Higher with the Reverse Hyper
The next generation of reverse hyper machines makes this great exercise even easier to perform BY KIM GOSS One of the latest trends in the world of strength and conditioning is “training the posterior chain” – that is, working on the major muscles located on the backside of the b
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2008 BFS Female High School Athlete of the Year
There are some who believe that it’s not possible to achieve the highest levels of athletic and academic achievement at the same time. After all, there are only so many hours in the day, so you have to focus on one or the other. Proving this theory wrong is DeAnn Pertz, a senior
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The Case Against High Pulls
High Pulls Insight into a popular exercise that is, at best, worthless Former U.S. super heavyweight champion Shane Hamman performing high pulls in training. One of the most common story lines in fitness magazines is to warn readers about dangerous, or at least inferior, exercise
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What's Shaking with Vibration Training
The bottom line on a new type of exercise To boldly go where no one has gone before is the famous Star Trek motto and is one that we’ve informally adopted at BFS. Besides promoting a simple, sound training program for young athletes, we like to explore many of the exciting new ad
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The Ultimate Guide to Fixing Flat Feet
If you think that a pricey pair of shoes is the secret to athletic success, think again According to legend, when Arnold Schwarzenegger moved to the US he realized that his skinny calves could prevent him from winning the Mr. Olympia, the most prestigious title in professional bo
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Inside Scoop: The Editor Spills the Beans
PHYSICAL EDUCATION INSIDE SCOOP: Here is BFS Editor Kim Goss when he was a sports editor in college. The device he is working with his fingers was called a typewriter. After three decades, this magazine editor has plenty to say about the world of fitness and bodybuilding publicat
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A New Look at Squatting: Part II
Melanie Roach is a mother-of-three who placed 12th at the 2007 World Weightlifting Championships with a 6-for-6 performance that included a 174-pound snatch and a 242-pound clean and jerk. In training Melanie has done a front squat of 292 pounds and a back squat of 352 pounds. Th
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Squaring Round Shoulders
About 10 years ago I attended a weeklong seminar on evaluating and correcting posture. One of the interesting “tools” we were shown for correcting round-shouldered posture was a harness that strapped across the torso and had an electronic device positioned between the shoulder bl
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Great Team Websites Made Easy (and Cheap!)
BY KIM GOSS Our full-time Webmaster Greg Minear is so busy perfecting our website that our IT Director Richard Knowley empties Greg’s trash for him! Also pictured is Art Director Steve Kinslow and a sneak peek of what our new home page looks like. If you don’t like what your chil
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The New War on Germs: Part II
“But mom – what about staph?” Stopping staph in its tracks BY KIM GOSS Resident Evil 6: Infection “In a world where no one was safe from the undead carrying the Staphylococcus aureus bacterium, scientists worked frantically to find a cure. But because the bacterium was resistant
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Razorbacks Looking Sharp
Darren McFadden Heisman Trophy Candidate Razorbacks Looking Sharp A closer look at the University of Arkansas’s unique and successful approach to becoming strong by KIM GOSS The Arkansas Razorbacks’ football team just kind of sneaks up on you. Last season all the attention went t
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2007 BFS High School of the Year
Titusville High School: A Lifting Family High School of the Year Titusville High School’s BIG commitment to unification has earned this small Pennsylvania school our respect and admiration High school coaches today are faced with ever-increasing challenges, even more so than their
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A New Look at Squatting: Part I
TRAINING AND EQUIPMENT Steve Kinslow photo AA look inside the next level of technique training for the squat few years ago a study conducted by the Department of Psychology at Cornell University concluded that one of the major problems with incompetent workers is that they don’t
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Vertical-Jump Testing: Beyond 2007
Vertical-Jump Testing: A simple, super fast solution to sports fitness testing by Kim Goss WWhat better example of jumping power than this photo of 14-year-old Mary Beth Lofgren? Mary Beth, who represents the Olympus School of Gymnastics in Sandy, Utah, won the 2007 Utah State Cha
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Radical Energy System Training
BY KIM GOSS Innovative methods of losing body fat and developing sport-specific endurance From 1987 to 1994 I was a strength coach for the US Air Force Academy, and one of my primary duties was to design weight training and conditioning programs for the football team. What I obser
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Still Going Strong: Adam Edwards
52 STILL GOING STRONG: Adam became a starting center for the Air Force Academy, and played in the 1995 Copper Bowl. Most athlete profiles that appear in BFS magazine are snapshots of a few years of an athlete’s life: an outstanding football season in which an athlete rushed for 2
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Canada's Angus Reid Takes Off, Eh!
Angus Reid Takes Off, Eh! Angus Reid of the British Columbia Lions celebrates winning the Grey Cup, the Canadian Football League’s version of the Super Bowl. How one of Canada’s professional football players beat the odds to become one of the best The creators of South Park have
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Marcus Hendren: 2007 BFS Male High School Athlete of the Year
Looking for a positive role model for young athletes? Consider Marcus Hendren, a senior at JohnstownMonroe High School in Johnstown, Ohio. We did, and we were so impressed with this young man that he was BFS’s unanimous choice for the 2007 BFS Male High School Athlete of the Year
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The Case Against Stability Training
Stability Training Research is exposing many fallacies about the value of Swiss balls and other types of unstable exercise equipment In one of his trips to Moscow, the late sports scientist Dr. Mel Siff visited the Sport Psychology Institute. Having done his master’s thesis on br
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How to Develop the Lower Abdominals: Part II
Lower Abdominals Simple but powerful exercises to achieve abdominal strength and coordination BY KIM GOSS Do you know someone who suffers from “The Britney Spears Syndrome?” Do you know what causes this condition, how many Americans are affected by it, and how it can be successfu
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America's Strongest Girl
Weightlifter Kelly Lynch is proving that there’s more to life than sports, even if you are the best Kelly winning the 2004 School Age Nationals, one of her many titles. Kelly Lynch is a typical teenager who likes to hang out with friends, go to movies and listen to music. She com
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How to Develop the Lower Abdominals: Part I
Lower Abdominals: Part I How to test lower abdominal strength and coordination BY KIM GOSS Despite all the cool toys available to develop the abdominals, the fact is an athlete can develop tremendous abdominals without ever performing a sit-up, crunch or anything involving all th
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New Directions in Sports Training and Rehabilitation
The amazing athletic fitness and rehabilitation discoveries of Guy Voyer, D.O. Every few years there emerges an individual whose work makes it imperative to reevaluate how we train and rehabilitate athletes. Among those who have contributed to such paradigm shifts are Dr. Yuri Ver
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Pain-Free Front Squats
TRAINING & EQUIPMENT Coach Karen Kuplicki, Olympus School of Gymnastics, Sandy, Utah. Front Squats Here’s a practical way to perform this valuable exercise without wrist pain any strength coaches believe the front squat is a better leg exercise than the back squat for athletes. O
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The Fast-Food Snack Solution
Chloe Van Tussenbroek lectures Tasia Wuthrich (left) and Mary Beth Lofgren (center) about the importance of healthy eating. wenty years ago when I was an editor at Runner’s World, I interviewed a registered dietitian who had written several bestselling books on how to eat well. I
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BFS Female High School Athlete of the Year: Jennifer Walter
There’s a checklist for determining which athletes are most deserving of the BFS Female High School Athlete of the Year. We’re looking for an exceptional multi-sport athlete, a great student and a person of exceptional character. Many times, our candidates have traits that are ex
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Speed Skating with the Stars
TRAINING & EQUIPMENT Olympic Champion and World Record holder Chris Witty has competed in five Olympics, four in speed skating and one in cycling. Her popularity led her to being selected as the flag bearer for the US Team during the opening ceromonies of the 2006 Games. Speed Sk
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Fat Loss Forever: The Flexible Diet
When is it OK to cheat? Never—unless you’re playing the diet game. ere’s a shocker: Most diets will fail. The National Institutes of Health did a 20-year study that concluded that 95 percent of people who lost weight gained all of it back within a few years, and many gained back
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The Coach and the Courts: Weight Training for Kids
To ensure proper lifting and spotting techniques that will avoid injuries, BFS clinics involve hands-on training with all participants. These photos were taken last March at a clinic that BFS Clinician Lance Neven gave at Edwardsburg High School in Edwardsburg, Michigan. Weight T
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How to Crash Diet Without Getting Burned
BY KIM GOSS ention crash dieting to most health professionals and you can count on plenty of cynicism and warnings about the unhealthy nature of severely restricted-calorie diets. After all, in the 1970s there were 58 deaths associated with one such diet, a low-calorie plan based
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The Positive Life of Brett Marsaln
Brett Marsaln Defying the odds has become a habit for this amazing young athlete Brett weighed only two pounds, four ounces, when he was born and suffered numerous medical problems. Kelly and Frank Marsaln have raised two amazing athletes in Beau and Brett. Frank Marsaln started
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Pratical Steps to Prevent Ankle Injuries: Part II
TRAINING & EQUIPMENT Ankle conditioning, such as this lateral speed exercise performed on the BFS Plyo Ramp, should be a must in the workout programs of all athletes. Our second installment on how to take ankle conditioning to the next level BY KIM GOSS Approximately one third of
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The Power of Fish Oil
NUTRITION PHOTO COURTESY OF MARGARET CARDINAL Our friends from the sea hold the edge to better health and athletic performance 2004 Female High School Athlete of the Year Sarah Cardinal knows the power of fish oil. Make no mistake: Fish oil is no “snake oil.” It’s a great asset f
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Pratical Steps to Prevent Ankle Injuries: Part I
Practical Steps to Prevent Ankle Injuries Part I BY KIM GOSS Don’t let ankle injuries sideline you from achieving your goals nkle injuries—is there another type of injury that gets any less respect? If an athlete goes down grasping their knee in pain, time is stopped as players a
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Is Strongman Training for You?
PHOTOS COURTESY ALLEN HEDRICK, US AIR FORCE ACADEMY You? A look at the benefits and pitfalls of one of the latest fads by Kim Goss “Win or get fired!” is a motto that seems to have taken over the coaching profession. In the pros and in college a losing season is forgivable, but i
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2005 BFS High School of the Year: Whitmore Lake
Coach Brian Lemons’ commitment to “classic” BFS has produced great improvements for football players and cheer athletes alike A few years ago I was having dinner with Dr. Greg Shepard and we found ourselves discussing the way some coaches have modified the BFS program to fit thei
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Talking About Food...for a Change
feature article” The answer to | nutrition cannot be found in pil s °: In 1987 when I was an editor at Runner's World Publications, [ interviewed two of the most celebrated experts on alternative medicine, Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw. They both bad earned several advanced degrees
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Golf Training Secrets of Michelle Wie and Michael Campbell
Golf Training Secrets of Michelle Wie‘and Michael Camptell Paul Gagné is TARO OY CONMTON IO bY Y»: ANON TCC! Charles Howell Il performs a power balance exercis BACK BY. DEMAND! the same diameter as a 45-Ib3 plate/but Weighs only 5S lbsiiA clean‘and other Boe lifts:sl From BFS, th
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A Father's Love: The Roman Reed Story
in fe POUR Hn Fea thin all they k have to do is let Now a retired school teacher in Northem Califomia, Don always The doctor's prognosis was bleak; and while lying in his hospital bed, admired strength, and at one time he could clean and jerk 345 Roman was told to accept the foll
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How the Utes Get Strong
Although USC earned the national title, the University of Utah captured the hearts of the college football fans. The team’s undefeated season, a BCS bowl victory, the number-one draft pick — this was truly a Cinderella Whittingham says it’s unrealistic for the Utes to expect anot
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Eight Myths About Weight Training for Women
Information we'd know better, but unfortunately there's still a lot of nonsense being published about strength training for women. or example, many Pilates instructors still claim that unlike weight training, their workouts make muscles longer, like a ballerina’s. Nice sales pitc
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Ignorance is Not Bliss
professors gave me a bit of wistom that has stuck with me ever since: “The only way you Can change a person's opinion is if that opinion is based on ignorance.” If that individual's opinion doesn't change after hearing the facts, then there's nothing you can do. Some people prefe
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Coming on Strong: University of New Mexico
AST YEAR MOST OF THE NATIONAL MEDIA ATTEN- “We're going to be a very competitive football team and a very competi- TION REGARDING THE MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERtive league,” says head coach Rocky Long, a former Lobos quarterback ENCE WAS FOCUSED ON ALEX SMITH AND HIS. who became head c
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Confessions of a Hard Core Gym Owner
when they grow up, and a typical response is “The ice cream man!” And that’s OK — kids are kids and ice cream is the most perfect food. But * ‘ : = ask any serious strength coach what they would secretly *, want to do with their lives, and a typical response is ) “Owna gym.” Not
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A Question of Flexibility
/FTEN THE INABILITY TO SQUAT IS NOT A MATTER OF FLEXIBILITY BUT OF BODY AWARENESS -OST COACHES LIMIT THEIR (EX BAR TRAINING TO DEADLIFTS A "&3 CORE EXERCISE AND SHOULDER SHRUGS AN EXCELLENT AUXILIARY EXERCISE )N OUR /CTOBER ISSUE #ANADIAN STRENGTH COACH 0AUL h-AC'YVERv 'AGN
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From Skeptic to Convert
!N ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON lNDS THAT THE BEST WAY TO APPRECIATE THE BOX SQUAT IS TO DO IT /PPOSITE PAGE "&3 #LINCIAN "OBBY 0OSS SPOTS $R 'REG -OTLEY ON THE BOX SQUAT ,EFT $R -OTLEY ATTENDS TO A PATIENT AT HIS CLINIC !BOVE $ESPITE HAVING TWO DEGENERATED DISKS $R -OTLEY FELT NO
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Improving Agility and Lateral Speed
Darren Sproles from Kansas State is a running back with amazing agility and lateral speed. At the NFL Combine this year he had the second best time for his position in the 20-yard shuttle with a time of 3.96 and tied for the best 40 with a time of 4.46. Although he only weighs 18
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Are You Neglecting Neck Training?
“Pencil neck geek, grit eatin’ freak, scum suckin’, pea head with a lousy physique. He’s a one man, no gut, losing streak. Nothin’ but a pencil neck geek.” t was 1977 when Pencil Neck Geek hit the airwaves. Written by the late pro wrestler Freddie Blassie, it was a novelty song a
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The Shocking Truth About Supplements
Athletes, you know pressure: you’re expected to excel, win and keep on winning. So you train hard, you push yourself to your limits and you look for ways to give you an edge. You probably know athletes who are taking food supplements in the hopes of enhancing their performance. Y
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The Perfect Tribute
The downside of taking over a championship program is that the only place to go is down. This was the problem facing head football coach Joe Parrish of Cambridge High School in Cambridge, Wisconsin. The previous coach, Bob Noldof, was the seventh winningest coach in Wisconsin and
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Biomechanics Made Simple
The Snatch How to apply the Six Absolutes of perfect technique to analyze the classical snatch B FS has developed six training principles called “Absolutes” that are amazingly effective in teaching perfect technique, not only in the Have you heard about Team BFS? As part of his w
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Starting From Scratch
Revs: a program with a n't deter Gobble. Erie Gobble. Gobble left a promising law practice after two years to pursue his dream of coaching football. Although some believe letes to field a junior varsity team and scheduling a season of opponents for the following year. Not an case
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When Being Good is Just Not Good Enough
WuHeEN BEING Goop Is Just Not Goop ENouGH How Sequim High School took its football program from bad to good to great A“ nine losing seasons, Sequim High School finished its 2003 season at 7-3. It was the if the team had been sold on working harder in the preceding off-season, the
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Dwight Phillip's Leap of Faith
by Kim Goss JAVIER SORIANO/AFP/Getty Images Dwight Phillips overcame major obstacles, including gravity, to become the best long jumper in the world Arizona. Charles said that Phillips had poor upperdid: Just three weeks before the Olympics, Phillips body strength and was relativ
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Heisman Fever
by Kim Goss All photos courtesy S.I. departments of the respective schools A look at what’s shaping up to be one of the most unpredictable Heisman Trophy races of all time If you had predicted that Napoleon Dynamite would be one of the most profitable movies of 2004, most people
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Preventing ACL Injuries
A lthough there is no such thing as a “good” knee injury, one of the most devastating is an injury to the anterior crucial ligament (ACL). In the past this was often a “kiss of death” injury, and those who did recover faced a recovery period that could often take as much as a yea
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The Russians Are Coming....or Here!
Maria Sharapova of Russia serves during the ladies final match against Serena Williams of USA at the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championship. A new generation of women Russian tennis players is showing that training hard—and smart—leads to athletic greatness lthough she was once ranke
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Lawsuits, Give Yourself a Sporting Chance
here is a belief that when it health clubs and equipment manufaccomes to the possibility of getturers. He has represented both plainting sued, coaches have little to worry tiffs and defendants, and as such has about. After all, most coaches are developed valuable insight into ide
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A Ridiculously Easy Guide to Nutrition
When Loren Cordain was growing up, his father gave him books about how our Stone Age ancestors lived off the land, while his mother encouraged him to eat fruits and vegetables. Those early influences, plus Cordain’s later desire to eat well to improve his athletic endeavors, insp
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Rocky Lanz, The Ultimate Cross Trainer
A lifelong commitment to BFS principles has contributed to elite performances by this multi-sport athlete Rocky Lanz is a born athlete—the physical talents he displayed as a child gave promise that he could go far in whatever sport he chose. Lanz, however, excelled in not just on
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Inventive Reasons to Own a Hex Bar
A Quebec, Gagné has earned a reputation as one of nybody remember MacGyver? This was a 1980s Canada’s leading strength coaches and rehabilitation TV series about a government specialists. He has personally trained more than 50 agent who was able to solve crimes players in the NHL
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THE FLYING ARROWS HIT THEIR MARK, 41-1!
Its an enviable record that almost any football coach would be proud to claim. John Hoch, head football coach at Lancaster High School in Lancaster, Wisconsin, has seen his team win three state championships and seven conference championships. Over the past three years his Flyin
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Pulling his weight at Portage High School
With approximately 320 students, Portage High School in Portage, Pennsylvania, is one of the smallest schools in a 32-school district. Too miniscule a school to have much of an athletic program, right? Think again. With the help of a good coaching staff and a year-round weight tr
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Breaking Tradition at Frank W. Cox High School
Steve Allosso had it made. With an annual salary of $250,000 as a vice president and part owner of a successful company, he was living the American dream. But five years ago when his company went public, Allosso decided that hed had enough of big business. He wanted to coach foo
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Fitness, She Wrote
aura Dayton is one of the most prolific writers in the field of fitness. For the past three decades she has written literally thousands of articles for magazines dealing with health and fitness, including BFS magazine, along with several books and numerous chapters for books. Cur
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Adam Nelson,"The Giant Killer"
Within track and field, one of the premier events is the shot put. Those who excel in this event gain the respect and admiration of any strength athlete because it represents power. Power is the ability to produce the maximum amount of force in the minimum amount of time, and res
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Ice Jets Melt Stereotypes
In a world where rude rules—especially at the hockey rink—this Dallas team by Kim Goss dares to be different Did we really need American pop idol Justin Timberlake exposing Janet Jackson at the Super Bowl to prove that our moral fiber today is barely a thread? Football—at the Sup
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LSU Tigers National Champions
Head coach Nick Saban of LSU celebrates after defeating Oklahoma 21-14 to win the National Championship at the Nokia Sugar Bowl on January 4, 2004 at the Louisiana 22 The Tigers' National Championship win was no surprise to those who know LSU by Kim Goss There was a time LSU fans
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Powerlifting Phenom Josh Bryant
In a sport dominated by veterans, one rookie is holding his own You have to pay your dues to be a champion in powerlifting. Although powerlifters can enjoy strength increases from day one, it takes many years—even decades—to plateau. This fact is evident by looking at the high nu
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The Worlds Fastest Teenager
If youre a young sprinter, patience is not only a virtue, its essential. Even the best teenage athletes in the country may have to wait until theyre almost 30 before they have a chance at world-class status. During these years they must spend countless hours not just on the tr
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A Closer Look At BFS Chains
The BFS program has been building champions for 25 years. Over this time the basic BFS training principles have changed littleafter all, who would dispute the value of a respected program that produces hundreds of high school state championships in major sports? Thats why when
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Inside The Raiders With Strength Coach Tim Adams
With a 42-year history and three Super Bowl titles, the Oakland Raiders are one of the most recognized and respected teams in the NFL. The team boasts the best winning percentage in pro football since 1963 and has produced numerous Hall of Fall inductees such as Jim Otto, George
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Weightlifting Champion Carl Miller
Just as every sport has its heroes, every form of physical conditioning has its champions. Sure, theres an endless parade of fitness celebrities who want you to stretch rubber bands, march on plastic boxes, electrocute your abdominals and even stand on giant rubber balls. The mo
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Morton Power - Morton High School
There is strength in numbers, and that explains a lot about the past record of Morton High School's football program. No numbers, no strength. In the ten years before head coach Anthony Grazzini took over the program two years ago, this Division 2A school in Berwyn-Cicero, Illino
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The Future of Youth Gymnastics
In the past, most gymnastic coaches believed the best wayperhaps the only wayto strength train their athletes was by using solely gymnastic movements. Countless reps of bodyweight-only exercises such as dips, push-ups and pull-ups were considered the standard training protocol
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Making Room For State Champions at Mt. Olive High School
We get letters! At BFS, one of the most satisfying aspects of our job is opening the mail and reading glowing reports of how BFS helps coaches turn losing programs into winning ones. At the end of the 2002 football season we received one such letter from Kevin Stansberry, the Dir
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Charmaine Hooper
Now that Mark McGwire has inspired young baseball players to hit the weights as much as they hit baseballs, the next sport discovering the value of serious strength training is soccer. Leading the way in the womens division is Canadas Charmaine Hooper. A member of the Atlanta B
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East Providence Rebuilding a Team the BFS Way
East Providence High School in East Providence, Rhode Island, has a rich history and tradition in football equal to any school in all of New England. Prior to the 2002 season, the Townies had been to four state Division I championship games since 1995, winning two of them. Kids i
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Youth Weightlifting Pioneer Marty Schnorf
One of the most controversial issues in sports conditioning is strength training for young athletes. Many coaches still believe its dangerous for young athletes to lift weights, and some believe its a waste of time. Marty Schnorf has spent 30 years dispelling these myths while
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Natalie Coughlin Berkeley's Best
On the surface, swimmer Natalie Coughlin is just like any other college student-athlete. She attends class, goes to swim practice and competitions, and enjoys simple hobbies such as cooking and photography. The difference is that Coughlin is an honor student at one of the most pr
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Trading Places the Ethan Brooks Story
If you want a career in the NFL, here are five blunders you never want to make: One: Pursue your football career at a Division III College. Two: Divide your athletic life between track and football. Three: Train yourself in defense in college only to be drafted in the NFL for off
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A Few Words With America's Strongest Man
Its rare for a top athlete to master more than one sport. True, Deon Sanders and Bo Jackson reached the highest levels of play in both professional football and baseball, and Andre Ward went on to a successful career in professional basketball after winning the Heisman. But such
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Williams College, The Student-Athletes Haven
Its one thing for a college to have a good program in football, or perhaps another major sport, but Williams College is the rare exception in that it is successful in almost all its sports. As a case in point, for six out of seven years Williams has won the Directors Cup Trophy
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Dan Johns History Lesson
Most athletes reach their peak in high school, with only an exceptional few going on to college or the professional level. For athletes in such sports as gymnastics and figure skating, retirement may even hit as early as junior high. But for 46-year-old thrower and weightlifter D
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From BFS to Bowling Green
Every high school football player dreams of playing at a Division I college, but there are only 119 of these colleges but over 17,000 high schools that have football teams. So the odds of playing at a Division I college, much less making the team, are quite low. One athlete whose
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TWICE THE TALENT
Imagine a beautiful teenage girl who grows up to earn an academic scholarship at an Ivy League school and while there, establishes herself as one of the best collegiate track and field athletes in the country. After graduating with a degree in one of the most difficult majors, su
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FLYING HIGH WITH THE SMYRNA EAGLES
Located in a rural community surrounded by farmland, Smyrna High School in Smyrna, Delaware, has only about 900 students. Until recently, athletes from this school usually didnt attract much attention outside the city limits. But through hard work, community support and the rece
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LSU TIGERS ON THE FAST TRACK WITH DENNIS SHAVER
In womens track and field as in mens, the sprints are the glamour events. Success in these short races has transformed athletes such as Florence Griffith-Joyner, Evelyn Ashford and Marion Jones into international celebrities who will inspire generations to come. With the popula
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THE BOSTON CONNECTION
Although 22 players take the field in a football game, fans tend to focus on the quarterback, the running backs and the wide receivers. These are the players who put most of the points on the scoreboard, and only the best athletes are entrusted to these positions. So when David B
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FROM WORST TO FIRST
Before the Wildcats first game in 2000, head football coach Chris Kappelmeier was extremely optimistic about the coming season. Wed had six wins the year before, a season in which we were not expected to do well, and many of our players were returning, says Kappelmeier. I th
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UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND A BALANCE OF POWER
Its rare that you find a college that is nationally ranked in both football and basketball. And until recently, the University of Maryland was no exception. Known for its outstanding basketball team (the Terrapins recently captured the coveted NCAA Tournament), the school also s
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FOCUSING ON SUCCESS AT SOUTHERN OREGON UNIVERSITY
In a perfect world a head strength coach will be able to delegate most of the hands-on coaching to his or her assistants, who in turn will delegate many of their lesser responsibilities to student assistants. Such focus enables the individual players to achieve high levels of suc
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MASSEY MAKES THE GRADE
In Eastern Bloc countries the most promising young athletes are sent to sport schools. There they are given the best coaching to nurture their talent, with the hope that they will be able to represent their country in international competition. To determine which athletes warrant
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STOP SWEARING NOW!
Its been said that first impressions are always the strongest and most lasting. If you want your first encounters to be positive, you can stay ahead of the game by learning what James V. OConnor has to say about talking dirty. OConnor is the founder of the Cuss Control Academy
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CAMDEN GETS PHYSICAL
Passing is for cowards! is one of the favorite sayings among football teams that emphasize the running game. Although this slogan is a bit extreme, it might be an appropriate one to put on the T-shirts of the football players at Camden County High School in Kingsland, Georgia.
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THE DARK SIDE OF HAZING
In the premiere episode of the television series Smallville, the super powers of the young Clark Kent were sapped by kryptonite. In Clark's weakened state, bullies from the high school football team were able to strip him down to his shorts, tie him to a wooden cross and paint a
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THE PATIENCE AND POWER OF J.T. WALL
J. T. Wall didnt seem likely to become a starter on a Division I football team, especially one with the reputation of the University of Georgia. He graduated from a small, private high school and didnt have the speed, size or playing experience to attract the attention of the m
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JIM SCHMITZ'S WEIGHTLIFTING LEGACY
There are a few remarkable coaches in history who have set themselves apart from others by their accomplishments, inspiring their athletes to achieve what many thought impossible. Whats more, they have achieved their success with class and integrity, accepting their obligations
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IS WEIGHT TRAINING SAFE FOR KIDS?
Just about everyone in this country has participated in some type of resistance training, whether publicly in a health club or school, or privately with home gym equipment. And with good reason. Decades of research have proven that weight training is the single-most effective way
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MICHELLE FREEMAN THE WOMAN WHO RAN TOO FAST
Michelle Freeman is a track and field athlete who runs too fast. Seriously. She's a world-record hurdler who was ranked number one in the world in 1997 and made the finals of the Olympic Games, but paradoxically, she is just too fast for her event. You can run only as fast as yo
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JUNCTION CITY HIGH SCHOOL
Randall Zimmerman is a head football coach with an attitude, a great attitude. He knows it's vital that athletes have a positive outlook, set goals and develop action plans to achieve them. An effective way he found to instill this attitude in his athletes was to hold a Be An Ele
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