Strength Training for a High School PE Class

[S.Eriksson]

Coaches,

I'm looking for some advice. I am currently in my Bachelor of Education teaching practicum at the University of British Columbia. Very soon I will be starting a practicum at a local high school in the physical education department; I will be teaching a weight training class as an elective (grades 10, 11, and 12). As someone with experience in strength and conditioning coaching I naturally want to make a positive impact in these student's lives. I want to teach them the basic principles of strength training to set them up for success later in life.

So, here's my question: do you have any suggestions about how to structure an SS-based training program for a class of 20-22 high school students? There will be a mix of boys and girls. I haven't had a lot of experience with groups this large (usually 1-on-1 or 2-on-1 sessions) and would be open to recommendations on how to best structure my time/resources with a group this size class. The weight room I will be using is equipped almost exclusively with squat racks, barbells, bench press racks, free weights, a trap bar, and an olympic platform with bumper plates. Classes are 80 minutes.

Any help would be much appreciated!

[Tom Campitelli]

I bet you Beau Bryant would have some words of wisdom for you here. Your work is cut out for you and it will be difficult to manage. It would be of great benefit to you if you had more peeps to help coach. You will need to immediately identify problems and spit out cues before moving on. Go through the teaching progression and have the kids block each other's hips. Teach the students how to spot to keep them engaged and doing something while the others are lifting. How many racks do you have?

[S.Eriksson]

We have 3 squat racks, one Olympic platform, 7 barbells (the old-school York bars), and a trap bar. There are a ton of iron plates, lots of 2.5lb ones too, and bumper plates (45x6, 35x2,25x4,10x2,5x2). It is actually a pretty good facility. I like the suggestion of having the kids block each other's hips; this will obviously go a long way to enforcing proper squat technique. Identifying problems will be a challenge. With such a diverse group there is really no telling what issues will present themselves. Wendler had an interesting recommendation on his blog: run kids through some basic bodyweight work (chins, dips, push-ups, etc.), dumbbell squats with a 50lb weight, and dumbbell deadlifts. He suggests doing this type of work until the kids demonstrate competency and are able to handle heavier weight. Thoughts?

[Nick Delgadillo]

This may be of use. John has posted a bunch on Rip's Q and A. He's got a wealth of knowledge on this subject.

[Jeff Illingworth]

I've worked with groups of kids off and on for several years. They're usually middle school to high school age students, all of which are dancers. I stick with the barbell exercises because I believe they give the best return on investment. Following some suggestions I read on here years ago (I'm pretty sure it was in a John Janecek post or, maybe, from Matt Reynolds), I try to group people by height more than anything else since it does save time in adjusting the bar height in the rack. On the first day, I almost always start with squats, move to presses, and do deadlifts if time permits (it almost never does). The second day I'll have them do deadlifts and press again. I usually omit bench presses in group settings with more than four or five kids until they've worked with me for awhile. I know I can only safely watch one bench at a time and there isn't time to run through benches like that. After they've worked for several sessions and I get a better handle on who is and isn't responsible, I'll consider bringing bench presses in. Also, bench presses always seem to take more time to adjust things. Generally, I'll only bring in body weight stuff as a finisher if time permits (maybe some burpees or leg throws or something like that for the last five or ten minutes).

In big group settings like you're describing, especially if you don't have competent help, there is an even greater premium on very clear communication. It'll be imperative for you to figure out which kids are listening, which aren't, which ones are trouble, etc. and deal with them quickly. If you're lucky, you will have kids who haven't already had bad training - bad habits are harder to fix than just doing it correctly from the start. You will certainly have some kids who insist on trying to bite off more weight, etc. then they should and you'll have several who are too afraid to really try. The ones who are afraid will take a lot of positive feedback. The ones that bite off too much will take more yelling (usually).

It'll be hard to keep them interested and focused through the first couple of sessions. They key, again, is very clear communication about why you are having them do what they're doing. Be sure to keep track of their lifts so you can show them progress from session to session. I really work on making sure they do everything right, but I'm not a good enough coach to get everyone fixed on the fly in the 60-70 minutes I usually have so I try to pick my battles and work safety issues first (how to rack and unrack, watch where you stand/walk when people are lifting) and the big form issues at the same time (backs in extension, hip drive, knees not caving in) and will usually let things like perfect hand position in the squat wait if needed. Try to make them watch each other and learn - some kids are good at this and some aren't.

You're not going to have as much time as you think you do. So, if the class is officially 80 minutes, be prepared for you to only get 60 minutes out of them (or at least the first several). Try to have a couple of back-up plans on how many sets/reps they'll get it in so you can try to adjust on the fly. As a teacher/coach, few things feel worse than having the day unravel for lack of planning and, honestly, the trainees/students usually catch on if you're panicked.

So, uh, have fun? Let us know how it goes.

[S.Eriksson]

Seems like clear communication will be paramount to success here. Interesting idea about organizing based on height; I suppose this would make things easier in the long run when it comes to changing stations in the gym too. You've offered a lot of good insight and I'll try and apply it as best I can to my situation. I'll let you know how it goes. Its really nice having resources, like the SS Forum, at your disposal to help with practical application like this!

[Jeff Illingworth]

Yeah, the resources in here are phenomenal and, generally, the Starting Strength "community" is pretty helpful.

I forgot to ask how many days per week you'll have your students. You can expect to see some solid advancement in your students even in a hectic group setting. I've never had anyone who didn't progress, though often no where near as fast or consistently as a dedicated 3x a week novice who's honestly running linear progression. I've even seen kids progress on one training day per week which surprised me. You may run into trouble, though, if you've got them every day of the week. If that's the case, you'll need to do something perceived as productive with them each day. I've had to do this in some summer training sessions where I've had the same kids each day for two or three weeks. In those settings, I'll program the compound lifts on one day and do some sort of HIIT the next day or some bodyweight stuff. The key will be watching out how much work this really is so they don't bet too burned out. I'd try and make the non-lifting days very sub-maximal.

[Beau Bryant]

Sorry this took me so long. A few years ago the county I live in came to me to help them get their weight training classes fixed. We started by training the teachers that teach the class. A series of in services slowly taught the lifts, explained programing, how to adapt SS to different class schedules and how to teach large groups.

This was a three year effort and now every PE department has SSBBT and PP in the classroom. We also made a series of instructional videos that the teacher uses for their class. They watch then go do. The students can also use them as a resource if they are on their own training.

It's been a huge success. If you have any specific questions let me know.

Here is a link to the videos. You can use them if you want. Keep in mind the squat is a high bar squat. No chance I could get PE teachers coaching the LBBS properly in a short amount of time.

CCPS Video-on-Demand

[S.Eriksson]

I'll have the students every day. I agree that alternating lifting with HIIT/bodyweight/some type of game is an excellent strategy to avoid burnout. Beau, thank you for the videos! I will most definitely use them before/when I teach. I am beginning to realize teaching the LBBS might be too daunting of a task and we might have to begin with a high bar squat...not the worst thing, but I'll have to see how it goes. Any ideas for creative, sub-maximal activities besides HIIT for the students to do on their non-lifting days? I was thinking maybe some type of game?