Question on programming

[laprcnx]

Hello,
I am helping out a strength and conditioning coach at a local junior college's football program. The athletes train Monday - Thursday with Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off. Most of the guys are novice, some a little stronger borderline intermediate, but they would all benefit from a novice linear progression but I'm not sure what would be the best way to program this with the limitation of training four days in a row. The current S&C coach has been doing contrast sets which I feel are a waste of time given their basic strength levels. They also have been mixing in unilateral exercises. However, the year is beginning to transition and my input how to proceed with the next block of training is being considered. Would like your recommendations how to work Mon-Thu, also would be interested in your take on how to pepper in unilateral work, Different bench variations, and PT stuff for shoulder cuff, knee, and ankle injuries. Also the HC wants these guys doing Power cleans and Snatches and hanging versions as well. Thanks in advance

[Sean Berry]

Would like your recommendations how to work Mon-Thu, also would be interested in your take on how to pepper in unilateral work, Different bench variations, and PT stuff for shoulder cuff, knee, and ankle injuries. Also the HC wants these guys doing Power cleans and Snatches and hanging versions as well. Thanks in advance

Lot's of silly here. I would not pepper in the waste of time stuff at all. In other words, everything in bold above should be eliminated. Completely.

With the silly 4 day constraints, I would do some sort of "Rack Day" and "Platform Day." Rack day would be heavy squats and bench. Platform day would be OHP and alternating Deadlift and power cleans/snatches.

Honestly, though the whole situation is probably untenable.

sb

[Jason Donaldson]

Hello,
I am helping out a strength and conditioning coach at a local junior college's football program. The athletes train Monday - Thursday with Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off. Most of the guys are novice, some a little stronger borderline intermediate, but they would all benefit from a novice linear progression

These statements are fundamentally incompatible. Novice and intermediate are defined solely by the time it takes to recover and adapt: Novices take 48-72 hours, and can therefore add weight every workout; intermediate are on a weekly basis or so. Reading the blue book would be the place to start for you.

but I'm not sure what would be the best way to program this with the limitation of training four days in a row.

The NLP is what it is, and it's optimized as it is. You're not going to be able to fit the NLP into four consecutive days. Maybe you can get them into two cohorts of 2x a week, Mon/Wed and Tues/Thursday, but see below.

The current S&C coach has been doing contrast sets which I feel are a waste of time given their basic strength levels. They also have been mixing in unilateral exercises. However, the year is beginning to transition and my input how to proceed with the next block of training is being considered. Would like your recommendations how to work Mon-Thu, also would be interested in your take on how to pepper in unilateral work, Different bench variations, and PT stuff for shoulder cuff, knee, and ankle injuries. Also the HC wants these guys doing Power cleans and Snatches and hanging versions as well. Thanks in advance

The best thing for these athletes is what's best for every novice: Get Them Stronger.

That said, you have the classic problem here. The coaches think they know. The S&C is bought into training blocks, "contrast sets" (supersetting opposing exercises?), unilateral work, etc., all of which show he doesn't understand how to get people strong. He has high-testosterone, growing young men, probably most of them naturally gifted to some extent, who will grow no matter what, so whatever the S&C does will appear to be working. There's a bunch of PT weirdness involved, for a bunch of injuries - all of which would doubtless be lower if the kids were strong, but there you go. The head coach wants power and hanging cleans and snatches because...probably to "build power". Let me guess - there is a culture of "slow deadlifts make you slow - these boys need POWER", isn't there?

(I'm reminded of a family function where a young man on the HS football team had a "600 lb Club" sweatshirt. I asked him about it, and he said it was squat, bench and PC. When I asked about his deadlift, he regurgitated "Oh, I'm on the line. I need to be explosive." I pointed out the deadlift drives up the PC, and he informed me he did the trap bar deadlift for that. I shut up at this point.).

I applaud your trying to make a difference. Just be aware that you're fighting uphill here. If you could get them in two cohorts, one working and one ONLY loading/spotting every workout, you would get good strength gains for them, but my guess is that you'll get pushback on having half the team do nothing at any given time, and they'll be adding in all the silly crap. This will undermine the LP, and failures/injuries will likely be blamed on the LP. Some people just insist on pissing in the soup until they like the taste.

Thinking strategically, is there any chance you can bide your time and get hold of a few of the motivated and teachable athletes over the offseason, get them on the real NLP, and let them come back next year with the benefits for all to see?