Whitman High School Football Team - Summer Strength and Conditioning Program
 

The Whitman High School football team is currently participating in a comprehensive high intensity strength training and conditioning program run by Elite Athlete Training Systems (E.A.T.S.). The team trains Monday through Thursday from 5:00-7:00 pm at Walt Whitman High School (Bethesda, MD). The training program is 8 weeks long and began on June 19 th and will run until August 10 th . The directors of the program are Jason Hadeed, CCS and Alan Stein, CCS (co-owners of E.A.T.S.). Jason and Alan have had the wonderful opportunity to work with several notable elite high school, college, and professional athletes from a wide variety of sports.

The goal of the program is simple - to get the team into the best physical shape possible prior to the beginning of the season (and those dreaded "two a days") in the safest , most time efficient , and most productive way possible. If the team reports to the first practice in great condition, then more time and energy can be focused on learning, practicing, and fine-tuning the actual skills of the sport , which in the big picture, is the most important! Please note, this program is not designed to make better football players , it is designed to make better athletes . It is the responsibility of the fine coaching staff at Whitman High School to make their team better football players .

The strength training portion of the program has two primary objectives: reduce the risk of injury and improve athletic performance. If an athlete becomes bigger, stronger, and more flexible through proper training, they will be less likely to get injured. If an injury does occur - it will hopefully be less severe. A bigger, stronger, more flexible athlete will also be capable of producing more force - which if applied appropriately to specific sport's skills - can result in quicker, faster, and more explosive movements on the field.

The training program consists of four weekly high intensity workouts (two upper body workouts, 2 lower body workouts) in which equal attention is given to all of the body's musculature. Players perform strength training movements to strengthen the neck and traps, the hips and legs, the mid section, the upper torso, and the arms and hands. Such a comprehensive approach helps ensure muscular balance - an important safeguard against injury because it promotes proper joint stability. Each exercise is performed with slow and controlled repetitions. Performing reps in this manner reduces the influence of momentum and makes the exercise safer and more productive. Every set is taken to a point of concentric muscular fatigue with post fatigue reps introduced occasionally. A combination of training modalities are used during each workout - including free weights, plate loaded machines, and manual resistance. Players work in pairs and follow pre-planned workouts. Strength training workouts last approximately 45 minutes to an hour and are very intense.

The conditioning portion of the program consists of four weekly "track" workouts that are designed to condition the primary energy systems used in football as well as to improve each player's speed, agility, and overall "recovery" time. A variety of sprints, agility drills, and low level (safe) plyometric activities are used. The workouts always include a warm up, a pre activity stretch, a cool down, and a post activity stretch. Overall workout volume, total workout time, work intervals, distance intervals, and rest intervals are all closely monitored and manipulated by Jason and Alan to maximize performance. Conditioning workouts last approximately 30 to 60 minutes and are also very intense.

The advantages of having a bigger, stronger, more highly conditioned football team are obvious: ability to exert a high level of effort for longer durations ("strong" in the 4 th quarter), quicker recovery times between bouts of intense activity (full recovery in between plays), as well as (most importantly) - fewer overall injuries.

Alan Stein, CCS, CSCS