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Strength and conditioning coaches are always on a crusade for the holy grail, and like the myth, it is impossible to find. Like most innovation, it starts with a problem that needs to be considered with a different thought process to find answers. Strength and conditioning coaches seek to prepare athletes for the demands of the game so that they can be robust and resilient and perform at higher levels than before. Although this mythical program that can be deemed “the greatest” in athletic development doesn’t necessarily exist for everyone’s circumstances, S&C coaches are getting closer to solving their inherent problems with preparing athletes for the demands of the game.

Football is played five months out of the year, which leads to a huge chunk of time spent working on general abilities in the off-season. There’s a notion that strength and conditioning work removed from sports training for half the year hinders the growth of the athlete and lessens the transfer of newfound abilities into game play. You don’t win games by having the strongest team; you win games by having the most skilled team. Players will have to abandon the ladder or four-cone box drill, and the question the S&C has to ask is whether they are ready for the completely reactive environment associated with field sports.

Unlike many field and court sports, football out of season traditionally has less skill development—specifically in the area of small-sided games and agility training methods. In this series of articles, I will introduce progressions and drills that aim at attacking the training void between general training and specific training as it pertains to American football.

Agility and small-sided games are two crucial components of sports training. Agility refers to the ability to change direction quickly and efficiently in response to the environment, while small-sided games are modified versions of traditional sports that involve fewer players and smaller playing areas. Incorporating both training concepts into an off-season program will decrease the shock that accompanies the chaos of play and lessen the chance of injury.

Small-Sided Games: The Game Teaches the Game

The sport of football has been using small-sided games for years to help develop specific skills of the game, and by football, I mean soccer. Small-sided games reduce the number of players or field size from normal game play, and American football uses SSG in practice with inside run, 7-on-7, and even tackling drills. The use of SSG does not have to end once the season is over—in the off-season, it is critical to continue the skill development that accompanies SSG exposure. Using reduced field space in evasion/tracking drills will allow players to focus on position and get them valuable reps in a scenario that occurs frequently in game play. We will go through the progression in a later article, but readers should know that it does not require a complicated process of drill progressions:

• Find a piece of the game that is common.
• Reduce the players to focus the attention of the active participants.
• Close down the field space to allow the players to work on specific skills.

By removing variables, players can really dial in on the specific techniques of the situation.

Video 1. Small-sided and reaction games in football training.

The Injury Issue

One of the greatest threats to the success of a team is injury. Injuries are an unfortunate part of the game, and there is no true way to completely prevent them outside of simply not playing. The S&C coach has to problem-solve injury trends and provide training that addresses the major issues accompanying the sport. While the term “injury prevention” is a fallacy, I truly do believe injury mitigation can be accomplished with the right training environment. Too often, we see a focus on general training leading up to the competitive season without the inclusion of full-speed, reactionary drills (SSG) and wonder why athletes get hurt in the first few practices of training camp.

Reaction and positioning go hand in hand, so to not bridge the gap between general and specific training is setting the athlete up for failure, says @CoachJoeyG. Share on X

Reaction and positioning go hand in hand, so to not bridge the gap between general and specific training is setting the athlete up for failure. In the research paper “Noncontact Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries: Risk Factors and Prevention Strategies,” the authors stated “Control over the dynamic restraints, independent of the motor control level, can be considered to occur both in preparation and in response to external events. Preparatory actions occur on the identification of the beginning of an impending event or stimulus as well as its effects, whereas reactions occur in direct response to sensory detection of effects from the arrival of the event or stimuli.” This is where the importance of SSG in preparation for specific conditioning plays such a pivotal role in the mitigation of non-contact injuries.

Figure 1. A comparison of injuries in American collegiate football and club rugby. S&C coaches can get on the right path to mitigation by providing training modalities that address these problems. Data adapted from: Comparison of Injuries in American Collegiate Football and Club Rugby (sagepub.com)

Several other researchers have also spoken on this subject, pointing toward incorporating specific modalities like SSG in training. A study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that athletes who participated in small-sided games had better sprint performance and agility than those who did not. Another study published in the Journal of Sports Sciences found that small-sided games were more effective at improving aerobic fitness than traditional training methods.

Strength and conditioning coaches are trying to find a way to develop the energy systems in a specific way to increase capacity for the demands of the sport, which would lead to fewer injuries. Less fatigue present in continuous game play will lead to less chance of injuries, and research has shown that SSG can provide that better than traditional conditioning due to the locomotion demands and rest/work ratios. Furthermore, a study published in 2014 found that small-sided games were associated with a lower risk of injury than full-sided games. When athletes train in similar environments to game play, they are prepared for the demands of the game.

Components of Agility

General skills make up the foundation of great agility alongside increased peripheral vision and faster reaction times (OODA loop). Acceleration, deceleration, COD, and max velocity are the underlying attributes that help determine success in the open environment of play. With deficiencies in any of these areas, the chances of being elite diminish. It’s the price of admission, so to speak, because if you lack the general athleticism to keep up with the more athletically endowed players, reaction times can only make up so much ground. A skill is how well someone can perform a task; in the chaotic realm of sport, the task in football comes down to two simplified themes: to create space or close space depending on whether the player is on offense or defense.

If you are an offensive player, you are trying to create space; the counterpart to that is if you are on defense, you are trying to close space. The beauty of football is that offensive players can be defensive in plays, like an offensive lineman in a pass set.

The four general skills stated above allow this to happen more rapidly. Zatsiorsky stated, “an increase in sports performance, the time of motion decreased.” This is multifactorial and should demand the attention of the strength and conditioning coach to allocate time to building the general locomotion skills necessary to move faster while concurrently exposing athletes to reactive environments in a planned and progressive manner. It’s like learning how to say the alphabet before embarking on the journey of writing an essay—you want to make sure that you can spell the words properly and write the correct letters.

In a profession that preaches “slow cooking” athletes, we are too often quick to say that in the developmental stages, we should just let the athletes figure it out in play versus giving them clues first on how to figure out the complex task of faster game play. What’s wrong with an emphasis on both?

Videos 2 and 3. Speed and agility development in training.

Deceleration

One of the main catalysts for injury is not having the coordination or capacity to stop movement. S&C coaches train and prepare athletes for the demands of the sport while improving the underlying factors affecting faster sports motion. Deceleration, in particular, is the underpinning factor in greater change of direction and max velocity speeds, which are directly responsible for creating and closing space but also prevention of non-contact injuries.

Video 4. Training deceleration on the football field.

Dr. Damian Harper defines deceleration as: “[The] ability to proficiently reduce whole-body momentum, within the constraints, and in accordance with specific objectives of the task, while attenuating and distributing the forces associated with braking.”

Deceleration ability may be the biggest determining factor in performance when looking at general skills and their effect on sports, says @CoachJoeyG. Share on X

Deceleration ability may be the biggest determining factor in performance when looking at general skills and their effect on sports. In the research article “Change of Direction Tasks: Does the Eccentric Muscle Contraction Really Matter?,” Helmi Chaabene stated, “From a practical observation, suggest that coaches should consider implementing eccentric strengthening, which is the main muscle contraction regime activated during deceleration, in their training program directed at promoting COD outcome.” Not training or preparing for the high-intensity deceleration events in sport can lead to compensation mechanics or severe injury.

COD and the Four Main Pillars

Change of direction and agility are not the same! You can change direction without a stimulus, whereas agility is a change of direction brought on by an environmental cue. COD is one of the biggest determining factors in faster game play—the only sport that doesn’t have COD is track. A 10.5 time in the 100m is only useful on the football field if you can navigate defenders.

Increasing acceleration and max velocity output is extremely important but is not the end of the rainbow. The gold is getting these general skills to transfer to specific skills like tracking, closing, and evading, which have more components than just running fast. Change of direction is directly affected by another general skill: deceleration. As previously stated, what’s the point in speeding something up if we cannot slow it down? A skill gets better with rehearsal, so while increasing the contributing factors to speed, COD, and deceleration, strength and conditioning coaches also need to reinforce the biomechanical positions that are associated with advantageous change of direction movements.

When you break down the tape of game play, four distinctive change of direction movements stand out:

• 180-degree cut
• 90-degree cut
• 45-degree cut
• Maneuverability

These movements show up over and over again. In many situations, they change together. When you avoid training these positions, you remove the bridge between speed and game speed. Training these components of COD is learning the alphabet. It’s the old metaphor of learning to crawl before you run.

When you avoid training change of direction positions, you remove the bridge between speed and game speed, says @CoachJoeyG. Share on X

Videos 5 & 6. Training angled cuts and maneuverability.

OODA Loop

Game speed and OODA loops are two concepts that are important in sports training and competition. Game speed refers to an athlete’s ability to perform at the same speed and intensity as they would in a game or competition. This involves not only physical speed but also mental quickness and decision-making ability. When I see people train in closed drills or general skills the entire off-season without the presence of open reactive environments, my mind always goes to the Mike Tyson quote, “Everyone has a plan till they get hit.” Peripheral vision and pattern recognition are two of the main drivers of fast reaction times and increased OODA loop processing.

The OODA loop is a decision-making process coined by military strategist John Boyd. It stands for:

• Observe
• Orient
• Decide
• Act

In sports, athletes must constantly cycle through this process to make quick and effective decisions on the field. They must observe the situation, orient themselves to the environment and the actions of their opponents and teammates, decide on a course of action, and then act on that decision. Increased game speed hinges upon the ability to cycle through this loop and use the appropriate strategies from a movement standpoint. We have all coached that one kid who was fast as hell in testing, but for whatever reason, the game moved too fast for him, and he played slower than his capabilities. An athlete’s inability to discern the environment from potential threats slows down the “decide” and “act” portions of the loop, leading to what a lot of coaches have termed “paralysis by analysis.”

Coaches can incorporate the OODA loop into sports training by focusing on decision-making skills and situational awareness. You can create drills and exercises that require athletes to quickly observe and react to changing situations, forcing them to cycle rapidly through the OODA loop. Game speed training can include drills and exercises that simulate game situations and force athletes to react quickly and make split-second decisions.

These critical pieces of training—game speed and the OODA loop—are important concepts in creating a transfer from general skills to specific skills. Athletes who can perform at game speed and quickly cycle through the OODA loop are more likely to be successful on the field. It’s not the fastest athlete who wins; it’s the athlete who plays the fastest. Coaches and athletes should incorporate these concepts into their training and practice routines to improve their performance and decision-making abilities.

It’s not the fastest athlete who wins; it’s the athlete who plays the fastest, says @CoachJoeyG. Share on X

The OODA loop can also be linked to injury rates in sports. In high-speed and high-impact sports, such as football, athletes constantly make split-second decisions that can have a significant impact on their safety. Therefore, having a well-developed OODA loop is crucial for athletes to avoid injuries.

The OODA loop helps athletes quickly observe and orient themselves to their surroundings, make informed decisions, and act on those decisions with precision and control. By cycling through the OODA loop rapidly, athletes can make split-second decisions that can help them avoid collisions, adjust their movements to avoid injury, or protect themselves. Game speed and the OODA loop can also help athletes develop their adaptability and flexibility.

The game of football is chaos, and no play is identical. Having the ability to react to an ever-changing environment will give players a competitive advantage and protect them from bad positions that could lead to the risk of injury. By incorporating these concepts into training and practice routines, athletes can develop their decision-making abilities, mental toughness, resilience, and adaptability, all of which can contribute to their success on the field.

Having the ability to react to an ever-changing environment will give players a competitive advantage and protect them from bad positions that could lead to the risk of injury, says @CoachJoeyG. Share on X

In the next three articles, I will touch upon:

1. How GPS can help create specific thresholds and guide planning for SSG and agility to match practice stressors.
2. How to progress from closed COD drills and advance them into open reactive environments.
3. How to incorporate and plan these sessions into the training week.

Every coach wants faster game speed and a decreased chance of injury, and small-sided games can deliver. SSG and agility training, when paired with general skills and capacities training, can produce a robust athlete that is able to handle any situation with accuracy and precision.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

During the summer of 2021, I was scouring the internet, seeking alternatives to the “sleeper stretch” in order to better compel shoulder internal rotation (IR) in overhead athletes. While the sleeper stretch had garnered high praise from the overhead athlete and physical therapy community for decades—it’s often considered a staple movement within many baseball and shoulder rehabilitation programs—a handful of new alternatives to address shoulder IR inefficiencies have begun to gain steam in recent years. In large part thanks to the contributions of the Postural Restoration Institute (PRI), it was starting to become clear that the cause of poor shoulder IR might not even be a result of the shoulder itself.

At the time, I was interning under the guidance of renowned Philadelphia-area strength and conditioning coach and educator Rob Rabena (who will always have my gratitude), and he steered me toward Las Vegas physical therapist (PT) Zac Cupples. Rabena noted that Cupples would be able to clearly explain that it is the rib cage that forms the base for our shoulder girdle, and our shoulder motion can be profoundly influenced by altering dynamics within the rib cage. Thoroughly impressed by Cupples’ explanation, I began hastily consuming more and more of his content before ultimately joining his mentorship program in 2022.

During our conversation for this interview, Cupples revealed a bit of wisdom that I continue to reflect on and seek to implement on a daily basis. When I asked how we, as coaches, can continue to improve our craft (in addition to making our athletes better), he said:

“It starts with cultivating your relationships and assembling a team around you comprised of individuals who are predominantly smarter and more proficient than yourself. It may sound counterintuitive, but this will ensure you are continually being pushed to enhance your own skill set, which can prove challenging if you are the smartest person in the room. Multiple heads are better than one, and you can advance your coaching mastery more rapidly if you are constantly engaging with others [who are] always willing to help nudge you in the right direction.”

(Improving your coaching) starts with cultivating your relationships and assembling a team comprised of individuals who are predominately smarter and more proficient than yourself, says @ZCupples. Share on X

Cupples graduated from St. Ambrose University’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program in 2011 and then went on to obtain both his Orthopedic Specialist Certification (OCS) and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) certification in 2013. He has been a PT clinical director, continuing education reviewer, and National Basketball Association (NBA) PT and Assistant Strength Coach. Despite his highly regarded academic and industry accolades, if you ask Cupples what experience he valued the most, he will enthusiastically point to his time in Indianapolis, when he interned for the legendary Bill Hartman at IFAST University. As the Illinois native’s admiration for Hartman has grown over the years, in a similar vein, so too has my admiration for Cupples.

Prior to embarking on this journey with Cupples, I was completely oblivious to the idea of posterior expansion versus muscle compression, sacral nutation versus counternutation, and rib cage dynamics, let alone the varying axial skeleton archetypes. While Cupples was able to cast light on crucial industry topics I was otherwise unfamiliar with, it was (is) his ability to unscramble otherwise ambitious topics and present them in a digestible manner that proved to be his most helpful quality.

Cupples’ ability to unscramble otherwise ambitious topics and present them in a digestible manner proved to be his most helpful quality. Share on X

At the conclusion of our May mentorship call, I sought to glean from Cupples serviceable insight that coaches and/or athletes can directly apply:

• Programming considerations for sport athletes who present a narrow vs. wide infrasternal angle (ISA) predisposition.
• Deciding if it is appropriate to feed a speed athlete more compression or expansion strategies.
• How to navigate using heavy strength training to increase compression potential without limiting movement capabilities.
• Training sprinters in the weight room to ensure a proliferation of IR to maximize max propulsion.
• The benefit vs. potential hindrances of table tests.
• Why the “stack” proves necessary for all athletes and gym-goers alike to master.

Wide vs. Narrow Infrasternal Angles

In recent decades, due to the contributions of Hartman, Cupples, Ryan Maron, and a handful of others, coaches can better predict their athletes’ tendencies, compensatory strategies, and developmental needs based on their axial skeleton archetype. An axial skeleton archetype describes the shape of the individual’s spine, thorax, and pelvis. The two broad categories each of us fall into are a wide infrasternal angle and a narrow infrasternal angle.

A majority of Cupples’ recent clientele have consisted of rotational athletes, particularly golfers, for which he describes those who present as a wider frame having a structural build more conducive to force production, which can be identified during their golf swing, as they often turn more horizontally. By contrast, he explained, narrower-framed individuals are built more for rotation and flexibility, leading to a more vertical turn and swing.

“You could look at the ISA as a measure of how someone is built,” Cupples said. “Based on this, there are certain things that structure is more adept at doing than other things. From here, you can then make predictions about how one should present based on the body structure.”

In short, a wide ISA (usually wider than 90 degrees) is characteristic of an individual who has an exhaled, or compressive, biased axial skeleton. The wider anterior rib cage is how their body produces inhalation. Contrarily, a narrow ISA (usually less than 90 degrees) has a more inhaled, expanded/eccentric axial skeleton. The narrow anterior rib cage is how their body exhales.

As a coach, by identifying which ISA (a bony structure we are incapable of changing) our athlete best identifies with, we can better predict how their compensatory breathing strategies might influence their movement capabilities and the natural orientation of their axial skeleton. As a result, we will be in a better position to know which exercises to program and interventions to use to impact the athlete’s overall movement as necessary.

By identifying which ISA our athlete best identifies with, we can better predict how their compensatory breathing strategies might influence their movement capabilities. Share on X

For example, a wide ISA will generally bias in the following ways: “belly breather” with a diaphragm that is descended anteriorly and has difficulty expanding the posterior axial skeleton. From a more movement-based perspective, a wide ISA has a heavy internal rotation and force production bias. This is due to skeletal structure and a pelvis biased toward a state of sacral nutation, allowing for a greater amount of space to move horizontally.

With this, those having a wide ISA will often reveal themselves to be more proficient in movements that require tremendous IR. Exercise and movement examples where a wide ISA will likely be more proficient include:

• Deadlift (KG, BB, trap bar)
• DB and BB press
• Box squat
• Hip-dominant back squat
• Hip-dominant step-up
• RFESS
• RDL (BB, DB, and SL)

Conversely, one of the main reasons athletes with a wide ISA struggle to move vertically (such as during a squat) is because their ability to counter-nutate the sacrum will be limited, making it challenging to create external rotation, or ER (think the initial descent of a squat). However, this does not mean we cannot provide them with vertical squat movements and ER-dominant exercises to enhance their athletic capabilities. Examples to restore and/or promote verticality and ER in a wide ISA would include:

• Heels-elevated DB Zercher squat, goblet squat, and front squat
• Heels-elevated split squat
• Knee-dominant step-up
• Goblet lateral lunge
• Landmine press variations
• Alternating incline press

On the other hand, a narrow ISA will bias toward external rotation, force absorption, and vertical hip displacement and present with a more counternutation sacrum. Exercise and movement examples where a narrow ISA will likely demonstrate greater proficiency due to the ER requirements of these movements include:

• Vertical-biased squatting variations (goblet, SSB, front, overhead)
• Rotation capabilities
• Quad-dominant spit squat (vertical torso split squat)
• Landmine press

Meanwhile, if we want to gradually program exercises to drive IR and compression in an otherwise ER- and expansion-dominant individual, we could implement the following:

• Box squat
• SSB squat
• Bilateral hinge progression-DB RDL to KB deadlift to trap bar deadlift
• Floor press to DB press
• Kickstand RDL to SL RDL

Keep in mind, as Cupples has reminded me on numerous occasions, identifying a client’s ISA angle is an invaluable data point to aid in programming guidelines, but do not misidentify it as the be-all and end-all. (He has an elaborate and excellent encyclopedia on the varying ISA biases that can be found here.)

Creating Space

During recent mentorship calls, Cupples and I focused mainly on the idea of compression versus expansion strategies and identifying the athlete’s needs based on their limitations and sport of choice: an easy-to-digest example would be a powerlifter versus a contortionist.

As one might expect, a powerlifter needs to be able to compress (increase internal pressure) to move heavy weight from point A to point B, making them a prime candidate for compression-biased coaching strategies. However, as Cupples has articulated, a steady diet of too many compression-based movements (let’s use pressing as the example) can reduce overall motion. This may contribute to pain.

As such, a coach needs to identify how to promote compression to aid sporting movement while also using expansion-based strategies to ensure long-term health.

Keeping this in mind, we can flip the script and see how a contortionist would benefit from an elaborate exercise library of expansion movements to reaffirm their ability to maneuver in and out of various positions. This is because a contortionist primarily relies on their ability to create space (availability of movement options). While compression exercises should not be eliminated from a contortionist’s program, as a prerequisite amount of strength is vital to ensure prolonged stability, we can see that too much compression would reduce space and shrink movement choices.

Regardless of what sport the athlete competes in, it is essential to identify if the sport requires a demand bias toward compression, expansion, or a combination of both. Share on X

Regardless of what sport the athlete competes in, it is essential to identify if the sport requires a demand bias toward compression, expansion, or a combination of both (tennis, baseball, golf). A sprinter is an interesting case study due to the compression (propel force into the ground) and expansion (short ground contact) demands of the movement.

“If a sprinter works mostly in the sagittal plane, I try to increase available movement by working on rotations and the other motions they may lack,” Cupples told me, explaining that his responsibility as a coach is first and foremost to keep the athlete healthy, and that would entail, believe it or not, providing contrasting movements to sprint training.

By balancing out the amount of compression a sprinter produces on the track with expansion exercises in the weight room, a coach can restore adequate movement—which ideally would result in less pain and fewer injuries. Once that goal has been accomplished, Cupples believes the next step is choosing strategies and movements alternative to the sprint itself, where the athlete can effectively produce force. A handful of advantageous movements to drive posterior expansion for all athletes are as follows:

• Wall sit
• Bench posterior
• Seated posterior expansion with external rotation
• Wall posterior expansion with external rotation
• Dorsal rostral thoracic expansion with posterior hip stretch
• Low reaching sit

Video 1. Wall posterior expansion with external rotation. This will drive posterior expansion and shoulder external rotation and loosen up the upper back muscles. 

Video 2. Wall sit posterior expansion. This will drive posterior expansion, shoulder external rotation, and hip internal rotation.

Along similar lines, there remains a constant trade-off when it comes to weight training for field sport athletes. We can conceptualize it as follows: If I am committed to increasing my strength in the weight room, I need to learn how to raise my force production. Additionally, if I desire to raise my force production, I must create more pressure. To create more pressure, I need to reduce the number of options available.

Consequently—and here comes the trade-off—if I limit relative motion, the availability of movement options will decrease, and my potential to move effectively (rotate, shuffle, run forward and backward) will likely spoil. This proves to be quite the dilemma. As Cupples believes, the key with all training qualities is giving the person in front of you “enough.” Analogous to a diet, athletes are not required to consume whole foods 100% of the time to see results—there are elite performers who devour “dessert” every day.

“The way to determine what is enough is by measuring,” Cupples explains. “Ideally, you are looking at a cluster of performance indicators (joint motion, force testing, field performance, etc.) and then determining what the bottlenecks are that are limiting performance. From there, it’s a matter of addressing those bottlenecks until the next one rears its head. Test and retest.”

One of the performance indicators mentioned above is joint motion, which table tests have proven to be adequate in measuring. Table tests prove valuable because they provide a constrained way of examining an athlete’s movement capabilities.

“It’s hard to constrain dynamic movements as much,” Cupples says. “But when working with athletic populations, you’ll need to measure more variables than just range of motion, as there are more needs besides that. But what is nice is if you see table tests trend negatively over the course of a season, it can possibly be a canary in the coal mine for an issue.”

If you see table tests trend negatively over the course of a season, it can possibly be a canary in the coal mine for an issue, says @ZCupples. Share on X

One of the themes Cupples echoes constantly is that coaching is not linear or logical, nor does it always make sense on paper—as coaches, we need to adapt to each athlete’s needs, and the more tools in our toolbox, the more proficient we become at doing this.

Internal Rotation for Sprinting and the Stack

As we returned to the topic of sprinting, I sought to inquire about IR and its relationship to ground contact time and max propulsion. As Hartman once explained, a sprinter lands on their foot near, or right before, max propulsion, which in turn equates to the maximum amount of internal rotation (downward force) being propelled into the ground. Due to the stipulation that we need IR to produce force, it is not uncommon to observe sprinters presenting an anterior-oriented pelvis while leaning their chest and head forward in unison.

Having said that, a sprinter’s ground contact time needs to be purposely succinct to eliminate the elongation of the foot remaining on the ground (which would reduce speed). This then begs the question I posed to Cupples: What various dynamics can we use in the weight room to train our body to produce high levels of IR while reinforcing the need to be quick off the ground?

This first entails working on activities that encourage this rapid transition of force from the foot to the floor and back up again. This could be done by performing repeated jumps, band-assisted hop and stick, continuous hurdle jumps, and for advanced athletes, RRLL. Remember, we want to emphasize to the athlete not to “stick” the landing. Sprinting itself is still the best teacher, but these rapid weight room activities should not be neglected.

As we neared the end of our discussion, I gravitated away from speed-specific modalities and sought Cupples’ opinion on all things the “stack.” For those who are unaware, aside from Cupples’ classic wit, an extensive collection of brim hats, and loyal sidekick Ted, he is probably best known for his mantra, “If you can’t stack, you can’t talk to Zac.” One of the most underrated tools to improve performance, the stack is a movement strategy that involves stacking the thoracic diaphragm on top of the pelvis.

One of the most underrated tools to improve performance, the stack is a movement strategy that involves stacking the thoracic diaphragm on top of the pelvis. Share on X

“The stack is foundational for improving movement options,” Cupples said. “It allows for ‘normalizing’ the respiratory mechanism, giving you the potential to have all of your movement options available.”

This would allow for the greatest opportunity to maximize intraabdominal and intrathoracic pressure during movement. During the stack, when we take a breath of air, we should ideally see a multidirectional expansion in the rib cage.

This multidirectional expansion due to proper stacking should enhance relative motion among the ribs, allowing the ribs to separate to make room for an increased amount of air in the lungs while providing greater movement option potential. Keep in mind that the stack is not a posture we MUST hold; it is quite the opposite.

“It’s a movement strategy used to allow for multidirectional movement throughout the body,” Cupples said. “The end result is the appearance of a stacked body. There are several cues focused on (eyes, ground contact, breath, etc.) that can be applied in ALL movements.”

In pointing to sports as an example, he continued, “You need to look at where the play is happening. That’s using the eyes. When you cut, you must push off the foot a certain way to maximize the change of direction. You are ALWAYS breathing. The stack provides consistency within cueing and focus points, making a coach’s job easier over the long haul. The ribcage should expand in all directions during the stack, not migrate forward as a unit.”

For those unaware of how to go about coaching the stack, here is your best resource.

As I began this piece by sharing, it has always been my impression that the hallmark of a good coach, teacher, and educator lies in their ability to restructure otherwise rigorous topics and present them in a digestible form for their athletes and students to comprehend. I have found Cupples stellar in this regard, thanks to his use of numerous visual aids, multiple outside references, constant words of encouragement, impressive level of patience, and genuine sincerity. Just make sure you first learn how to stack, or you can’t talk to Zac.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

We all know the highly effective adaptations from eccentric training, but in practice, most coaches and athletes only measure and prescribe training on concentric metrics like 1RM. According to a scientific survey, only 42% of practitioners monitor eccentric load, and only 25% use eccentric-specific testing.¹

Nowadays, you can easily measure eccentric training and performance metrics with a velocity-based training device like GymAware RS and GymAware FLEX. Here’s why this is useful when prescribing training and monitoring performance.

Why Quantifying Eccentric Movements Is Important

Not all eccentric movements are the same, and each has its unique benefits.² If you’re chasing after a certain benefit, like hypertrophy, it’s important to accurately prescribe the eccentric exercise. Eccentric load, eccentric velocity, and eccentric time under tension are three important ingredients that determine your training adaptation.

Not all eccentric movements are the same, and each has its unique benefits. If you’re chasing after a certain benefit, it’s important to accurately prescribe the eccentric exercise, says @loekvossen. Share on X

If you want to measure your eccentric performance and track progress over time, it becomes even more important to have objective data. Here’s a list of eccentric metrics, provided by GymAware, that can help prescribe eccentric training and track eccentric performance over time:

• Eccentric peak and mean force and power
• Eccentric peak and mean velocity
• Eccentric time under tension
• Eccentric dip and bar path

Quantify Eccentric Load and Eccentric Force

The most straightforward way to quantify your eccentric load is by looking at the weight. Although this could work for a single individual, it’s impossible to create a systematic training approach based on weight simply because the difficulty of lowering 80 kilograms is not the same for me and you. In fact, even within an individual, weight alone doesn’t describe how challenging the exercise is.

During concentric movements, coaches try to solve this by creating training programs based on %1RM. This allows them to put weight into perspective. Eccentric movements don’t have such a one-repetition maximum because, per definition, you’re lowering the weight, no matter what the load is. For some, the lack of an eccentric 1RM is a reason to use the concentric 1RM to determine eccentric load. However, that would contradict the goal of this article: to quantify eccentric training with eccentric metrics.

It’s not just a matter of principle. Using the concentric 1RM to determine eccentric load is also not ideal since it assumes a fixed relationship between concentric and eccentric muscle performance. In more practical terms, it assumes that doing five eccentric reps at 120% of the concentric 1RM is the same difficulty for me as it is for you. If we have a different force-velocity profile, this may not be the case. Moreover, this method of using 1RM also implies that there are no significant day-to-day differences in 1RM that would otherwise affect the load.

Using the concentric 1RM to determine eccentric load is not ideal since it assumes a fixed relationship between concentric and eccentric muscle performance, says @loekvossen. Share on X

One eccentric metric that does allow you to quantify eccentric load is the eccentric movement velocity. Suppose you are lowering a weight that is so heavy you cannot lift it or hold it in place isometrically. For these kinds of eccentric movements, the higher the load, the faster you drop it—assuming you are always doing your best to slow down the process of lowering the weight.

This phenomenon is represented in the force-velocity curve. Note that for concentric movements, it’s the other way around: the higher the load, the lower the velocity.

If you and I have the same eccentric velocity in the above-described eccentric movement, you could say we train at the same relative load in the force-velocity curve. You can now use velocity zones to target a specific area of the force-velocity curve, similar to (though not exactly the same as) concentric velocity zones.

Moreover, measuring eccentric velocity instead of using concentric 1RM also solves the issue of daily variance. On a bad day, you’ll be using less weight to train at the same eccentric velocity. This works like an autoregulated system: the better you feel, the more weight plates you’ll be putting on your barbell to match the velocity target.

This way of training is called velocity-based training (VBT) and it requires a VBT device that measures not only the concentric but also the eccentric velocity of your movement, in real time. The GymAware RS and GymAware FLEX do exactly that.

When you combine one of these hardware devices with the additional GymAware Cloud software, you can go beyond mean and peak eccentric velocity with metrics like mean and peak eccentric force and power. I’ll talk about these metrics in a bit when we look more closely at quantifying eccentric performance progress.

But first…

Should You Use High Loads or Low Loads?

Now that we can quantify eccentric loads, should you be aiming for high or low loads?

Before we can answer this, we need to define “high” and “low.” In scientific literature, a high load is considered a load that you cannot lift concentrically. High loads will force you to lower the barbell. The eccentric force that you apply during those high-load movements is larger than the maximal concentric force. Several terms are related to this type of training:

• Eccentric overload
• Supramaximal eccentric loading
• Heavy negatives
• Accentuated eccentric loading

According to scientific research, high-load eccentric exercises induce greater increases in eccentric strength than low loads.² Even within these supramaximal loads (>1RM), greater increases in hypertrophy are found with heavier loads. Additionally, heavy eccentric training induces both qualitative and quantitative changes in the tendon, with heavier supramaximal loads increasing tendon force and stress more.²

In practice, this means that as long as you do your best to slow down the process of lowering the weight, high bar velocities (as a result of higher loads, explained earlier) result in superior training adaptations. However, to limit soreness, it is advised not to aim for eccentric durations shorter than two seconds.

There is one practical challenge with these supramaximal loads: how to lower an object that you cannot lift. You can use a spotter (or two), to help lift the weight in the concentric phase. Weight releasers can do the job too. Just like the two-movement technique, lift the weight via a compound exercise, and lower the weight with an isolated exercise (or lift a weight with two legs and lower it with one). I’m sure that coaches who read this are experienced enough to know which technique suits their athletes best.

Quantify Eccentric Velocity and Time Under Tension

We already talked about using eccentric velocity to quantify eccentric load during supramaximal exercises (>1RM). In these exercises, the velocity is a result rather than a choice, given that you do your best to slow down the process of lowering the weight.

Eccentric velocity itself—regardless of whether applied in submaximal or supramaximal loads—is an important metric to look for, says @loekvossen. Share on X

However, eccentric velocity itself—regardless of whether applied in submaximal or supramaximal loads—is an important metric to look at. For instance: a very slow supramaximal eccentric movement using isokinetic dynamometry results in different muscle adaptations compared to a fast supramaximal eccentric movement.

Additionally, a deliberately slow-paced submaximal eccentric movement, with the aim of extending the eccentric time under tension, is different from a deliberately accelerated supramaximal eccentric movement to decrease the eccentric force.

Both previously mentioned VBT devices (GymAware RS and GymAware FLEX) display real-time mean and peak velocity and eccentric time under tension. If you want to do slow eccentric movements, you can set an eccentric countdown timer that automatically starts when you begin the eccentric phase of your movement.

Should Eccentric Training Be Fast or Slow?

Based on scientific studies, increases in eccentric strength become more pronounced when the testing velocity corresponds to the eccentric velocity used in training.² Additionally, fast eccentric training is superior to slow eccentric training when it comes to improving:

• Eccentric and concentric strength and power.
• Vertical jump, drop jump, stretch-shortening cycle efficiency, and sprinting performance.
• Fast-twitch fibers hypertrophy (cross-sectional area) and IIx fiber composition.

This indicates that slow-tempo (low load) eccentric movements to increase the eccentric time under tension are probably not the most effective.

Obviously, the eccentric movement velocity correlates with the eccentric time under tension of a single repetition. This scientific publication that talks about incorporating eccentric training found that you can expect an eccentric duration of 8–10 seconds at 110%–120% of concentric 1RM.³ At higher loads (125%–130% of concentric 1RM), the eccentric duration drops to around 4–5 seconds.³ Another publication mentions that an even shorter eccentric duration of 2–3 seconds is ideal for maximizing hypertrophy but advises not to go any lower, to limit soreness.⁴

Quantifying Flywheel Training: The Ideal Fast Eccentric Training?

A combination of high-load and high-velocity eccentric movements results in high muscle (motor unit) tension and high exercise-induced muscle damage. This is thought to be why a combination of high-load, high-velocity results in a higher hypertrophic response.²

Flywheel inertial training (FIT) is a scientifically proven example of how you can easily train eccentrically with high velocities, says @loekvossen. Share on X

Flywheel inertial training (FIT) is a scientifically proven example of how you can easily train eccentrically with high velocities. The eccentric load depends on the size of the flywheel + the energy you put in the flywheel (inertia) during the concentric phase and your eccentric deceleration strategy.

Video 1. Flywheel training explained (source and full article: Create eccentric overload in flywheel training)

The challenge with flywheel training is that it’s difficult to quantify the load due to the combination of several factors determining the eccentric load, mentioned above. With the new app update of GymAware, you can start quantifying the load of flywheel training by measuring the concentric and eccentric velocities. Recent research shows that the mean velocity of a flywheel exercise is a valid method to quantify load and individualize the prescription of flywheel training.⁵ You can attach the VBT device to the flywheel handle or harness. You can also use the GymAware jump strap to measure core velocity or attach the VBT device to an additional barbell/PVC pipe.

By looking at the eccentric dip—available in both the GymAware iPad app and the FLEX Stronger app—you can also control the eccentric technique during flywheel training.

Quantify Eccentric Performance Progress

So far, we’ve talked about quantifying eccentric movements and implementing these numbers into training. How about tracking eccentric performance over time? “You can’t improve what you can’t measure!”

There are several ways you can use eccentric metrics to track progress over time. Some examples of progress that you can measure using GymAware:

• Increased peak or mean eccentric force (N)
• Increased eccentric peak power (W)
• Increased eccentric rep duration at a given supramaximal weight (s)
• Decreased peak or mean velocity at a given supramaximal weight (m/s)

You can also look at changes in the force-velocity curve, for instance, by comparing your maximal eccentric force with your maximal concentric force. Literature shows that the eccentric strength is approximately 20%–50% greater than the concentric strength, but where do you fit in this range?⁴ The GymAware Cloud software allows you to track all these changes over time within and between individuals.

BONUS: Quantify Eccentric Movement Technique

Eccentric training is the shortest route to muscle damage and delayed pain (DOMS) if you don’t take the time to slowly progress the intensity over the course of a training program.¹ The best way to safely incorporate eccentric training into your program is by measuring and controlling the eccentric load, with all the eccentric metrics mentioned earlier.

On top of that, you can prevent injuries by maintaining a good technique when eccentric loads and velocities are high. I already mentioned that GymAware measures the eccentric drop, for instance in a squat. Additionally, the real-time bar path visualization ensures you maintain a proper technique.

Wrap Up

I hope this article has inspired you to consider using data to quantify your most effective training: eccentric training. If so, don’t forget to start by measuring your current eccentric performance so you can track it over time using the metrics provided.

If you’re new to these metrics, I recommend learning more about velocity-based training (VBT) in general via my PDF download.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

References

1. McNeill C, Beaven CM, McMaster DT, and Gill N. “Survey of Eccentric-Based Strength and Conditioning Practices in Sport.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2020;34(10):2769–2775.

2. Douglas J, Pearson S, Ross A, and McGuigan M. “Chronic Adaptations to Eccentric Training: A Systematic Review.” Sports Medicine. 2017;47(5):917–941.

3. Mike J, Kerksick CM, and Kravitz L. “How to Incorporate Eccentric Training into a Resistance Training Program.” Strength and Conditioning Journal. 2015;37:5–17. 10.1519/SSC.0000000000000114.

4. Schoenfeld B. “The Use of Specialized Training Techniques to Maximize Muscle Hypertrophy.” Strength and Conditioning Journal. 2011 Aug;33(4):60–65. doi: 10.1519/SSC.0b013e3182221ec2

5. Martín-Rivera F, Beato M, Alepuz-Moner V, and Maroto-Izquierdo S. “Use of concentric linear velocity to monitor flywheel exercise load.” Frontiers in Physiology. 2022 Aug;13, 961572.

When I started writing for Iron Game publications a half-century ago, I championed the cause that squats would not damage the knees. With the preponderance of research studies since then dispelling misinformation about the King of Lifts, you would think this case would be closed. Not quite.

From my perspective, strength coaches rarely have their athletes perform rock-bottom squats. As for cleans that involve rebounding out of the low catch position…ah, not a chance. Instead, many are often content to focus their leg training on partial-range step-ups, high hex bar deadlifts, and the so-called Bulgarian split squat.

Let’s see how we got here and explore the renewed interest in “knees over toes” exercises, starting with a tribute to the first champion of the squat, Paul Anderson.

(Lead image courtesy of Ben Patrick)

The Squat King

As a teenager, I purchased a copy of Paul Anderson’s book of training methods, which he graciously autographed. Why did I invest in a book by someone who encouraged me to squat heavy and drink cow’s blood? Because it was written by one of the strongest men in history.

Born in 1932, Anderson won a gold medal in the 1956 Olympics in weightlifting, but what captured the attention of the Iron Game community were his accomplishments in the squat. As a teenager, Anderson stood  5 feet 9 1/2 inches, sported 33-inch thighs, and squatted over 500 pounds. When he was 20, he unofficially squatted 660—30.5 pounds over the world record. In 1954, he squatted 820 and did quarter squats with 1,800 pounds. Anderson’s thighs grew to 36 inches, and his body weight to 360. Performing as a professional strongman, Anderson eventually squatted 900 pounds for 10 reps and 1,206 pounds for a 1RM.

In Anderson’s era, the strength coaching profession was in its infancy, and few athletes lifted weights. No one cared how weightlifters or any other athletes squatted. Share on X

In Anderson’s era, the strength coaching profession was in its infancy, and few athletes lifted weights. No one cared how weightlifters or any other athletes squatted—until 1961. That was the year Karl K. Klein’s questionable study about the association between squats and knee stability was published. Note the word “questionable.”

One of the subjects in Klein’s study was Bill Starr. Starr broke the world record in the Olympic press and wrote the strength training classic, The Strongest Shall Survive. Starr said Klein measured knee stability by applying manual pressure to a metal device that extended above and below the subject’s knee.

In a letter published in Strength and Health magazine in 1963, Starr said the study was not double-blind because Klein would ask the subjects if they did squats before he applied pressure. “The gadget which he placed on the lifters’ knees could be manipulated by the examiner to obtain any reading that he so desired,” said Starr. He added that many lifters quit the experiment “since he was exerting so much pressure that he hurt their knees.”

Several years later, sports science researcher Earle J. Meyers tried to replicate the study using a copy of Klein’s testing device. He concluded that “the deep squat and half-squat exercises did not produce significant differences in their effect on collateral ligament stretch, quadriceps strength, or knee joint flexibility.”

Klein expanded on his work with a book he co-authored with Dr. Fred Allman, Jr., in 1969 called The Knee in Sports. Although Klein was fine with the parallel squats that would pass in many of today’s powerlifting federations, the message passed on to the sports and medical communities was that squats—any squats— were bad for the knees.

Eventually, the scientific community countered the squat stability issue with research studies and position papers that expanded on Meyers’ work. One of the most prominent researchers on the subject was sports scientist Dr. Mike Stone, a former weightlifter. Stone and Jeff Chandler, Ed.D., co-authored a position paper on the squat endorsed by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) in 1991. Extensively referenced, the paper concluded, “Squats, when performed correctly and with appropriate supervision, are not only safe but may be a significant deterrent to knee injuries.”

Despite the position paper, the NSCA adopted a conservative approach to squat depth by recommending that the knees should not extend beyond the toes. Share on X

This position paper helped the cause, but for some reason, the NSCA adopted a conservative approach to squat depth by recommending that the knees should not extend beyond the toes. In their position paper, the general recommendation was that the trainee should “descend only until the tops of the thighs are parallel to the floor or slightly below” and “the shin should remain as vertical as possible to reduce shear forces at the knee. Maximal forward movement of the knees should place them no more than slightly in front of the toes.” These recommendations were reflected in study materials for their strength coaching certification, such as their textbook, Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning.

In the description of the squat in this NSCA textbook, the accompanying drawing and text recommended only squatting until the tops of the thighs are parallel to the floor (image 3) and not bouncing out of the bottom. Now consider the low squat positions of an elite weightlifter snatching and an elite weightlifter squatting in image 3. Why is the NSCA apparently okay with the sport of weightlifting but not with the squatting depth performed by weightlifters?

While this debate was happening in athletic fitness training, the bodybuilding world took a different path, led by Vince Gironda.

The Gluteless Training Guru

Gironda was an accomplished bodybuilder who also “walked the talk” as a personal trainer. He coached Larry Scott, the first Mr. Olympia, and earned the nickname “Trainer to the Stars” for his work with Hollywood celebrities. His clientele included Cher, Clint Eastwood, James Garner, Burt Reynolds, Denzel Washington, and Carl Weathers.

Gironda believed conventional squats widened the hips, making a physique look blocky. “Full squats build the gluteus maximus (buttocks) by the forward position of the upper body and the depth of the movement.” In many leg exercises, these requirements resulted in the knees extending far over the toes. The sissy squat was his favorite, and he even wrote a book called The Sissy Squat.

Gironda’s barbell sissy squat was awkward and required considerable balance, reducing how much resistance could be used. However, many weight training machines available today enable you to easily perform exercises that allow you to extend your knees over the toes and do not involve a forward torso position.

Many weight training machines available today enable you to easily perform exercises that allow you to extend your knees over the toes and do not involve a forward torso position. Share on X

Image 5 shows examples of modern bodybuilders performing exercises on machines according to Gironda’s guidelines.

You’ll notice in both these exercises that the knees extend well in front of the toes and the heels are lifted, as in the Gironda sissy squat. However, because the resistance slides on guided rails in these two exercises, the trainee can put maximum effort into working the quads. Also, advanced training methods, including heavy eccentrics and force reps, can easily be performed with these machines to overload all areas of a muscle’s strength curve.

One criticism of the leg training methods that exclude the involvement of the glutes, particularly leg extensions, is that the hamstrings are less active than in the squat. This inactivity puts excessive stress on the anterior cruciate ligament. During a conventional squat, the hamstrings help neutralize the pull of the quadriceps to cause anterior tibial translation, a shear force that tries to pry the joint apart.

A complementary knees-over-toes timeline could be attributed to Canadian strength coach Charles R. Poliquin (image 6) and his approach to knee rehabilitation. As Coach Poliquin’s primary editor for over two decades, I had a front-row seat to this experience. 

The VMO Distraction

Over 30 years ago, Poliquin told me about his general approach to knee rehabilitation. It focused on first targeting the quad muscles medial (inside) of the knee with partial-range exercises, then gradually working the entire quad by increasing the range of motion. He called the specific muscle he wanted to work the VMO, an acronym for vastus medialis oblique. (FYI: We now know that this muscle can be divided into two sections, the vastus medialis longus and the vastus medialis obliquus, which have different lines of pull on the knee.)

Poliquin used this approach to leg training with the Canadian National Women’s Volleyball Team in the ’80s. When Poliquin started working with these athletes, most of them suffered from patellar tendinitis, a painful inflammation of the patellar tendon.

Poliquin told me that because volleyball players seldom bend their legs through a full range of motion, the muscles that exert an outward pull on the kneecap become stronger than those that pull the knee inward. This imbalance affected the tracking of the kneecap, causing this overuse injury.

Poliquin stressed the importance of starting athletes with full “knees-over-toes” squats at an early training age to keep the knees healthy. Share on X

Here is the three-step progression Poliquin told me he used with these athletes:

1. Petersen Step-Up. The Petersen step-up is a partial step-up to target the muscles on the knee’s medial (inside) portion. It starts with the working leg a few inches off the floor, the heel elevated, and the knee slightly bent. As the leg straightens, the athlete rocks backward to minimize the shearing stress on the knee (thus, it can be performed in the early stages of rehab). The descent involves lowering the heel and raising it again before returning to the start.

Because so many people did not perform the Petersen step-up correctly (thanks partly to the countless YouTube videos performing it wrong), Poliquin later substituted it with a simpler version called the “Poliquin step-up.” One difference between the Poliquin and the Petersen step-up is that the entire foot of the working leg is placed on a wedge board. Also, to focus more on the working leg in both exercises, Poliquin would have you lift the toes of the trailing leg to avoid pushing off with that leg.

2. Front Step-Up. When an athlete could perform a Petersen step-up with the working leg at shin level, it was time to progress to the front step-up. He would have you start with the knee slightly below the crease of the hip. Again, the toes of the trailing leg were lifted. When the athlete could comfortably perform step-ups with the upper thigh parallel to the floor, the next progression would be the Australian squat.
3. Australian Squat. High-bar full squats were the final step in this knee rehab protocol. The term “full” means descending so that the hamstrings cover the calves and the knees travel in front of the toes. This contrasts with the low-bar parallel squats performed by powerlifters that minimize the involvement of the quads. According to Poliquin, the further the bar moves down the back, the more the load shifts away from the quads and onto the glutes, erector spinae, and hamstrings.

One squat variation Poliquin often prescribed during this phase was the Australian squat (video 1), which emphasizes the quads in the external range (i.e., the area closest to the hip). It also reduces the compression forces on the spine because the torso remains vertical longer. Poliquin showed me this variation over 30 years ago, so I had always called it the Poliquin squat. However, I recently heard it was initially called the Australian squat, so I stand corrected. 

Video 1. The Australian squat emphasizes the quadriceps muscles closer to the hip. It begins with a slow descent and the knees extending in front of the toes.

Poliquin stressed the importance of starting athletes with full “knees-over-toes” squats at an early training age to keep the knees healthy. He also extended his approach to other popular leg exercises, particularly lunges and split squats. Although it took many years after Poliquin presented his opinions on leg training, research proved that the highest compressive forces on the knee were at 90 degrees. There’s more.

A 2013 review of 164 research papers concluded that there was no greater risk of developing chondromalacia, osteoarthritis, or osteochondritis performing deep squats than with quarter and half squats. Share on X

A 2013 review of 164 research papers concluded that there was no greater risk of developing chondromalacia, osteoarthritis, or osteochondritis performing deep squats than with quarter and half squats. Further, the researchers concluded that quarter and half squats could contribute to long-term damage to the knees and spine. “With the same load configuration as in the deep squat, half and quarter squat training with comparatively supra-maximal loads will favour degenerative changes in the knee joints and spinal joints in the long term. Provided that technique is learned accurately under expert supervision and with progressive training loads, the deep squat presents an effective training exercise for protection against injuries and strengthening of the lower extremity.”

Charles R. Poliquin passed away on September 26, 2018, but in recent years, internet influencer Ben Patrick (lead photo) has been preserving his legacy by promoting Poliquin’s approach to knee rehabilitation and training.

Knees Over Toes Goes Viral

Patrick was a promising college basketball player who suffered chronic knee pain that led to numerous surgeries. Poliquin’s work impressed Patrick so much that he booked a phone consultation. Patrick followed Poliquin’s advice; soon, Patrick’s knees became pain-free, and his jumping ability improved dramatically.

Patrick shared his success on social media and created a fitness consulting company incorporating many of Poliquin’s ideas. At last count, Patrick’s YouTube channel has north of a million subscribers, and his followers include 2,291 success stories. Because of his emphasis on full-range leg exercises, Patrick took on the nickname of the “Kneesovertoesguy.”

One benefit of full-range exercises is that they increase the strength, mobility, and stability of the ankles. Share on X

One benefit of full-range exercises is that they increase the ankles’ strength, mobility, and stability. Check out video 2 of my two former athletes, Sesely and Nicole. In it, Sesely performs the snatch, and Nicole performs the clean and jerk. Sesely demonstrates remarkable ankle strength and stability in saving her lift, and Nicole is shown using the elastic properties of the Achilles to help her bounce out of a heavy clean. 

Video 2: The first female lifter in this video shows remarkable ankle strength and stability while saving a snatch. The second lifter demonstrates the elastic properties of the Achilles by bouncing out of a heavy clean. Both lifters, coached by the author, broke New England weightlifting records.

Besides being able to lift impressive weights with acrobatic saves, full-range exercises performed quickly help prevent injuries, particularly to the ankles and Achilles tendon. According to strength coach and posturologist Paul Gagné, ankle mobility reduces the stress on the foot and Achilles, thus reducing the risk of injury. Case in point: weightlifters.

Ankle, Achilles tendon, and foot injuries are rare in weightlifting, despite weightlifting shoes being low cut and providing minimal lateral support. Note the female athletes in image 8. The first photo is of a 105-pound lifter collapsing awkwardly with 268 pounds, placing her quads and ankles in a position of extreme stress. The second photo shows a 165-pound lifter dropping 297 pounds on her legs. Neither lifter was injured due to a protective mechanism called the “reflective release.”

“Reflexive release is an extremely rapid, complex switching from muscle tension to relaxation in response to some sudden loss of equilibrium, fall, injury or other unanticipated event in sport,” says weightlifting sports scientist Bud Charniga. “This mechanism precludes conscious effort to move or fall in such a way to avoid injury. Circumstances where reflexive release can be effective in injury avoidance are too fast for mind–to–muscle actions to be useful.” Charniga adds that the isometric and near-isometric methods commonly used by bodybuilders and powerlifters would suppress the reflective release mechanism.

Contrast those results with the number of NFL and NBA players who injure their ankles and tear their Achilles tendons without being touched. Or the fact that an estimated 70%–75% of all ankle sprains and strains are considered non-contact injuries. (For a deep dive on this topic, check out my article on ACL and Achilles injuries.) There’s more.

Besides preventing injuries, Gagné says ankle mobility is a critical component of speed and jumping ability. “One indicator of elastic strength is your ability to lift your big toe and dorsiflex the foot, which your flexor hallucis longus and extensor hallucis brevis muscles control. The higher you can raise your big toe without strain, the more elasticity you have in the foot and the Achilles. And the more elastic energy you have, the higher you can jump and the faster you can run.”

How do you develop high levels of elastic strength if you’re not a weightlifter? I have a few suggestions. Share on X

So, how do you develop high levels of elastic strength if you’re not a weightlifter? I have a few suggestions.

Train the Way You’re Going to Fight

One problem with recommending full-range exercises is that many athletes can only perform a partial squat due to a lack of ankle flexibility. One dynamic stretch I’ve used with sprinters and cross country runners at Brown University to address this issue is to have them perform a squat while standing on a wedge board (aka slant board) with the smaller angle facing you (video 3). It’s a simple, effective way to stretch both calf muscles: the gastrocnemius (upper calf) and the soleus (lower calf). For best results, perform this movement barefoot.

For variety, change the position of the feet. Pointing your feet inward increases the stretch on the calf’s lateral (outside) part, while pointing the feet outward works the calf’s inside (medial) part. Gagné says a beginner should start with an angle of no more than 5 degrees. “You generally do not want beginners to use more than a 5-degree angle because a higher wedge may put too much pressure on the Achilles tendon and jam the subtalar joint.”

Because most squat wedge boards are at about 20 degrees, one way to compensate is to stand further away from the edge, starting with the ball of the foot on the board. As your flexibility improves, move up on the board. 

Video 3: A wedge board can be used to perform a dynamic stretch for both calf muscles: the gastrocnemius and soleus. (This soccer photo and the modeling photo in video 1 by Joel Morel.)

When mobility improves, a progressive next step would be ankle squats (video 4), which strengthen both calf muscles through a full range of motion. These are performed with your heels a few inches apart and feet and knees flared out. You squat all the way down and only come three-quarters of the way up. Max weights are not used.

Video 4: Ankle squats are an effective exercise to strengthen the gastrocnemius and soleus through a full range of motion.

Charniga saw elite weightlifters performing this exercise in 1974 and had this to say: “This technique of squatting where the shins are actively tilted forward with flexing knees and near vertical trunk incorporates the soleus and other single-joint plantar flexion muscles of the shank. These muscles contract eccentrically as the Achilles tendon stretches, accumulating elastic/strain energy in the process. When the athlete reverses direction, the aforesaid soleus and other single-joint plantar flexion muscles perform what can be described as a reverse-origin insertion contraction. That is to say the origin of these muscles in the middle of the shank moves towards the insertion on the heel.”

This last statement should be of interest to strength coaches who have their athletes spend their limited training time on isolation exercises for the tibialis anterior, such as the dynamic axel resistance device introduced by Robert Gajda in Total Body Training, a book he co-authored with Richard H. Dominguez, MD. The tibialis anterior muscle helps a weightlifter move under the barbell quickly when their feet are off the platform (image 9, left) and assists in moving the shin forward when the foot is on the floor. Note the development of this muscle (along with the calves) of a weightlifter in image 9 (right). Performing weightlifting movements would make such isolation training redundant.

Is there a downside to using wedge boards? Yes, particularly if these exercises are performed instead of conventional lifts for extended periods.

“If heels-elevated exercises are used occasionally to develop more muscle around the knee joint, fine,” says Gagné. “But overusing it creates less ankle mobility because you’re in a state of semi-plantarflexion.” Further, according to a 2003 study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (Fry et al.), restricted ankle motion increases the stress on the hips and lower back. There’s more.

If you’re an athlete seeking to perform at peak levels with minimal risk of injury, take measures to improve your ankle mobility and focus on squatting heavy and squatting deep. Share on X

Gagné says using a wedge board to push the knee further over the toes than they can go with the feet on the floor may damage the knees. “Removing the foot from the equation creates large shearing forces on the patella tendon, which may lead to tendonitis and ligament laxity,” says Gagné.

If you use wedge boards to occasionally help you achieve higher levels of quadriceps development, particularly around the knee, you should be okay. If you’re an athlete seeking to perform at peak levels with minimal risk of injury, take measures to improve your ankle mobility and focus on squatting heavy and squatting deep!

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

References

Strossen, RJ. Paul Anderson: The Mightiest Minister. Ironmind Enterprises, May 1, 1999.

Klein, Karl. “The deep squat exercise as utilized in weight training for athletics and its effects on the ligaments of the knee.” Journal of the Association of Physical and Mental Rehabilitation. 1961;15:6–11.

Todd, TR. “Karl Klein and the Squat.” National Strength and Conditioning Association Journal. 1984 June;6:26–31. (Correction: Ref 32: The last name of the journal title should be Rehabilitation.)

Starr, B. “Letter to the Editor.” Strength and Health, August 1963.

Meyers, EJ. “Effect of selected exercise variables on ligament stability and flexibility of the knee.” Research Quarterly. 1971;42(4):411–422.

Klein, KK and Allman, Fred L. The Knee in Sports. Jenkins Publishing Company, January 1, 1969.

Stone, MH and Chandler, JT. “NSCA Position Paper: The Squat Exercise in Athletic Conditioning.” National Strength and Conditioning Association Journal. 1991;13(5):51–58.

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Fry AC, Smith JC, and Schilling BK. “Effect of Knee Position on Hip and Knee Torques During the Barbell Squat.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2003;17(4):629–633.

As strength and conditioning coaches, we aim to improve the athletic performance of our athletes and strive for a healthy and high performing team. The beauty of this profession is that everyone attempts to reach this goal differently; everyone has their own philosophy, their own mentors, their own biases, their own personal experiences, and their own way of doing it.

No one program is an exact copy of another; even if it starts off that way, it will inevitably change to fit the new training environment, team, culture, and group of athletes.

We take real pride in how our strength and conditioning programs look, what our progressions are, and how our testing numbers have changed. These are all inherently good things—they hold us accountable to our work and can lead to an evaluation of the extent to which we are or are not doing a good job. We should be constantly learning best practices for the training and care of our athletes, have growth rather than fixed mindsets, be curious to learn from all sports and coaches, and always be willing to adapt or change our minds if sufficient evidence causes us to rethink our old methods.

I find it funny, though, how over the past five years of working at Furman, one of the biggest learning curves for me has actually been letting some of my programming go and giving it over to the athletes. Giving them a choice during optional workouts is a no brainer for me now because:

• The buy-in is high
• The intent is high
• The energy is high
• The attendance is high

One of the biggest learning curves for me has actually been letting some of my programming go and giving it over to the athletes, says @SCoach_Aldo. Share on X

Giving some of the choices up to the athletes is so effective that, in some cases, the overall training frequency during the summer is actually 50% higher than if they just choose to attend the mandatory team lift sessions.

Two years ago, I wrote an article on how we incorporate autonomy as part of our training process at Furman. Over these past couple of seasons, I’ve seen some developments within that autonomy training and I’d like to write in further detail about what’s changed in our process since then, what the athletes have taught me about autonomy, and how it’s the easiest way for our athletes and coaches to level up a development program.

Training Frequency

Summer training is one of the most significant uninterrupted phases of training for most Division 1 men’s basketball teams. For us at Furman, this consists of eight weeks of weight room sessions and on-court workouts from June to the end of July/early August. Within this time frame, I’m given three to four lift sessions a week. The biggest reason I’m able to train the guys more than that during the summer block is because I offer optional workout times/days and, within these sessions, give them the autonomy to choose which exercises and workouts they perform that day.

As a result of this, there is not a day I come into work that I’m not training an athlete, whether that is a Monday morning or a Sunday afternoon (yes, unfortunately our schedule in college athletics is rather varied). This is something that reflects our program’s culture of hard work, development, and deliberate improvement now model (#ALLDIN).

For the sessions that I’m given in which the players have to be there, I’m able to program holistically and specifically to the athletes’ needs. With the 13 scholarship players we have, I usually write between five and eight different programs. These mandatory sessions usually last one hour and are performed either with the full team present or in smaller lift groups based on class schedule.

Outside of these mandatory sessions, as noted earlier, I give the athletes the choice to get in extra work throughout the week. These sessions are optional and usually last 20-40 minutes, with the main difference being the freedom I give them to choose what they want to do in these sessions. If an athlete wants to train on a non-team lift day, it’s likely they will have an idea of what they want to work on for that lift, so I’m very comfortable letting them carry out this plan. After they complete that self-prescribed workout, the athlete feels they have taken a step in the right direction on their own personal development journey.

After they complete that self-prescribed workout, the athlete feels they have taken a step in the right direction on their own personal development journey, says @SCoach_Aldo. Share on X

Employing Athlete Autonomy

An example of an optional autonomy workout could be that the athlete wants to work on “power and feeling explosive” during this particular session. They enjoy Olympic lifting, so want to do some hang cleans and box jumps to “feel bouncy.” I suggest jump rope to warm up and a barbell complex before we do a more specific hang clean warm up. The athlete tells me they also want to “work some arms” after the power work. I ask the athlete how many sets and reps they want to do in the A series—I then use my knowledge of programming and their weekly load so far to discuss the best set and rep scheme. This is a great time to check in on the athletes training knowledge and briefly educate why performing eight reps on a hang clean isn’t ideal for power development!

After the reps and sets have been discussed, the athlete can perform the hang cleans and box jumps under my supervision. For the B series they want to do some biceps and triceps work, so I have them choose two arm exercises, we discuss sets and reps, and I supervise the B series. During the lift, I take the opportunity to check in on their diet, stress, sleep, life, etc. I may even jump in on the B series with them. At the conclusion of the lift, they’ve just completed a micro-dose of training stimulus (20-40 mins) between their larger doses of stimulus (~60 mins) on the mandatory lift days. This extra session is a win-win and is one of the biggest reasons why I love these optional autonomy sessions—what could have been a three-day S&C training week has now become a four-day training week.

If I were to add up the extra sessions the guys performed this past year—which I in fact did keep a record of—the number would FAR exceed that of just the mandatory lift sessions. While this is an obvious statement, I would question you right now, how many optional sessions do you think your athletes actually perform with you? How could you increase that number? How do you get athletes to come in and train on days that aren’t mandatory?

If I were to add up the extra sessions the guys performed this past year, the number would FAR exceed that of just the mandatory lift sessions, says @SCoach_Aldo. Share on X

Our model at Furman has shown that giving athletes autonomy on these extra days leads to a significant increase in buy-in and the perceived value of the weight room to their development, which then leads to increased participation in these sessions, which results in an increase in training frequency, which, when added up, makes a huge difference to the end result. It’s similar to how we view warm-ups. Working on physical capacities in the weight room and on court warm-ups for 5-15 minutes each day might not seem like much, but when this is added up over weeks, months, and years, that’s a lot of physical capacity development. The same can be said for these smaller lift sessions between the longer mandatory sessions.

For example, let me break it down to you with a summer training block:

• 8 weeks of summer training, 4 mandatory hour sessions a week, 0 extra sessions a week = 32 total S&C sessions
• 8 weeks of summer training, 4 mandatory hour sessions a week, 1 extra session a week = 40 total S&C sessions
• 8 weeks of summer training, 4 mandatory hour sessions a week, 2 extra session a week = 48 total S&C sessions

Going back to my opening point, if our jobs are centered on athletic performance development, how many training opportunities would you like your athlete to have that would contribute to meeting those performance development goals: 32, 40, or 48?

Now, I understand some of you may be scoffing at this and saying you’d prefer 32 quality sessions with adequate rest between than 48 sessions to better elucidate the imposed stress and compensating response to the S&C program. This is a valid statement for some professional athletes, especially those who compete in weight lifting competitions. However, for our college basketball athletes, a day off will likely involve them shooting on the gun, watching some film with a coach, going to the training room to get some treatment, and/or getting a stretch from me.

If we had a heavy leg day the day before and the athlete wants to come in the weight room for some core work and arm accessory work (yes, bis and tris), is that going to have a negative effect and blunt some of the training adaptation for the lower body from the previous day’s sessions? I’m hedging my bets by saying no, especially for low training age athletes—which is often the case with collegiate basketball players. They need as much time in the weight room as possible. Some post-lift foam rolling and stretching is always recommended, too, so their recovery could even be improved with this extra session.

Some post-lift foam rolling and stretching is always recommended, too, so their recovery could even be improved with this extra session, says @SCoach_Aldo. Share on X

Preparing Athletes for the Future

Now, to add some more context to these optional autonomy lifts: will I be the primary coach in some of these sessions and tell an athlete what to do that day? Absolutely, it’s my job to know more than they do about the training process and athletic development. Will some athletes come in for extra sessions and ask me to give them a lift for that day? Yes. Will I get low-minute guys in extra during the season to keep working on certain physical qualities that will best prepare them to play when called upon? Yes. Will I get low-minute guys in on game days to do some power work to prep them for the game but also to give them some jump exposures so that if they don’t play, they’re getting some game intensity work in? Yes.

However, in order to really increase training frequency, in my opinion some autonomy sessions are needed. I’ve had athletes say “I’ll come in tomorrow (to the weight room), but only if I get to choose what I’m doing.” Come on in. I’ll take this 10 out of 10 times if it means an athlete gets an extra training session in. I’m certain everyone reading would too, but ask yourself: would an athlete feel comfortable asking you this? Or, would they fear being laughed at? In order to drive up training frequency, the weight room has to be seen as a place of development, not pain; as a place of improving on court performance, not an Olympic weightlifting hall or a military barracks where the consequence for asking a coach the wrong question results in burpees. Nothing screams insecurity or power trip to me more than athletes not having a say in their development in the weight room.

For me to think I know it all regarding athletic performance development is ludicrous. For me to think I know it all about a sport I played up until I was—wait for it—12 years old, is beyond dumb. Let the athletes take the wheel some days and work on what they want to work on. If you ask the right questions, you can learn a lot during those autonomy lifts. The athlete feels respected and trusted to give an opinion on their current program and whether they feel it’s making a difference in their physical capacities, and it gives you a chance to better understand their needs and what works for their body versus others’. If an athlete is always doing some type of plyometrics on these optional autonomy sessions, it’s likely they don’t currently feel explosive enough. Perhaps a conversation should take place to dive deeper into this. That talk could unearth something that has been on the athlete’s mind for a while.

Allowing autonomy also helps prepare the athlete for the next steps in their career. We’ve had numerous athletes play abroad and have some mandatory S&C sessions with their respective teams’ S&C coach. “Champions do extra,” though, right? So, if the player wants to get an extra session in and the S&C coach isn’t available, it’s up to the athlete to create a workout and execute it. If the countless optional sessions they’ve had at Furman can better prepare them for these workouts or a hotel game day workout, then great!

Allowing autonomy also helps prepare the athlete for the next steps in their career, says @SCoach_Aldo. Share on X

Giving an athlete autonomy also, to an extent, shows you the athlete’s internal motivation and drive to succeed. With our athletes at home for May, it’s fun to see who reaches out to ask for programs, who sends me clips of them training, and who goes radio silent for the month! If for whatever reason they have a change in training environment, are they able to think for themselves and create a solid workout without me being there? I really hope so!

Programming with Autonomy in Mind

I take a lot of pride in the detail I put into my programming and the years that it has taken me to produce a solid, well thought out, holistic program. I also feel very proud when my athletes come in to train on optional days and I see them train with good form, give great effort, and carry out a solid lift. I see my coaching role as a teaching role; I want to transfer all the pertinent knowledge I have about performance to my athletes. If I haven’t taught them anything and have only instructed them on the what not the why, that’s a complete failure on my part.

To keep track of the extra sessions, I create a very simple Excel file which labels the semester of training we are in, the players’ names, and which days they train. This gives me weekly and monthly totals. This information is great for holding athletes accountable to their goals and also keeps me in check with doing the same. If an athlete’s goal is weight loss, I have to make sure they are seeing me more often than the team lifts twice a week. It’s also a way to write notes regarding the stretches I performed pre- and post-practice so I can hold myself accountable to helping them best prepare and recover for practices/games.

I recently asked one of my athletes why he likes the autonomy lifts; he replied, “They are the most fun lifts, the best energy sessions.” He also said how he liked that—from my perspective as a coach—I then get to see what everyone wants to work on and maybe that can help me program for them.

This athlete always loves doing core work. Aside from the fact that he wants a six-pack, it’s helpful for me to see that and to keep challenging him with different core exercises. The athlete also referenced the best energy to our Saturday morning sessions in the summer. For some guys, that could be their sixth lift of the week. To have them in on a Saturday morning, often doing prowler sprints and racing against each other, is a great sign of where our culture is at.

As an added tidbit, my own workout on those Saturdays is to do one exercise of each of the athlete’s whiteboard workouts, for as many rounds as I can before our leadership guys call time on the lift. It’s a great way for me to interact with the guys and gives me an opportunity for some sweat equity with them! As to why he feels they are the best energy sessions, it makes sense that everyone’s spirit is up and they are having fun, they did after all choose to be there that day to get extra work in. Letting them be the DJ on my Apple music account probably contributes to that extra energy, too!

Working out with the team is a great way for me to interact with the guys and gives me an opportunity for some sweat equity with them, says @SCoach_Aldo. Share on X

Game Day Lifts

On rare occasions, I have a real lightbulb “wow” moment when coaching the team. One of those moments happened in-season this past year. I have an optional lift every home game day that takes place an hour before we meet as a team for film. It’s open to everyone. My walk-ons and redshirts always come, and low-minute guys come also. One particular low-minute guy had struggled in the weight room his first year with us; his effort was below standard and we had many a conversation about improvement and being held accountable to one’s body of work.

Fast forward to this season and I’m having to stop the athlete from lifting for too long during one of his autonomous game day sessions, in fear of a residual fatigue effect for the game later that day. He didn’t want to stop—he wanted to keep training. From being in a mental space of not enjoying the weight room and not applying himself fully, I’m now having to take the dumbbells out of his hands and tell him to get a stretch before heading to film. I wonder if he would have had that attitude of self-improvement that day if I had created the workout for him? Self-motivation is a beautiful thing when you’re in the driving seat of your development, not the passenger seat.

Self-motivation is a beautiful thing when you’re in the driving seat of your development, not the passenger seat, says @SCoach_Aldo. Share on X

Basketball Autonomy

Basketball athletes show autonomy most days they are in the facility. Every time they choose to shoot on the gun or with a partner, they are making a decision to work on an area of their game they want to improve. They may decide one day to try and hit a certain number of consecutive free throws, or work on some ball handling; again, it’s a decision they get to make regarding which skills to improve. So why can’t the same thing be applied to weight room work? Why can’t the athlete make that decision to work on a specific area a couple of times a week?

Recovery Autonomy

Let’s all assume you have a trustworthy, hard-working athlete with a great attitude. I am a firm believer that this athlete inherently knows what works for them from a recovery perspective. Nowhere is autonomy more impactful and prevalent than in an athlete choosing which recovery modality to use to reduce soreness and make them feel more recovered before the next session. Take, for example, an athlete who hates ice baths; they stress them out and they can’t sit it one for longer than a minute. Compare that with an athlete who tolerates them well and can be in there for 15 mins.

Recovery is all about downshifting the sympathetic nervous system and upregulating the parasympathetic nervous system. You want the athlete relaxed, you want nasal breathing, you want to reduce their stress to encourage effective recovery. The athlete you made have an ice bath is all tensed up hating the ice bath; they don’t want to be in there and would probably name a few alternative therapies that would help them recover more optimally.

As much as I enjoy giving the athletes a say in their physical development, I would argue the case even more so for giving them a say in their recovery. Giving them the choice and some decision making will again lead to further questions and understanding of the coaches’ and trainers’ point of view, which will contribute to a more effective individualized holistic athletic performance program for that athlete.

As much as I enjoy giving the athletes a say in their physical development, I would argue the case even more so for giving them a say in their recovery, says @SCoach_Aldo. Share on X

Conclusion

As a strength and conditioning coach, I want to be a facilitator for student development, encouraging self-discovery and ownership with all aspects of their learning and training. Our aim should be creating an environment that allows room for experimentation, reflection, and growth.

Give it a try—for your next optional session, when an athlete texts you and wants to train, ask them what they want to work on. Say that you are there if they need guidance and that the weight room is open and available for whatever they want to work on. Do let me know how it goes. I’m raising my morning coffee in a toast to autonomy. Give the athletes a say in their development and watch the buy-in and results reach a new level.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

Every basketballer is, on some level, interested in jumping higher. The problem is that it’s incredibly difficult to make meaningful progress on your vertical while in-season. Your entire bandwidth is conditioning and going to games and practices. Most student-athletes will be lucky if they can find time to get in the weight room once or twice per week.

This is why the off-season is the perfect opportunity to get some serious reps under your belt, so by the time the next season rolls around, you’re faster, stronger, and jumping waaaay higher.

Today I’m going to tell you a few of the crucial things high school or college-level hoopers should be thinking about if they want to make meaningful progress on their vertical jump this off-season.

Let’s begin!

Specialize in a Single Sport as Early as Possible

Having played both basketball and volleyball in high school at the state and national representative levels, I really struggled with managing all the various commitments to different teams in each sport. I never really found myself with a proper off-season, which hindered my ability to make the sort of progress I wanted in the gym.

My recommendation is to choose a single sport and not over-commit yourself to too many teams, tournaments, or camps, such that you actually get a full 8–14 week off-season.

If you’ve found yourself with 3–4 sporting commitments per week, even during the off-season, you’re really going to be overdoing it from a total training volume perspective when you add a 4–6 day per week vertical jump program into the mix.

The off-season is a golden opportunity to focus on your physical development as an athlete and should be treated as such.

Begin with a Proper Deload

The first step to a successful off-season is to give yourself the better part of a week to let your body heal. This is particularly important if you’ve just gone through a grueling post-season.

The key to a successful deload is to be disciplined.

While a wide range of approaches to deloading can be effective, sitting around playing 2K all day and vegging out on the couch isn’t one of them! Let’s keep it simple with some principles that I’ve personally had success with.

The first step to a successful off-season is to give yourself the better part of a week to let your body heal. This is particularly important if you’ve just gone through a grueling post-season. Share on X

Keys to a Successful Deload

What we’re effectively trying to do here is let our body repair the worn-down muscles and connective tissues while still sending a signal to the brain that says we’re continuing to use our muscles…. So heal them but don’t atrophy them.

• Reduce volume by 50%­–70%: You’ll still want to do some training, but it will be a tiny fraction of what you’re used to. If when you previously walked into the gym, you’d do 5×5 back squats, just do two sets. It should feel like the worst workout you’ve ever had, stopping your working sets right before you start to feel something!
• Maintain fairly high intensity in the weight room (~90%): This means you should still be lifting about as heavy as you were prior to the deload but easing off just a little bit. Lifting relatively heavy will ensure you hang onto all your strength and muscle throughout the deload. Shoot for about 90% of the weight you were using the week prior to your deload, but don’t push it if you’re too banged up.
• Eliminate or modify jump volume: If you were doing lots of jumping or plyometrics toward the end of the season, you have the option of entirely removing plyometric training during the deload or simply switching out exercises for lower-intensity alternatives. For example, instead of doing 10 depth jumps per session, you might do 4–5 box jumps instead.

Video 1. Box jumps are ideal for deloads, as they’re a fantastic way to continue jumping while eliminating those brutal landing forces, which will help your joints recover.

You can also continue doing extensive plyometrics like pogo jumps and single-leg line hops but reduce the overall volume to about half.

• Lots of movement: Movement promotes blood flow. Blood carries nutrients to our muscles, which enables the healing process to take place. Instead of relaxing on the couch all day, make sure you get outside and do at least 1.5–2 hours of low-intensity steady-state activity.

This can be as simple as a very light jog or walk, some yoga, or even just going to shoot some hoops for a couple of hours.

If you have access to a swimming pool, hydrotherapy of any sort is a great way to get some movement in the “lowest impact” environment on Earth! The water effectively bubble-wraps your body so your joints can focus on healing. Simple movements like butt kicks, high knees, leg swings, and flutter kicks all work great. You could also just swim a few laps as long as that’s relatively easy for you.

• Include mobility work/static stretching: Fifteen to 20 minutes of some very basic mobility work will help prevent you from getting tight during the deload week. I also recommend spending 2–3 minutes stretching out your calves, hips, quads, and glutes/lower back. Spend a little longer on areas that you feel are particularly tight.
• Maintain your diet: You need to be super conscious of your diet during the deload week to not gain unwanted body fat. If you feel as though you’re burning significantly fewer calories than you were at the end of the season, you might actually want to reduce your overall caloric intake slightly. You still need to eat mostly whole, unprocessed foods and get in plenty of protein.
• Sleep: When it comes to recovery, the real magic happens during sleep. Since this whole week is about recovery, you should ensure you’re consistently getting as close to eight hours of sleep as possible.

How long you should deload for will be determined by how much fatigue you have accumulated during the season. I recommend five days for most athletes, give or take.

The amount of fatigue you’ve accumulated during the season will determine how long you should deload for. I recommend five days for most athletes, give or take. Share on X

If you’ve had a brutal post-season and your body feels like it’s been hit by a truck, take a full seven days to deload. If you didn’t get much action toward the end of the season and feel mostly fine, a four-day deload should be plenty.

Create an Off-Season Game Plan

If you really want to shock everyone when you return to the court next season as a completely upgraded athlete, you’ll need to be strategic about your approach to the off-season.

I’m about to cover the four most important things to consider if you’re interested in maximizing your vertical jump progress this off-season. Use these recommendations to formulate your own off-season game plan.

1. Prioritize Durability and Longevity

Basketball is one of the highest-impact sports, which means it’s incredibly taxing on your body, particularly your joints—this is why most NBA players will retire before their 30th birthday. One of my biggest regrets as an athlete was not taking better care of my body as a senior in high school. I lifted and jumped at least six days a week.

The result?

Tendonitis, meniscus tears, and painfully slow progress on my vertical jump. My recommendation is to treat your body the same way Lebron treats his. Sure, you probably can’t afford to spend over $1 million per year on your body, but you need to approach it with the same mindset.

Optimize for longevity.

Strive to be like Kadour Ziani, who is still freaky athletic in his late 40s, and not like me, embarrassingly immobile in my late 20s.

I strongly recommend you start by familiarizing yourself with the ‘knees over toes’ methodology by learning how to bulletproof your ankles and knees. Share on X

I strongly recommend you start by familiarizing yourself with the knees over toes methodology by learning how to bulletproof your ankles and knees by integrating exercises like the Patrick step or Poliquin step-up. Whenever you run, change direction, or land, you’re in this exact position.

Historically, we’ve been taught to avoid training in this “knees over toes” position, and I was once told, “Your knees should never travel past your toes” when squatting. But then strength and performance coaches like Charles Poliquin, Carl Petersen, and more recently, Ben Patrick began having huge success having their athletes challenge this idea by exposing the body to this challenging position.

Almost 34% of collegiate-level basketballers have some sort of patella tendonitis. Vertical jump coach Nathanael Morton recommends that athletes with jumper’s knee (or any amount of knee pain) begin their training protocol focusing on knee durability and not proceeding to heavy lifts like squats and plyometrics like depth jumps until their knees are pain-free.

An example of a knee durability and rehab protocol workout might look like the following.

Video 2. If you have access to a sled you can pull, use that. If you have access to a treadmill, you can use that (power it off) and walk backward. Even just walking backward (ideally up a hill) will be effective.

These movements make fantastic warm-ups and do an exceptional job of driving blood flow into the knee. Perform the movement for 1–2 minutes until you notice a quad pump. I recommend 3–4 sets.

Patrick Steps

Video 3. Bend so that your working leg’s knee extends past your toes. Reach out as far as you can with your off leg and gently touch your heel to the ground.

Perform 2–4 sets of 15–30 reps.

Slant Board Eccentric Squats

Video 4. With your heels elevated, focus on a slow and controlled descent.

Perform three sets of 10 reps.

ATG Split Squat

Video 5. Starting with one foot out in front of you, lunge down in a controlled manner so that your front knee extends past your toes.

Perform 2–3 sets of 5–6 reps.

Morton recommends repeating similar workouts 4–6 times per week until you can get through the workout without pain. In addition to the above, I’d recommend doing tibialis raises to increase your ability to safely absorb landing forces using your muscles instead of your joints.

Never work through pain…and for the love of God, do your mobility and flexibility work!

The off-season is, above all else, an opportunity for you to mend your body.

Never work through pain…and for the love of God, do your mobility and flexibility work! The off-season is, above all else, an opportunity for you to mend your body. Share on X

After you’ve taken care of any tendonitis, niggling injuries, and poor mobility, you’ve earned the right to enter the weight room to start taking strides toward becoming bigger, faster, and stronger.

2. Take a Structured Approach for Best Results

Understand—at least on a surface level—what a strategic approach to increasing your vertical jump looks like. Depending on which program you choose to follow, you might hear phrases like:

“Accumulation → Transmutation → Realization”

Or even

“Foundation → Integration → Translation”

Put simply, you should break your off-season into 3–4 smaller periods, each with a particular training focus.

Initially, you’ll start with some sort of fairly light accumulation period where the goal is to build work capacity and get your body used to a structured training environment. During this phase, you’ll do pretty basic lifts at moderate weights, as well as mostly extensive plyometrics and only a couple more challenging movements.

The idea here is to ease into things and get our bodies used to lifting and jumping a lot.

Example exercises will include things like:

• Pogo jumps
• Ankle jumps
• Full-range back squats
• RDLs
• Pull-ups

Many programs will also focus largely on strength development during the first phase, as opposed to power/ballistic movements and plyometrics.

After 3–4 weeks of “building the base,” you’ll look to start ramping things up with more advanced movements where we’re really trying to drive adaptation using that foundation we established in the initial phase. Expect some more difficult higher-intensity (aka heavier) lifts, more intensive plyometrics, more power and ballistic movements, and some complex/conjugate training.

Example exercises will include:

• Heavy back squats
• Power cleans and med ball tosses
• Depth jumps
• Back squats followed by depth jumps
• Trap bar jumps
• Bounding

We aim to peak in explosiveness for the final 3–4 weeks of the off-season and then prepare our newfound athleticism for the court.

We do this by backing off slightly on the lifting/strength volume and upping the power and plyometrics. We reduce the weight used in our power movements and look to move the weight as fast as possible. The closer we get to the end of the program, the more focused we become on jumping.

We do another small deload in the last week of the program to flush out any accumulated systemic fatigue, and the result will hopefully be your highest jumping performance yet!

Choosing the Right Program

Unless you’re a sports science major, you likely won’t understand the complexities of the effective programming and periodization that go into a well-constructed vertical jump program.

For most athletes, I believe it’s smarter to outsource your vertical jump program to an expert who has created a system designed for maximum progress over the duration you have available.

I believe it’s smarter for most athletes to outsource their vertical jump program to an expert who has created a system designed for maximum progress over the duration available. Share on X

Sixty dollars is a fairly small cost for complete guidance over 14 weeks—that works out to $0.60 per day to help you optimize your training and create the most impressive transformation possible.

There’s a vast range of different vertical jump programs on the market, and I’ve personally purchased each of them to determine which products make the most sense for which athletes.

Here are a few things to consider…

Duration

Vertical jump programs typically range in duration from eight weeks to 16 weeks, with a couple of exceptions going for longer. You must identify exactly how long your off-season will be before beginning your pre-season commitments.

Some athletes might only have eight weeks available, whereas others might have a full 14 weeks. Before investing in a jump program, find out how long it goes, so you can get something that’s a good fit for you.

Access to Equipment

I can appreciate that not every athlete will have the luxury of a fully kitted-out gym. Some of you will have access to only very basic equipment, and some of you will have no equipment whatsoever…

Certain jump programs require certain types of equipment, whereas others require no equipment at all. Figure out what equipment you imagine you’ll have access to, then pair that up with an appropriate program.

Experience Level

Certain programs are very challenging, whereas others are super simple and geared more toward beginners. Ask yourself how much experience you have in the weight room and with plyometrics.

If this is your first attempt at meaningfully increasing your vertical jump, start with a program geared more toward beginners and younger athletes.

My recommendation?

I recommend Overtime Athletes’ Elite Vertical Academy because it checks all of the boxes:

• Includes a “beginner” version for younger and less experienced athletes.
• Includes a “bodyweight” version for athletes who don’t have access to equipment.
• The main program still has a lot of advanced movements in it, so it’s great for more advanced athletes too.
• Its 12-week duration is ideal for most off-seasons.
• Significantly more affordable than other options.

I’ve written a full article comparing each of the different vertical jump programs you’re welcome to check out for more information.

3. Don’t Neglect Skills Work and Upper Body Training

As a younger athlete, I was so obsessed with being able to dunk that I had no interest in skills work. As a result, I ended up with a horrific handle and an inability to finish around the rim—despite being able to jump reasonably well.

Make sure you’re still dedicating at least 1–2 sessions per week to skills. I’d recommend allocating some time to ball handling and shooting—focusing on shots you’re likely to take in a game.

It’s also very easy to fall into the trap of only training legs and completely skipping upper body day when you’re focused on increasing your vertical jump.

Luckily, most decent vertical jump programs these days realize the importance of a powerful upper body and bake a healthy amount of upper body training into the program. But if you’re creating your own vertical jump program, remember to include each of the three following movements:

1. Chin-ups—Often referred to as the “upper body squat,” this compound movement hits most of your upper body and is a super-efficient way to build general upper body strength.
2. Bench press/shoulder press—Or push-ups/military press if you don’t have access to a bench. Being a strong presser has a massive carryover to how well you’ll be able to pass the ball.
3. Med ball tosses—With the many different variations of med ball tosses, you can build upper body power that will directly impact your arm swing when jumping, but it will also make you a far better passer.

I believe doing the above three exercises just 1–3 times per week is all you need to maintain and develop upper body strength and power while you’re focusing primarily on developing your vertical jump.

You should also keep playing some basketball each week (~1 session), just to help with basic conditioning and keeping your eye in.

If you’re playing pickup basketball 2–3 times per week, you’ll likely not get the most out of your vertical jump program, which will have you training 4–6 days per week already.

4. Double Down on Diet and Sleep

I cannot stress how important this is—if you’re treating yourself like a professional athlete, getting eight hours of sleep per night is table stakes.

Eating a clean diet with adequate amounts of protein is a given. Just being on break is not an excuse to get sloppy with your diet. Your shopping list should include foods like the following:

• Rice
• Chicken
• Pasta
• Oatmeal
• Eggs
• Red meat
• Salmon

We also know that vitamin D levels correlate with the size and number of fast-twitch muscle fibers—those you use when jumping. So ensure you get plenty of sun every day and aren’t cooped up inside playing video games all day!

Your fast-twitch muscle fibers also prefer carbohydrates as a source of energy, so I recommend fueling up with rice, pasta, and oats instead of taking a low-carb/keto approach.

It doesn’t matter how hard you train or how diligently you follow your jump program; you will never make meaningful progress if you’re not taking your diet and sleep seriously. Share on X

Remember, it doesn’t matter how hard you train or how diligently you follow your jump program; you will never make meaningful progress if you’re not taking your diet and sleep seriously.

Final Thoughts

Every so often, you’ll notice a guy show up to pre-season training looking like a completely different athlete…they’re taller, stronger, faster, and wait, what’s that? He just threw it down on a fast break!?

Damn, that guy really leveled up during the off-season!

You can be that guy.

Create a game plan, follow a structured program, and take your nutrition and recovery super seriously. Treat your off-season as an opportunity to level up, not an excuse to relax and slack off.

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References

1. Patrick, Ben. Knee Ability Zero, Onyx Publications, 2021.

2. Beyond the Rim 1, Nathanael Morton.

3. Hutchinson MK, Houck J, Cuddeford T, Dorociak R, and Brumitt J. “Prevalence of Patellar Tendinopathy and Patellar Tendon Abnormality in Male Collegiate Basketball Players: A Cross-Sectional Study.” Journal of Athletic Training. 2019 Sep;54(9):953–958.

4. Cannell JJ, Hollis BW, Sorenson MB, Taft TN, and Anderson JJB. “Athletic performance and vitamin D.” Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 2009 May;41(5):1102–1110.