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An athlete having difficulty pulling under the bar is a common problem that every coach has seen at one point or another. Sometimes there is a mental barrier, and the athlete is simply afraid to drop under the bar. But I believe this fear mostly stems from a physical limitation—in technique, mobility, or stability—that hasn’t been addressed. Bad habits can develop over time as a way to compensate for a physical limitation or as a way to overcome a misunderstanding or lack of development in the technique. In either case, if this issue goes unaddressed, it can lead to general frustration and plateaus, along with compromising the overall lift/capacity that the athlete can perform.

When an athlete is afraid to drop under the bar, I believe this fear mostly stems from a physical limitation—in technique, mobility, or stability—that hasn’t been addressed, says @nicc__marie. Share on X

The snatch and clean are taught as three phases: first pull, second pull, and third pull. In the third pull of the lift, the athlete actively pulls themselves under the bar and into the receiving or catch position. The athlete meets the bar at its highest point relative to the weight on the bar and the amount of explosiveness generated by the athlete in the second pull. The athlete’s job is to move under the bar with speed and intention. It is important for the athlete to understand and remain connected with the barbell. If the athlete is unsure of how high they are driving the bar upward, then they will inevitably mistime their pull into the catch position.

The height of the receiving position varies between the snatch and the clean. In the snatch, we want the athlete to find their bottom position, whether it be in a power snatch or full snatch, in order to lock their arms and maintain a stable overhead position. The bar will land over top of the athlete’s center of gravity, creating very little barbell dissonance for the athlete as they accelerate into the bottom position.

In the clean, the catch position of the barbell is forward of the athlete’s center of gravity in the front rack position. Although the same rules apply as the snatch, if the athlete races down into the bottom position before meeting the bar, then it will crash on top of them and potentially “spit them out.” In other words, when the athlete tries to find the catch position of the lift, the bar hits them so hard on their front rack that it bounces forward off of them and shoots the athlete back. Check out this clip of Phil Sabatini for reference.

In order to begin improving this phase of the lift, a coach must make sure the athlete can safely get into the bottom position. Athletes should begin with the overhead squat for the snatch and the front squat for the clean. If an athlete is incapable of demonstrating these movements proficiently, then we know there is a mobility or stability issue somewhere causing the limitation. However, in this article I want to focus on the technique side of pulling under the bar and how to improve this phase.

Video 1. Proper balance is a key to the snatch and safely getting into the bottom of the lift.

Let’s say an athlete is mobile enough to get into the bottom position and stable enough to receive the bar both overhead and in the front rack. What next? Lack of explosiveness in the drive or second pull phase of the lift will limit the height of the barbell and prevent the athlete from having a chance to get under the bar. An aggressive pull is necessary to maintain a close bar path and allow for a quick change in direction from the athlete. The speed of an athlete, or lack thereof, is the biggest factor that limits the athlete’s ability to quickly change direction and transition under the bar as it moves upward. But without the other two components, the athlete won’t even be able to consider the speed at which they pull under the bar.

Select drills for your athletes that will address their weakest point and keep in mind that may also correct other faults along the way, says @nicc__marie. Share on X

It is important to note that different drills can help fix more than one fault. As we begin to look at a variety of drills in the next few sections, remember that weightlifting is cause and effect. Select drills for your athletes that will address their weakest point and keep in mind that may also correct other faults along the way.  As a coach, if you are trying to isolate one particular fault, always provide a distinct focus or intention behind the drill.

Explosiveness

The second pull is the phase of the lift that demands an explosive drive of the bar, generated by the athlete. This becomes an issue for the athlete because a heavier barbell already limits its ascension. In this scenario, speed to pull under the bar won’t be a factor because there is simply not enough room for the athlete to get under the bar. There are two things to consider when this is a factor:

1. Is the athlete cutting their pull too short and beginning the transition from first pull to second pull too soon?
2. Are they losing their connection into the floor through their feet?

To address the issue of pulling too early, athletes can focus pulls, but it is vital that you express to the athlete the technique and purpose of the pulls as a drill to improve the lifts in order to get the best ROI for the movement. Pulls are a great exercise to overload the athlete and work on that explosiveness at heavier weights, along with preventing an early arm bend. If your athlete tends to begin that first to second pull transition too early, then more specific positional drills such as a snatch pull (BKN) (below the knee) or clean pull (AKN) (above the knee) are good ways to reinforce the timing of when to begin shifting the torso upright.

Video 2. Using snatch and clean pulls can help prevent early arm bend and establish proper weight distribution for executing the full versions of each lift.

An early arm bend will interrupt the athlete’s explosiveness because it will take the force out of the legs and into the arms too early. This is why I emphasize keeping the arms long in the pull. For more information on this, check out my other article, “To Bend or Not to Bend.”

Weight distribution is a huge factor in Olympic weightlifting in terms of bar path, position, and force production. If an athlete’s feet leave the floor too soon, it will affect their power and force production. Two of Newton’s laws of motion apply directly to this idea. The second law, Force = Mass x Acceleration explains that the weight and speed on the bar will determine force production. If the bar’s trajectory begins to shift horizontally, that will slow everything down, which will take away from the total amount of force. The third law, every action has an equal and opposite reaction, tells us that if our heels or toes come off the floor, then we won’t be able to generate as much force into the floor. In turn, we won’t receive as much force back to help move the bar.

Block work is a great way to reinforce connection into the floor and explosiveness in the drive. When an athlete works through their weaker positional variations, they can rely on downward momentum into the position to generate force. But block work forces the athlete to move the barbell from a dead stop. They have to feel the setup of the position and adjust their body to generate force.

Block work is a great way to reinforce connection into the floor and explosiveness in the drive… Block work forces the athlete to move the barbell from a dead stop, says @nicc__marie. Share on X

The height of the blocks will determine the amount of push required by the athlete to drive the body and bar upward through the triple extension position. Where focusing on better weight distribution means focusing on the knees or low blocks, reinforcing strong drive demands implies the higher the better. In a high block clean, the bar is already placed in the power position.

Most times, athletes feel as if they have no power to generate to move the barbell. If left uncoached, we begin to see a lot of torso movement to drive the bar. Intention is key: The athlete should feel their feet active into the floor and initiate a push down through the feet to drive the bar. In either case, block work helps to correct the first and second pulls of the lift in order to create a more optimal chance to master the third pull and successfully complete the lift.

Aggressiveness

Block work not only improves explosiveness, but it gives the athlete a stronger sense of positions and the power needed to drive the bar upward. Then the athlete can begin to use their arms. The arms shouldn’t bend until after the athlete hits triple extension. If the arms bend too early, well that’s a whole other topic for another time.

Once the elbows are ready to bend, they must be aggressive and synchronous to the body beginning to move under the bar. One of the best analogies I’ve ever heard was told to me by Coach Brenden Mcdaniel. He said, “You know how you bend your arms to pull yourself down a waterslide as fast as you can…this is like that except vertically.” In that moment, the timing and intention of the pull under the bar became so much clearer.  It’s why the cue elbows up, body down has such a major benefit for athletes who are kinesthetic learners.

Videos 3 & 4. Bar path measurements for the clean pull and snatch pull via Vmaxpro.

Pull-unders are one of my top drills to emphasize the aggressiveness of the upper body coupled with the speed of pulling yourself down. The heavier the bar gets in this drill, the more crucial the timing becomes. I want them to feel the weight of the bar in their hands to emphasize the intensity needed to pull themselves down under the bar. The harder they pull, the higher the bar goes.

Remember, the intention still focuses on pulling the body down as the arms pull up. It is the opposition that we are working to emphasize in order for the athlete to better understand where the bar is during the turnover. The intentional aggressiveness of the movement will help the athlete become more cognizant of where the barbell is in space; then they can begin to focus on the timing and directional speed change.

Speed/Timing

Speed is demanded of the athlete as soon as the bar passes the athlete’s knees on the way up, and again as they begin to pull themselves down. Athletes will often fixate on the position and bar path as the bar moves upward and never increase their speed when it is time to pull down. The speed and ability to change direction and move under the bar is vital as the weights get heavier.

If an athlete spends too much time in triple extension, then it immediately affects the timing of when an athlete makes contact and drives the bar upward to when they begin pulling down. If the athlete doesn’t aggressively drive the elbows upward, they give themselves less time to move under the bar. Each of those two points mentioned earlier allows for the athlete to pull their hips down quickly.

Video 5. Performing “No feet” drills for the clean and snatch to improve speed and timing.

“No feet” drills are a great way to correct all of these issues, but the biggest thing I emphasize with “no feet” is the speed with which you have to rip down. When an athlete stops thinking about having to shuffle their feet out and down into the catch position, they can concentrate on driving the bar and not cutting the pull short. They will also be forced to drop down quickly because they aren’t getting the extra height provided from the ankles extended.

With “no feet” cleans and “no feet” snatches, the athlete should begin their setup with their feet already in their catch position. As they begin to pull down, they only have to focus on their hips coming down into their bottom position and their feet are already set in place. Fewer variables allows for better focus on the speed down into the bottom position.

Snatch balances are another great way to reinforce the speed and timing into the bottom position. The goal is to drive the bar upward as the body simultaneously moves down. Reinforcing this timing and the stability of the overhead position, especially at heavier weights than the snatch can be performed, builds more strength in the bottom position.

The more comfortable an athlete becomes at pulling themselves down and meeting the bar, the more the timing will improve, says @nicc__marie. Share on X

The more comfortable an athlete becomes at pulling themselves down and meeting the bar, the more the timing will improve. Consistency and intention at lighter weights will build a strong carryover to heavier lifts. With all things being equal, the height of the bar is always going to depend on the amount of weight on the bar and the ability of the athlete to move that weight.

An athlete having a strong understanding of where the bar is at all times and the intensity at which they handle the barbell will lead the way to proper timing, aggression, and speed of the third pull. Just like anything in weightlifting, there is never one answer; rather, a variety of ways to assess and address a situation that can lead to improvement in other areas. It is the job of the coach to understand where the athlete is having trouble and provide them with the right strategies to fix it.

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

Before training their athletes, the first thing a performance coach should do is engage in a detailed needs analysis. Look at the individual, their position, their sport, their playing style, and more. If you are still running cookie-cutter programs, then stop. Yes, I know it’s hard if you have 40 athletes to one coach, but you can still find ways to add individualized tweaks here and there.

Regardless of the planning methodology you choose, you still need to decide on your “big rocks.” These can be tangible or intangible qualities and skills. Here are some common “big rocks” in successful programs:

• Sprinting
• Jumping
• Medicine ball throws
• Zone 2 (aerobic work)
• General strength training

A good way to view this “big rocks” theory is to visualize an empty jar. To fill it, you have rocks, gravel, and sand. You could add all the sand first, then the gravel, and finish with the rocks—but you quickly can see that this is not the most optimal way to fill the jar. If you begin by putting your rocks in first, then the gravel, and then the sand, you will see how the cracks start getting filled in. Likewise, once you have your training mainstays, then you can start filling in the gaps.

Having constants in your program is also a great opportunity to allow athletes to ‘self-audit.’ Share on X

Having constants in your program is also a great opportunity to allow athletes to “self-audit.” Bondarchuk used to have athletes pick a handful of their favorite movements and then they would primarily train those. His throwers could then gauge effectiveness by the daily throwing they did—if he had them continually changing up exercises, it would be very difficult to pinpoint what worked and what didn’t.

Sure, elite athletes can be fast adapters, but you need time to stabilize and actualize the adaptations. Find the backbones of your program and use them as checkpoints to revisit and evaluate training. Boo Schexnayder has also talked about this concept in the form of “home base training”: If an exercise is important to the training program, it should exist in some form or fashion throughout the year.

This leads me to what I believe should be the backbones of every team sport athlete’s training program: tempo and chin-ups. Depending on the training block, coaches may get away from these to drive specific adaptations. After these periods, I would return back to your home base training and stabilize any residual effects.

Tempo Training

Tempo training traditionally has been done as a submaximal sprint effort. In sports that require high speeds and dynamic movement, coaches tend to only focus on the speed side of training. It is easy to fall into the speed trap because it is such an important quality for successful athletes to have. The old adage “speed kills” will live on.

My perspective has changed drastically on the subject. I started talking with other coaches and consuming any information on the aerobic system that I could. My main takeaway: Don’t sleep on the aerobic system for team sport athletes. Without a well-built aerobic base, it won’t matter how fast your athletes are. They won’t be able to repeat the same maximal efforts throughout the entire competition.

Without a well-built aerobic base, it won’t matter how fast your athletes are. They won’t be able to repeat the same maximal efforts throughout the entire competition. Share on X

Not to mention the growing research into acute-to-chronic ratios in player loading. Without accumulation of work to match what they experience in their sport, the incidence of injury begins to rise. Common sense will tell you that the preseason is the time when the most soft-tissue, non-contact injuries occur. Why build a big engine on a frame that can’t handle it?

I could pose the question: Why does a track athlete need an aerobic base? They might only do a few max efforts and have very long rest periods in between. Charlie Francis and many other track coaches still trained athletes in a polarized program. On one end, athletes trained in the alactic environment. If you increase top speed, you also increase the speed of all submaximal efforts below that.

To contrast that, you use slow and smooth stuff. I’m sure Ben Johnson did some form of tempo, and it wasn’t all max effort squats and bench press to complement his high-speed track work. Tempo training might be the best bang for your buck—you develop the oxidative capacities of relevant musculature while having the opportunity to zero in on the technical aspects of running.

Talking with one of my mentors, it makes sense that tempo comes in two forms: energy system development and recovery. You could also say intensive and extensive, but I find that terminology tends to confuse more than it helps.

Energy system development is exactly what it sounds like. I want to train the body both centrally and peripherally to better utilize oxygen, take in nutrients, and shuttle out accumulated metabolites. This type of training widens the pyramid of performance. Theoretically, not only do you have increased capacity for repeated bouts, but you can also recover from them more quickly. In contests that last several hours, this is crucial.

Tempo training in this fashion can be in a variety of movements. Examples are linear tempo runs, curvilinear, submaximal change of direction, medicine ball tempo, strength aerobic resistance training, etc. Tempo can be done on grass, turf, a bike, battle ropes, or a rower, in a pool, or using strength training equipment.

For team sport athletes, I reccomend performing tempo runs on grass. Doing your best to adhere to dynamic correspondence is key in training programs. Ultimately, the goal is to train just below your lactate threshold (~2.00 mmol). The benefit of tempo is that it substitutes for any long, steady-state cardio. You get better quality runs at faster speeds.

The benefit of tempo is that it substitutes for any long, steady-state cardio. You get better quality runs at fast speeds. Share on X

Below are two ways to use tempo runs for energy system development:

1. 2 x 10 x 100 yards at 55%-60% of best time (add in BW exercises or MB work in between reps)
2. Submaximal position work (wide receivers)

• Jog route tree x 20s/40s (progress to 40s/20s)

The more I look at tempo, the less I would have athletes go much beyond 65% into intensive work. It is hard to know exactly what lactate levels are during training (unless you are having them take samples.) That’s why a good dialogue with athletes is necessary. If the goal is to stay high-low and not interfere with my high output days, then it doesn’t make sense to constantly train there. As you progress closer to the season, one of your “high days” can mimic intensive tempo but focus more on lactic power and capacity.

Yardages are another focus point. Derek Hansen wrote an article years ago that has good recommendations for tempo volumes. I used to think they were a bit high, but looking back now, I’d agree that if you can get up to those weekly numbers, you are in a good spot.

The second form of tempo training is a primer for recovery. This style of training can improve circulatory mechanisms and reset muscle tone following competition or heavy resistance training. If you consistently trained tempo all year, then it could act as a “flush” to help the athlete return to a homeostatic balance. The intensity would fall on the lower end, around 50% of their best time.

RPE (rate of perceived exertion) can be used also—I like to see athletes in the 5-6 range on a scale of 1-10. The talk test is a simple way to gauge the intensity: You should be able to talk while performing movements.

I like the zone 2 parameters that Peter Attia has talked about in many of his podcasts. Zone 2 is an endurance athlete training scale popularized in cycling. Zone 2 is basically training at the highest outputs possible while staying below your lactate threshold. Adaptations occur mainly in the type I fibers where mitochondrial density is usually higher.

At any given time, athletes should perform three sessions at 60 minutes or four sessions at 45 minutes (at least three hours per week). Zone 2 tempo is steady state in nature. If using heart rate (HR), a quick way to determine working HR is the MAF 180 formula. Basically, it is 180 minus your age. You can adjust based on limitations or other lifestyle factors (+/-10 beats).

Whether to drive adaptation or to recover between contests, tempo is a great way to audit the readiness of athletes. Say you work in the NFL or at a lower division collegiate program. In these situations, chances are you won’t get to see your athletes for any extended period of time. Tempo would be an effective way to have a “progressing” conditioning test working in the background. If you know that an athlete needs to complete X amount of work to be ready, then you can direct training approaches to help bridge the gap. You can also pulse tempo (use roughly a third of off-season running volumes) throughout the in-season period to drive recovery from performances.

Whether to drive adaptation or to recover between contests, tempo is a great way to audit the readiness of athletes. Share on X

I could write an entire article about how alactic efforts are impacted by improvements in the aerobic system, specifically in the capacity to repeat high intensity outputs. In a true high-low model of training, finding ways to be as polarized as possible would allow you to both “raise the floor” and “push the ceiling.”

The Chin-Up

Athletes require certain technical, tactical, physiological, and psychological attributes in order to have successful outcomes. In team sports, the bulk of work done is through cyclical and acyclical movements. So, you might ask yourself, why then are chin-ups a backbone in a program? The answer lies in relative strength and mass specific forces. (Disclaimer: Obviously, positions where athletes tend to weigh more and require higher strength levels will not always fall under this category. Remember, context is key.)

Good coaching is trial and error. What got me to point A won’t necessarily be what gets me to point B. To break through to something, you must break from something else. Experienced coaches have noticed that their faster athletes are typically also solid at performing chin-ups. You can get into the claim that a chin-up trains shoulder extension similarly to that of the arm action, but not here. It’s all about mass specific force.

Another argument is that if being good at chin-ups correlates to faster running speeds, then gymnasts would be excellent 100m sprinters. This is not the case. Don’t mistake correlation with causation. The scope of this article is to identify the backbones of training. These are things we can use to audit our programs for future course correction.

Back to the chin-up. It makes sense that athletes with lighter body weights could theoretically do more chin-ups; but without the requisite strength, they could also be poor at them. Looking further, fast sprinting requires you to produce high levels of force in decreasing increments of time relative to your body mass. In track and field sprinters, maintaining a lean body weight is beneficial since extra mass will likely slow you down.

Well-known coaches like Barry Ross and Ryan Flaherty recognized this in their practices. In Ross’s case, he trained exercises that would stimulate the nervous system while minimizing tissue damage and hypertrophy. A deadlift that eliminates the eccentric portion of the lift is a popular example of this style of training.

Bodyweight training is another way to accomplish this, whether it is from plyometrics or calisthenics. The goal is to produce as much force as possible at the lightest body weight to play your sport. Aside from the musculature involved during a chin-up, it is a good choice to assess relative upper body strength. If your athlete can do them, do them. I believe it’s worth the investment to train some variation of chin-ups at all times of the year. Handling your body weight is a must for any athlete. Chin-up for reps or weighted chins are a simple, cost-effective way to build athlete standards throughout your training system.

I believe it’s worth the investment to train some variation of chin-ups at all times of the year. Handling your body weight is a must for any athlete. Share on X

Let’s look at different ways you can progress chin-ups based on your athlete population. Regardless of the sport, if your athlete can’t do a dead hang chin-up, then take a step back. Below is a progression that you can use to get that first chin-up:

1. Inverted BW rows (work to 15-20 reps in each category and add in sets)

• Legs bent
• Legs straight
• Legs elevated
• Weighted

2. Chin-up iso, top position (work up to 90 seconds)

• Work passive hang also (2 minutes from bar)

3. Eccentric chin-up (work up to 45 seconds of work)

• 8 x 5 second lower and use box/bench to reset

4. Chin-up

• The Fighter Pullup Program

5. Weighted chin-up

The above progression is adaptable for females and males at any age level. I typically won’t program more than 50 reps of chin-ups per session. Start adding in extra weight once body weight becomes easy. There will be some outliers who need special programming, such as larger athletes and longer-limbed athletes.

For American football linemen, if they can’t perform them, I usually piece together a few exercises: passive hang, close grip lat pulldown (underhand grip), and incline TRX BW row are my main choices. The goal is still to get chin-ups, so sometimes I might have them loop a band on the rack to add assistance to the reps.

For long-limbed athletes like basketball players, I’ve successfully done the above progression. I added in some wide grip lat pulldowns to target the lats and help build the supportive musculature. Based on what you see as a coach, you can manipulate the exercise choice and sequencing to fit your goals.

The big coaching points with the chin-up are:

1. Extend the arms all the way out at the bottom of each rep.
2. Pull the elbows down and back on the concentric action.

Strong Opinions, Loosely Held

The backbone of your training program could be any KPI you want. At the end of the day, you need to know your population. Tempo training and chin-ups are two choices that can span all athlete qualifications. Get really good at them, then work to fill in the gaps elsewhere.

The backbone of your training program could be any KPI you want. At the end of the day, you need to know your population. Share on X

Expanding this thought out further, tempos and chin-ups are low-risk investments that have a good chance of yielding positive returns. Nassim Taleb, a financial risk analyst, uses a model called “The Barbell Strategy.” On one end of the bar, you have low-risk investments that are in a way safe. On the other end, you have the high-risk investments that have much greater downsides. This small allocation of funds allows for aggressive tactics to be used in hopes for a very high upside.

Taleb talks about a general distribution of 85% low-risk to 15% high-risk (similar to the distribution of the Pareto Principle). Tempos and chin-ups are exercises with little downside and moderate-high upside. Your true speed work and maximal effort lifts are across the spectrum and should be used intelligently.

The profession has gone away from simplicity. As coaches, we are support staff. What you do will not win games (though it might lose some). Accept that, drop your ego, and start searching for the “best” answers. The greatest thing you can do is to have strong opinions that are loosely held. Always be willing to change and adapt while you continue to learn.

The greatest thing you can do is to have strong opinions that are loosely held. Always be willing to change and adapt while you continue to learn. Share on X

I am the first one to speak out against stating anything in absolutes. Often, it is smart to disregard the content and further investigate the context. The human body is complex. There are too many variables at play for anyone to say they know for sure where their athletes will be even a day from now. I would love to implement some things I see out there on social media, but 30 minutes with beat-up athletes changes a lot. Most days it turns into running around with an index card, going from plan B to plan C to plan D—and having those backbone exercises to fall back on keeps things in place.

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

With the football season wrapped-up, prospects, whether they have aspirations of a college scholarship or hearing their name called on draft night, are turning their attention to speed. It is no secret that one of the best ways to improve your stock as a prospect is by improving your time in the 40-yard dash. While most coaches know a good time when they see one, many struggle to actually make their athletes faster.

I was in that same boat, but I wanted more. I wanted ways to analyze the data from my athletes and make better training decisions from that data. After taking a deep dive into the times of NFL draftees over the last five years, I have found a few trends that can hopefully help guide you on your quest for improved speed. After reading, you will have a better understanding of the intricacies of this highly valued sprint and be better able to help your athletes achieve their speed goals.

Before we begin, understand that the times being discussed are solely from the NFL Scouting Combine. All reps were run in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis using Zybek timing systems. The times we see published publicly are started by hand with gates at 10, 20, and 40 yards. Zybek does compile FAT data that is not shared with the public, but they did explain on Twitter that: “If the coach is at the 6 yard line, the average [difference between human vs. FAT] is 0.085 [seconds]; however, there is a +/- 0.05 seconds or larger (1 Standard [Deviation]) in the best case.”

The Three-Second Rule

In the last five Combines, 376 draftees ran sub-4.6 seconds; 365 (97%) ran the “flying 30” portion in 3.00 seconds or less. For the high school athletes I coach, we use the 30-yard fly as our primary max velocity metric because I love how seamlessly it ties in with our 40-yard dash training. For most high school speedsters, running a 30-yard fly in three seconds or less is not a daunting task, but when you reduce their run-in, the task becomes more difficult and aligns with the acceleration needed to master the 40-yard dash.

It is important to know the difference between ‘how fast can you get?’ and ‘how fast can you get fast?’, says @CoachStokowski. Share on X

It is important to know the difference between “how fast can you get?” and “how fast can you get fast?” Once you understand the speed strengths and weaknesses of your athletes, you can narrow your training focus to address those needs. Cameron Josse comes to mind when I think of using pragmatic exercise selection to address needs on the force-velocity curve.

Big Fellas Need a Good Start

One of my favorite metrics to play around with is pounds-per-inch: a way of analyzing relative size and the speed needed for success at that size. Athletes at 4.0 pounds-per-inch or larger dominate in the trenches of professional football. We are talking about body sizes ranging (on the small end) from 72 inches, 293 pounds (4.07 pounds-per-inch) to 79 inches, 317 pounds (4.01 pounds-per-inch).

One-hundred sixty-nine athletes 4.0 pounds-per-inch or larger have been drafted since 2016. Twenty-two of them (13%) were able to crack five seconds in the 40-yard dash. When looking at the splits from those attempts, I notice a distinct difference between the speed profiles of professional linemen and high school skill players. Running similar 40-yard dash times, the linemen excelled in the acceleration portion (0-20 yards), while the novice high schoolers fared better on the back end (20-40 yards).

Taking a closer look at those 22 linemen, their times ranged from 4.75-4.99. On average, their front 20 yards clocked in at 2.85, while their back 20 came in at 2.06. None of those 169 draftees, other than Caleb Benenoch (his published splits point to a possible error at the second gate), were able to break 2.00 seconds from 20-40 yards. On the flip side, I have recorded 119 40s between 4.75 and 4.99 from my high school athletes, obviously much smaller clientele. Their average front/back split is 2.86/2.02, which does not seem like much of a difference, but 38 (32%) of those ran sub-2.00 on the back 20 yards.

Two takeaways:

1. Once a body gets to a certain size, there is not as much velocity potential. In other words, linemen at the Combine do not have the maximum velocity ability to outrun a slow start. They MUST get through 20 yards fast (relatively) to finish fast.
2. When a high schooler legitimately lowers their time by a significant amount, the area of most improvement happens early in the dash. Does an improved maximum velocity help? Absolutely! But never forget that around one-third of your time happens over one-fourth of the distance.

Apples, Oranges, and Doughnuts

When discussing the 40-yard dash, it is important to remember that the gold standard, the NFL Scouting Combine, is more concerned with consistency than accuracy. We know this because both FAT and hand-started times are recorded, but the hand-started times are the ones shared with the public.

The goal of recreating exact testing variables is a fool’s errand, but there is value in attempting to find a level of consistency and accuracy in your testing protocol. Surface, shoes, weather, and a myriad of other nuances make the way you time the 40-yard dash unique. I believe we should all try to create a testing protocol that provides an in-depth look at our athletes’ abilities and gives us information on where our time would be best spent in their training. In classroom terms, I believe we should be using the 40-yard dash as a formative assessment as well as a summative one.

I know the way I time (apples) is not the way the NFL does (oranges), but both do a good job of providing feedback. Simply telling an athlete that they ran “4.4” (doughnuts) is not true (99% of the time) and does not provide them with the information needed to improve their speed. Sure, it makes them feel good, but it does not make them better. By providing split times within the 40-yard dash, we can learn far more about our athletes’ strengths and weaknesses.

By providing split times within the 40-yard dash, we can learn far more about our athletes’ strengths and weaknesses, says @CoachStokowski. Share on X

I use Freelap to time the 40-yard dash, on a rubberized track wearing spikes. We use the touchpad as a consistent way to tether our athletes to a moment of near-zero forward momentum. We place split transmitters (cones) at 10 yards + 80 centimeters, 20 yards + 80 centimeters, 30 yards + 80 centimeters, and 40 yards + 80 centimeters. (For those unfamiliar with Freelap, 80 centimeters accounts for the radius of the electromagnetic field produced by the transmitters.) By setting up the system the way I have explained, we acquire 10 pieces of data from one single attempt: 0-10 yards, 10-20, 20-30, 30-40, 0-20, 10-30, 20-40, 0-30, 10-40, and 0-40.

In my three years timing athletes using Freelap, I have had two athletes break 4.70 seconds. Coincidentally, those are the only two skill players who have been offered any form of NCAA Division I football scholarship. With that knowledge, we know running in the 4.6s, using our metric, has value.

Our favorite two segments to analyze are 0-20 and 10-40, and the formula for success is simple: 2.70 seconds from 0-20 yards and 3.00 seconds from 10-40 yards. If the athlete can find just one-hundredth of a second, they break 4.70.

Two seasons ago, I had two athletes run 4.73 on the same day. Athlete A ran 2.71 from 0-20 and 3.16 from 0-40. Athlete B ran 2.80 from 0-20 and 2.99 from 10-40. Identical outcomes with significantly different speed profiles! Athlete A needed maximum velocity intervention while Athlete B had significant room to improve on his acceleration.

Need for Speed

Using mph as an easy-to-understand metric for young athletes is all the rage. I am on that bandwagon, and I wanted to know what kind of speeds we are seeing from the elite athletes at the NFLSC.

Here is a breakdown of the “flying 20-yard” portion of the 40-yard dash. We are looking at average time, pounds-per-inch, and mph of draftees since 2016. Keep in mind that the Vmax numbers are faster than I will show, since the athletes, for the most part, are faster at yard 40 than yard 21. Also, be careful comparing turf times with limited run-in to track times with unlimited run-in.

• 2 (3 total); average: 4.26 seconds; pounds-per-inch: 2.74; flying 20: 1.76 = 23.24 mph
• 3 (43 total); average: 4.36 seconds; pounds-per-inch: 2.77; flying 20: 1.80 = 22.73 mph
• 4 (159 total); average: 4.45 seconds; pounds-per-inch: 2.87; flying 20: 1.85 = 22.11 mph
• 5 (171 total); average: 4.54 seconds; pounds-per-inch: 2.97; flying 20: 1.89 = 21.65 mph
• 6 (131 total); average: 4.64 seconds; pounds-per-inch: 3.13; flying 20: 1.94 = 21.09 mph
• 7 (73 total); average: 4.74 seconds; pounds-per-inch: 3.29; flying 20: 1.98 = 20.66 mph
• 8 (68 total); average: 4.84 seconds; pounds-per-inch: 3.44; flying 20: 2.03 = 20.15 mph
• 9 (45 total); average: 4.94 seconds; pounds-per-inch: 3.72; flying 20: 2.07 = 19.76 mph
• 0 (51 total); average: 5.04 seconds; pounds-per-inch: 3.98; flying 20: 2.12 = 19.30 mph
• 1 (52 total); average: 5.15 seconds; pounds-per-inch: 4.11; flying 20: 2.16 = 18.94 mph
• 2 (54 total); average: 5.24 seconds; pounds-per-inch: 4.08; flying 20: 2.21 = 18.51 mph
• 3 (30 total); average: 5.34 seconds; pounds-per-inch: 4.13; flying 20: 2.26 = 18.10 mph
• 4 (6 total); average: 5.44 seconds; pounds-per-inch: 4.19; flying 20: 2.33 = 17.56 mph
• 5 (7 total); average: 5.55 seconds; pounds-per-inch: 4.18; flying 20: 2.37 = 17.26 mph

In conclusion, I hope that this information will help you better understand the data on your athletes, and, in turn, you will be able to provide them with better feedback and training. While not every athlete we coach will reach their speed goals, you will see improvements in team speed if you keep it a focus of your programming. The 40-yard dash is a puzzle, but one that reaps massive rewards when mastered. I hope this resource helps you better understand the pieces of that puzzle!

If you would like to talk shop or have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected].

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

I had a eureka moment this season during one film scouting session when our coaches were talking about how to beat a team and what we needed to do to win the game. Aside from the words hard work, tough, force, effort, emotion, attitude, and selfless, they may as well have been speaking Spanish. All the strategizing about ball screens, types of coverages, special team plays, etc., was beyond my job description. When it comes to whether we will win or lose a game, I am at the full mercy of the coaching staff and the players.

Guess what? I’m absolutely fine with that. After all, if I wanted to coach a sport and decipher and outwit an opponent tactically, I would have been a sport coach. But I choose to work with athletes from a holistic athletic performance standpoint and I love it; I love the long-term athletic development (LTAD) of collegiate sports where I get four years to work with an athlete at a crucial learning period in their young adult life.

On game day it is about the team and the athletes going out there and performing to the best of their abilities. The strength coach’s and support staff members’ roles are to add value to their team on this day and let the players play. This is their time to shine and take the spotlight, not yours.

On game day it is about the team and the athletes going out there and performing to the best of their ability, says @SCoach_Aldo. Share on X

Different Games, Different Roles

Different sports come with different game day nuisances and attitudes. As a former footballer (soccer, I am English after all) and someone that has worked with tennis, lacrosse, and basketball from a primary coaching position, I have seen these all play out very differently. It will be no surprise to hear that when my tennis players were warming up on court and when I spoke to them before their matches, I wasn’t in their faces hyping them up and telling them to annihilate their opponents.

But, for men’s lacrosse—you guessed it—they approached their warm-up with a slightly different mojo. You must understand the sport you are working with and embody that culture during the game/match, and if you work with multiple sports, you have to be a chameleon and blend into that environment.

Coming from a soccer background, it took me a little while to get used to basketball game days, specifically the nuisance of timeouts—both media timeouts and 30-second timeouts. In soccer, I was used to 45-minute halves that were split by one large half time, which was when the athletes were given tactical information by the coaches only. It was the bench’s job to contest refereeing decisions and celebrate big tackles, saves, and goals. Basketball is a much faster end-to-end game in which the tactical instruction is given after every possession, both offensive and defensive, by both players and coaches.

If you work with multiple sports, you have to be a chameleon and blend into that environment, says @SCoach_Aldo. Share on X

In soccer if you are down 3-0 it is unlikely (but not impossible) that you’ll draw or win the game. In basketball you can be down by over 20 points and come back to win it. The emotional ebb and flow is so unique that you never quite know when the game is won! So it’s important to take your sport into consideration, because a strength and conditioning coach’s role can vary greatly in terms of adding value to a team during the game.

Social media for strength coaches during football season—yes, specifically football season—is full of coaches taking jabs at one another regarding “juiced up” coaching from the sideline, get-back coaches, and for wearing tight polos or doing bicep curls on the sideline before the game. Twitter is an amusement park full of opinions and judgements regarding what coaches should and shouldn’t do with their teams on game day. That isn’t the reason for this article though, sorry if you hoped for some added entertainment there. We all have our own coaching philosophy and as long as you are authentic with that and remain who you present yourself as on game day, then so be it.

Righto, the game day experience itself—what is it that I’d like to specifically share with you today? I’d like to discuss ways we can add value, broken down into four main areas:

1. Nutrition—Present at team meals; oversight of menus, vitamin hand-outs, post-game nutrition, and weigh-ins.
2. Physical Preparation—Team stretch a few hours before game-time; individual player stretching/balance/activation/strength work in the hours before game; assisting athletic trainer with soft tissue work in the hours before game; game-time warm-up and cool down (if applicable).
3. Culture—Reinforce head coach’s message in warm-ups, timeouts, and in-game; be a great teammate on the sideline; correct negative body language; hold subs accountable for being engaged in the game.
4. Technology/Data—Oversee the use of tracking system(s); assist in sport coach’s data/stat collection in-game.

Nutrition

At the mid-major level, oftentimes there is no sports nutritionist on staff and therefore the nutritional responsibilities are given to the strength and conditioning coach. In my opinion, this isn’t a big issue. To have a nutritionist would be great, a qualified nutritionist would hopefully improve the quality of nutritional provision and education to the athletes and take this load off a strength coach’s duties.

However, as a generalist I expect strength coaches to have great nutritional knowledge and be able to wear many hats and provide excellent nutritional support to the teams they are working with. The reality in our profession is that there are hundreds more strength coaches than there are sport nutritionists within collegiate sports, so the following should be included in the strength coach’s game day duties.

• Find best restaurants or catering options and produce pre- and post-game menus.
• Provide pre-game and half time snacks in locker room.
• Provide vitamins to players (including electrolytes) during pre-game meals.
• Assist athletic trainer with filling up water bottles and handing to players in timeouts/half time.
• Provide electrolytes to select players in closing stages of game if you feel like the player needs an energy boost or if player has asked for some directly.

My first job stateside as a strength and conditioning coach was with a Division II school in Alabama. I remember providing game day nutrition advice by suggesting that both the men’s and women’s soccer teams buy chocolate milk for the players to drink immediately post-game before they static stretch as a team. It would get them 8-10 grams of protein and some carbs (yes, from sugar!) before they shared a pizza. Now, looking back, are either of those choices ideal post-game meals? No. However with the budget we had this was the best we could do.

I’m fortunate to be at a school now where our resources are excellent, and we are able to order from nice restaurants. Oftentimes we even allow meal add-ons for our high-minute players, as well as a protein and carbohydrate shake from the locker room. My key point here is no matter what level you are at, it is our job to ensure our athletes are prepared for their games. Preparation starts with the recovery from practices and games, so pay attention to their nutrition and do whatever you can to help them recover faster.

No matter what level you are at, it is our job to ensure our athletes are prepared for their game, says @SCoach_Aldo. Share on X

Physical Preparation

I used to think travelling with a team just to warm them up for a game was a bit excessive; I thought it was a waste of money for the department to have me eat all the food and take up space on the bus and in the hotel just for 8-12 minutes of dynamic warm-up excellence. However, after a few games, I began to see that there’s a next level to being there. Now I am so pro-travel that I am disappointed when I hear of strength coaches that never go on the road with their teams.

To be on the bench is to feel the energy and emotion of the game, to see how refs have missed calls (this happens more when you lose), to see how physical a game is, to see how you battle adversity as a collective unit of staff and players and come away with a result. Watching a game on the TV shows only a glimmer of what actually happened in the game—the build up at the hotel, the coach’s pre-game/half time/full time messages, and how the players talk amongst themselves in the locker room and on the court/field are all missed.

All of these are crucial experiences for a strength coach when training a team and looking to improve them holistically as individuals and athletes. To not see them play only gives you a picture of them as a person in a weight room for a few hours a week.

It is our role to warm the team up on game days and oversee the technical side of the warm-up by making sure the flow is correct and that their load is appropriately managed during this period with their sport coaches. After seeing how they act, it is important to gear your warmups to fit your players. The great thing about basketball warm-ups is that each team’s routine is different. Indeed, I have yet to see one that mirrors our model and can say with certainty that every program approaches it differently. Select players like to get “stretched out” in the 90-minute period before tip; I assist the athletic trainer with this, as well as some fascial abrasion work that we call “scraping.”

This has been a gamechanger for us. Scraping the high-minute athletes the night before and day of a game has really helped keep them fresh. We have also found it to reduce soreness, improve flexibility, and the players love it. Don’t be put off by it being a manual therapy skill/tool! As strength coaches, I believe we should be learning practical skills and adding value to our teams with these modalities. It is no different than having a sport massage qualification, or implementing reflexive performance reset and fascial stretch therapy. Expand your knowledge and skill set, add some strings to your bow, and dive deeper into some therapy techniques.

Expand your knowledge and skill set, add some strings to your bow, and dive deeper into some therapy techniques, says @SCoach_Aldo. Share on X

In the 30 minutes before we meet as a team, I like to be in the training room with the AT while the players get taped because some athletes ask for balance or strength work during this time. During the day, some hours before tip, I lead a development lift for my low-minute athletes, mainly underclassmen and walk-ons, to train in the weight room with me.

For basketball, the biggest uninterrupted training block of the year is in-season. This has to be taken advantage of to develop our athletes physically. Whether on the road or at home, development training for those low-minute athletes is key. This is always done before pre-game activities start—once we are on court it is all focus on the game and no distractions are needed.

Culture

Part of our job as assistants to the head coach is as a culture enforcer. Gameday certainly requires that all squad members be great teammates, be engaged in the game, and all strive to win. The main way I enforce my coach’s message is by being present during film and walk-through, whereby the key points of our game are addressed. I then echo the key point to victory after the dynamic warm-up, before the players split off into position groups and start their technical warm-up. An example of this would be where my coach has talked about the Three E’s and their importance to our success for that game: energy, emotion, and excitement.

I also feel it’s important for strength coaches to be around the team more than the staff as much as possible during the whole game day experience. Such times might include:

• In the training room during their taping period pre-game.
• In the locker room pre-game when the clock is at 10 minutes before tip.
• During half time.
• Immediately post-game.

In these moments, the staff will be together talking about the game plan, adjustments that need to be made, and conclusions from the game before these are presented to the team. For me, it’s important to have my finger on the pulse of the athletes themselves, to see and hear who is speaking up in moments of adversity, to see if they are locked in or seemingly absent minded, to hear their thoughts on why we are winning/losing.

I will often text my head coach my observations after the game of who spoke up and who remained silent. It is in the heat of battle, not in the weight room or during practice, that leaders really stand out. I feel this insight is imperative for coaches to know and for me to see so I can be aware of who is trying to lead in those important moments.

It is in the heat of battle, not in the weight room or during practice, that leaders really stand out, says @SCoach_Aldo. Share on X

Data/Technology

In basketball, the strength coach is often asked to help out with game day stat collection (deflection count for example). I can’t speak to other sports, but this is certainly something that can be asked of those working in basketball. The addition of tracking systems in recent years has added to a strength coach’s workload during the game.

This is the first season I have had access to a tracking system (we use Kinexon) and the start and stop of various phases certainly keeps me busy during the game. The information we as a program have been able to gather and analyze by using this system has been very helpful when planning practices and load monitoring (optimal practice loads in build-up to games). It has also been great when gauging how hard the players worked during a game and what loads are appropriate for return to play athletes to make sure they are well conditioned before they return to full team practice.

Conclusion

Being a strength coach is an interesting profession: we work tirelessly to ensure that our coaches have a healthy and high-performing, fully available squad to choose from every game, and then we rely on our coaches and players to be great at what they do to win us the game. To claim wins and losses as a strength coach is a slippery slope—we are a small piece of the puzzle when it comes to a team’s success/failure.

Let’s support the team, stay out of the spotlight, let the players play, and let the focus be on them, not us, says @SCoach_Aldo. Share on X

We spend our working life preparing our athletes to be their best physically and mentally for this day, yet we have no direct impact on whether we win or lose the game. Yes, I know, warm-ups are important, being a hype man is important, ensuring our athletes are well-fueled and mentally in the right place to perform is important; but the game is won or lost by the coaches and players.

I wouldn’t have a clue how to draw up an out-of-bounds play with three seconds left to win us the game. I rely on my coaches and players in that situation for success as they rely on us as strength and conditioning coaches to develop our athletes and to be a great support to the team on game day. Oftentimes we are labelled as support staff; this can rub people the wrong way as we all want to be seen as equal to our assistant coaches. However, on game day I feel this title fits us perfectly. Let’s support the team, stay out of the spotlight, let the players play, and let the focus be on them, not us.

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

Since the best ability is availability, injury prevention remains a primary goal for many sport teams. Lower extremity injuries to ACLs and hamstrings are frequent topics of discussion, and knowing the most susceptible areas and common injuries for one’s sport is an important step toward prevention. Before I create a program for my athletes, I create a needs analysis. In this need analysis, I always question how I can limit the amount of injury in their sport. The answer is teaching correct movement patterns, strengthening weaknesses, and perfecting strengths.

For overhead athletes, one of the most neglected areas is the triceps. Why is a muscle that small such a risk for overhead athletes? Baseball and softball players are constantly throwing overhead, volleyball players perform overhead spikes and serves, tennis has its serves and smashes, and the throws in track and field involve a range of motions. Any body part with constant stress and high volume is going to weaken over time unless you properly load it to make it stronger. In most of these sport movements, the triceps act as the antagonist muscles; meaning, it helps in slowing down the movement in order to protect the body. Think of it as a brake intended to have control and precision of the movement.

Any body part with constant stress and high volume is going to weaken over time unless you properly load it to make it stronger, says @CoachKeemz. Share on X

Training Arms Like Training Legs

Male athletes frequently like chasing the dream of having big arms, which fills their sleeves and builds their confidence, but there can be greater benefits than that. Ask yourself, what causes athletes to injure their hamstrings when running? Well, for most distance running, it’s usually repetition that causes stiffness and weakening of the associated muscles associated; but for sprinters, injury risk is usually due to overstriding to such a length that the hamstrings are maximally stretched and have no strength to absorb the landing properly.

The same concepts can be applied to overhead throwers—constant repetition of throwing or throwing so hard that your body cannot support the speed and extension will cause injuries to start occurring. Consequently, when considering strengthening the triceps, coaches must do it in a manner similar to how they would strengthen and increase the range of motion of the hamstrings.

Besides the goal of injury prevention, strengthening the triceps can have a carry over into helping other muscle growth. In order to have strong and powerful horizontal force production with the bench press, you must have strong enough triceps to support the load. The triceps also gets trained by various isometric strengthening exercises across different means such as loaded carries or deadlifts, concentric strengthening via pushups and dumbbell bench, and eccentrically in the descending phase of dumbbell rows or pullups. Even though the bench press might not be one of the most “functional” exercises, it sure helps strengthen the shoulder compartment—for the most part, once you strengthen up horizontal press strength, your vertical push strength and horizontal pulling strength can increase indirectly as well.

Besides the goal of injury prevention, strengthening the triceps can have a carry over into helping other muscle growth, says @CoachKeemz. Share on X

Exercises to Strengthen the Triceps

As mentioned, most movements that occur in the weight room include the triceps (but usually in the manner of an isometric hold). Some will then ask, is that enough strengthening? Well, do you believe a bent over row is enough hamstring work? Definitely not—you must attack it from different angles and train all three heads of the muscle (see below). Compound movements are the best for strengthening these types of muscles because you wouldn’t be able to load up as much weight if you tried to isolate it.

Some compound exercises I like to use to target the triceps are:

• Barbell Bench Press: Before you start, ensure that all five points of contact are made:1.) & 2.) Right & left foot underneath knees and pushed into ground; 3.) Glutes on bench; 4.) Shoulders retracted and pushed into the bench; 5.) Bar around eye level and head flat on bench.

Grip on the bar should be about outside your shoulder-width and elbows should be at about a 45-degree angle. As you are pressing up (elbow extension), you should focus on driving both elbows together to contract the chest and triceps (concentric focus).

Video 1. Simplified keys for the bench press.

• Barbell Romanian Deadlift or Deadlift: Feet should be underneath hips with knees slightly bent and you should grip the bar outside your body with knuckles pointed toward the ground. As you push your feet through the ground, the chest and hip should rise at the same time while maintaining a neutral spine (isometric focus).

Video 2. Cues to perform an RDL.

• Loaded Pull-up / Chin-up: As you pull your chest/body towards the bar and slightly pause at the top, you should control your descent to the point where you are fully stretched at the bottom position (eccentric focus).

Video 3. Technique for a proper pull-up.

You can then add volume at the end of a workout to increase tissue size. How to properly train the muscle will depend on the origin and attachment on the muscle.

Even though any type of elbow extension is going to work the entire triceps, there are certain exercises that emphasize each head by manipulating the positioning. The long head connects to the lip of the glenoid fossa; the way to train this is to make sure it stretches out. A good way to do this is to do overhead triceps exercises, like an overhead cable triceps extension, french press, overhead TRX triceps extension, overhead barbell triceps extension, etc. Football defensive ends use it when they are trying to reach over to strip a ball, swimmers use it when they are breaking the water to accelerate, baseball players use it when they are throwing the ball, and so on.

Even though any type of elbow extension is going to work the entire triceps, there are certain exercises that emphasize each head by manipulating the positioning, says @CoachKeemz. Share on X

Another function of the long head is to extend the arm towards your backside, such as when doing dumbbell kickbacks or one of the best triceps exercises: dips. There are many variations on how to do these (on a bench, dip bars, or any elevated surface), but the most important cues to follow is to retract and depress the shoulder blades before you start and keep the elbows close together. This is needed because the long head not only acts as an elbow extensor but it is also an arm adductor at the shoulder joint, which facilitates movements that can be found in nearly every sport.

The lateral head can be trained in any manner where your hands are pronated (palms down), like triceps push-downs and a close-stance push-up: both of these exercises require you to keep your elbows close together to isolate the triceps and push through or to the ground. When our arms are extended, the lateral head is the portion that does the majority of the shock absorption, as seen in offensive linemen in football or any skill position where stiff arms are required.

The medial head has the opposite instructions: you want to supinate (palms up) the hands. Some great exercises for this are reverse grip triceps push-downs with a band or cable, or even a reverse grip barbell bench press. The dumbbell bench press is preferable because of the positioning and movement path (which is buried deep beneath the long head). While keeping the elbows together, you want to focus on driving the force into the ground in front of you to activate the triceps. The medial head acts as more of a precision tool when the elbow is extended as it lies deep within the muscle. Baseball pitchers, football quarterbacks, and track and field throwers rely on these decelerator muscles for protection and precision when throwing overhead. All the exercises are usually going to be moderate weight for higher volume, so programming them towards the end of your workout would be ideal to facilitate hypertrophy.

All the exercises are usually going to be moderate weight for higher volume, so programming them towards the end of your workout would be ideal to facilitate hypertrophy, says @CoachKeemz. Share on X

Anatomical Considerations for Injury Reduction

In terms of positioning, if we look at where the long head of the triceps attaches, we’ll see that it attaches directly on the scapula. Its main function is extension of the elbow joint, which is why when we throw anything overhead, it acts as an eccentric decelerator and opposes the action that the biceps brachii has made of flexing the elbow. Not only is the long head responsible for triceps extension, but because of its close proximity to the rotator cuff, it has some control of the glenohumeral joint, which just so happens to be the site of a very common injury with overhead athletes.

In a study by Robert Manske and Todd Ellenbecker on the shoulder examinations of overhead athletes, 34% of the rotator cuffs that have been listed as “painless shoulders” will demonstrate a rotator cuff tear on an MRI. In 79% of professional baseball pitchers that have no symptoms of pain, abnormalities of the glenoid labrum  have been shown.¹ This information tells you about the slow tearing away of the muscles and tendons that work in conjunction with the triceps, and the need for strengthening them.

34% of the rotator cuffs that have been listed as “painless shoulders” will demonstrate a rotator cuff tear on an MRI, says @CoachKeemz. Share on X

Figure 1. The three heads of the triceps muscle. Image by Powelle.

The long head could also be said to be responsible for the assistance of downward rotation, depression, and retraction of the scaps; which, in my opinion should be the correct positioning for most activities in the weight room. The triceps plays a great role in shoulder stabilization, as any muscle that is connected to the scapula does.

The posterior positioning that the triceps have is similar to what you would see in the hamstrings and pelvis, that assist with downward control to stabilize the femur. As I used this approach with my athletes, what I noticed from them was a direct correlation to fewer daily pains when playing their sport. When you can make an athlete feel as if there is no pain and they can buy into the training protocol, then the amount of effort and degree of performance will change quickly.

When you can make an athlete feel as if there is no pain and they can buy into the training protocol, then the amount of effort and degree of performance will change quickly, says @CoachKeemz. Share on X

There is a quick similarity, but not an exact replica, between the anatomy of the hamstrings and the triceps and their respective counterparts: the calves can be said to be the wrist extensors, tibialis anterior are the wrist flexor, quad are the biceps, and hamstrings are the triceps. The physiology isn’t too far off either, but the size of the muscles is really what makes the difference.

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. Manske, R., & Ellenbecker, T. (2013). “Current concepts in shoulder examination of the overhead athlete.” International journal of sports physical therapy. 2013;8(5):554–578.

Plyometrics and jumps are perhaps the greatest complements to sprint training. They might not be the main course exactly, but they are side dishes that get nearly as much love, and deservedly so. In addition to some plyometrics and jumps being excellent testing items, they are also revelatory. When an athlete displays improved proficiency and power on such things, it is something to behold.

There are certainly  plenty of ways to progress plyometrics, but simply doing a plyometric does not mean that you’ve checked that box and it is on to the next one. Just because an athlete can do it, doesn’t mean they are doing it right or that they should be doing it.

Remember, plyometrics and jumps are skills and not just performance metrics. Having an athlete perform an exercise and offering them no solutions for technique feels a bit empty. Of course, athletes may figure it  on their own through the increasingly fuzzy term of “self-organization.” It does certainly seem easier for this to occur when an athlete already has some understanding of how to move.

Plyometrics and jumps are skills and not just performance metrics. Having an athlete perform an exercise and offering them no solutions for technique feels a bit empty, says @grahamsprints. Share on X

Cues are often especially helpful during jumps and plyometric exercises. While each athlete may need some subtle tweaks in the specific phrase delivered, I have found that the cues in this article are usually the best starting points with my athletes.

1. “Float Over.”

This cue is geared toward single- and multi-jump hurdle hops. It goes without saying that when programming hurdle hops and similar things like box jumps, you should take care to choose heights that put athletes in position to execute the jump and not hyper-focus on clearance.

To be honest, I have found it easy to teach repeat horizontal jumps that feature higher parabolic curves and trajectories through the use of repeat horizontal tuck jumps. The imaginary hurdle cue allows the athletes to control the height and resultant downward velocity. For the sake of this article, however, I digress.

The cue of “float over” rather than “jump over” combined with an appropriate hurdle or box always creates a cleaner look and prepares the athletes to be able to handle multiple hops later. This cue seems to work for a couple of reasons.

1. It shifts the focus to rhythm and not just massive power. I like to see the heels cycle up to the hamstrings before returning to the frontside. If there is excessive kick out over the side or other compensation, then the hurdle is too high for that athlete.
2. It tells the athlete to relax in the air. Rather than remaining tensed in the air, they “shut off” and are able to keep their pelvis stabilized and prepare for a more usable ground contact near the middle of the two barriers. This keeps the spacing and clearance from interrupting general flow as they direct themselves forward.

Video 1. By “floating over,” the athletes stay relaxed and are able to set themselves up for multiple jumps. This allows them to better reposition their arms to sync with ground contact and flight.

2. “Aim for the Back Row of Your Spikes.”

Kids often land too much on the toes due to plantarflexing too early. This inhibits their ability to transmit their force effectively during plyometrics and sprints. When this is not optimized, it throws off the pelvis position and posture further up the chain as well.

This cue was stolen shamelessly from Kenta Bell.

This doesn’t mean I have them wear their spikes during plyometrics. Instead, I have the kids imagine that they are wearing their spikes and think about where the spike plate ends.

I find this cue provides the best bounce during sprinting and during true plyometrics. Recently, I have utilized an array of extensive plyometrics that allow the athletes who I coach to feel and experiment with this cue. I know the term “extensive plyometrics” may make some coaches bristle, but it’s hard to “build the best bounce” without spending some time on learning.

Box jumps, drop jumps, and hurdle hops are not suitable extensive options outside of a CrossFit box.

This cue works well paired with extremely remedial hops and drops. It seems to place the foot and ankle into a more natural position that isn’t overly dorsiflexed and locked. This is why I like it better than just “pull your toes up.”

Aiming here on the foot also allows the athlete to maintain posture over that point, with the foot under the hips. By the time we are ready for true pogos or drop jumps, the athletes have had plenty of repetitions to understand how to get the best foot contact.

Video 2. These jumps may not create athletic freaks, but they do allow for extra time on learning which athletes can bring with them to more reactive and demanding plyometrics. Correct foot strike can keep athletes healthy and ready for the long term.

3. “Arms Down.”

This is a great cue for some horizontal jumps such as bounds, gallops, and prances. I constantly vary these movements in frequency and distance and use them to bleed or blend into runs and other drills.

I have found that cueing athletes to move their arms downward allows them to control the frequency and stride length of the movement. The arm almost serves as a throttle of sorts. If the arm moves quickly, then the foot contact is also quick. If the arm action is big and open, then the height of the jump is bigger. I am able to cue their arm action for the drill or task, and athletes are able to quickly gain skill through this variability.

I have found that cueing athletes to move their arms downward allows them to control the frequency and stride length of the movement, says @grahamsprints. Share on X

Once they realize this, a lot of the drills or movements are essentially self-corrective. This allows me to watch and keep cues simple to reinforce arm action, foot contacts, or posture across the practice session.

Because I utilize a lot of different gallop spacings and variability in some general movement drills, the athletes I coach have some awareness of how to best use their arms in different situations.

Video 3. In quick gallops, note the speed and small range of motion of the downward arms. Conversely, the left, left, right, right prances necessitate a powerful downward arm stroke to achieve substantial displacement to allow the athlete time and space to switch legs without interruption.

4. “Grab the Ground and Push.”

Skips for distance are worth including here even though they categorically aren’t jumps or plyometrics. I believe skips are tremendously valuable and part of any complete program design.

Regardless of the skip variation, I find that the biggest impediment to an athlete’s skipping prowess is often a foot plant/contact that isn’t correct or active enough.

I like skips for distance as a primer type item on acceleration days either from a static or a light rolling start. Initially, I find my athletes will often focus on pushing up. This seems fine, but it can lack power. The athlete, who is aware they are trying to separate and create horizontal distance, often seems to resort to a rocking motion with their body, trying to compensate for a lack of power.

Although I say, “Grab the ground and push,” this doesn’t mean they are delivering a jarring blow to the ground with their hamstring. The actual grab and push is more of a fast “rocking chair” rolling action seen during a long jump takeoff.

By rolling though the heel and through the foot and finishing with a push, the athlete is able to preserve posture and pelvic position and utilize a more powerful arm action as momentum builds. These things would be more suitable when training and supporting acceleration.

Video 4. Skips for distance are a different breed than loose skips. I try to cue my athletes to project themselves forward maximally with active foot strikes and without disturbing their posture.

5. “Heel, Toe.”

Multi-jumps of the horizontal variety are often tough for athletes to maintain balance and rhythm. Vertical plyometrics are about maximizing reflexes, whereas horizontal jumps feature longer ground contacts to allow athletes to reposition and project to create angles that are a blend of horizontal and vertical.

Often, when kids are initially exposed to this skill, they basically stumble forward off-balance and the coordination erodes. This is what Carl Valle has described as “the sack race” look. This is typically due to an incorrect ground contact, particularly one that is too forefoot. Especially on turf, this strikes me as quite dangerous and an injury risk for these athletes, since landing with any grace is out of the question.

I have used a “bunny hop” and broad jump blend to get the athlete used to rolling through the foot heel-first to toe. This allows a better balancing of  their projection by letting the shins and hips drop together as they continue the forward path. The rolling contact adds a touch of brakes to an exercise otherwise involving the gas pedal.

Doing these on the turf has athletes take ownership of setting themselves up for a great landing. The smaller jumps allow for more reps and better timing that could translate to the larger jump.

From there, double broad jumps into the pit with a reduced first effort is the next progression. The emphasis is again on a nice rolling contact and setting themselves up for a larger second jump. The first jump should be reduced enough to redirect forward and get the feel for how the heel-first contact allows an overloaded jump into the pit.

Video 5. An athlete needs to understand how to blend their horizontal projection by pulling themselves into suitable angles for their current level of development. The heel provides just enough of a brake and redirector without causing any jarring contact that completely takes their foot off the gas.

Cues Can Bring Out the Best in Each Athlete

These cues have been tremendously valuable to me as a coach. It has taken some research, experimentation, and lots of slow-motion video review. I am always searching for better cues, and some of that is the natural part of a coach’s evolution.

Of course, the most important thing is that coaches choose exercises that are in the realm of an athlete’s ability. Cues aren’t magic phrases, but it does help if a coach knows what they are asking the athlete to do. Often an athlete who lacks prerequisite general motor skills is focused on attaining distance or height during a jump or plyo with no regard for the skills or positions needed to be successful.

Of course, the most important thing is that coaches choose exercises that are in the realm of an athlete’s ability. Cues aren’t magic phrases, says @grahamsprints. Share on X

There are always scaled-back variations that can make things “click” as the athlete feels exactly what they are supposed to be doing. As such, remedial items are a great first encounter when paired with these cues since the first experience with the pairing is easily felt. A base of skill can yield some monster measurements later, after they attain movement literacy.

I do think the transfer from plyometrics to sprinting moves beyond just adding items that allow more gains in power or pop.  Certainly, they complement sprinting in this way, but don’t leave out the motor skills, postural reinforcements, and pelvic positioning learned through plyometrics and jumping variations. All of this feeds into the long-term development of an athlete.

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

Most speed, power, and combat sports directly involve the hip flexors. Specifically, any time an athlete takes a step to sprint, the knee must drive forward. Football kickers and soccer strikers must generate massive amounts of power to kick the ball a long distance; meanwhile, in wrestling, grappling, and Jiu-Jitsu, the athlete must whip their leg through when taking a shot for formidable takedowns. Generally, strength and length in the hip flexors (lower abdominals) help counter the anterior pelvic tilt that predominates extension patterns found in sport.

On a day-to-day basis, coaches often have limited acute time frames when training their athletes. As a result, important musculature like the hip flexor (iliopsoas) and specific movement patterns can get neglected. Most information on performance musculature recirculates the emphasis on the posterior chain, which is certainly important for projection and acceleration in field and court sports.

But, can you recall the last time you read about or heard another coach talk about the psoas? It’s probably been a while (or maybe the last time you glanced at an old Soviet manual or dealt with an injured back from a physio perspective).

Coaches frequently rely on sprinting and isolated abdominal work to train this muscle group. While this thinking is not without pragmatic reasoning—as the iliopsoas is highly involved in sprinting and engaged any time the trunk is drawn toward the lower limbs (and vice versa)—the hip flexors are poorly isolated given their cooperation with the abdominals. Still, the hip flexors remain underdeveloped in most sprinters and field athletes.¹

A Quick Anatomical Lesson

The iliopsoas muscle groups consist of three muscles:

• Iliacus
• Psoas major
• Psoas minor

The origin of the iliopsoas group, beginning in the thoracic spine (T12) and inserting in the lower femoral trochanter, reveals a unique geography that simultaneously connects front to back and lower to upper. All of these have a major role in pure hip flexion, as well as tertiary roles of spinal stabilization and externally rotating the femur.² Knowing this, you can rationalize the polarizing approaches in “training” this muscle group.

Resiliency and Performance

In a “deeper” sense (pun somewhat intended), the psoas is the deepest muscle of the body.

“The psoas major joins the upper body and the lower body, the axial to the appendicular skeleton, the inside to the outside, and the back to the front. Without this muscle, we would not be able to stand upright or lift our legs to walk. This is because it’s the only muscle to connect the spine with the legs.”³

We must understand that flexibility of any joint goes further than the ability to passively stretch tissues advocated by experts. Share on X

Given this connection and anatomical location, the psoas functions as a major performance driver as well as a buttress for the lower spine. Yogis, chiros, and physios have focused their attention to this latter aspect, addressing “flexibility” and bracing as the keys to alleviating pain and dysfunction. These well-meaning practitioners seem to exclusively apply passive ROM work, neglecting the highly dynamic nature of ROM in sporting movements. This includes the reflexive nature of movement (governed by the brain) and the intermuscular coordination between agonist/antagonist muscle groups (result of the reflexive response). I will not delve deep into the neuro waters here, but we must understand that flexibility of any joint goes further than the ability to passively stretch tissues advocated by experts.

One such contradiction I’ve found stems from this performance-protection paradox. Dr. Stuart McGill wrote: “Power running events require hip flexion power. Top end speed is limited by the recovery of the leg in flexion, not a lack of hip extension power. Many who train with the power philosophy end up with a bad back via large psoas contractions that place high loads on the spine. Highly repetitive exercise in this regime exacerbates the problem, can be combatted by maintain spine stability via braced & neutral spine.”⁴

As sound as this advice appears, maintaining stability (bracing) in a high-speed environment is highly reflexive and dependent on optimal co-contractions upon ground strike. I would contend the actions of sprinting are too fast for the brain to stop to think about bracing, especially from a verbal cue—lest we risk moving significantly slower.

In contrast, Bosch states, “In sprinting and running sports the performance open chain pattern is limited by the coordination of the psoas and abdominals in the knee drive action.”¹ Here is a quick picture of the action during a sprint:

• At toe off, the psoas powerfully drives the knee forward while stabilizing the lumbar spine (especially in unilateral motion/frontal plane) and rotating the pelvis forward (transverse plane).
• At the same time, the lower abdominals counter the anterior tilt of the pelvic movement (sagittal plane), all within the blink of an eye.

This instantaneous co-contraction to stabilize the pelvis allows the iliopsoas to contract powerfully.¹ Any lack of inter/intramuscular coordination will result in a performance bleed. This may be seen with athletes who demonstrate significant backside movement due to a severely anteriorly rotated pelvis in the sagittal plane and/or crossover gait due to poor lumbar stability in the frontal plane.

In my mind, optimal training of the hip flexor group happens unilaterally when the other leg is in stance or working in an extension pattern. My guess is that the grounded leg provides the counter to hip flexion, providing pelvic stability (in all planes) necessary to train dynamic, powerful movements safely by coordinating the extension musculature on the opposite side (both of which are designed to act and be trained powerfully).¹

In short, coaches need to go beyond stretching and bracing to train the psoas muscle group. Share on X

In short, coaches need to go beyond stretching and bracing to train the psoas muscle group. Combining basic strength training with longer ranges of motion (general) and reflexive (SST) movements will better serve athletes in simultaneously training the psoas for both functions.

General to Specific/Slow to Fast

In light of these factors, I’ll provide the some of the exercises we use in our progression. As in all good practices, we start with more general selection with the foresight of applying more specific drills as improvement in strength and form takes hold. In our general selections, we emphasize balance, posture, position, and range of motion:

• Balance: Workload of limb-to-limb and front-to-back (glute/ extension work).
• Posture: Assuming spinal/pelvic posture necessary for overall stability.
• Position: Ensuring the limbs are in tow with the line of force forms the resistance.
• Range of motion: Working the entire functional range of motion of the working limb.

General Training

These aspects fit in a continuum where we want to begin with a posture that allows our limbs to finish in the proper positions to stress the muscles in the fullest range of motion that can be attained. A mouthful for sure, but think of it as beginning and ending a stable posture—nothing should go loose. In order for the athlete to “feel” for pressures all around the body, the coach should have them stop and hold the stretched and contracted ends of the movements.

Here are drills we use for general strength exercises for the hip flexors.

Video 1: Hip flexor exercises designed to build strength and resiliency, which can work in a warm-up, as a timed-circuit, or as a finisher.

1. Psoas Sit-Up

First referred to by Mel Siff and brought to recent prominence by superheavyweight powerlifting great Donnie Thompson. This bilateral variant trains the proximal end of the psoas in conjunction with the spinal flexors. The unanchored, wide stance forces the bulk of the work to be taken by the upper part of the psoas and abdominals from the bottom position. Upon completing the movement at the top, the quadratus lumborum (QL) and psoas act synergistically to stabilize the pelvis and lumbar spine.

2. DUPA Walk

This drill extends the position above but adds an element of gait to the equation. This action exaggerates pelvic movement in all three planes and coordinates shoulder movement. The slow action will allow you to “feel your way” through the pattern and provide a therapeutic effect to the psoas, QL, and abdominals. Raising the arms above the head will increase the demand on the trunk muscles, and both of these drills fit nicely into general trunk training.

Video 2. The kettlebell knee raise, two-way kettlebell knee raise, and supine knee drive to develop psoas strength in multiple planes.

3. Standing Knee Lift

This drill uses a free weight load on the foot fixed with a kettlebell or strapped dumbbell. Execute by standing on one leg and driving the knee to the ceiling above navel level. This will force the non-working leg to act as an anchor to stabilize pelvic movement, which brings it toward the specific end.

4. Supine Knee Drive

Although this can actually qualify as an SST drill, I’ll put this in a general category since it requires a free weight. This drill allows the athlete to learn where the accentuation of force is during upright running. While lying supine on a table or raised surface (3-4 feet above the floor), the working leg begins as close to the 210-degree hip flexion position as realized in max velocity sprinting or mid/long distance running.^5,6 The knee is driven toward the sky and movement is terminated when the working foot is even with the hips—the knee does not go above the navel in this exercise.

5. Supine Knee Drive with Hip Extension

This is a progression of the supine knee drive. The setup and execution are identical, except that we add in hip extension as the working knee passes the hips. This strengthens the scissors action (contralateral) realized in sprinting, and both drills are great for bridging the gap from general to specific.

Video 3. Flywheel exercises to substitute for running drills or as part of an eccentric-based GPE circuit.

6. Lying High Knee

This drill is done with a low cable or flywheel device attached to the ankle. The proximal portion of the psoas is accentuated here, as the knee is driven toward the head above the navel. If you use a cable, then slowly lower to the bottom position—for a flywheel, lower at the same pace you raise it (a more forceful pull equals a more forceful lowering).

I list this drill in the general repertoire, but it is a sort of “tweener.” Although the drill is unilateral and utilizes the contralateral pressure of the non-loaded limb, it lacks specificity to the stance position and amplitude (accentuation of force) in running except in the acceleration position. The psoas major is also generally most active when the knee is above the navel when the torso is stable.⁷

***For both variations, you also turn the knee laterally as you lift it to work the external rotation moment. This will add some dexterity and strength to those nooks and crannies.

For specific exercises (or better termed, SST), the aim is to drive transfer of strength to a skill. The concepts, drills, and application of Specialized Strength Training was developed and perfected by Drs. Michael Yessis, Yuri Verkoshanksy, and Anatoliy Bondarchuk. These brilliant pragmatic minds sought to merge general strength into the competitive movement skills. Their approach led to the development of five criteria that could be met in varying degrees to determine transfer:

1. The amplitude/direction of the movement: The ROM and plane of joint action.
2. The accentuated region of force production: Joint angle where the muscular effort is most active/preset.
3. The muscle groups involved: The muscles (groups) that are drivers of performance.
4. The rate and time of maximum force production: How fast do these muscles produce force (RFD) and how long is it maintained?
5. The regime of muscular work: Concentric, eccentric, and combined, as well as energy system dependence cyclic versus acyclic.

Not all the criteria need be met; the idea, however, is the more that are, the higher the transfer. The key here is to not wrack your mind with trying to squeeze in everything all the time but do what your resources allow you to do. After all, the use of the weight room and jumping exercises were developed out of necessity when specific/competitive exercises were limited in cold weather climates.

In specific stages, we aim to meet the above criteria in these ways.

• Portion of accentuation of force: In sprinting, this happens at 210 degrees of hip flexion.
• Type of contraction: Concentrically, eccentrically, combined, and progression of movement speed.
• Coordination/Timing: Will happen when combining fast eccentric with concentric and adding reactive elements (slight application of stumble reflex).

Video 4. Specialized strength training (SST) exercises inspired by Yessis, Verkhoshansky, and Bondarchuk for running and striking.

Here are some of the most used drills in our progression playing off versions from the exercise Dr. Yessis developed for.

1. The Yessis Knee Drive

The classic drill advocated by Dr. Yessis uses a cable device or elastic resistance (each will give a different effect). The athlete assumes a standing position facing away from the anchor, beginning with the leg behind the hips before driving the knee forward. Hold the backward and forward positions to “feel” the stretch and contraction of the hip flexors. To build some rhythm of repeated movement, you can also use a flywheel device.

2. Plyometric Knee Drive

The same setup as the classic knee drive, except you begin with the knee forward. From here, the athlete will “punch” their leg back (by flexing the glute) and quickly rebound to the start position and hold. This drill will train the hip flexors explosively. For those with a problematic back, you can load the strap around the thigh instead of the ankle. This drill will also carry over to sports that involve kicking an implement (soccer) or a human being (MMA).

3. The Reactive Knee Drive

I developed this drill as an offshoot and bridge to the combination lunge and knee drive developed by Yessis. The start position will be the same as the plyometric knee drive, except the athlete will play “hot feet” with the floor by quickly striking the ground just behind the hip to set up the non-anchored foot to quickly step slightly forward before returning to start position. This is my attempt at utilizing the “stumble reflex” to intensify the contraction response. 

Video 5. Athlete performs speed drills with ankle weights as a pre-sprint warm-up or loading option in a contrast method.

Finally, I’ll add a very simple and maybe overlooked application to train the hip flexors with a larger degree of transference—this just takes loading the shank during classic track warm-up exercises like marching, skipping, bounding, and specialty running. In the video, I use ankle weights, and I believe I remember Håkan Andersson recommending this in a podcast (though the source eludes me at the moment).

A very simple and maybe overlooked application to train the hip flexors with a larger degree of transference is to load the shank during classic track warm-up exercises. Share on X

You can also use weighted wearables like the gear from Lila, which—shameless plug—just so happen to available on this website. If you’re a coach who values developing the entire athletic system, then I know you’ll find these drills highly valuable in your quest to developing strength in all the nooks and crannies.⁸

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. Bosch, Franz. Strength Training & Coordination: An integrated Approach. 2010. Uitgevers.

2. “Functions of the iliopsoas muscle (preview) – 3D Human Anatomy| KenHub,” Learn Human Anatomy YouTube page. January 9, 2020.

3. Wicks, Rosemarie. “Psoas – the muscle of the soul,” naturalhealthcourses.com. June 27, 2016.

4. McGill, Stuart. Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance. 5th Edition. Back Fit Pro Inc. Waterloo, Ontario, Canada 2009.

5. Siff, Mel C. and Verkoshansky, Yuri. Supertraining. 6th Edition. SSTM Rome 2009.

6. Yessis, Michael. Explosive Running. Ultimate Athlete Concepts, 2011.

7. McGill, Stuart. “Mark Bell’s Power Project Ep 488.” YouTube. Time stamp 1:26:54–1:34:15.

8. The Kneesovertoesguy. “How to Bulletproof Your Hip Flexors.” YouTube. 1:40 mark.

To be, or not to be, a multisport athlete—that is the question.

The answer? Like so many other things, it depends.

I’ve found that coaches encourage athletes to play multiple sports to improve overall athleticism and fill buckets of performance that they may not tap into within their “main” sport. Unfortunately, this virtuous and well-intended idea has, in practice, become riddled with little-to-no context, poor application, and limited transferability, making “multisport athlete” yet another buzzword in the sports performance industry.

While most (if not all) coaches understand the importance that different performance qualities ultimately play across the variety of sports, positions, and playing styles athletes are exposed to, the execution on the coaches’ end is lacking—particularly when it comes to track and field directly translating to and improving other court and field sports.

As a former athlete and current coach, having dealt with the supposed performance pipeline of football players running track to get better at football (primarily wide receivers, running backs, and defensive backs), I’m not seeing that realistically play out in real time. At least not on a large (or large enough) scale to justify the hard push.

If the only goals of pushing field and court sport athletes to run track are to improve speed and provide a source of off-season competition, but the means of doing so come at the cost of the athletes:

• Enjoying themselves
• Understanding the context
• Neglecting, or even damaging, physical traits crucial for their primary sport

…Then what’s the point?

In this article, I will counter the idea that football players, and any other field or court sport athletes, need to join the track team in the off-season to improve their performance on the field and/or court.

*Disclaimer: Track and field is one of my favorite sports to watch, and the primary reason I watch the Summer Olympics.

Definitions

Sport: “Any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills…” – Wikipedia

Athleticism: “The physical qualities that are characteristic of athletes, such as strength, fitness, and agility.” – Dictionary.com

An understanding of these two definitions should start to clarify the issues with pushing track as a team-sport performance enhancer to all other sports and reveal the path to a clearer solution.

In the game of football, the qualities, skills, and abilities include—but are not limited to—speed (linear and multidirectional); agility; power; strength; “physicality” (for lack of a better term); and a basic understanding of game rules, techniques, and tactics (i.e., blocking, tackling, catching).

Track and field requires and builds speed, speed endurance, and power, and in a best-case scenario, it promotes efficient sprint mechanics. This is not a slight.

Speed and power are important qualities in American football. Speed and power are also important qualities in track and field. These are things we know and understand.

However, the issue arises when track is used as a tool to enhance speed and/or power for a sport with minimal relation to track performance.

As a coach (former track and field, current football, and strength and conditioning for multiple others), I’ve seen just about every version of high school athlete participate in track because:

• They were trying to get better for another sport (a noble venture).
• It’s “easy.”
• Their friends begged them to.

Out of all of the athletes I’ve had the opportunity to work with, only a handful actually reaped benefits that were transferable to another sport, says @KoachGreen_. Share on X

Out of all of the athletes I’ve had the opportunity to work with, only a handful actually reaped benefits that were transferable to another sport. Were there improvements? Absolutely. Did these improvements show up in another arena? Seldom. Football players who ran track in the spring and then came back out for football in the summer were visibly more efficient in their running and sprinting, but often lacked control in deceleration, game agility, and change of direction ability.

Enjoyment = Improvement

There is an abundance of information and research available that shows physical activity (and sport participation) improves the mental and emotional health of children (and adults). But what if the individual doesn’t enjoy the activity they’re participating in?

It is my belief (because of science) that when sport is truly enjoyed, there is a dopamine spike and “higher levels of dopamine can lead to feelings of euphoria, bliss, and enhanced motivation and concentration.”¹

Enhanced motivation and concentration, in turn, will lead to greater bouts of effort, which will then eventually lead to improvement.

That being said, I believe the inverse to be true as well. When sport and physical activity is not truly enjoyed, there is no release of dopamine, leading to a lack of motivation and concentration.

Track practice is like no other sport practice I know of: There are very specific skills, traits, and qualities being honed, and at times, it can be pretty tough both physically and mentally. With a lack of motivation, those practices and often mundane activities can grow old fast for a youth athlete, and it can be a monumental task for coaches to keep their undivided attention. Especially these days, when research shows that on average, “children ages 8-12 in the United States spend 4-6 hours a day watching or using screens and teens spend up to 9 hours.”²

Forcing or manipulating an individual to participate in any activity removes the enjoyment from it and leads to a decreased probability of any optimal benefit coming from that participation. Share on X

Forcing or manipulating an individual to participate in an activity removes the enjoyment from it and leads to a decreased probability of any optimal benefit coming from that participation.

Context Is Key

Football players need—and should want—to get faster and more “explosive.” In between whistles, football is a high-intensity, fast-paced game that the longer you play, year to year, the faster and more explosive it gets. There are, however, varying types of speed.

There is speed-ability (how fast you are physically capable of moving through space) and then there is speed-skill (also commonly known as game speed).

In his book, Game Changer, Fergus Connolly discusses the “Four-Coactive Model” for performance: physical, technical, tactical, and psychological. For the purpose of this article, as it relates to football, I believe psycho-physical, and techni-tactical should be joined as such.

Racing against either an opponent or the clock is in no way the same as running even one play on the football field. The physiological demands of both activities are similar, but not nearly identical. We can make the same comparison between the training of change of direction and agility. While the basic fundamentals of the simplest aspect of each have overlapping points, their functionality and execution are separate existences.

Below, I have created tables of the most comparable activities/positions between football and track and field to visually represent what each takes to perform effectively.

Again, this is a general overview of the events and activities stated, but as you can see, there are very few—if any­—similarities in their execution.

Now, if we’re looking at specific qualities that track practice and meets can help to develop (i.e., acceleration, max velocity, “explosive power”), then yes, there are more similarities that can be matched up. But in regard to playing football, those similarities do not exist much outside of the first .5 seconds of any given play.

The speed ability that helps one excel, or even just survive, in a football game can be developed with the track and field program, but the game speed that is required cannot. The many variables of the techni-tactical type that are necessary for football players are specific to the game, development, and preparation process of football in and of itself.

The fastest athlete on the track in the 100m or 200m can be virtually nonexistent on the field as a wideout if he does not have: the appropriate knowledge of the game and his position; the ability to maneuver near, around, and sometimes through a defensive player; or the technical ability to catch a ball.

Let’s take two hypothetical wide receivers, and their (again, hypothetical) performance numbers:

It is safe to assume that WR1 would be the starter and/or primary receiving target and threat. While WR2 lacks “track speed” or the speed ability of WR1, based on these hypothetical numbers, he is the better technical football player: a better pass catcher, a better route runner, and a better blocker. That being said, he could most certainly benefit from speed training.

This speed training can come in the form of joining and competing on the track team—indoor and outdoor—in events that are directly related to acceleration and max velocity: 55-meter dash, 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, and short sprint relays.

Other options, though, are a great strength and conditioning program offered via the sport coach, a strength and conditioning coach within the school’s athletic program, or privately in their community. (Not all high schools have a strength and conditioning coach on staff, but information is readily and plentifully available for sport coaches to do an effective job.) With these three options, the speed development program can be tailored specifically within the context of football.

While track is the primary option for speed improvement—as running faster is the sole task for a number of events—it is not the only option, says @KoachGreen_. Share on X

While track is the primary option for speed improvement—as running faster is the sole task for a number of events—it is not the only option.

I made a very similar, and admittedly less intelligible, point on Twitter.

Track doesn’t make you a better football player.

Being good at football makes you a better football player.

The “guys excelling at football because of track” rhetoric is a lie.

They excel at both because they’re good athletes.

Cut it out.

@KoachGreen_
April 14, 2021

Needless to say, this tweet initially didn’t go over so well with a few track and field coaches and enthusiasts, as well as a surprising amount of current and former football players and coaches.

After the Internet dust had settled and discussions and deeper conversations were had amongst those who opposed and those who agreed, there seemed to be a consensus that people understand this truth—a sport can only really be improved by engaging in the actions of that sport.

And without speculating, the initial outcry was brought out because:

• Track and field at the high school and collegiate level is “under attack,” since it’s not as big a player as football and basketball in the financial aspects of their institutions and athletic programs.
• Coaches and athletes directly and indirectly involved in track and field are doing their best to lift up the name of the sport and are encouraging as many people to be a part of it as possible.
• And unfortunately, there is a small but effective set of individuals who are taking full advantage of the “speed kills” push happening in the sports performance industry.

In doing so, there has been a naturally developing narrative that:

In-Season Football Player + Off-Season Track participation = Better In-Season Football Player

Unfortunately, the equation is one of physics and sports science, not simple arithmetic.

Skills Pay the Bills

As defined earlier, athleticism is “physical qualities… such as strength, fitness, and agility.” We can throw speed and power in with those qualities because that’s what they are: physiological attributes that can be trained and adapted.

But those athletic qualities do not guarantee success in sport.

While track and field can aid in the improvement of speed development and running economy, it does not account for agility, physical interactive play with the opposition, opponent reactivity, decision-making, techni-tactical skills, and the bioenergetics necessary.

This is not to say one sport is better or easier than the other. Both are difficult in their own right. And I could argue that track may be more difficult.

The point is, individual sports are different, require their own individual training protocols, and cannot be used exclusively for the improvement of another.

The point is, individual sports are different, require their own individual training protocols, and cannot be used exclusively for the improvement of another, says @KoachGreen_. Share on X

A young wide receiver who joins the track team after his freshman year in high school with hopes of improving his speed can be assisted in that endeavor—with appropriate coaching and guidance of course—but may still be terrible if he returns in the fall and cannot block, run a route, or catch sufficiently.

A lineman who joins the track team to throw shot and/or discus to improve his footwork and power may acquire a good glide/kick step for pass blocking and a decent “punch,” but the amount of strength and force-absorbing abilities he needs to actually stay in a pass set with a rusher, or just run block in general, may still be lacking.

A great track program can yield an average (or in some cases, worse) football player. A great football program can yield a below-average wrestler. Sports are not connected in the way people advertise them. They are interconnected by qualities:

• Speed
• Power
• Strength
• Agility
• Etc.

The presence of these qualities, in and of themselves, will not and has never made any single person better at a technically inclined sport. Instead, what these qualities do is create better athletes who, with appropriate preparation tactically, technically, and psychologically, can utilize them to be better in a sport.

They create an advantage. But advantages alone are useless if used inefficiently. Remember David and Goliath?

In conclusion, if the aim is to improve in the sport of football, the best way to do so is by playing and practicing football. If the goal is to improve the qualities that are intertwined within the sport of football (i.e., speed and power), then track can be the best option if, like every other sport, competent, qualified coaches are at the helm.

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References

1. Eske, J. “Dopamine vs. serotonin: Similarities, differences, and relationship.” Medical News Today. August 19, 2019. Retrieved April 18, 2021, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/326090#relationship

2. AACAP. “Screen Time and Children.” American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. February 2020. Retrieved April 18, 2021, from https://www.aacap.org/AACAP/Families_and_Youth/Facts_for_Families/FFF-Guide/Children-And-Watching-TV-054.aspx.