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Coaches and athletes are always looking for better ways to train, but leaving out the mindset from the equation is foolish. This article shares six essential mental areas that help good athletes become great, and the great athletes legendary. If you were to study some of the greatest to ever perform in sports, the commonalities are pretty stark. I will share the six areas of potential and break down why they are important, how they work, and what you need to do to apply those mental skills.

I have spent years studying and working with some of the best professional athletes and learned from the works of pioneering experts in the field. In this crash course, I share the very best of what I use with my own athletes so you can apply them directly. You may choose to use one or plan out a road map to use all of them with your athletes or yourself. I have used the techniques for years with our athletes and the changes are transformative, sustainable, and of course ethical. You don’t have to be an athlete or train athletes though, as the general demands of everyday life can benefit from the recommendations below.

Learn to Apply Triggers

If you’re a high-level coach, then you’ve experienced the athlete who just doesn’t give you enough. You know—the individual who can give so much more but doesn’t. We all look to the athlete instead of the coach. Yes, getting an athlete to buy in or lock in is tough, but if you have triggers you can override that entire phenomenon itself.

Triggers are the mental skills that allow a performer to tap into their deep motivational roots. Triggers can’t be seen—they’re internally driven—but they can be experiences. Share on X

Triggers are the mental skills that allow a performer to tap into their deep motivational roots. Triggers can’t be seen—they’re internally driven—but they can be experienced. It’s that switch we see being turned on, where an athlete’s body language, demeanor, and intensity shifts from house cat to tiger; where the athlete proceeds to dominate the task at hand, attaining the desired results. Contrary to current day beliefs, like the classic line from Rocky Balboa goes, the (performance) world really isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.

Coaches who work with high performers know that it’s a world of aggression, cruelty, and ego. That’s why triggers tap into controlled anger or aggression versus the other fluff; research shows that it’s more beneficial to tap into anger and aggression when you can control it. They enhance performances when used in the right ways and ensure that no results are left on the table.

In 2005, Robazza and Bortoli proved that tapping into controlled aggression led to better performances when they studied a group of rugby players and looked to anger as the driving motivational factor. They found that a calm, cold, and controlled aggression brings out a stronger level of effort in performances. Even some of the world’s best athletes have been tapping into triggers for ages: Michael Jordan proving his high school coach wrong; Kobe Bryant playing Journey’s “Don’t Stop, Believing” over and over again in the offseason when he trained; Tom Brady getting back to work right after the Patriots were eliminated this season so he could start preparing for the next season (although he’s just declared next season will be with Tampa Bay and not New England).

There is, however, both an art and a science to weaponizing triggers; it isn’t just a matter of getting someone angry or annoyed. Instead, this is about understanding how to guide an athlete by using these triggers effectively while calling on a mixture of adrenaline and dopamine. It doesn’t matter if it’s in a weight room with 300 pounds over their face or during a performance with 40,000 fans watching—you must master the art and science of tapping into triggers or you’ll be allowing your athletes to walk away while leaving results on the table.

Know When to Use Dark Triggers

I’m sure you’ve seen the classic scenario where a coach calls out a player and challenges them, and then the player responds and dominates the task at hand. Or maybe you’ve experienced someone calling you out, challenging you as a professional or a person, and you’ve responded flawlessly. You feel the rush of adrenaline through your blood and right after that momentary rush, you get so focused on the end result that nothing can stop you.

Dark triggers are meant to be used for momentary surges of energy; the art behind tapping into this trigger is that you let your anger fuel your intentions of proving someone, or something, wrong. It’s being able to temporarily call on a moment of pain to spike adrenaline so you can sprint to the end result. It’s brief, temporary, and highly impactful.

Sigmund Freud has been explaining this to us since 1895 with his Pleasure Principle: the mind seeks pleasure and avoids pain. When you control the bouts of anger that you’re about to unleash on a person you want to prove wrong, you experience positive performance results. In his book Endure, Alex Hutchinson highlights the importance of being able to tap into this deep, driving motivation: He found that in the final, sprint-like moments of a marathon, the brain is responsible for overcoming limitations. And they’re not just effective in marathons either.

Look at the great Michael Jordan: All it took was for the Grizzlies’ Darrick Martin to trash talk Jordan in the fourth quarter. Jordan pushed his dark triggers, or that “prove you wrong” scenario, the adrenaline was released, and he went off. Going into the fourth quarter he had 10 points; he finished the game with 29. It’s that “gun to the head” mentality we hear about so often—you just better make sure you choose the right weapon. If you don’t master the skill of tapping into dark triggers, then you won’t be seeing your athlete’s truest potential.

If you overstimulate an athlete’s dark triggers, you run the risk of burning out your athlete. You should only be using this weapon when you need to increase adrenaline, says @mattcaldaroni. Share on X

Coaches, I’ll warn you now: If you overstimulate an athlete’s dark triggers, you run the risk of burning out your athlete. You should only be using this weapon when you need to increase the adrenaline—most likely at the start or end of a performance or during a time of despair. In short, don’t overuse these weapons. There’s a balancing act that comes into play at this point; what do you do once you’ve pressed these dark triggers? Adrenaline management is the key, and light triggers are the tool that’ll help you achieve this.

Create a Steady Burn with Light Triggers

Light triggers still tap into anger and aggression, but the intentions are to prove someone right; you’re fighting to get the result for something that brings you fulfillment. Or, in short, you’re purposely filling the blood with dopamine to manage the adrenaline by focusing on pleasure.

Again, this goes back to 1895 and Sigmund Freud—the mind seeks pleasure. And if the mind prefers pleasure over pain, then we have to be able to play to this pleasure more than we do the pain. Dark triggers are meant to spark someone when the fire starts going out, but once that fire’s lit, we have to keep adding wood (imagine what would happen if we just kept trying to spark it). When you control your anger and guide it toward making something good happen, then you gain control over a situation. Think, a simple shift in perception of “revenge with violence,” to “revenge with results,” can change an entire performance outcome. One most likely causes you to get ejected from a game, while the other allows you to feel satisfaction from attaining results.

How many athletes have you heard of who get into the daily grind so they can provide a better life for their families back home, or who have had a loved one pass away and now they want to achieve success in their honor? These are light triggers—there’s a guided anger, a “stop at nothing” mentality, that takes over, where these individuals fight for the fulfillment of proving something right or supporting those they love. That’s when the sunshine and rainbows can come back and when you should be tapping into these light triggers.

Light triggers are a guided anger, a *stop at nothing* mentality that takes over, leading individuals to fight to prove something right or support those they love, says @mattcaldaroni. Share on X

And, again, the science proves that fulfillment is crucial for long-term high performances. In 2017, a study showcased the correlation between job enjoyment and reduced levels of burnout, with the major indicator for burnout being a lack of fulfillment in experienced results (Demerouti et al). Or, in short, working for something without a cause; a lack of dopamine when experiencing results.

The same thing happens when you only depend on dark triggers: If there’s too much adrenaline and not enough dopamine, then you’re playing with fire. You need to have a mix of dopamine to manage the adrenaline. If you’re in a stadium with 40,000 people and the adrenaline is surging, how do you control it? In a heated moment of anger when someone gets in your grill, how do you keep controlled? In a moment where you broke through a PR on your last set, and now you need to finish the workout, how do you stay high and not drop off? Light triggers.

The key to all of this is learning when to turn these triggers on, and when to shut them down. That’s when the alter ego comes into play.

Design and Cultivate the Alter Ego

I’m sure you’ve seen or heard about the transformation an athlete makes when they walk into their performance environment; their whole demeanor changes. They put on their mask and become a completely different person than who they are out of performance. The easygoing individual they were at home now becomes a cutthroat high-level performer. And as I said before, we need this in performance, because it’s a mean world of high performance. This is the power of an alter ego: It allows you to put on your mask and become a relentless individual who taps into their triggers and stops at nothing, or gets into what is known as “the Zone.”

The crazy part about it is that a form of the alter ego is not new, by any means. In the 1960s, when Russian psychologists used various mechanisms on the Russian and East German Olympic squads, they just called it a co-personality. In the book Red Gold: Peak Performance Techniques of the Russian and East German Olympic Victors, Grigori Raiport talks about the various mechanisms that were used to create the co-personalities of the athletes. They included manipulating the athlete’s routines, motivations, attitudes, and relationships, ultimately creating this person who was more aggressive when they were in performance. In short, they built an alter ego for the athlete that they fully embodied when they were in performance.

This concept of an alter ego wasn’t just used by the Russian and East German Olympic teams either. The infamous Kobe Bryant, or rather the Black Mamba we all knew him as, has alter ego written all over it. It’s like Michael Jordan turning into Air Jordan, or Brian Dawkins turning into the X-Factor. Alter egos are a tool we must capitalize on, otherwise you’ll only see a fraction of the results with your athletes in performance. It’s knowing when to put your mask on and become the person that your team needs you to be, both in and out of performance. I’m sure you’ve heard the stories of the Black Mamba barking at his teammates in the gym for cutting corners, but then Kobe Bryant taking them out to dinner afterward and being their friend. Every athlete needs this alter ego, and if you haven’t prescribed it to them yet or taught them what it is and how to use it, then you’re missing out on their best performances.

Master the Quiet Zone

But what about shutting it down; how do we ensure that the alter ego doesn’t take over? If you’ve been around high performers, then you’ve realized that they all have specific people, places, and activities that they like to engage with that allows them to disconnect. Or, they visit their quiet zone.

Whenever an athlete is visiting their quiet zone, be it at the family dinner, watching a movie with their loved ones, or people-watching at a restaurant, they know that the alter ego doesn’t belong there. Or, at least, they should; if you’re not conditioning your athlete to shut it down when they’re out of performance, then you’re running the risk of burnout. If you don’t have a controlled quiet zone, then you’re running the risk of burnout.

It’s evident that you need to have some sort of obsession if you truly want to do extraordinary things, but too much of anything is never a good thing. There have been countless studies that show the importance behind disconnecting and why it’s crucial for performance; in one study done by Smith et al., researchers found that mental fatigue impaired soccer-specific physical and technical performances. Too much is never a good thing, and the current notion being pushed that “taking a day off is a weakness” is actually the weakness itself (ironically). Both the body and mind need a break from all the adrenaline and dopamine surges; simply put, we need balance.

Both the body and mind need a break from all the adrenaline and dopamine surges. Simply put, we need balance, says @mattcaldaroni. Share on X

From recent studies, one day per week of stepping completely away from competition does the trick. What you do on that off day matters though: How many times have you taken a step back from performance and gone out with a group of friends, only to realize there was no real “me time” happening at all? There was no real personal reflection that could occur. Then, you come back to performance feeling even worse than before the break! Not with a quiet zone, though; when you have this mental tool primed, scheduled, and loaded, the step back becomes more effective. And if you really want to enhance it, then you have to take on a dopamine fast.

Remember the Dopamine Break

You have to be able to step away from the adrenaline if you’re going to be a long-term high performer. This goes hand in hand with visiting the quiet zone; you have to be able to reset and recharge. The adrenal glands have to rest and recover, or they’ll be shot. And if you’ve ever experienced uncharacteristic anxiety, rapid heartbeat, elevated blood pressure, or excessive sweating and palpitations, especially after adrenaline-filled environments, then you’ve most likely experienced the side effects of too much adrenaline.

In today’s world, where athletes are constantly at the demand of social media and social channels or other addictive behaviors like recreational drug and alcohol use, video gaming, etc., they’re dually combatting the adrenaline surges mixed with overstimulated dopamine sensations. Study after study shows the correlation between too much dopamine and issues like ADHD, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, depression, bipolar disorders, and addiction. Mix that with a high-strung, adrenaline-surging athlete, and we’ve got the perfect storm brewing for an athletic disaster.

This isn’t something we haven’t known, either. In 2017, the book Unplugged, by Brian MacKenzie, Dr. Andy Galpin, and Phil White, warned us of this overstimulation by dopamine and the issues it could cause. And let’s get this straight—I’m not talking about “fasting” from dopamine; I’m talking about stepping away from the social demands of the world and just resetting for a day. It’s a matter of abstaining for just 24 hours from all activities that create manmade surges of dopamine and reflecting.

This is why you see athletes, especially Italian soccer players, take mini vacations during their Christmas breaks; whether they know it or not, they’re getting away from the social world. Or why the great Sidney Crosby doesn’t have social media; one of the most marketable athletes in the world makes it a point to step away from the social game.

However, despite all of this, we still haven’t taken action against it. We still haven’t made a point to schedule dopamine reset days. If we’re going to demand that our athletes to be constantly on a high in performance, then we have to know the mechanisms to step back and reset so that we can achieve a long-term balance. And if you haven’t been paying attention to this, or haven’t taken this on, then you’re cutting performances short—the science shows it.

It’s evident that if you haven’t been tapping into these mental gems, then you’re doing your athletes a disservice. These have literally been around for decades. You have to tap into them.

Winners Find a Way and Are Prepared

Life is not fair. The good news is that you can control a lot more than you know. While everyone is scrambling for bodyweight exercises and home workouts, you should consider the gift you have between your ears. If you really want it, the core essentials of training should be enough to get most of the results you need. It’s important to be the coach or athlete who is skilled at mentally being ready for anything, including a lockdown or quarantine.

It’s important to be the coach or athlete who is skilled at mentally being ready for anything, including a lockdown or quarantine, says @mattcaldaroni. Share on X

The month of March is forever etched in history as the time most of the world came to a screeching halt, but those who are resilient march forward and find a way. You don’t need much to be prepared for the return to a new normal, just a plan and the confidence in yourself to make your goals become reality. Stop everything and work with a coach or mentor who is beyond a “sets and reps” type of expert—work with a professional who is trained and skilled in preparing the mind for battle.

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References

Demerouti, E., Veldhuis, W., Coombes, C., and Hunter, R. “Burnout among pilots: psychosocial factors related to happiness and performance at simulator training.” Ergonomics and Human Factors in Aviation. 2017;62(2):233-245.

Rathschlag, M. and Memmert, D. “The Influence of Self-Generated Emotions on Physical Performance: An Investigation of Happiness, Anger, Anxiety, and Sadness.” Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology. 2013;35:197-210.

Robazza, C. and Bortoli, L. “Perceived impact of anger and anxiety on sporting performance in rugby players.” Psychology of Sport and Exercise. 2007;8:875-896. doi:10.1016/j.psychsport.2006.07.005

Smith, M.R., Marcora, S.M., and Coutts, A.J. “Mental Fatigue Impairs Intermittent Running Performance.” Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 2015;47(8):1682-1690. doi: 10.1249/MSS.000000000000059

Wang, J.C.K. and Biddle, S.J.H. “Intrinsic Motivation towards Sports in Singaporean Students: The Role of Sport Ability Beliefs.” Journal of Health Psychology. 2003;8(5): 515-523. SAGE Publications. doi: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F13591053030085004

Woodman, T., Davis, P.A., Hardy, L., Callow, N., Glasscock, I., and& Yuill-Proctor, J. “Emotions and Sport Performance: An Exploration of Happiness, Hope, and Anger.” Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology. 2009;31:169-188.

Imagine the chair of your Chemistry department walking into your president’s office and saying, “Organic chemistry is just too difficult to teach.” It’s absurd that many of us teach at institutions of higher learning and dismiss weightlifting movements as “too complicated to teach” and avoid them altogether with tall athletes. It is true that these movements are complex and challenging. However, they are extremely valuable when implemented correctly following a logical progression with excellent coaching.

There are many different tools in the strength and conditioning environment. I prefer to choose these tools based on effectiveness and efficiency. Weightlifting movements, along with their derivatives, check a lot of boxes: explosive strength, mobility, and rhythmic application of force, to name a few. If successful long-term athletic development is your goal, you should strongly consider these movements for your program.

Make sure to collect a thorough medical history whenever starting an athlete on a strength and conditioning program. There is nothing like finding out during a teaching progression that the athlete is recovering from a surgical procedure (been there). Once you are on the same page with the medical staff, you can start coaching your athletes. It is also important to be on the same page with the sport coaches regarding relevant background and goals for the individual.

The very first thing I do is go over a few important safety points. The biggest safety mechanism our athletes have is the ability to drop the bar. Share on X

The very first thing I do is go over a few important safety points. The biggest safety mechanism our athletes have is the ability to drop the bar. I tell them we can buy new equipment, but we can’t buy new shoulders, backs, knees, etc. Many commercial and high school gyms have engrained our athletes not to drop barbells. With a designated platform area and bumper plates, dropping is a completely safe practice. I currently use a very small weight room, so it’s important for the athletes who are not lifting to pay attention to those who are, in case the bar ever gets away. I also take time to teach proper postures when picking up and setting down the bar, as this can save athletes from possible back issues from the start.

Most programs teach weightlifting with a top-down approach. They start with high hang movements and progress slowly to lifting from the floor. I think this is generally correct. But I also think it’s important to introduce positions that require mobility and stability early in the teaching progression. I prefer to utilize an approach of concurrently teaching top down and bottom up.

So how do you get 7-foot-tall athletes to clean and snatch from the floor? Just like everybody else. Progression, coaching, consistency, and time are the key factors.

The Foundational Exercises

These six fundamental exercises are almost always included at the beginning of an athlete’s training program. They are great at improving mobility, strength, and stability, as well as providing a scaffolding on which the snatch and the clean are based. It is important to coach early and often at this stage of development. These movements should be mastered before moving on to more difficult variations. Don’t push an athlete’s progression forward if they are not ready for it.

I often find there is one athlete in a group who struggles with some of these concepts. Progressing the team without progressing the struggling athlete is a powerful motivation to learn correctly. Nobody likes being left out. This often solves the technical issues in a week or two. If the athlete is absolutely stuck, I bring them in outside of their normal training time for extra technical work. It allows them to learn in a more individualized fashion and saves us both from beating our heads against a wall.

Progressing the team without progressing the struggling athlete is a powerful motivation to learn correctly. Nobody likes being left out. Share on X

Supplement with mobility drills and correctives, but most of the time athletes really get better at these movements by doing them. I like performing these exercises at higher volumes. More repetitions allow for greater exposure, with that increased ability to coach, learn, and perfect. For teaching purposes, the load is light. This is beneficial to beginning athletes and those returning from a break.

For new athletes, I ensure they have proper technique before I allow them to add load. Watching the athlete from multiple angles and distances is also important for looking at joint angles, timing, symmetry, etc. I have made the mistake of coaching from one angle, only to find that I had missed them favoring a leg.

1. Front Squat

I like to start the front squat with the hands-free variation. I think it does a good job of forcing athletes into an upright posture while squatting. If you have any major faults in your squat, this variation will quickly find them. If you get out of position slightly, the bar will let you know in a hurry. The front squat is great because it simultaneously develops quad strength and ankle mobility: two attributes that are paramount for athletic success.

I encourage full depth with my athletes, provided they have the mobility to do so. Working with basketball players, sometimes it takes time to develop the necessary mobility, and, quite frankly, some guys never get there. If an athlete does have limitations in depth, we use every tool we have to acquire greater ranges of motion. It is not a problem if you give a struggling athlete a heel lift to help facilitate movement integrity, especially through the lumbar spine, pelvis, and hips. Do remember the end goal is to get the athlete as close to normal as possible. Progress your remedial athletes once they look proficient.

Video 1. Front squatting is one of the most obvious requirements for cleaning, as it teaches an athlete to rack the bar. With other exercises and the popularity of the safety squat bar, athletes may not be getting enough repetition with this exercise.

After several weeks of hands-free front squatting, we put their hands on the bar. For catching cleans it is imperative to have a good rack position. Athletes have a taste of the rack position with the muscle clean (I talk about this later), but they start to live in the rack position with the regular front squat. Putting the hands under the bar will create a greater margin of error. The bar will not automatically fall off the shoulders when a lifter gets forward. So, with that, you need to continue to cue an upright torso and elbows up.

In my experience, there is a direct correlation between vertical jump height and front squat/bodyweight ratio. Every basketball player I have coached with a >35” vertical jump has front squatted at least 150 kg. For a more in-depth article on the front squat click here.

2. Romanian Deadlift (RDL)

The first pulling variation I teach is the RDL. If the goal of the front squat is to increase an athlete’s horsepower, the RDL serves to reinforce the athlete’s chassis. This movement is great for strengthening the athlete’s back as well as developing functional hamstring strength. Along with front squats, RDLs appear in even our most advanced athlete’s program.

The first pulling variation I teach is the RDL. If the goal of the front squat is to increase an athlete’s horsepower, the RDL serves to reinforce the athlete’s chassis. Share on X

I teach the RDL as simply as possible. It is one of those exercises that 90% of all athletes seem to get within the first couple minutes. For whatever reason, the 10% who do not pick it up quickly tend to struggle.

Once I establish hand positioning (about thumb width from the knurling) and foot position (vertical jump width), I use these three simple rules:

1. Keep back flat
2. Keep bar close
3. Keep a slight but consistent bend in the knee

There are many other aspects that need to be coached, such as pushing the knees slightly out and head positioning. But these three cues will solve most of your problems with beginning athletes.

Video 2. Athletes who can RDL have a better chance to perform the Olympic lifts, as it teaches them postures and good hinge patterns. Consider bringing back the RDL into your program for hamstring and learning benefits.

3. Overhead Squat

If you are going to snatch your athletes, it’s a good idea to learn the overhead squat beforehand. Not many exercises will simultaneously tax an athlete’s mobility and stability like the overhead squat. This is why many coaches have used it as a screening tool. This exercise will identify problem areas in your athletes in a hurry.

Video 3. An overhead squat is similar to snatching, as it incorporates arm mobility and stability. While it takes longer to master, overhead squats really help keep athletes healthy and teach them to snatch better.

For basketball players, the problem most often lies with a lack of dorsiflexion in the ankle. So often they land with excessive plantar flexion and lack the local tissue strength to handle the forces their sport regular exposes them to. Over time this results in a loss of dorsiflexion range of motion. As with the front squat, you may need to add a heel lift in the short term. Restrictions in the hips, thoracic spine, shoulders, and wrist can also factor into the quality of the movement.

Proper positioning creates stability just as much as muscular action. If you start overemphasizing muscular action as a stability tool, you will end up with overly tight athletes. Share on X

I prefer to start this exercise with a PVC pipe but progress quickly to a regular 20-kilogram bar. This gives the athlete a chance to learn the movement and understand the dynamic balance that is required from having the bar overhead. Some coaches teach their athletes to break the bar with their hands or rotate the elbows, but I like them to be locked out in the elbows with only the minimum effort need to maintain lockout. I believe proper positioning creates stability just as much as muscular action. If you start overemphasizing muscular action as a stability tool, you will end up with overly tonic/tight athletes. I intentionally keep this exercise very light to encourage athletes to maximize range of motion.

4. Muscle Snatch

Many collegiate and high school weight rooms do not utilize these next two exercises. They are critical at teaching impulse, along with active and passive bar control, and you should not skip them.

It is important to define the power position early in the coaching process. It is a term and position that athletes need to be taught, because it will be referenced often. This position is when the bar touches the crease formed between the torso and hips with flexion. This is where we start the lift from. The knuckles should be turned down with lat pressure that pulls the bar directly into this crease.

I use my hand and have the athlete push against it so they can feel this active lat pressure. For long-limbed athletes like basketball players, this doesn’t come naturally but must be taught, as it is a critical step from a leverage standpoint. Many tall athletes must bend their arms to get the bar into the power position. This is very common in the muscle/power clean. For many purists this may seem wrong, but based on my experience working with extremely long-limbed athletes, this arm bend is necessary. Once this position becomes second nature, transition to start with the bar below power position so the athletes learn how to move the bar into the proper power position dynamically.

Video 4. Muscle snatches don’t replicate true positions of the snatch, but they are great drills to get athletes comfortable with the demands of the exercise.

The feet should be vertical jump width apart. The shoulders should hang over the bar with a flat back. The bar should be accelerated using a combination of hip and knee extension. Many athletes in this position tend to throw their hips at the bar. This is a big technical fault, as it puts the back and hips into loaded hyperextension (not good), and it will make getting under the bar difficult once they start jumping in power snatches and cleans.

I really encourage fast knee extension. I define and cue this simply as “fast knees.” You’ll know you are on the right path when you see the athlete’s knees lock out and stay locked out before the elbows do. By focusing on the knee extension, you will tend to avoid hyperextension of the back and hips. Watch the feet as well, to see if the athlete gets “toes-y” too early. If so, make the correction to keep more of the foot on the ground longer.

In this exercise, the athletes will get an introduction into the passive control required in the weightlifting movements. Rhythmic application of force is an important part of all sports. Look at how relaxed sprinters can be at top speed, or the periods of effortlessness when pitchers throw a baseball. There are examples of this in just about every sport. There is a period in the snatch and in the clean where the lifter must relax and just let the bar fly. I feel that complex movements requiring athletes to contract and relax have a lot of carryover to sport.

Following this sequence of passive control is the lookout position. Once again, this is a position of stability, though be careful not to overemphasize being too tight. This lockout position is relatively easy at lighter loads if the bar is directly over the athlete’s center of gravity, not too forward and not too far back.

Before progressing to the power snatch, I ensure my male and female athletes are able to muscle snatch 40 kilograms and 25 kilograms for five reps respectively. This ensures they have sufficient mobility and overhead strength, and they are also comfortable with bar path and body position.

5. Muscle Clean

Many power clean errors could be corrected with initial use of the muscle clean. I could walk into just about any high school weight room that performs power cleans and find many sore collarbones from the bar hitting the wrong spot. By slowing down and performing a few weeks of well-executed muscle cleans, you can prevent a lot of technical faults. The muscle clean uses lower loads and slows down bar velocities so that the lifter can learn to receive the bar in a correct position. The muscle clean reps are like training wheels for your power clean.

The muscle clean reps are like training wheels for your power clean. By slowing down and performing a few weeks of well-executed muscle cleans, you can prevent a lot of technical faults. Share on X

I might mention that this is a great time to teach your athletes how to hook grip. It amazes me that many collegiate strength and conditioning facilities where power cleans are being performed do not use the hook grip. Let’s face it: Many athletes don’t have great wrist flexibility, and I would include myself in that group. If you are going to be lifting some decent loads, the hook grip or straps will help you from over-gripping, which slows the arms from getting into a great rack position. If you lack flexible wrists, then the hook grip should be your go-to. If you are going to use straps, please use weightlifting straps. They will actually let go when you decide to drop, unlike traditional bodybuilding straps. They are cheap and easy to make with 1-inch tubular webbing and some athletic tape.

Video 5. Similar to the muscle snatch, the muscle clean is a great drill if incorporated correctly. Muscle cleans are great finishing drills for athletes who are sufficient front squatters.

To begin the muscle clean, instruct the athlete to take the same “vertical jump width stance.” The bar should start somewhere around mid-thigh, with a flat back and the shoulders over the bar. There is plenty of room to play around with the width of the hands. Again, I generally start around thumb-width from the edge of the knurling, but I often modify that based on the individual.

This is where I do things a little differently. After teaching the initial position, the next step I teach is the active motion of pulling the bar into the power position. I believe that this position should be the same with the snatch and the clean. Traditionally, we are taught that the clean power position is lower than the snatch power position. But if you look at elite weightlifters, this position is often exactly the same. Long-limbed lifters lack the anthropomorphic structure to make this happen naturally, so I teach it.

In many lifters, this will involve premature bending of the arms. I actually encourage this. If they understand when to contract and relax those arms, it can be of great benefit. The bar has moved closer to their center of gravity, creating better leverages. Additionally, it puts the athletes in a body position where they can apply the greatest amount of force into the ground during the last few inches of ankle, knee, and hip extension. Without teaching this, many long-limbed lifters will jump prematurely on the pull of their cleans and snatches.

Once the lifter learns to hit the power position with the bar, it is time to teach them how to accelerate the bar. Just like in the muscle snatch, we teach the athletes to aggressively lock out the knees with a “fast knee” cue.

You must watch to make sure that the athlete is not throwing their hips at the bar, but actively bringing the bar to the hip. I teach the athletes to push through their whole foot into the ground to avoid premature weight shift toward the toes. Once knee extension is complete, the athlete passively and quickly controls the bar into the front rack position. If this is done with excessive arms or too tight of a grip, the bar will move too slowly. The bar should land primarily on the deltoids as opposed to slamming against the collarbone.

If the collarbone is getting smashed, encourage the athlete to get their elbows up quicker and higher. Also encourage your athletes to open the hands at the top of the movement and let the bar roll to the fingertips. By this time the athletes are familiar with the bar placement, as the hands-free front squat does an excellent job of teaching where the bar should sit on their shoulders. If using a hook grip, I teach the release of the grip at the top of the “upright row” position as the elbows are about to come forward. Start light and gradually build up weight as the athletes become more comfortable with this interaction with the bar.

6. Liftoff (Snatch or Clean Grip)

This exercise is key if you want your athletes to develop mid-thoracic strength and mobility, which is often a limiting factor for a lot of our athletes. Liftoffs are how I get my athletes, no matter how tall, to pull from the ground. It might be my best exercise to improve thoracic spine kyphosis. Lying on a foam roller or lacrosse ball is great, but unless you backfill that mobility with solid strength work, it will be lost by the time they leave the workout.

Liftoffs are how I get my athletes, no matter how tall, to pull from the ground. Share on X

This exercise dovetails with the RDL to complete a full pull from the ground. For those coaches who use trap bar deadlifts, I challenge you to look at liftoffs as a more complete exercise. It may be more of a challenge to coach, but I believe the benefits are substantial.

Most athletes just don’t have the ankle and spine mobility to start from the floor. Because of this, make sure you have proper weightlifting lifting blocks to start. They should be stable and customizable to the height and mobility of each of your athletes. Blocks create a safe, progressive way to start pulling from below the knee. With most male athletes, I start with 10-kilogram plates on 8-inch blocks, and with females, 5-kilogram plates on 8-inch blocks.

Video 6. An underrated deadlift variant by itself, the clean liftoff is great for athletes to be disciplined with patience during the first pull. Coaches can teach and train the Olympic lifts at the same time with this great exercise.

The athlete addresses the bar flatfooted with the knees bent over the bar. This is an important distinction compared to the knees behind the bar taught by many coaches with powerlifting backgrounds. Externally rotating the hips so that the knees push against the elbows is a great way for tall athletes to drop their hips and get the bar closer to the center of gravity.

Proper posture is very important in this lift. The back must remain flat for the entire lift. If the athlete feels their back start to round at any point, they should drop the bar. I would much rather see this lift missed with good technique than made with bad technique. Little things can also add up and make a big difference. Keep the knuckles down and elbows out to help facilitate active lat pressure to keep the bar close. Supinated feet also create a rigid base for optimal force transfer to the ground.

I teach athletes to initiate the lift by pushing the knees backward while the hips and shoulders raise together. This knee action is extremely important. I often see athletes, particularly at the high school level, pull the bar forward around the knees. By pushing the knees back, athletes will avoid scraping their shins on the bar, as well as set up for a big finish on the snatch and clean.

This movement really mimics a good athletic position seen in many sports. It also trains the hamstrings in a position of hip flexion with simultaneous knee extension. This lengthens the hamstrings from above and below. With proper progressive overload, the liftoff is a key tool to improve hamstring tissue tolerance.

Instead of standing all the way up in a traditional deadlift, I have athletes hold the pull directly above the knees. This facilitates extra concentration on setup and on the initial pull, as well as time under tension in a functional athletic position. The bar can either be dropped (be careful of hitting the front edge of the box) or lowered. If you choose to use the lowering method, ensure that you coach athletes to put the bar down exactly the way they picked it up, with a flat back and proper knee bend.

You can progress slowly to the ground by removing 2 inches of block at a time. Every athlete will progress differently, but you can usually drop 2 inches every two weeks so. Make sure the starting position stays sound. It will require more dorsiflexion of the ankles, more knee bend, lower hips, and, of course, a flat back.

Weightlifting Exercises

Once athletes have mastered the foundational lifts/exercises, it is time to add a degree of athleticism and speed to the lifts. Before letting the athletes loose, it is important to go over an obvious but important safety consideration. The bar and the athlete will be moving at very high speeds, so it is important that they know the biggest safety mechanism they have is their ability to drop the bar. The following exercises are key tools I use to continue to progress athletes beyond the basics.

Hang Snatch from Power Position

Often, when athletes learn the snatch, the bar will travel too far behind their head. In this case, the athletes need to know that they can drop the bar behind them and take a couple steps forward. Straps can be added after a week or two to make sure athletes completely understand the movement. Correct weightlifting straps will help facilitate proper dropping of the bar.

Warning the athletes to make sure the bar clears the head before moving it forward is critical to avoiding bar to face/forehead collisions. This is a lesson I have learned the hard way. I have seen enough of these accidents to make sure I warn the athletes ahead of time, and it is something I watch for throughout their training process.

The beauty of progression is that it simplifies the teaching process. The starting position for this movement was already learned in the muscle snatch. Instead of merely locking out the knees, I teach the athletes to jump violently, with most of the jump centered around the “fast knees” concept. The hips and ankles will naturally follow suit. After an aggressive knee extension, athletes have to be taught to relax quickly while dropping. This creates a powerful stretch reflex that helps pull the athletes under the bar. This is the fast up and fast down concept that I often use while cueing athletes.

During drop under the bar, athletes must use passive bar control with the arms. If the arms are actively trying to position the bar overhead, the snatch will be too slow. Being relaxed during unloaded (if the bar is moving upward, it is temporarily weightless) is key to expressing speed. This is similar to a sprinter at top speed who intermittently relaxes between foot contacts.

The catch completes the lift with a simultaneous flatfoot landing and arm lockout. They must happen at the same time. If the foot hits the ground before lockout happens, it is called a press out. Define this term for your athletes and let them know that press outs are unacceptable. It is a result of being overly tight or too slow. The lockout creates stability of the shoulder. If a press out occurs, the athlete is putting the shoulders at risk in a position of loaded instability. Again, I would rather see a missed lift than a snatch finished with a press out.

If a press out occurs, the athlete is putting the shoulders at risk in a position of loaded instability. Share on X

The feet should hit the ground flatfooted in a squat width, not any wider. Landing on the toes or balls of the feet is not desired. Flatfooted landings will create stability. This loaded, fast eccentric movement is great for teaching landing mechanics, especially for athletes who land too much on their toes. Holding the catch is important to make sure the bar and body are properly organized.

Video 7. Snatching from the hang helps an athlete to feel the right tension in the hips and hamstrings. A good hang snatch has enough range of motion to create a training effect.

You will often find athletes stand up quickly from the landing position in an attempt to regain balance due to subpar positioning. This component seems to help landing mechanics stick much better than altitude drops from boxes. I have made the mistake of spending time with landing drills like altitude drops. In my experience, athletes looked great doing the drills, but it did not seem to carry over to practices or games. These drills are appropriate for warm-ups but are not sufficient long-term training stimulus. Once your athletes are doing decent loads in the power snatch and power clean, you will start to see a dramatic improvement in landing during practices and games.

I spend about 2-3 weeks working the hang variation before I start moving athletes to block above knee. The lowering that occurs with the hang variation is a great way to initially build upper body strength, but eventually the high block or block above knee will produce better reps at higher loads. This movement will involve the lifter starting from below power position, so they will need to be coached to actively pull the bar in.

Power Clean Block Above Knee

I am not a fan of hang cleans. I have seen more than enough poor hang cleans for a lifetime. The problem with the hang power clean is that, after the first one, the arms and back really become fatigued. There is constant time under tension with significant load, and this a problem for athletes just learning how to power clean. Blocks will make the coaching and technical adjustments much easier, especially rep by rep. An athlete can perform a rep, you can make an adjustment, they can shake out their arms/hands and make that adjustment for the next rep. Sets of hang cleans turn into survival mode—just get through it. This should not be the approach if maximal power development is the goal.

Once again, the starting position has been taught with the muscle clean. The only difference is that the bar is placed on the blocks. The movement is initiated by pulling the bar into the power position, making sure to keep the shoulders over the bar. Again, I believe athletes can do this by bending the arms.

When the bar hits the power position, that’s when the explosive jump happens. Every athlete will have a slightly different speed going into the power position. It is a mistake to pull off the block too quickly. You must save the expression of force for the power position. By moving the bar too quickly too early, athletes will lack the explosive finish on the pull. I like to teach the athletes to ease the bar into the power position and explosively jump when, and only when, the bar touches the power position. It’s easier to speed up this maneuver later then have to slow it down, which is why I err early on with the initial liftoff being a little slower.

Video 8. Cleaning above the knee offers variety with purpose. Using blocks saves the paraspinal muscles from overworking and can increase volume safely.

Once again, I emphasize this fast knee lockout and unlock on the jump. This keeps the pull/jump from turning into a hyperextension mess, and it facilitates the stretch reflex of the hamstrings pulling the athlete under the bar faster. The bar should be passively guided to the rack position, making sure not to pull the bar to the shoulders with the arms. The upward trajectory of the jump should be all the impulse needed to get the bar high enough. The athlete should be thinking about getting under the bar as soon as their feet leave the ground.

I have the athletes freeze as soon as their feet hit the ground. Not only does this ensure that the bar is properly racked on their shoulders, but it builds eccentric landing strength. Share on X

Just as they have learned in the muscle clean, the contact of the bar in the rack position should primarily be on the shoulders, not the collarbone. A flatfooted landing should happen in a squat width and not any wider. Like the snatch, I have the athletes freeze as soon as their feet hit the ground. Not only does this ensure that the bar is properly racked on the shoulders, but it builds eccentric landing strength. This quarter squat position is used throughout all sports. The method of proper teaching and gradually increasing weight makes overload of this eccentric stress very manageable.

Block Below Knee Power Snatch and Power Clean

Once I feel that the athlete is competent in both the high block snatch/clean and liftoffs from the floor, I incorporate low block or block below knee movements. This movement is just a combination of a liftoff and a high block snatch or clean, and that is exactly how I explain it to the athletes. The starting position and speed should be exactly like a liftoff. Make sure the athletes start with flat feet in a vertical jump width. The knees should be slightly over the bar with the hips slightly externally rotated so that the knees are touching the elbows.

Movement of the bar should begin by pushing the knees backward. The bar and knees should move together to keep bar spacing. One of the biggest mistakes I see coaches make is that they allow their athletes to loop the bar around the knees, rather than the knees moving out of the way of the bar. This will quickly lead to bloody shins and a forward jump on the snatch or clean.

This movement should be controlled and somewhat slow. I want to see a change in speed from the liftoff to the final jump. That change in speed should happen at the power position. It is something to remember in even more advanced athletes who tend to panic and pull a little too quickly, too early. Patience with a heavy weight in your hands is without a doubt a learned skill.

Video 9. The use of low boxes is a compromise between high and floor snatching. Anything below the knee will have a slower early rhythm than a lift above the knee.

Once the bar clears the knees, the arms actively pull the bar toward the body with lat pressure. The wrist should be in flexion (knuckles down) to close any gap between the lifter and the bar. This helps get the bar into the power position and keeps proper weight distribution on the pull. Failing to do so would swing the bar away from the athlete and create a poor explosive position.

From the power positions, both the power snatch and power clean are familiar tasks learned from previous exercises. A big explosive jump centered around knee extension should be second nature by now. Cue staying relaxed in the hands and arms as your athletes quickly get under the bar and form a position of stability. Practice once again being motionless as soon as the feet hit the ground. Being in a rush to stand completely up is a sign of imbalance or instability. You should really emphasize this when learning and even with advanced athletes during warm-up or lighter sets. Pay special attention to where and how the athletes land.

Excessive forward and back jumping are usually symptoms of improper positioning during the pull. Typically, I find that if an athlete jumps forward, either they loop the bar forward around the knees or they bring the hips to the bar to hit power position rather than actively pulling the bar to the hips. Excessive backward jumping can be solved by cueing the athlete to jump slightly forward. A line on the platform created by a piece of weightlifting chalk can served as a great reference to coach and athlete alike, especially if the athlete is struggling to feel what they are doing.

Power Snatch and Power Clean from the Floor

Hopefully, by now all the elements needed to complete weightlifting movements from the floor are already in place. By this point, your athletes should be comfortable in all positions required by these two exercises.

Snatching/cleaning off the floor requires a solid starting position. Several weeks of doing liftoffs off the ground will make your life much easier in this step, as nothing is fundamentally different. You will need to make sure that the athlete has sufficient bend in the ankles, knees, and hips. I check to make sure the feet are flat and that the knees hang over the bar; the arms should be straight, and as always, the back should be flat. This position will require the knees to get pushed back a little more on the liftoff compared to the block below knee position as the knees start further over the bar.

Video 10. Pulling from the floor is not difficult with tall athletes if you prepare them. Use the right grip, posture, and foot stance to accommodate athletes with less mobility.

Once again, this action should be controlled, as it is merely a setup for the explosive final jump in the power position. Make sure that the bar and knees move together. Sometimes the knees will start moving backward without the bar leaving the ground, creating poor leverage.

This liftoff sets the athlete up for success with the rest of the movement, which by now should be old hat for your athletes. Make sure the bar is actively pulled into the power position, which is where posture should get set to take off. The rest of the movement is learned in previous exercises. The jump, drop, and catch are exactly like the above and below the knee versions.

Get Started

Be careful in each one of these exercises to expose your athletes to a safe and sequential overload. Training loads, whether volume or intensity, should be increased little by little. Consistent improvement over time is much more desired than trying to take huge jumps.

I find pulls a little too slow to develop power compared to a power snatch/clean and a little too light to develop strength compared to an RDL/liftoff. Share on X

Omitted from my progressions are snatch pulls and clean pulls. I use these only if I have an injured athlete who cannot perform the catch. Otherwise, I find pulls a little too slow to develop power compared to a power snatch/clean and a little too light to develop strength compared to an RDL/liftoff. When pulls do have enough speed, they still lack the eccentric catch, which is critical to reduce the risk of injury and improve athletic performance.

The eccentric portion of the pull also tends to get sloppy. When emphasizing an explosive finish, the lifter is just not granted the short period of weightlessness needed to receive the bar in a good athletic position. Instead, the lifter often absorbs the load in a compromised position, often in hip and lumbar extension…ouch.

In summary, all athletes, regardless of height, can learn these complex movements through manageable progression and quality coaching. I have repeatedly used these techniques to successfully train athletes up to 7 feet tall. Taking time on the progressions and making sure that your standards as a coach are being followed through on can be the difference between success and failure. As coaches, we should hold ourselves to a standard of excellence and follow best practices to effectively and efficiently prepare our athletes for the demands of their sport.

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

Take two college athletes, one who lifts year-round and the other who takes six months off—who has the competitive edge?

Obviously, the athlete who trains continuously will be in better shape. Knowing this, why do many sprint coaches neglect to give their athletes workouts during their short academic breaks? Further, what types of workouts should athletes perform on their own, especially when they lack training facilities?

First, we’re not talking about summer training. Most sprint coaches will give their athletes some direction about what to do during this longer break. I’m focusing here on extended periods when athletes are away from school during the academic year. Do the math: spring break can steal up to 10 days of training, winter break may consume up to a month, and there are often several shorter holiday breaks such as Thanksgiving. When added up over a four-year athletic career, these interruptions can represent 4-6 months of downtime.

Although most athletes probably won’t let themselves go like Thor did in Endgame, if they don’t perform some type of resistance training during these breaks they may lose strength, power, endurance, and even speed. The good news is that it doesn’t take much work for an athlete to at least maintain their athletic fitness during these stretches away from the program—and, possibly, they can even slightly increase it.

The good news is that it doesn’t take much work for an athlete to at least maintain their athletic fitness during these stretches away from the program, says @GabrielMvumvure. Share on X

A 2011 study found that “performing 1 weekly strength maintenance session during the first 12 weeks of the in-season allowed professional soccer players to maintain the improved strength, sprint, and jump performance achieved during a preceding 10-week preparatory period.” However, another group in the study that trained only once every two weeks not only lost leg strength, but also saw increases in their 40-meter sprint times.

Other studies have found that as long as the intensity was high, strength (and even aerobic fitness) could be maintained for as long as three months by reducing the training volume by two-thirds! Translated into a practical example, it’s possible that getting in just one 30-minute workout during spring break may be enough to have an athlete start back where they left off. However, with careful and creative planning, it’s possible to get athletes in better shape than when they left.

During the school year, I give my athletes detailed weight training programs designed to improve sprint performance that include cleans, deadlifts, squats, and chin-ups. I can also work with the athletic training department and our strength coaches to provide them corrective exercises to address muscle imbalances that may increase the risk of injury.

If an athlete has flat (i.e.,valgus) feet that may cause injuries such as shin splints, they could be given corrective exercises that create lateral tension on the foot to help reform the arch. If an athlete has a history of hamstring pulls, we might give them specific hamstring, glute, and subumbilical abdominal (i.e., below the belly button) exercises to address muscular imbalances that may be the underlying cause of this injury. But when an athlete is on a school break and doesn’t have a world-class gym and support staff as we do at Brown, you are faced with the dilemma of “optimal training versus reality.”

When an athlete is on a school break and doesn’t have a world-class gym and support staff, you are faced with optimal training vs reality, says @GabrielMvumvure. Share on X

When an athlete is on break, it is often difficult for them to find a gym that has platforms and power racks that will enable them to continue the workout they performed at school. However, even the lamest of commercial gyms will have dumbbells. Further, some athletes have these dumbbells at home, or are willing to purchase them.

The Home Training Solution

Please understand that what I’m saying is not just theory—I performed such training programs while competing for LSU, and have given my sprinters these types of workouts to use on breaks. Before providing examples, I would like to share with you the following five practical guidelines for home training:

1. Follow a workout! Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” Don’t just allow your athletes download a copy of Richard Simmons’ Sweating to the Oldies so they can make like Chubby Checker and “twist again, like they did last summer.” Athletes need to discuss with their coaches what equipment, if any, they have available during their break so their coaches can design a workout accordingly.
2. Consider the training environment. A large family room or a garage are obvious places for home training, but consider training outside in a yard or in a park to get some fresh air and stock up on natural Vitamin D. Also, consider that college weight rooms are climate controlled. If an athlete is on a winter break in Deadhorse, Alaska, perhaps training in a garage at 10PM in shorts and a T-shirt may not be such a good idea?

If athletes must train in a colder environment, they should spend more time warming up to enable them to train harder and avoid injuries. In contrast, if they are training in an extremely warm environment, they need to dress lightly and have plenty of fluids nearby to hydrate properly.

3. Schedule the workouts. Athletes should set up a specific time to train, just as they would come to the track or weight room at a specific time to train with their coaches. Early in the morning is best, as there are likely to be less distractions. Also, your athletes need to be considerate of others. Doing Coach Mvumvure’s “Pump your Stomach!” core workout in the front room while a family member is trying to watch their favorite TV program is rude.
4. Find ways to stay motivated. Athletes who go away to college don’t have much time with their families during breaks, so why not have a family member join in to motivate the athlete to train harder? Playing upbeat music will also enhance the workout atmosphere. Many commercial gyms, especially the hard-core ones, play lots of hard rock, which can often be more irritating than inspiring. At home, if your athletes like country music, they can play country music. And if they like Justine Bieber, well…they can play country music! They can also pull up some inspirational sports videos on their laptops to inspire them and remind them of why they are working so hard in the first place!
5. Set goals and communicate. Athletes should establish some type of goal for every workout, such as completing all the reps for a specific weight or performing certain exercises faster. Also, athletes should check in with their coaches on how their workouts are progressing. I take this a step further with my athletes—while going green!—by sending their workouts directly to their personal cellphones, complete with drawings of each exercise along with suggested weights, reps, and sets. Going high tech in this manner also enables me to make immediate changes in their workouts, if necessary.

Athletes should set up a specific time to train, just as they would come to the track or weight room at a specific time to train with their coaches, says @GabrielMvumvure. Share on X

Home Training Tools

Regarding exercise selection, there are many ways to challenge the muscles without barbells. Consider chin-ups and push-ups, for example—if these are too easy, there are more challenging variations (such as wide-grip chin-ups and one-arm push-ups). Many movements can also be performed isometrically (hey, remember the classic Charles Atlas “Dynamic-Tension” Course?). Figure 1 offers a few examples of different modes for home training.

Unless the athlete has access to a commercial gym, most likely the only exercise modes that will be available will be bodyweight, isometric, and possibly bands and a few light dumbbells. Regarding dumbbells, the athlete can save a lot of money by purchasing adjustable dumbbell handles that allow for a variety of weight selections. Kettlebells are fine, but consider that these are usually fixed weights, and purchasing several pods can be quite pricey—besides, pretty much any exercise you can do with a kettlebell you can do with a dumbbell. Yes, swinging movements are more comfortable with a kettlebell, but you can certainly do swings with a dumbbell.

Workouts with a Purpose

Having reviewed a few of the tools at an athlete’s disposal during school breaks, I would suggest two types of workouts.

First, many athletes come out of high school programs with a history of chronic injuries. Often, during team training, the focus is on exercises that will directly improve performance (such as exercises that include explosive movements like cleans or strength movements like deadlifts). This approach leaves little time to perform corrective exercises that focus on preventing past injuries from recurring or doing pre-hab work that addresses muscle groups at a high risk of injury (for example, hamstrings with sprinters). School breaks are an ideal time to focus on such exercises—of course, athletes should consult with their school athletic trainers and strength coaches on these workouts.

At LSU, I had to opportunity to work with sports medicine guru Dr. Michael Ripley, both as an athlete and later as a coach. He did wonders to keep me healthy so I could train hard and eventually compete at the international level. Figure 2 shows one type of pre-hab workout Dr. Ripley recommends for athletes who have SI joint problems, often common in hurdlers.

The second type of workout is designed to improve performance and address an athlete’s weaknesses. Let me give you an example of one such workout I would give to my sprinters. It was designed on Excel, dragging and dropping in the exercises into a spreadsheet that was converted into a PDF file. The focus of the workout was on leg and core strength, and the only implement required were dumbbells.

This workout can be performed in a station manner (one exercise at a time), or to save time (and increase muscular endurance), performed in a circuit. Two-to-three sets of each exercise are prescribed. Although not shown here, I will give each athlete suggestions on what weights to use (usually, I just give the starting weight, and then allow the athlete to select their own). Also, don’t rely on drawings or videos to ensure the exercises are performed correctly—have the athlete perform the workout at least once before they leave for break. That said, we’re working on a video exercise bank athletes can access to review optimal performance of exercises.

The next workout (Figure 4) is designed to help athletes who have had issues with overuse knee injuries or knee stability, which can affect running efficiency and cause hamstring injuries. Because there are several factors associated with these conditions, the workout includes exercises for the glutes, calves, and abdominals.

This last workout (Figure 5) is designed to improve power and muscular endurance, and requires an investment in at least one medicine ball. Muscular endurance is often important for new athletes or athletes coming off of an injury, and power is crucial for athletes who need to work on explosiveness.

Don’t get hung up on the exact exercises shown—coaches should use whatever exercises (or other loading parameters) they believe will best help each athlete achieve their goals. And for convenience, the coach should have several pre-made workout templates, each with a different emphasis and strength level. For my athletes, I start by making a version of each workout for men (heavier starting weights) and women (lighter starting weights).

For convenience, the coach should have several pre-made workout templates, each with a different emphasis and strength level, says @GabrielMvumvure. Share on X

The 2019-2020 indoor season was my first at Brown University. Despite it being cut short by the coronavirus, my sprinters collectively established 32 personal bests, had 12 performances that ranked in the top 10 in school history, and broke two school records, including a 29-year-old record in the 4x400m women’s relay. I believe that part of this success was addressing all the variables that can contribute to performance. One of these variables is having a continuous, year-round weight training program that keeps my athletes strong, from the start of the season to the finish!

This article was edited for publication by Kim Goss, a former strength coach for the U.S. Air Force Academy who has a master’s degree in human movement.

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

Hickson, RC, et al. “Reduced Training Duration Effects on Aerobic Power, Endurance, and Cardiac growth.” Journal of Applied Physiology, 53:225-229. 1982

Ronnstad, BR, et al. “Effects of in-season strength maintenance training frequency in professional soccer players.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2011 Oct;25(10):2653-60

Graves, JE, et al. Effect of reduced training frequency on muscular strength. Int J Sports Med. 1988 Oct;9(5):316–9.

How do we create an atmosphere of trust with our sports coaches and athletes that will allow us to move past the ingrained fallacies that prevent us from maximizing our sports performance efforts? It’s a universal problem that is systemic in nature and can be paralyzing to a program.

The list of challenges we face as high school sports performance coaches is long, from budget restraints to athlete attendance. To compound matters, each of us has individual situations with our own hurdles. It’s probably not a problem we can resolve completely, but there are roadmaps we can follow to foster a maximum level of trust possible with a high percentage of the coaches and athletes we serve.

Strength Coach to Sport Relationships

I once was told that rules without relationships lead to revolt. This single sentence has had a major impact on how I’ve dealt with not only athletes but also coaches over the last few years. Take an inventory of the good and the not so good situations you’ve had with people (not just in sports).

I bet we can trace a great majority of the issues directly to a lack of communication. The lack of communication likely resulted in a lack of understanding. And the lack of understanding undoubtedly prevented the development of a personal relationship between you and the other person. Each of you had rules governing the situation. And without a personal relationship, it was impossible for either side to understand how the other interpreted the rules, and this led to revolt.

Now put this same set of circumstances into a team setting with athletes. The adage “they won’t care what you know until they know you care” is an absolute truth. If you step into the room on day one and say, “I’m Coach so-and-so. I have three degrees and nine certifications. Here are the rules, follow them or else,” you will have trouble.

At this point, the athletes don’t know enough about the subject to care what you know. It’s our job to show them how a positive relationship with their strength coach will benefit them. What benefit do they really understand? Playing time. If you’re a non-sport coaching sports performance professional, however, you don’t have that control. That’s where the sport coach comes in—they have the control.

First, we must have a positive personal relationship with the sport coaches, and this starts with getting together with the head coach. The goal is to begin building a deep personal relationship with complete understanding. That’s not always easy, but it’s always necessary.

The head sport coach sets team culture and rules. It's our role to support the culture within the arena of preparation, says @YorkStrength17. Share on X

The head coach of each sport is responsible for the team culture and rules. Our role is to support that culture within the arena of preparation. The tough part is that not all head coaches foster a great culture. As tough as it may seem, it’s not our job to build that. It’s not our job to set rules for a sports program. Our job is to build a relationship with the sport coaches that will allow us to operate within the culture to the best of our abilities.

Developing relationships with athletes takes time. Start with the head coach, the culture, and rules and grow from there, says @YorkStrength17. Share on X

If we set rules for athletes or coaches without the initial steps of building strong relationships, we set ourselves up for revolt from all sides. Once we achieve that goal, our job gets easier. It takes time to develop relationships with athletes. If we can start with the head coach and the program culture and rules as our jumping-off point, we can grow from there.

Building Trust

Once you’ve built relationships with your coaches and athletes, you can start building trust. Trust that your prescription will make them better—not just that you’ll do what you think is best for them. This can be tough at first. As we know, habits are hard to break.

Most of the coaches and almost certainly all of the athletes we work with have a narrow set of margins when it comes to evidence-based sports performance. It’s our job to widen the margins so they’ll trust we’re making the best decisions. As we all know, everyone we are tasked with making bigger, faster, and more explosive has a bias about training.

How many times have we heard or seen a power sport team running laps or doing long runs that far exceed the time and distance needed to train the energy system their sport typically uses? They do this because someone they had a personal relationship with (and trusted) told them it was the way to train!

It’s the same with countless other things we see and hear. Much of what occurs at the lower levels of athletics is based on concepts of bodybuilding, powerlifting, and aerobic training. While certain aspects of these three things play into what we do to prepare for sport, we all understand that hypertrophy, slow-moving high-intensity barbell lifts, and steady-state running will not make up the bulk of what we need for transfer to sport.

Our biggest challenge is to change the thought process of coaches and athletes about what will cause transfer to sport, says @YorkStrength17. Share on X

Our biggest challenge is to change the thought process of the coaches and athletes about what will cause the transfer. Again, the coach is the key. Regardless of how close you are to the athletes, you don’t control when and how much they get to play. The coach is the main influencer. Despite the questions your athletes may have, they will buy into what you’re asking them to do faster if the coach already has.

So what steps do we take to ensure everyone’s on the same page? First, speaking from trial and error experience, don’t be too aggressive. The minute you begin talking to any coach (or athlete) in a tone that makes them feel insecure or less knowledgeable, you’ll be setting up the relationship to take a step back. Know your audience and give them enough insight to show why your program will be more effective.

Keep in mind that regardless of the knowledge difference about how to prepare to win, winning is the common denominator. Start by introducing small things that may not be in the coach’s wheelhouse. Instead of saying, “there is a certain point in which an athlete’s strength level becomes detrimental to performance,” try introducing the idea that technical failure is a signal to end a lift.

Speak a common language and don’t go over the top with verbiage. Sport coaches have their own job to master, and most don’t have the will or the interest to master our job as well. Understanding this and speaking a common language will help the process.

Ask coaches to identify the areas their athletes need improvement and explain how your program will accomplish these things. As the level of trust begins to grow, the coach will become more and more comfortable with how you do things. Soon, you’ll be able to influence some of the more bell-cow aspects of what the coach and athletes believe is correct, encouraging them to make any adjustments needed to create a best practice.

You can build trust quickly with athletes and parents after securing the coaches' confidence, says @YorkStrength17. Share on X

As for the athletes and their parents, you can build trust quickly after securing the coaches’ confidence. We must show them that our job literally is what’s in their best interest. I preach to athletes and parents that our number one goal is to be healthy.

As a parent, I can tell you this is a powerful statement. If we think coaches have narrow margins when it comes to sports performance, parents often go to a whole new level. And parents will influence the trust level you’ll receive from the athlete. Assure parents that everything you do is evidence-based and designed to keep their child healthy and moving well. If you heard me talking to parents, you’d probably believe I was against lifting heavy weights. Of course, I’m not, but I make it clear that their kids must earn loads and movement.

I find it easiest to build trust with the athletes. The reason is simple; we spend a huge chunk of time each day with them. While we must coach them hard and be a great teacher, we also have the opportunity to show them how much we truly care about them. Once we have that, there is almost no limit to how far we can push them.

Once athletes believe we truly care about them, there is almost no limit to how far we can push them, says @YorkStrength17. Share on X

The relationship can’t stop at the weight room door, either. I’ve found that walking the halls and high-fiving kids, hanging out in the cafeteria, attending games and practices, and similar actions make the job much easier. Win and lose with your athletes. If they see you getting excited when things go well and grieving with them when they don’t, they’ll believe how much they mean to you.

Technology and Data

While in the weight room or any training situation, the athletes (and coaches) want to hear about your expertise. They want to see your expertise. They also thrive on new and exciting concepts. I speak from experience on this as well. Whether it’s a new technology or a new breathing system, they recognize that you introduce these things to make them better. That goes a long way in building the trust needed to help them thrive.

As your relationships grow and blossom, bring some more advanced protocols into the program to seal the trust factor deal. One integral factor in my current situation is using techniques and technology that let me greatly individualize our program. It’s human nature to embrace things we can see and touch that also clearly benefit us as individuals. Our athletes and coaches have really embraced technology.

Velocity based training (VBT), for example, has moved the needle of trust with our female population exponentially. In my earlier post on training female athletes, I highlighted how difficult it was to convince female athletes to lift heavier intensities. It’s always been a battle to get them to trust me and believe in themselves enough to put the proper load on the bar.

Velocity based training is an instant trust builder. It moved the needle of trust exponentially with our female athletes, says @YorkStrength17. Share on X

VBT is an instant trust builder. It lets you quantify the true percentage of 1RM at a single moment. That reading of m/s is not a guess! It’s a fact that can’t be debated or reasoned out of. Within a very short time, our females using VBT were adding weight and using the proper programmed intensity with complete trust in their ability to lift it. No more “I can’t lift that much” conversations. The velocity says you can.

VBT added layers of trust and buy-in from my athletes. And not just about load and reps. Every time we do something for our athletes that makes them believe we have their best interest at heart, our trust level gains depth and width. VBT is just one example. We can include heart rate monitoring (HRM) as well. Using HRM allows us to quantify conditioning levels (among other things) the same way VBT does load.

The cherry on top of the trust sundae is an athlete monitoring system. This could be an article in itself for sure. The questionnaire alone can seal the deal with our athletes and coaches. When they see us taking time not only to produce and use a survey system but also use it to lead conversations and make training adjustments on an individual daily basis, they know we care. From a sport coach point of view, it’s a way to set their program apart.

The cherry on top is an athlete monitoring system. A questionnaire alone can seal the trust deal with our athletes & coaches, says @YorkStrength17. Share on X

I can say from experience that our football staff has a deep level of trust in the data and information I provide based on athlete monitoring. The more actionable data you provide, the more impact it will have. When your sport coaches begin to see practices improve, game performance increases, and fatigue and injury rates fall, things really take off. The more they trust you, the greater the impact you’ll have. That’s why we’re all in this isn’t it?

You know you're a true stakeholder in the team when the coaches begin adjusting practice loads, conditioning drills, & intensity says @YorkStrength17. Share on X

The day our coaches begin adjusting practice loads, conditioning drills, and intensity is the day we become a true stakeholder in the team, coaches, and athletes.

Athlete monitoring is low hanging fruit for us as coaches. Don’t sit back and say, “we don’t have the budget or time for that kind of stuff!” It can be as simple or as in-depth as you choose. I’ve used a daily handout and a pen, a homemade Google Doc that I sent out and other things that led me to the system I now use—the comprehensive and adaptable athlete monitoring questionnaire from CoachMePlus.

The questionnaire gives insight into our athletes’ lives. Stressed? We know why and can help. Fatigued? Let’s fix it. Sore? Let’s adjust it. It’s impossible to ignore a tool that comes at such a low-cost and has the potential to be so valuable. As I said, this is a deep topic that deserves investigation. How it plays into the topic we discuss in this post is undeniable. Athlete monitoring will build a level of trust and personal relationship that is valuable for the athletes and makes us more effective at our job.

From a non-technology standpoint, we use an organized and highly programmed system of injury reduction, mobility, and activation protocols that are made possible only by the high level of trust my athletes and coaches have with me. From Dynamic Warm-up Movement Assessment to Reflective Performance Reset, Original Strength Resets, and the Hop and Stop test to our barefoot foot and ankle mobility program, our athletes will jump in and do these things without question.

Imagine that your athletes can execute every drill and technique with almost no hesitation? This happens when your athletes and coaches recognize your investment in them.

Never Stop Learning

The final piece of the trust puzzle is never stop chasing knowledge. The athletes and coaches will see very quickly if we go into coast mode. The coaches and athletes I work with have a deep understanding of my daily road to improvement. In fact, I think they’d all be shocked if I didn’t come in at least once in a while and say, “So I’ve got something great to show you.”

Showing how much you care doesn’t come with a pause button. We must continue to pursue best practice with the same vigor in year thirty as we did in year one. We work in a field that changes by the day. Once we earn the trust and respect of the athletes we serve and the coaches we work with, we must not only maintain that trust but also continue to build on it.

I mentioned that most issues between people stem from a lack of understanding. To combat that, we must continue to strive to build personal relationships with every new athlete and coach that walks into our weight rooms. Doing this to the best of our ability requires us to stay on top of the latest developments in the world of sports performance. The further we get into the technology age, the more important it will become for us to embrace that technology. It’s not just the athletes who are getting younger as we age; it’s the sport coaches as well.

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