“Preparing
for Camp”
“An Overview on Preparing Offensive
Lineman for Training Camp”
By Brian Bott
Assistant Strength Coach University of
Wisconsin-Madison
Russ
Grimm said it best “Playing offensive line, there's no greater feeling than to
be able to move a man from Point A to Point B against his will.” There are
truly no positions like offensive linemen in sports today. It is truly a match
of power, brute strength, strength endurance, explosive speed, mobility and
agility all packed into one 315 pound frame. Yet there has also not been a
position that has truly evolved more in the last twenty years than the
offensive line. The other night, The Big
Ten Network was replaying the 1983 Sugar Bowl Game between Georgia and Penn
State. They had Guy McIntyre listed at 250 lbs; here is a five time Pro Bowl
lineman who in today’s requirements for a college lineman may have been a tight
end! Once again proving the position and
requirements to play this position has evolved. But as guys have gotten bigger;
the training for these athletes must evolve as well. What I want to address are
some of the things to look at when preparing an offensive lineman for training
camp. This will detail some training considerations for the last 3-4 weeks of
your summer program preparing for camp as well as some of the requirements make
sure you can execute this final month of training at a high level.
Before
starting any type of training with your athletes, you must check to make sure
the body is functioning in proper movement patterns. The Functional Movement
Screen (www.functionalmovement.com)
is a great way to start out any athlete. Check out the website provided if you
are not familiar with the screen. You can find loads of information and
certified individuals as well as instructors in your area to help if you have
questions. There has been a lot of published information on the screen so for efficient
time purposes I would refer to you that. It takes 10-12 minutes to run your
athlete through and will give you fantastic feedback( i.e.- if the athlete has
limitations, asymmetries or a preexisting condition you or the athlete may not
have been aware of). Just note- if you are willing to screen you must be
willing to correct. I have so many practitioners that tell me, “We do movement
screening,” and my follow up is “How are your corrections going?” That usually
draws some blank looks. The screen is an
incredible tool and all of the information is right there for us to use- USE
IT! I would rather take my time with a freshman, get him to move properly, bend
properly and have mobility and stability through his joints as opposed to
getting him to squat 500 pounds in 6 weeks and then watching all the micro
trauma injuries pile up over five years.
When
looking into a daily progression, you want to put things in order of
importance. It has been said, “Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.” So from
that standpoint, there are certain things every day I want to get done, it is
just finding the right time and place to do them. It is also about choosing the
correct exercises and combinations to elicit the best results. Finally it comes
down to making sure there are progressions that can be followed for each
exercise. Every kid starting out will not be able to back squat or do a
pull-up. But if you value those exercises you need to spend the time on the
front end with those athletes and properly progress them into learning how to
properly do the movements you value. I call this fitting the program to the
needs of the athlete as opposed to fitting the athlete to the needs of the
program. Just giving the same program year in and year out is just flat lazy!
Yes I said it. Changing the year and changing the order so it looks different
is lazy. There has not been one year where I look at the lineman and say we
need exactly the same thing we did last year! Kids evolve and therefore the
program must evolve to fit the needs of the athletes.
Now that we are
satisfied with movement patterns as well as corrective exercise, and there are
progressions based on your exercise menu, it is time to train. The way I look
at summer conditioning is simple- What can I do to get them ready to PRACTICE
FOOTBALL. Bottom line is these kids will undergo four weeks of camp, two-a-days,
meetings, and the list goes on. It is a true balance between how strong can we
get them and how hard can we condition them. The body only has so much it can
give so this can be very challenging.
When setting up a
weekly schedule I want to know I have these variables taken care when preparing
for camp:
1-Ground-Based Power applications every day
2-Absolute Strength
3- Base Conditioning
4 Specific Movement Drills and Implement Conditioning
5-Corrective Exercise
When
talking about ground base power, I try to employ some type of Olympic variation
every day. This could be any form of the clean whether it is rack cleans, hang
cleans, power cleans or full cleans, push jerks or split jerks and even
snatches of various forms. The simple reason is sports are total body in
nature. The Olympic movements are total body in nature. Sports require
stability and mobility in multiple joint angles. The Olympic variations require
stability and mobility in multiple joint angles. I do understand and concede
people like to use box jumps, medicine ball throws and other forms of total
body power production and training. I also go back to a statement Gray Cook
said in one of his “Secrets” DVD sets- A movement shall be deemed functional
based on the result not the appearance. To perform a full clean from the floor at
your body weight (300-330 for most lineman) requires great ankle flexibility, a
strong grip, incredible lower body strength, low back strength, mobility and
strength in the hips, stability in the knees, t-spine mobility, and upper body
strength. To me that is sport specific and functional for the needs of these
athletes.
When talking
absolute strength, the first exercise coaches want to incorporate is the Bench
Press. Remember, the game is played on your feet. An interior line man comes
out of a bent knee stance 50-80 times a game and 300-400 times per practice. So
the first strength exercise I want my guys proficient in and strong in is the
squat. I do want to note that upper body strength is crucial for development of
lineman as well. So I prioritize lower body first than upper body! Now as stated
before, you cannot just put a freshman in the squat rack, load him up and go to
work. I always want linemen to be good at front squatting first as they
transition into the back squat. There are two reasons for this. First, I
believe the front squat teaches an athlete to engage the torso area through the
movement as well as stabilize the spine through the entire movement. The second,
and I addressed the power movements in the previous section, is that this is
the rack position for the clean which I think is an essential movement for a
lineman.
In the first four
weeks of the summer, I like to do strength-based loading in the squat rack. One
day focuses on the front squat and the second on the back squat. Keep in mind
they have been in the squat rack and on the platforms two to three times a week
since the end of January so the strength base they have accumulated is pretty
good. Again for those athletes who cannot do a back squat properly, it is the
strength coach’s job (if you feel this movement is important) to teach the
athlete and to train the athlete to be proficient at it. I would use not only
front squatting but also deadlift patterns both single leg and double leg to groove
hip hinge patterns. That could be deadlifting from the floor, Romanian
Deadlifts or even kettle bell deadlifts to get this pattern. I also revisit the
functional movement screen to see if a more pressing problem is revealed. Critical
note here-If there is an imbalance of some sort, correct imbalances and
compensations before loading the athlete’s spine.
In the last four
weeks I still like to have two squatting days, but also want to create a
maximum effort day and a dynamic day. Typically I think it is important to have
both bar speed and maximum load on them as they move to the season. Power= Mass
x Acceleration so moving a load as fast as possible contributes to the power of
the athlete. At this point in the summer
having a speed squat with chains or bands for accommodating resistance really
helps the guys with starting speed and speed out of a low position. Also,
having them push max effort doubles and singles allows them to maximize their
strength potential leading into the season.
As complementary
exercises on lower body days, doing single leg strength work on the dynamic
squat days is critical in injury prevention for lineman. Even though they play
the majority of the time in a 2 foot stance and don’t run much, stability, strength
and balance through both legs is critical to any athlete! This can be done with
single leg squats, lunges or step-ups. To train the posterior chain on the max
effort squatting day we would then do a single leg RDL and on the dynamic
effort day we would use a bilateral RDL.
So to break down
the two lower body training days in the final four weeks of the summer, we
would Clean heavy (single and doubles), Chain Squat (8 sets of 2 or 3 , 45-60
seconds rest at 50%), use a single leg strength movement and incorporate RDL’s for
posterior chain strength. On the max effort squat day we would Clean (@90% of
Day 1 for singles or doubles), max effort Squat (singles or doubles), Single
Leg RDL and add some hip flexor stretching combined with some single leg bridging
(Cook Hip Lift variations). To me if you have done the corrective work, done
all the pre-hab and movement prep they need, it is all about the meat and more
meat and a little potatoes! Sorry to the vegetarians but we are talking about
o-lineman!
I know everyone
believes that to get in shape for football you must play football. I 100%
agree. But here is an example one of our strength coaches uses we can all
relate to and I like to apply it to this situation to understand why base
conditioning is critical. What would you do if you walk into your first college
class and the professor said, “ We are skipping right to chapter 15 on day one
and will be having a test on the first 14 chapters tomorrow” You would do one
of two things: drop the class or really screw up your sleep patterns cramming.
Either way there is not a good ending to this story. So, before we get to that
point of “Football Specific Conditioning” we need to develop work capacity in
the all athletes. Similar to having a firm foundation for strength and power
development, athletes need a firm conditioning foundation before we can ask
them to perform multiple game reps at 100% and expect them to recover. A great
way to get work capacity through running is the use of tempo runs with torso
stability work. A tempo run would look like this- Stride 80 yards on the hash
at 70%- walk to the opposite hash and get into a front plank position and hold
for thirty seconds- get up and stride back 80 yards at 70%- walk to the
opposite hash and perform single leg bridge holds. Repeat this process until
they have run a certain amount of designated yards or reps, these tempo runs
can be started very early in the training process and maintained through the
season.
When looking into
position-based movements it is very simple- Watch Practice! You can learn a ton
about specific movements especially by watching what coaches do in their
individual periods. I would put a strong
emphasis on pulling work and pass sets with resistance in the summer. But this
is where it is critical to make sure the kids, the coaches and you are on the
same page. So meet with the coach- get his thoughts on technique and points of
coaching he would give. The last thing we want is to coach an athlete on poor
technique and then send him to camp with bad habits.
Another great way
to get conditioning for big guys is the use of implements. Pushing prowlers or
other non-football padded sleds is a great way to get conditioning for linemen.
You can take them on a field or really anywhere and have them push it for 5-15
yards. That usually takes 4-5 seconds. Let them rest 30 seconds and repeat. You
can even get creative and set up drive series’ with them. Maybe do four 8 play
drives. Give them 3-4 minutes rest between each set. You can have them push a
sled down the field for one series and have him drag it back for another
series. You can also have them push tractors or cars. Flipping tires has been
another way to increase work capacity. There are so many websites and videos
out with alternative clips; in them the sky is the limit. Words of caution-
always make sure your athlete performs these with precision. Flipping a seven
hundred pound tire can take its toll on the low back if picked up wrong. Safety
should always come first before creative-looking workouts!
Corrective exercise
and movement screening has been covered but I can’t press the issue enough.
Athletes will develop compensations. They will train around them. It is our job
once we have initially corrected these imbalances to maintain the athletes’
movement patterns, so I like to use corrective exercise as part of the warm-up.
Upper body lifting days they would do shoulder mobility and shoulder stability
first, the progress into some form of push up followed by their strength
training. On lower body days we would look at active hamstring corrections, deep
squat corrections, in-line lunge and step up pattern corrections as well. Now
these serve to groove patterns as they are about to be loaded in the weight
room. Other corrections I like to do are the dead lift progressions laid out by
Cook and Jones in the “Secret of the Knee and Hip” DVD. I have seen so many
healthy and injured athletes run through about 5-10 minutes of deadlift
corrections and then drop into a deep squat! Use them- they work! I cannot
emphasize enough that movement must be maintained and by using corrections in
the warm-up you can minimize movement imbalances creeping back up!
That is an overview
of my philosophy on preparing linemen for training camp. Again remember the
goal is getting them ready to practice. Quite frankly games should be an easy
day. It is 60-80 reps after usually a Friday walk
through and an unloaded Thursday practice. Training camp practice may be 300 to
400 reps every day for weeks and sometimes twice in one day. You have the critical
job of getting them ready to practice so they can show off the speed, power and
strength they have gained in the off-season. Get them ready to practice so
practice can get them ready to play!
Keep Grinding!
Brian
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