Phase 3: Spring Workouts
Resistance Training
Types of Exercises
Rest, Volume and Special Sets
Running and Conditioning
Conditioning coach Ben Cook, who has worked with 27 players that went on to the NFL, includes more than 160 photos showing correct technique and nearly 200 exercises and drills.
The purpose of this phase is to maintain the levels of power and endurance you gained during phase two. This phase is an extension of phase two, a bridge that leads to the summer months when you can again build power and endurance to their peak.
The amount of rest between exercise sets remains the same as the phase progresses - 1:30 between the sets of (b) exercises and 1:00 between the sets of (s) exercises. The amount of rest between exercises remains at 1:30. You can reduce these times by 15 to 30 seconds if your position or team meetings limit the time you can spend in the weight room. As you balance your time between study, sport conditioning and personal time, burnout is most apt to occur during this phase, so keep the workouts short but challenging.
Conditioning during this phase is incorporated into practice with drills and games. Some players will be at a disadvantage because of their reserved playing status, either as a result of injury or because they are low on the depth chart. As a result, their physical conditioning will undoubtedly suffer. For this reason, I urge all athletes to run on their own. The conditioning or position coach can determine the quantity and frequency of the runs. If you are having problems controlling your body weight or are rehabilitating from an injury, you may want to set special times with your coach to come by and perform assigned running, treadmill, stair-climber or bike work. If you are injured and not needed at practice, then reserve the practice time for reconditioning toward playing status. Near the end of the spring season the head coach and the strength and conditioning coach may collaborate and include a post-practice conditioning session that can meet conditioning needs.
From 1990 to 1994, author Ben Cook was the assistant strength and conditioning coach for the University of North Carolina (UNC) football team, where his assistance helped 27 players reach the NFL. He is currently the strength coach for the Tar Heel basketball team, one of the nation's top programs.
Thanks to an agreement with Human Kinetics Publishing, NFLHS.com is proud to present 52-Week Football Training, a book that provides the conditioning plan you need to maximize football-specific physical development and motivation. Players can gain the perfect balance of power, speed, and agility by implementing this proven in-season and off-season training plan.
The exercises during this phase consist of core lifts and supporting and assisting exercises. I have included some additional exercises that may seem unusual at first. These exercises include leg dragging, crabbing, rollouts, dumbbell strolls and dumbbell combo exercises. Implement these exercises to break the boredom of the routine and to provide an element of functional training. As in phases one and two, do exercises for the larger muscle groups first in the workout before you address the smaller muscle groups.
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Phase three is a maintenance phase that typically begins around the end of March and ends about early May. This maintenance phase can correspond to a collegiate player's spring football practice or to a high school athlete's involvement in another spring sport. The last week of this phase provides a week off from training, planned to correspond to the collegiate academic break that usually occurs between the spring semester and the start of the first session of summer school. This planned break can also work to the advantage of high school athletes involved in other sports or as a recovery week before starting phase four. Phase three requires three workout days per week.
52-Week Football Training: Part 5
This phase includes no special sets or reps. But during this phase you'll perform many drills at high speed. Even though the overall resistance is not extreme, the exercise intensity as a result of movement speed will be increased. As a result of spring football practice, conditioning drills, and activities, the legs are often fatigued; thus, there is less need to compound the fatigue with excessive off-field legwork.
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