Recently I started trying to follow back almost every new S&C follower regardless of size because this account is not my business account and because I'm interesting in hearing more problems, solutions, and general ponderings from the field than simply maintaining a cool ratio.
There was always such a weird sense with Travis that he was too good to be true... he was too good to be so overlooked... he was too humble... he was too likable... he was too electric.
His presence broke every narrative and stigma about FSU. He was so spectacular, and yet no
A baseball player told me yesterday that his orthopedic surgeon told him baseball players shouldn't do upperbody lifting, and all I could think was "15 year olds shouldn't have an orthopedic surgeon."
A Netflix documentary where Nick Saban, Bill Belichick, and Pete Carroll all coach in a small town high school district against one another... make it JV so they play each other twice in 8 weeks.
This was FINDING OUT!
Fate was with us by then. That coach called, and a collective fury answered. Mike tried to let him off, but he insisted on facing the wrath.
If your kids are bent over puking, it doesn't mean the workout was good. It means you as the coach failed them and then pushed them over the edge recklessly. Now, while you high five yourself, you've just significantly lowered your athlete's ability to perform for several weeks.
The kids who are itching to get back into the weightroom after the season ends are always the same kids that coaches tell me 9 months later: "You know who has REALLY improved?"
@MattBarrie
There's huge money involved in ncaa football and surrounding media and interstate commerce. The government might actually... *gulp*... be doing its job?!
The kids who miss the fewest workouts are the ones who report the least soreness.
Fascinating, it's as if the kids with the lowest work capacities are the most fragile?
Aside from coaching, I also make sports documentaries. My directorial debut was a film called "Westside vs The World". I knew tonight would come one day. I just want to say thank you Louie, for your story and for your knowledge. Each have changed my life.
You know what I think makes kids tough? Teaching them to simply work because the work needs doing. That they don't need to get amped up or pretend to be warriors. They simply need to keep doing what gets the desired results. Get more efficient. Get more focused.
Sport specific training doesn't make sense in high school for a number of reasons, but one glaring one being that little Johnny plays 3 different sports a year in the same body. Become faster. Become stronger. Become more explosive. That about covers it.
I've noticed that the parents who coach at major power 5s start their kids in the weightroom much earlier than the typical travel ball parents. They also take a more active interest in their kid's strength than parents who don't recruit and scout kids for a living.
If you're coaching now, you shouldn't do a single thing you did 'back in your day' without having analyzed and understood why you ever did it in the first place. Bad ideas get handed down like disgusting couches to college students.
Since the single vs. multi sport argument is back en vogue, here's 'Coach X' (Buddy Morris) coming to you live from his kitchen in 2016 as we shot Westside vs. The World.
When I was at Westside every rep was coached. There were conversations about every set. Learning was an integral part of every exercise. If Dave Hoff can analyze every rep he does after nearly 20 years of being a monster, you can slow down to educate your kids as they go.
I think every strength coach would be well served to learn about strength from people who are monstrously strong. I'm talking someone who lifts weights that are big enough to kill. 4 digit lifts. You won't find those answers in text books.
At what point do you consider a high school kid strong?
I have a real simple answer: I don't.
No one reaches anything close to their potential as a teenager.
"I used to do cross country, and it killed my speed." A kid told me this yesterday as we timed 40s.
I see it all the time. Kids get told cross country will get them in shape for their primary sport, but come spring, they're lighter, weaker, slower, and their jumps are down.
Conversations I've had with scouts:
"Has he been hitting the weightroom hard? I can tell."
Conversely...
"He doesn't even show up, does he?"
The first statement is a conversation starter. The second statement is a eulogy.
My issue with the Olympic lifts for athletic development is simply that they aren't going to make you as explosive as jumps, or as strong as squats and deadlifts. Why waste time on low ROI? Take a covered wagon if you want, but I'm buying plane tickets.
Wanna throw 105mph? Well, you're gonna need some horsepower! Ben Joyce slings 110 lb dumbbells, benches 345, and trap bar deadlifts 635... and even after losing weight, he still weighs ~230.
Oly lifts are too fast to make you very strong. So with that said, if they're a big part of your training make sure they're light enough to move explosively! As a coach, that probably means uncomfortably light.
I take a certain satisfaction that perhaps my most popular tweet was a long sincere reflection. This platform can so easily fall into endless echoes of petty cynicism and vitriol. It's nice to be reminded that sincerity and positivity can still grab meaningful engagement.
I want my athletes in the recovery position that is going to help them recover the fastest. If that looks "weak" to you, awesome because we're probably about to whip you.
This is why I say that the start/ acceleration is a squat (vertical). The force produced is in line with the athlete's torso. The athlete is essentially driving straight down, and the effective horizontal force is simply a result of lean/projection rather than hinging.
Working with middle school athletes is crazy because they'll make it through a full season healthy, and then 4 will show up on the first Monday of the off-season with casts from the most random disconnected incidents you've ever heard of.
Most athletes need to train MORE like a GOOD conjugate powerlifter.
More intent.
More purpose in exercise selection.
More detailed observation.
Less noise and busy work volume.
Add jumps and sprints.
A new study says squatting with bands may help with jumping?!
Meanwhile Powerlifting USA readers from 1997 will be interested to know that in addition to waiting 25 years to confirm the obvious, we still don't have flying cars.
I tell my kids all the time: if you expect a fight, you'll get a fight.
By this I mean: if you enter a situation looking for negative outcomes, you'll end up finding them.
Same goes for people. Operate with grace and assume that people don't mean to come off as jerks.
Why don't basketball players (who jump constantly) have better standing verticals than football players who jump rarely?
Answer: football players initiate nearly every play from a set (static) position. As a result, they have higher rates of force development.
This is Bob (Merkh). Bob is an award-winning history teacher and former defensive lineman with one of the highest powerlifting totals of all time. Bob looks scarier than you. If kids don't respect a fear-based approach with Bob, how much do you think they'll respect it with you?
It's amazing what happens when kids get their rest between sets. I've got a kid up 50 lbs on his bench in 2 months after we put him on a timer to slow him down between working sets.
This highlights so many problems. Consequently, I asked him which players on the team threw the hardest. As he replied I stated their bench maxes. Turns out every player with a higher mph than him is significantly stronger than him... weird how that happens.
Every sport should train max velocity. Every sport should jump. Every sport should get strong as hell.
It's not always about the direct needs of the sport, but rather driving up the general qualities which will support the specific work down the line.
One of the really profound lessons I learned from Louie: put more stock in coaches who are in the gym. Too many people nowadays have read every study but they haven't tried a damn thing. Many "big name" coaches we see on here have stunted their own growth by leaving the gym.
Don't spend all off-season trying to get stronger and faster, only to limp into your first game slow and weak because you impatiently spiked your team's workload. It shows a lack of discipline on the part of the coach.
It's amazing how much low dosage sprint work actually changes the look of an athlete. Our athletes who used to run endlessly for conditioning now look noticeably leaner, having dropped 90+% of their running volume.
If you get stronger while getting faster, why would you stop either? I keep hearing about this theoretical cliff where you have to sacrifice one for the other.
#raisethecurve
Teach the kids to stop looking for the perfect external conditions in order to feel powerful. Teach them to be silent and relentless in the long term pursuit of their goals. Teach them to march forward with steadfast determination on the boring days.
Agility ladders better replicate dancing than anything you do on the field or court... but dance instructors would ask you "why not just work on the dance?"
This covers my feelings on agility ladders and sports. Why not just work on the actual footwork of the sport?
I think toughness is simply doing what you have to do. It's not a big show. It isn't loud. It's just work getting done towards a purpose.
So, how do you make kids tough?
You don't. You be an example of unwavering commitment to the goal. They'll see that.
You know who is oddly forgiving of technique?
People who have actually gotten strong.
Almost as if you don't make it to the other side by being perfect, but by getting better along the way. 🤔
As the weight gets heavier in bench it becomes more important to attack it. Don't let it fall to you. Pull it in and reverse it up as fast off of the bottom as you can.
This was a point of re-emphasis for several of our kids this week and yielded big gains instantly.
Kids play slow for a few reasons...
1. They are slow. Quality training should speed them up.
2. They are under recovered and overworked. Inefficient practices and poor planning on behalf of coaches.
3. They are confused of their assignments. Instruction is lacking or unclear.
My distribution company is trying a little something new and airing my documentary Westside vs The World for FREE on YouTube for a limited time. If you haven't seen it, you officially have ZERO excuses!
I work with a coach who has won 5 state titles. When I first started with her, I was afraid her past success might make her less likely to change or modify her system, but it was quite the opposite: she was eager to make any change that might make her system better.
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Price announcement coming soon. Spoiler alert... you'll love it.
#MetricsMadeEasy
I yanked this off of an IG post from (
@JomboyMedia
) to use as a reference with my high school athletes. It's hard to get within striking distance of these weights without the weightroom and without regularly weighing in. But do those 2 things, and it's almost inevitable!
In 1999 Donnie Thompson had a rather pedestrian total of 1750 lbs at 34 years old.
Over the next 12 years he added 1250 lbs to that total to be the first man to hit 3000 lbs.
34 lbs a year to each lift. Less than 3 lbs per month.
He just kept going up and didn't stop.
When young and new lifters used to come to Westside in the 90s, Louie would limit them to the main lift and maybe 1 accessory, then tell them to leave. Every few weeks he would allow them to add an additional accessory until months later they caught up to the full workout.
I often wonder how many games were lost on Friday night because the coaches spent Monday through Thursday training for Saturday morning's cross country meet?
The kid who needs to get in the zone for a summer workout, isn't tough. The kid who needs his air pods and his pre-workout, isn't tough. The kid who needs to performatively yell and shake the bar... that's a kid wishing to be tough.
I first found Byrd because Louie Simmons told me there was a guy with dreads in the middle of nowhere, Pennsylvania, with all these kids jumping on 70" boxes.
Every prospect looking to play ball in college, regardless of sport should follow Coach Sandlin here. He consistently sheds light on the process and gives out tips and ideas to bring agency to the athlete within their own recruiting.
RECRUITs: Your SENIOR film MATTERS! You can still EARN offers. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s TOO LATE to get an offer.
In Oct, 634 D1 offers went out to ‘23 Prospects.
From Oct 1 to today 50 ‘23’s received their FIRST D1 Offer and 368 P5 offers we’re given.
#Recruiting101
Sometimes coaches are confused about how little volume we do when I first start working with a team. The kids aren't crazy sore. They aren't dripping with sweat. But over time they build a massive work capacity without really "feeling it" because we increased methodically.