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Five Things the Average Athlete Program is Lacking
I have seen hundreds of high school and college lif ting programs over the last 10 years. Ninety
percent of them seem to consist of the usual blend of speed, strength, and power exercises. That
same 90% also seem to lack some concepts that I f eel are very necessary f or the team sport athlete.
Below are f ive things the average program is lacking.
1. Ankle Mobilit y
If you lack mobility in the ankle joint, then you are leaving yourself open to non-contact knee injuries. This is
exactly why I am not a big f an of healthy athletes bracing and taping their ankles. In addition, improving your
ankle mobility will make you a better squatter and deadlif ter. At Soar, we start every warm-up with ankle
mobilizations over the middle toe, big toe, and little toe. Keep your heel on the ground and push your knee
towards the wall. It is so simple, but very f ew athletes do it.
2. Lat eral Plyomet rics
If you play any team sport, you are going to be moving in all directions, not just straight f orward. Yet, the
average high school lif ting program consists only of vertical and horizontal power exercises such as broad
jumps, box jumps, and power cleans. These are all great exercises, but what about creating power in the
f rontal plane? Aside f rom the benef its to your speed and power on the f ield, lateral plyometrics will help keep
the ankles, knees, and hips healthy.
Here are a f ew examples of two- and one-leg lateral plyometrics that we of ten use at Soar:
Lateral quick f eet plyos within an agility ladder
Lateral bounds
Lateral hurdle jump and hops
Lateral broad jumps
3. Bent Leg Hip Ext ension Exercises
The glute is the king muscle when it comes to speed, but very f ew programs utilize exercises that specif ically
target it. Glute ham raises and RDL variations are great f or the hamstrings, but they do not recruit the glutes in
the same manner that a lot of bent leg hip extension exercises do. The best thing about them: all you need is a
bench or a box to do them.
Here are a f ew examples of Bent Leg Hip Extension exercises we use at Soar:
Back on Bench (BOB) one- and two-leg hip extensions. We weight single-leg ones with chains and two-
leg ones with a barbell.
Forward sled marches
Half get-ups with a hip lif t
BOB glute bridges
In addition to the speed benef its you will get f rom adding these into your program, they will also go a long way
towards preventing nagging hamstring injuries, back pain, and knee pain. The average high school kid who has
towards preventing nagging hamstring injuries, back pain, and knee pain. The average high school kid who has
knee pain or glute amnesia will benef it greatly f rom a f ew sets per week of these exercises. (Consult Bret
Contreras, aka The Glute Guy, f or an in-depth look at glute training).
4. Weight ed carries
A strong athlete has a strong grip, and weighted carries are one of the best ways to improve your grip
strength. Dont have f armers walking handles? Kettlebells, dumbbells, or anything heavy will work. The key is to
mix up the kind of carries that you have your athletes do. At Soar, we have a Weighted Carry of the Week. We
rotate through a variety of carries with heavy handles or kettlebells. Here is a list of carries we rotate through:
Heavy carry:same weight in each arm
Offset carry:load is heavier in one arm
Suitcase carry:weight is only in one arm
Heartbeat carry:hold a kettlebell at chest height and press is out as you walk (Credit f or this goes to
Dan John!)
Bottoms up carry:hold the kettlebell upside down and keep elbows bent at 90 degrees
Suicide walks:any of the above carries but changing directions (like a basketball suicide)
5. Rot at ional Training
The term f unctional training has become a f ire starter f or many arguments in online f orums. Some trainers
have taken it way too f ar by having their clients do everything with a wobble board. On the other hand, there
are also those coaches who think that anything that doesnt involve a bar is f or pussies. I would say I f all
somewhere in between. This is where diagonal chops come in. A lot of sports are played in the transverse
plane, and this is why rotational training is f unctional f or most team sport athletes. The problem is that most
coaches f ail to understand that rotational training is NOTexplosive twisting of the lumbar spine. It is learning
how to rotate the hips and upper back while the center of the body stays relatively stable.
A sound rotational training progression begins with learning how to resist rotation. We start all of our athletes
with chops in a half kneeling position, where the goal is to brace the core and resist the f orces that the cable
is putting on them. We then progress to rotational med ball throws and standing chops, where the hips and
upper back produce the power. Two sets of 10 reps in each direction one to two times a week serves as
suf f icient rotational training in my experience.
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