My brother is an offensive lineman for an Ivy league university. I’m not going to mention the name as not to offend anyone who might be affiliated with it, but their football strength and conditioning program has been next to useless in terms of strength gain. Real quick history: Senior in high school, he benched 275x8. After one and a half years on their program, he benched 270x3. That’s NOT a typo. I put him on the Poliquin 1/6 principle program and his bench soard to 310x4 in a matter of 9 weeks (we extended beyond the recommended 6 weeks because it was going so well). However, he didn’t see the same results with his squat as form was a major issue when working close to his 1 RM. Can anyone here recommend a program to boost his bench and squat poundages? I was thinking perhaps utilizing the 1/6 method for upper body, but am not quite sure as to how to handle the squat issue. I have read over the Westside training method and even used it myself for about 10 weeks. It seemed hard to get used to and very difficult to gauge progress being that one rarely performs the tested lift, only variations of it. I also found that I felt overtrained after about 2 microcycles. Ok, I’m rambling a bit here… What I’m asking for is if anyone knows of a solid strength program that could help him prepare for the upcoming season, it would be greatly appreciated. Also, if there is a good way to work in the power clean, let me know, as that is the 3rd lift that is tested. Thanks again
KBM
There are many manners to improve his Bench/Clean & Squat however the question that needs to be addressed is how this fits into his full training program to ensure that his performance on the field improves. Another major concern is how he is going to handle this training, given that he should also be training with his teammates. I will be pleased to discuss more if you wish. In faith, Coach Davies
yes or no, does the name of the school start with the letters “Pr-------”
Westside is far more scientific and effective than the 1-6 principle. Both work, but Westside style training can be used year round. As Coach Davies noted, most important is how his training will improve him on the field. Benching big numbers isn’t the only key to success.
I can guess what school your brother goes too, as the school I’m thinking about has one of the most notorious HIT programs. They sure know how to produce some weak athletes. Anyways, I would get you bro going on a westside/renegade hybrid program. The ME and DE work combined with the athletic lifts of the renegade program is what your brother needs after being stuck with HIT.
You might want to check-out Bill Starr’s “Only the Strong Survive” it is one of the early football strength programs. It is less eqiupment intensive than Coach Davis excellent programs and makes and good stepping stone to the coach’s programs.
Perhaps you could post something about what his current football workout is and what his clean and squat numbers are.
Sometimes linemen get lazy with the cleans. In my opinion, any football player’s clean should be atleast what his bench is. There is no point in being able to bench a lot if you can’t use the movement that generates most of your power. He should do cleans or jerks at the beginning of every workout. Hang cleans can be substitued for jerks or incorporated otherwise. Bench is important, however, and it would definitely be a good idea to do some supplementary stuff with that. I would be surprised if his program did not already have plenty of squatting. Maybe he needs to practice better form.