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Welcome to The EliteFTS Roundtable Discussion article. This Free article is sent out on a monthly basis only to EFS newsletter subscribers. Kick back and enjoy this months article, which is about the top 5 lifts for football players.
Top 5 lifts for Football:
EliteFTS Roundtable Discussion
We gathered some of our EFS staff members and several others to discuss the 5 top lifts for football players. We put them all in a lineup and they were identified as such:
Sal Alosi
Jim Wendler
Rob Lowe
Mark ?JackAss? Bell
James Smith
C.J. Murphy
Mark McLaughlin
Dave Tate
All have experience training football players and all have some different ideas. We edited out some of the banter and the cussing to get to the meat of the discussion. If you are a football coach or a strength coach for football, check this out. It may give you some ideas.
Dave Tate: Let?s do this. What do you think are the five most important lifts for a football player?
Rob Lowe: I’m going to cheat here and pick 5 categories of important exercises:
Multi-hip: squat; deadlift; split squats
Posterior Chain: glute-ham; semi-straight and straight leg deadlifts
Push: Bench with multiple grips; DB Bench
Pull: Chins, Pulls and Rows
Prehab-Rehab: shoulder, neck, grip
If I had to pick 5 big exercises:
Squat
Deadlift
Glute-Ham
Bench
Chins
JackAss: That is a solid group so I’d have to agree.
With the 5 you listed there are hundreds of variations.
Sal Alosi: I will also agree:
Squat Variation
Posterior Chain Variation
Horizontal Push Variation
Horizontal/Vertical Pull Variation
Prehab/Rehab- Shoulder-Grip-Neck-Core
Yes, I cheated on #5…
Jim Wendler: I’m going to steal something from Dave on this one:
Top 3 exercises would be:
Squat
Bench
Deadlift
Now you can choose 3-5 exercises that help build these three. For example:
Squat
Lunges
Glute Ham Raises
Back Raises
Various Abdominal Work
Bench
DB Bench
DB Incline Bench
Incline Press
Chins
Rows
Deadlift
(Same exercises as the squat)
OK, so now on each variation, there can be other variations. But as a coach, I don’t want to have to teach someone a new lift everyday. You can have a lot of variables within a certain lift, but again, I don’t think you need to overcomplicate things. Remember that athletes don’t want to be strength coaches nor do they care to know too much about it. When you get you are having a problem with your computer, do you want them to tell you exactly what is going on and all of the intricacies? Or do you just want them to fix the problem? See my point?
C.J. Murphy: I like to do other stuff for athletes, all in the right point in the program, I’d break it down to traditional and non traditional.
Traditional exercises would consist of:
Squats
Pulls (DL)
Pressing
Posterior chain (glute ham raises, reverse hyperextensions, keystone deadlifts (similar to Romanian deadlifts, etc.)
Rows
Non traditional exercises:
Atlas stones
Tire flipping
Weighted walking (farmers, wheel barrow, super yoke)
Log pressing
Sled work (dragging, sprinting, arm over arm, etc)
Gym lifts are the foundation, events are fun. Fun is cool. So is dip and iced coffee. Too bad dip, iced coffee, and Guinness won’t get me strong and jacked; I’d be the best athlete in the world.
Mark McLaughlin: Jim is correct, keep it simple. If the athlete asks you what time it is don’t tell him how the watch was built tell him and time and be done with it.
Top 5 exercises:
Box squats
Bench press
Dead lifts
Reverse Hypers
GHR
For younger athletes keep it simple and fun. Currently we are having a GHR contest over 3 weeks for Frosh/Soph/JR who are new to the movement. After 3 weeks we are going to see who can do the most correctly executed GHR over 3 sets. The winner is going to get a “Dark side” T-shirt.
James Smith: I am going to go against the grain with some of the thoughts presented on this one.
Jim Wendler: That?s no surprise.
James Smith: I create an environment with my athletes which covers the fundamentals of PASM:
Physical
Psychological
Tactical
Technical
The preparation of these components is key.
I believe that within the context of GPP that tactical and technical mastery is highly dependent upon the athletes? awareness in the weight room or wherever else general/non-specific training occurs. So as you can see here I believe there is great significance in a derivative of PASM that must be directed towards GPP. This may be considered in terms of two PASMs being developed concurrently; one towards sport, and the other towards GPP methodics.
Of course the two are mutually dependent to a degree, but I feel that coaches (who know what they are talking about) owe it to the athletes to educate them. This, in my view, MUST be done for the singular fact that too many coaches out there don?t know and I want my athletes to gain the awareness so as to possess the capacity to ‘know what time it is’ when the time comes that they are under the tutelage of an idiot.
Every workout I take about 3-5 minutes at the end and discuss certain aspects of the workout and the significance of certain methodics. I keep it short and to the point and am sure to impress the concept of transference to sport and why the athletes should consider the information highly valuable. I make it clear that I am not trying to create a team of strength coaches; but rather, a collective of young athletes who has the growing awareness that will render them more ‘prepared’ for the years to come.
I also stress that the athletes take time throughout the day and become more aware of their physiological ‘state’. The more in tune with their organism they become, the more they are able to assist me in individualizing their training for the day. This is a highly effective means and one which enables me to manage 55 athletes by myself in a way that I feel solid about.
We must never forget that a young and motivated athlete is much more receptive and open minded towards any ideas that will serve to facilitate their development than an egotistical, self serving, insecure, ignorant coach who would rather argue than admit that he/she has been doing it wrong all these years.
