What is mental toughness? Athletes hear it and coaches say it. How do you become mentally tough?
In my 24 years of coaching experience I have seen one common denominator in athletes who are mentally tough or one way to develop mental toughness in athletes or teams. The weight room! From my experience, athletes and or teams who work hard in the weight room are mentally tough. That weight room toughness transfers to the playing field thus producing more wins. Everything being equal, size, speed, strength, athletic ability, the team that develops and exudes mental toughness, wins!
So how do you develop mental toughness in the weight room? First of all, you don’t hurt or injure your athletes. You must teach and develop perfect technique on all lifts. You must develop a strong core. You must train hard but smart.
I have been associated with many programs. One thing the successful ones had in common was mental toughness and that mental toughness started in the weight room. I was a graduate assistant at Clemson University in the early 90’s. When I left Clemson, I took a job in Northwest GA at 4A high school as the head strength coach and assistant football coach. Two power house high schools had combined and this school was expected to compete right away. Between the two schools, they had won 7 state championships. I arrived at the beginning of the summer, walked in the weight room and a small group of football players were working out with a few coaches standing around watching. I made a comment to my wife, “this must be the middle school or JV players. To my surprise, this was the varsity. I had my work cut out for me. I evaluated the team and realized that we had the weakest and softest football team I had ever been a part of. To make a long story short, we went 2-8 the 1st year, 5-5 the 2nd, and made the playoffs the 3rd. The 4th year we made it to the 3rd round of the playoffs. This group of young men were mentally tough. It all started in the weight room. As a coaching staff, we put our players in situations in the weight room and on the field that challenged them. We worked harder than any of our opponents. When they thought they couldn’t go any further, we push them to a new level. Nothing remains the same. 100% effort doesn’t remain the same. What was 100% effort in game one isn’t always 100% in game 2.
“The physicality of our world is a boundary only if our will is weak: A true champion can accomplish things a normal person would think impossible”—the book, the art of racing in the rain
This quote from the book, the art of racing, sums it up. You must be tough physically and mentally, not only in sports but in life. If you are to be a champion, you must be mentally tough!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Can the Pro Performance System of Training be Utilized for Athletes
The answer to this question is yes. Our training system is based on science and has been tried and tested for many years with myself, our trainers and our clients. Nothing can beat experience and being under the bar or in the heat of battle.
Our program is based on a 3 day per week total body training system. Each day we start with a power movement followed by a leg movement and then upper body movements. Day 1 will be an upper body emphasis, day 2 a lower body emphasis and day 3 a power emphasis and then work capacity. I will lay out a template later in the article.
The Program:
Our training program is designed around 3 proven methods.
Train Absolute Strength: We train absolute strength. We do this with a twist. High school strength training programs are usually limited on time. Our system allows you to get the most out of an athlete with great results in the shortest amount of time. So how do we do this? We utilize the push/pull method. Ex. If we are performing a horizontal pressing movement, we will superset with a horizontal pulling movement. When training absolute strength for high school athletes, we keep our rep range between 3-5 reps. We also utilize multi-joint lifts, i.e. Squats, dead lift, overhead press, rows, hang cleans etc.
Train Power: Each workout begins with a power movement or plyometric exercise. Again, we keep the rep range between 3-5 reps. We’ll take longer rest periods between these movements. Power is generated through the legs, hips and core, thus our focus is on training these movements. Notice the last statement. We train movement and not just muscle. You must get away from the body building mentality when training athletes.
Train Work Capacity: We have a unique way of doing this and this is one of the components that separate our style of training from the rest. We train work capacity using medium to heavy weights. We train work capacity on the 3rd workout of the week. We begin this workout with a series of plyometric movements for the lower body as well as the upper body. That’s right, I said upper body. The upper body must be explosive as well. This part of the workout takes around 30 minutes to complete. The work capacity section will take around 15 minutes.
3 Day Template:
Monday: Total Body with Upper Body Emphasis
1. Power movement
2. Multi joint leg movement
3. Horizontal pressing movement
4. Horizontal pulling movement
5. Vertical pressing movement
6. Vertical pulling movement
7. Triceps movement
8. Biceps movement
9. Core training
Wednesday: Total Body with Lower Body Emphasis
1. Power movement
2. Multi joint leg movement
3. Posterior chain movement
4. Unilateral leg movement
5. Vertical pressing movement
6. Vertical pulling movement
7. Body weight horizontal pressing movement
8. Body weight horizontal pulling movement
9. Core training
Friday: Total Body with Power and Work Capacity Emphasis
1. Plyometric movement lower body
2. Plyometric movement upper body
3. Work capacity total body
4. Core training
Each workout begins with a dynamic warm up focusing on lower body flexibility with an emphasis on hip mobility. We also focus on shoulder flexibility and mobility, plus shoulder prehab. Each training session ends with static stretching focusing on hamstrings, hips, glutes and hip flexors. We stretch our upper body with bands. For more information on strength and conditioning for high school athletes, contact us at scott@pro-performance.net
Sample Workout Week:
Monday:
Kettlebell power pulls: 4x5
Kettlebell Front Squats: 4x5
Dumbbell bench press: 4x5
Superset
Dumbbell rows: 4x5
Overhead see saw press: 3x5
Superset
Pull-ups: 3x10
Dumbbell triceps extension: 3x10
Superset
Dumbbell curls: 3x10
Core:
Hanging leg raises: 2x20
Superset
Get up sit-ups: 2x10
Superset
Floor wipers: 2x10 each side
Wednesday:
Kettlebell swings: 4x10
Squats: 4x5
Glute ham raise: 3x10
Pistol box squats: 3x5 each leg
Double overhead kettlebell press: 3x8
Chin-Ups: 3x10
Ring Push-Ups: 3x10
Horizontal pull-ups: 3x10
Core Circuit:
Hanging leg raise: 10 reps
Floor wipers: 10 each side
Get up sit-ups: 10 reps
Ab tucks on swiss ball: 10 reps
Prone plank: 1 min.
Friday:
Standing tuck jumps: 3x10 reps, 2 min. rest
Power skips: 3x 20 yards, 2 min. rest
Med ball chest pass: 3 x10 reps, 2 min. rest
Plyo push-ups on bosu ball: 3x15 sec, 2 min. rest
Work Capacity: 30/30
Jump rope: 30 sec.
Rest: 30 sec.
Squat to push press: 30 sec.
Rest: 30 sec.
Pull-ups: 30 sec.
Rest: 30 sec.
Push-ups: 30 sec.
Rest 30 sec.
Power pull: 30 sec.
Rest 2 min.
Complete 3 rounds
Coming in December!
The # 1 strength and conditioning program on the market today!
Our program is based on a 3 day per week total body training system. Each day we start with a power movement followed by a leg movement and then upper body movements. Day 1 will be an upper body emphasis, day 2 a lower body emphasis and day 3 a power emphasis and then work capacity. I will lay out a template later in the article.
The Program:
Our training program is designed around 3 proven methods.
Train Absolute Strength: We train absolute strength. We do this with a twist. High school strength training programs are usually limited on time. Our system allows you to get the most out of an athlete with great results in the shortest amount of time. So how do we do this? We utilize the push/pull method. Ex. If we are performing a horizontal pressing movement, we will superset with a horizontal pulling movement. When training absolute strength for high school athletes, we keep our rep range between 3-5 reps. We also utilize multi-joint lifts, i.e. Squats, dead lift, overhead press, rows, hang cleans etc.
Train Power: Each workout begins with a power movement or plyometric exercise. Again, we keep the rep range between 3-5 reps. We’ll take longer rest periods between these movements. Power is generated through the legs, hips and core, thus our focus is on training these movements. Notice the last statement. We train movement and not just muscle. You must get away from the body building mentality when training athletes.
Train Work Capacity: We have a unique way of doing this and this is one of the components that separate our style of training from the rest. We train work capacity using medium to heavy weights. We train work capacity on the 3rd workout of the week. We begin this workout with a series of plyometric movements for the lower body as well as the upper body. That’s right, I said upper body. The upper body must be explosive as well. This part of the workout takes around 30 minutes to complete. The work capacity section will take around 15 minutes.
3 Day Template:
Monday: Total Body with Upper Body Emphasis
1. Power movement
2. Multi joint leg movement
3. Horizontal pressing movement
4. Horizontal pulling movement
5. Vertical pressing movement
6. Vertical pulling movement
7. Triceps movement
8. Biceps movement
9. Core training
Wednesday: Total Body with Lower Body Emphasis
1. Power movement
2. Multi joint leg movement
3. Posterior chain movement
4. Unilateral leg movement
5. Vertical pressing movement
6. Vertical pulling movement
7. Body weight horizontal pressing movement
8. Body weight horizontal pulling movement
9. Core training
Friday: Total Body with Power and Work Capacity Emphasis
1. Plyometric movement lower body
2. Plyometric movement upper body
3. Work capacity total body
4. Core training
Each workout begins with a dynamic warm up focusing on lower body flexibility with an emphasis on hip mobility. We also focus on shoulder flexibility and mobility, plus shoulder prehab. Each training session ends with static stretching focusing on hamstrings, hips, glutes and hip flexors. We stretch our upper body with bands. For more information on strength and conditioning for high school athletes, contact us at scott@pro-performance.net
Sample Workout Week:
Monday:
Kettlebell power pulls: 4x5
Kettlebell Front Squats: 4x5
Dumbbell bench press: 4x5
Superset
Dumbbell rows: 4x5
Overhead see saw press: 3x5
Superset
Pull-ups: 3x10
Dumbbell triceps extension: 3x10
Superset
Dumbbell curls: 3x10
Core:
Hanging leg raises: 2x20
Superset
Get up sit-ups: 2x10
Superset
Floor wipers: 2x10 each side
Wednesday:
Kettlebell swings: 4x10
Squats: 4x5
Glute ham raise: 3x10
Pistol box squats: 3x5 each leg
Double overhead kettlebell press: 3x8
Chin-Ups: 3x10
Ring Push-Ups: 3x10
Horizontal pull-ups: 3x10
Core Circuit:
Hanging leg raise: 10 reps
Floor wipers: 10 each side
Get up sit-ups: 10 reps
Ab tucks on swiss ball: 10 reps
Prone plank: 1 min.
Friday:
Standing tuck jumps: 3x10 reps, 2 min. rest
Power skips: 3x 20 yards, 2 min. rest
Med ball chest pass: 3 x10 reps, 2 min. rest
Plyo push-ups on bosu ball: 3x15 sec, 2 min. rest
Work Capacity: 30/30
Jump rope: 30 sec.
Rest: 30 sec.
Squat to push press: 30 sec.
Rest: 30 sec.
Pull-ups: 30 sec.
Rest: 30 sec.
Push-ups: 30 sec.
Rest 30 sec.
Power pull: 30 sec.
Rest 2 min.
Complete 3 rounds
Coming in December!
The # 1 strength and conditioning program on the market today!
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