WSBB Blog: Conjugate Football 2.0
The training of football players requires programming that addresses the diverse needs of the athlete. No matter the position played, all players need to be able to move explosively, exert max levels of strength, while also having the strength endurance and cardiovascular capacity to remain effective throughout the duration of the game. Not only will our Conjugate Football programming address these needs, players will become more resilient and less injury prone as GPP and SPP is increased.
As a coach, you want to have the ability to apply maximum amounts of pressure on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball for the entire duration of the game. In order for this to be possible, you must have athletes that have been trained properly. With our Conjugate Football 2.0 programming, you will have the programming necessary to make your players run faster, jump higher, hit harder, and remain effective in all four quarters. Below, we will cover some of the basic philosophy behind each training day, and how it is applied to the training of football players.
Max Effort Lower
On max effort lower day, football players will utilize workouts similar to those that our powerlifters use. The difference will be the top set rep counts, which will vary depending on the week. This programming will feature top set single rep exercise, as well as top set multi rep exercises with rep counts of three and five. This affords the athlete to work on absolute strength on the single rep days, absolute strength and strength endurance on the top set triple days, and strength endurance / heavy hypertrophy work on the top set of five days.
Exercise selection and bar rotations will be similar to our powerlifting programming. The exercises will be different variations of squats, deadlifts, and goodmornings designed to properly target the anterior and posterior muscle groups of the lower body. The exercises, bars, and rep counts are rotated in a way that assures your players are getting the most out of their lower body training days, while adequately targeting all lower body muscle groups. This means linemen that can drive a player back ten yards, and ball carriers that can drag tacklers to get that extra three to five yards after contact.
Max Effort Upper
The next training day will be max effort upper. This will be a heavy press day, focusing on the use of conventional bench pressing, close grip bench pressing, and overhead pressing. Rep counts will be similar to the counts used for max effort lower, focusing on the use of singles, triples, and sets of five. The focus is to properly strengthen the chest, shoulders, triceps, biceps, and upper back for the rigors of football. This means improved shoulder health and throwing power for quarterbacks, increased upper body strength for ball carriers to throw stiff arms and secure the ball, as well as linemen that can land powerful initial strikes on their opponents and drive them out of position.
Bar and exercise rotations will be similar to our powerlifting movements. The programming will utilize a regular bench bar, the axle bar, and the football bar while performing basic press exercises such as the bench press, close grip bench press, floor press, and overhead press. Alternating between single rep maxes, triple maxes, and max sets of five will provide the same benefits to the upper body as they do for the lower body. You will have increased levels of absolute strength, as well as upper body explosive strength and endurance to provide you with the speed and power to dominate opponents.
Dynamic Effort Lower
Dynamic effort lower day is one of the most important days for an athlete. This is the training day that will focus on making you a more explosive, powerful athlete. By increasing the rate of force production, you are improving your ability to exert maximum amounts of strength and power on command. This means players will be quicker off of the ball, while having the ability to change directions and achieve maximum acceleration faster.
The dynamic effort lower training day will be practically the same as our powerlifters’ dynamic effort lower training days. This means three week waves using 5 x 5, 10 x 2, and 8 x 2, or 12 x 2, 10 x 2, and 8 x 2. Intensity levels vary over the course of the three week wave, typically following 70-75-80%, or 75-80-85%. Band tension will always be 25%. The bar used will change after each three week wave is completed. At Westside, we recommend football players focus primarily on the use of the bow bar, the SSB bar, and the giant cambered bar. These bars will provide training stimulus to the necessary anterior and posterior muscle groups, while being easy on the shoulders.
Occasionally, dynamic effort lower will be replaced by a day referred to as modified max effort lower. This day will be performed in place of your dynamic effort lower workout, and will be an additional max effort lower training day for the week. This is done as a way to further avoid accommodation, while maximizing the amounts of absolute strength focused training days performed. Remember, absolute strength is the strength that must be increased in order to increase other strengths and abilities.
Dynamic Effort Upper
The focus of this training day is simple; improve upper body explosive strength and increased upper body muscle mass. Dynamic effort upper will be programmed the same way we program for powerlifters. You will perform three week waves, using 50-55-60% over the course of the three weeks. Each week will use red minibands attached to the barbell, halved. This will provide an additional 75-100lbs top weight depending on a player's arm length. Bars should be rotated every three weeks.
This day is commonly known as “speed bench day”, however it is important to perform reps as controlled as possible. Do you want to move the barbell as fast as possible? Yes. Should you sacrifice form and control to gain speed? Absolutely not. As a coach, it is on you to ensure that your players are executing speed days with form in mind first.
Conjugate Club Football 2.0
Keep an eye out for our upcoming Conjugate Football 2.0 programming release, coming soon to the Conjugate Club. This programming will increase the absolute strength of your athletes, while making them more explosive, athletic, and resistant to injury. Any good coach knows the importance of the weight room when training football players, make sure you are using the best programming available on the market today. To gain access to our football programming, as well as our entire library of programming and information, be sure to visit the Conjugate Club website.
