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Q: In general, what do you think are the most common mistakes high school athletes make that prevent them from gaining size and strength?
Thanks, Andrew
A: First of all, most high school kids think, “more is always better.” The amount of muscle size and strength you build is not determined by the amount of time you spend in the gym. If it were, there would be a lot more big and strong high school athletes around! I think short, intense workouts that give your body the proper “stimulus” for new muscle growth, without tapping too far into its “recovery potential”, are best. Most of my high school athletes train with weights 4X a week. These sessions take no longer than an hour after the warm-up is completed. After an hour with me, most of them are pretty much ready to have their post-workout shake and crawl home!
Another huge mistake with most high school athletes is very poor exercise selection. I always find it funny that I never have to wait for the squat rack or chin-up bar at the gym. The leg extension, lat pulldown and pec deck are another story. This is called training economy. Choose the exercises that give you the best bang for your buck and work the most muscle, while spending the least amount of time in the gym. (By the way, these exercises usually aren’t the most fun to perform, but the results will come quicker.) For example, if high school kids spent more time doing squats, deadlifts, chin-ups, benches and lunges, they would get bigger and stronger much quicker.
Finally, a major limiting factor in getting bigger and stronger is that they don’t feed their bodies often enough throughout the day. I believe to keep your body in an optimal state for building new muscle tissue, you’ve got to have a constant influx of nutrients into the body and very stable insulin levels. The best way to do this is to eat a nutrient-rich, protein and carbohydrate-containing meal around every 3 hours throughout the day. (By the way, a bowl of pasta is not considered a meal and neither is a can of tuna. Try to have balanced meals.) Obviously, it’s very difficult to prepare 6 meals a day, especially when you’re in school. This is why I highly recommend meal replacement shakes and nutritional bars to all of my athletes. I consider these the “fast food” choice for athletes. As far as brands are concerned, I usually recommend bars that favor the 40-30-30 macronutrient profile (Zone and Balance bars) and reputable meal replacement shakes (Myoplex, Met-Rx, etc.).
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Q: My adductors are weak and underdeveloped.
For some reason my adductors have been my weak link since
I can remember. Whenever I run, I feel like I’m on
the verge of pulling my groin. The day after running, my
adductors are always sore as hell. I’m going into
my junior year in college next year and have a chance to
start at receiver. My leg routine for the past 3 months
has been front squats, hack squats, leg presses and then
leg curls. Should I incorporate a specialization program
to add size and strength to my adductor muscles?
I look forward to your response,
Terrance
A: There’s really no reason to do
a specialization program for your adductors. This would
then take away from training your all-important “posterior
chain” (spinal erectors, gluteals, hamstrings). These
are the muscles responsible for your running and jumping
ability. The adductors largely serve to stabilize the knee
and hip when there is movement in the sagittal plane. Your
training basically takes place in an environment that is
almost totally front and back. You need to start doing some
unilateral work for your legs. Reverse barbell lunges, step-ups
with a knee-height box, low-pulley split squats and single
leg squats with the back leg elevated are all great choices.
You can also try adding an unstable environment to theses
exercises, such as a Dyna-Disc placed under your working
leg on step-ups and split squats. One or two high rep sets
of squats on a wobble board once or twice a week can also
do the trick. Try incorporating these exercises into your
lower body training and let me know how you progress.
By the way, get rid of the hack squats and leg presses and start incorporating more barbell squats and deadlift variations into your training.
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Q: How many days a week should I run if I want to improve my 40-yard dash time? I live on the east coast and now that the weather is getting warmer, I’m ready to hit the track and get fast!
Chris
A: Here’s the deal. The shorter the distance of the race, the less often you have to run to improve upon it. Since the 40 is a very short race, it relies heavily on strength, power and technique. After you are properly coached on the intricacies and technique of the race, the majority of your training should take place in the weight room. I found that after around 6-8 sessions of running forties and practicing technique, the biggest limiting factor in an athlete’s speed is his/her strength, flexibility and/or body composition.
A great example of this is Boston College linebacker Vinny Ciurciu. Vinny has been a client of mine for the past 4 years. Over the years he has run endless 10-yard sprints and 40-yard dashes. He knows the technique to the 40-yard dash better than most qualified speed & strength coaches. This is why leading into the biggest 40-yard dash of his life (at his Pro Day on March 26th) his training focused primarily on strength/explosive power training, flexibility and proper nutrition. He lifted weights and incorporated intense flexibility training on an average of 4 days a week, ran on an average of 1-2 days a week and followed a diet of lean proteins, essential fatty acids and low-glycemic carbohydrates. Exercises of primary importance were dynamic box squats with bands, trap bar deadlifts from a podium with chains, barbell reverse lunges and reverse hyperextensions. During flexibility training sessions the hip flexors, gluteals and hamstrings were given top priority.
After all was said and done, Vinny ran an official 4.43-second forty-yard dash, weighing 240 lbs.!
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Q: I read your 40-Yard Dash and Vertical Jump books and thought they were both very informative. I read them mainly to help my son’s training (he plays football & basketball). I am an ex-athlete and now work out mainly to just stay in shape and be healthy. In your 2 books, you prescribe a lot of advanced strength-training exercises that seem better suited for athletes. For a guy like me, do “average” exercises like concentration curls, tricep pushdowns and leg presses have their place? I’m interested in knowing what you think about these exercises.
Mel
A: Mel, I don’t think about those exercises.
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| + | Underdeveloped Adducors |
| + | Improve 40 Yard Dash Time |
| + | Concentration Curls, Tricep Pushdowns and Leg Presses |
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