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Congratulations Dave Diehl & the N.Y. Giants!
I have to start this week's ASK JOE column by congratulating long-time client and friend, Dave Diehl - as well as the entire New York Giants team - for their unbelievable Superbowl victory over the New England Patriots! Whether you're a Giants fan or not, you have to respect a team that won three straight playoff games on the road and then were a two-touchdown underdog against what was said to be the best team of all time; the Giants didn't listen to the critics - they came together as a team and showed a tremendous amount of heart and perseverance to pull off one of the greatest upsets in Superbowl history!
Any athlete or coach can learn a great deal from this year's N.Y. Giants team.
Joe D.
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Brian Witherspoon Update!
THIS JUST IN.
'Spoon' is the fastest football player on EARTH! Check out the video below.it shows Spoon running a 4.16 forty yard dash. (Yeah, you read that right.FOUR-POINT-ONE-SIX!!!)
And he's 6 pounds heavier then he was when he ran his 4.25.
Joe D.
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Congratulations Darrell Blackman!
Last week, Darrell played in the 'Texas vs. The Nation' All-Star College football game and he put on quite a show! Darrell returned 6 kickoffs for 232 yards, including a 97-yard return for a touchdown! This performance solidified Darrell as one of the top return specialists in this year's NFL Draft!
Darrell is back in New Jersey training with us to prepare for NC State's Pro Day in March!
Joe D.
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Practicing what they Preach!
I wanted to take this time to congratulate the two men who are behind much of the success of DeFranco's Training -- John Impallomeni & Jeff Carr. Since joining my team over a year ago, these two guys have added a whole new dimension to my program with their vast knowledge and innovative training ideas. One of the things that make these guys great at what they do is that they PRACTICE WHAT THEY PREACH! Recently, they both entered Powerlifting competitions and they both ended up putting together "personal best" performances!
Below you will see a video of John "The Jersey Jackal" Impallomeni hitting a 635lb. squat, 405lb. bench and 560lb. deadlift. They were all PR's for John in competition!
Below you will see two video clips of Carr's (don't call him Jeff) first powerlifting competition since moving to New Jersey from Idaho. The videos show Carr squatting 655lbs. and benching an easy 475lbs.! He also deadlifted 570 for a 1700lb. total!
If you want to be the best, you must surround yourself with a great TEAM!
Joe D.
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Q: Coach DeFranco,
I have your combine dvd and I want to say that it has been a huge help!! I had no idea that there was SO MUCH technique involved in running 40 yards!! You are definitely a technical genious coach! The one problem I'm really facing is that I can't seem to get any push off my back foot. I only feel weight on my front foot and I feel if I can push more off my back foot it will help my start a ton. Any suggestions coach??
Chad from Ohio
A: Chad,
You spelled "genious" wrong.there is no "o". It's spelled "genius". (Hey, maybe I am a genius! Just kidding.)
Anyway, time to get serious.
Your problem is an extremely common one.many athletes have a difficult time "feeling" and pushing off of their back foot when coming out of their stance. This is a CRUCIAL portion of your forty-yard dash so I will do my best to help. Giving speed training advice is very difficult to do over the computer (without ever seeing you run), but I will give you three basic tips that should help.
#1 - Try moving back a little bit from the start line
This is something that I've changed since shooting my Combine DVD. Although I still believe that all athletes must set up as close to the start line as possible, I'm quicker to have them move back if they can't get any push off their back foot.
The above picture shows Miles Austin setting up about 7 inches behind the start line. This was as close as Miles was able to get and still feel pressure on his back foot - as well as maintain the proper shin angles. This stance was one of the key factors that enabled him to run his first 4.4-second forty-yard-dash at the NFL Combine. (If I would have forced him to crowd the line, his 4.4 may have never happened.)
#2 - Try dropping your back knee down
This is another coaching cue that I've discovered since shooting my Combine DVD. If you set up further back from the start line and you still aren't getting any push off your back foot, try dropping your back knee down so it's closer to the ground. In order to do this, you will have to move your back foot back a little further - the toe of your back foot should be a couple inches behind the heel of your front foot. Once you move the back foot back, drop your knee down so your back shin is almost parallel to the ground. This creates a very advantageous angle to accelerate horizontally out of your stance! Check out the below video. (I suggest pausing the video as soon as the athlete gets in his stance.) This athlete has long lower limbs but we have adjusted his stance to create better angles and leverages. One of the key adjustments we made was having him bring his back foot further back and he dropped his back knee down. This adjustment has helped to improve his start tremendously.
#3 - Incorporate "jump-back" starts into your program
I'm a firm believer in simple speed drills that athletes can't screw up! The "jump-back" start is one of these simple drills. Simply stand with your heels on a line, then jump back and push off of both feet to accelerate forward. (When you jump back, try and keep your upper body forward/in front of the line.this creates a more powerful push-off of the ground.) This drill really helps you "feel" the back foot during the push-off phase of the start.
Check out the athlete in the middle (with the black shirt) in this video. He was getting NO push off of his back foot when he started with us. (The first time he ran a 10-yard dash, his first step landed on the start line.in other words, he went nowhere on his first step! This simple drill has had a huge impact on his start. Check out how much ground he covers on his first step and we were only running this drill at half speed!
Trial and error.
Joe D.
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Q: Joe:
I am in the process of opening a small training facility for middle and high school athletes. I have a very small group of kids training currently and it's not that much work to keep up with their workouts, weights, max efforts, etc...with me as the sole coach/trainer (we are using your WS4SB template).
My question is more about the future. When my facility is open and there are more kids coming, what is the best way to keep track of everything? I know you have a wide range from middle and high school through the pros but this is more specifically about the regular kids that come in. How do you keep track of their programs and their progress? Do you have coaches/trainers who log it every workout? Do the athletes themselves log it somewhere? Is it all on paper or is there computer software you use to track everything?
Basically I am just looking for good recommendations on how to manage it when you start working with larger groups of athletes training at the same time.
Thanks in advance
Andy
A: Andy,
I am very "old-school" when it comes to recording my athlete's workouts. I record everything on paper during the workout or at the end of the workout. The workouts are usually designed ahead of time (on pre-printed sheets) and then we just fill in the weights, reps, etc. during the workout. Every athlete - or group of athletes - has their own folder where their workouts are stored. Most of our high school kids will follow the same workout for 2-3 weeks -- so the 2-3 week mini cycles would be recorded on the same sheet of paper so we can see what they did during the previous week(s). It is important to keep these records because our program is based on having our athletes "break records" almost every week. Whether it's a max-effort lift, repetition lift or a jump, our athlete's are always striving to perform better than the previous week -- so keeping records is extremely important. (When we get extremely busy, we won't always have time to record every weight for every exercise; but, we always record the main exercise of the session so we know what we have to beat during the following workout.)
The above picture shows our filing cabinet that contains all of the folders and workouts of our active clients. It aint fancy, but it gets the job done!
Computers are over-rated!
Joe D.
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Q: Quick question Joe. Why do you incorporate so much bicep work when westside doesn't??? I'm loving your programs but just not sure as to the thought process behind the fact that you do biceps twice a week and the only tricep work (I'm talking in wsfsb#3) is one exercise as the second in a superset...please post an answer to this. Every Dave Tate program has so much tricep work that it leaves me with a doubt when I want to give my all to your program. I don't mean any disrespect, just want to understand.
Thanks again man.
A: ".so much bicep work?" I'm confused.I recommend 3-6 total sets of biceps per WEEK in my newest modified Westside template. Is that a lot? This biceps training is coupled with heavy max-effort pressing, dumbbell presses and/or push-ups on Monday -- and (triceps dominant) repetition work and direct triceps work on Thursday. In other words, there is definitely more triceps work - compared to biceps work - on this program. With that being said, athletes need to train their biceps in order to keep their elbow joints healthy. Remember that biceps training is not just for vanity reasons; an overly-developed triceps muscle with no biceps strength is a recipe for an elbow injury.
Besides "injury prevention", I do feel that there is a psychological benefit to having athletes train their biceps. (I used to be the guy who would yell at his athletes for doing curls.I have changed my views over the years, though.) After all, what athlete doesn't love to leave the gym with a nice biceps pump? When athletes feel better about themselves, they perform better! Letting your athletes spend 10 minutes workin' on their guns once or twice a week at the end of their workout will have no ill effects on their progress. In fact, it just may have more of a benefit than you think!
This may be a little overkill.
Joe D.
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