Description
Football Base is the first plan in our series of 3 strength and conditioning plans designed to guide football player fitness development for 22 weeks from the Spring through the Summer to the first day of official practice in August.
This is a 7-week, 5 Day/week sport-specifically designed to increase foot players’ strength, size (hypertrophy), speed, and football-specific conditioning. This multi-modal training plan trains these fitness attributes concurrently.
Week 7 in the plan is an unload/taper week so the plan can be completed directly into the next plan in the series, “Football Build.”
Strength & Hypertrophy
Football Base has a strength and hypertrophy (mass building) emphasis. Athletes will train strength and hypertrophy in the weight room 3 days/week (Mon, Wed & Friday) during this plan.
The strength and hypertrophy work in this plan is built around several classic barbell and dumbbell strength training exercises with a focus on the “engine” of football – legs and hips:
- Front Squat
- Back Squat
- Box Squat
- Hinge Lift (modified dead lift)
- Walking Lunges (loaded)
- Hang Squat Clean
These lower body or total body exercises are supersetted in circuits with loaded or bodyweight upper body pressing and pulling exercises. The set/rep schemes are manipulated to focus on higher reps/set early in the program to build mass (hypertrophy), and fewer reps per set at the end of the program to transition to more strength development.
The focus on classic exercises, plus high reps per set will not only build strength and add mass to prep-aged athletes, but also give these young lifters bunches of practice underneath the barbell. As well, each strength day’s warm up includes a barbell complex which reinforces overall strength, conditioning, and proficiency with basic barbell exercises.
Chassis Integrity / Core
The plan deploys Prep Strength’s proprietary core strength methodology – “chassis integrity.” Chassis Integrity is a functional core strength training methodology laser focused on core strength and strength endurance training which transfers to the playing field. Exercises are done standing, kneeling or braced, and focus on rotation, anti-rotation, total core, and extension movements and muscles. All are loaded.
Speed
Simple increasing repetitions of 10, 20 and 40 yard sprints as the plan develops, but from a prone position, with rest for recovery. Not fancy. Just effective.
Conditioning
Shuttle sprint repeats with a progression of 300m shuttles. The progression increases in difficulty and intensity by cutting recovery time as the athletes work through the plan.
See the Base weekly schedule below. Training sessions are designed to last 60 minutes:
SCHEDULE
- Monday – Strength, Hypertrophy, Chassis Integrity
- Tuesday – Speed, Conditioning, Hamstring work
- Wednesday – Strength, Hypertrophy, Chassis Integrity
- Thursday – Speed, Conditioning, Hamstring work
- Friday – Strength, Hypertrophy, Chassis Integrity
Required Equipment
Fully equipped weight room including racks, barbells, plates, dumbbells and/or kettlebells, pull up bar and a 40 pound sandbag.
Questions?
Email coach@prepstrength.com
– Rob Shaul