A sport like baseball does not need to be coached the same way that a sport like football or hockey does. There is nearly zero physical interaction from player to player. In fact, there’s so little physical interaction, that if a batter feels threatened, all he has to do is walk towards a man that is 60 feet away and people get excited before he gets 55 feet away – which most of the time, ends with absolutely nothing happening. And, if there is actual physical interaction, it’s talked about for years.

On the other hand, sports like football & hockey, it’s so commonplace for fights to break out, that if one does, no one really gives a shit.

By that comparison, I think we can all agree that not all sports are created equal, nor should they be treated and coached as such.

Now, I am very laid back for the most part with my coaching style. I hold everyone to a high level of accountability. And for the most part, as long as you get the work done in a timely manner with good form, I could give two shits if you joke or have fun; in fact, I encourage it.

Recently, a local high school football team was training in the facility. An alumni that played football at Army was there at the same time. This guy is 6’5 290lbs, bearded, bald and solid freakin muscle. The site of this Viking alone would make most high school kids shit down their leg. He was brought up playing a tough game of football and used to get ripped apart daily, hourly… every chance the coach got, actually. And while he was at Army, it didn’t get any better. So the sound of these kids joking around was making his blood boil.

Then, he politely asked me if he could guest coach, to which I said yes. I knew exactly what was going to happen and was really excited for the reaming these kids were about to get (for practically no reason.)

“Did you win the last game of the season?” He screamed, with no reply from the group. “I didn’t think so, so why the hell are you talking?”

The towering Viking then had zero problem going up and down the line ripping each kid a new one (in fact, he… we enjoyed it), while I stood in the background and laughed my ass off.

Side comment: But seriously, even if these kids were the most dedicated athletes ever and were truly pissed off they didn’t win the last game of the year; there is zero chance that they’re not going an entire year without talking because of it. How did that become a line for people to use?

I have worked with these kids for months now and I know exactly what everyone is capable of. I know how they typically perform and I know what they look like when they’re fatigued. What I’ve never seen however, is how they perform under stress. This is why I had no problem letting the Viking do his thing.

Results –

1/3 of the group was unresponsive to the yelling

1/3 of the group responded by an increase their performance

1/3 of the group responded by a decrease in their performance

Succinctly put, some did better, some did worse & some stayed the same.

I calmed the group down and got them back to baseline so we could resume training without external stressors and the session went on as planned.

Another example –

I trained a lacrosse team this winter. The best player on the team was a total asshole. Would not conform (keep in mind he pays for training…what a schmuck) and was actually at points a hindrance to his teammates improvement. I tried being mean, nice, funny, sarcastic, I tried pulling him aside, I tried ignoring him and nothing worked. Then I decided to compliment every single player on his team but him. I did it for 5 minutes and he fell into place and started doing what the rest of the team was doing.

What’s my point?

If all you do is rip into a kid that sucks and he doesn’t get any better, you might be a reason he sucks! Same goes to the kid on the team with all the ability and everyone’s told him he’s the man since freshman year and he never got better. Maybe he needs a kick in the ass.

If your goal is to get the best out of a team or player, you cannot treat everyone the same.   Some people actually do require more attention, some people prefer to be forgotten about, some people need to get ripped into routinely to stay in line and some people need to be coddled. Your job as a coach and leader is to learn who needs what and when/how to implement it.

I’ve been fortunate enough to be involved in physical preparation with some pretty awesome people for about 15 years now. Unfortunately, the first half was spent being just “a weight guy.” It wasn’t until recently that I truly appreciated pure movement. Because of this, I’ve simplified my weight room activities and have really put a stress on quality movement. This explains how/why I’ve gravitated towards you & Altis.

My movement realization coupled with some other life events have had me gravitate towards psychology. I’ve learned that the psychological impact is just as important as physical, whether it be simple/complex movement or rehab oriented.

Because of this appreciation of psychology, I’ve noticed a greater need from my athletes for guidance than ever, whether it be relationships, personal battles or mental & physical understanding of desired activities. And because of this understanding, it’s made me a more effective communicator which in turn has made me a better friend & coach.  I’ve formed relationships that I wouldn’t have otherwise formed that have led me to more mind opening things.

After experiencing pain and hardships not just financially, but physically & emotionally, it has led me to believe that it all serves a purpose.  I can confidently say, without doors closing in my face, (pretty aggressively & unexpectedly I might add) I would not have been forced through other doors (another aggressive & unexpected movement).

That long winded explanation leads to things like my exploration of techniques & ideas like the Wim Hof Method and other cool stuff friends have shown me. If you’d like, I’ll forward some things your way.

Here’s one:

The Porfiri Ivanov System of Health: The 12 Tenets
The Ivanov system is based on the belief that anyone and everyone can make themselves healthy, no matter their initial physical condition. Ivanov promoted the opinion that It is important for every one to believe in their inborn and natural healing capabilities and that we all “open up” to meet the life-giving forces of nature.
The 12 Tenets of the Ivanov Heath System / Philosophy
1. Two times a day bathe in the cold, natural water. Bathe in what ever you can: the Lake, the River, a bath, take a shower or bath.
2. Before bathing or after it, if possible go out to nature, stand barefoot on the Earth, and in winter the snow, for at least 1-2 minutes. Inhale through your mouth several times and wish yourself and all people good health.
3. Do not drink alcohol or smoke.
4. Try at least once a week to go without food or water from Friday 18-20 hours until Sunday 12 hours. If you find this hard, try at least 24 hours.
5. At 12 o’clock Sunday afternoon go out into nature bare foot and Breathe several times, as described above. It is a celebration of your life. After that you can eat whatever you like.
6. Love the natural environment. Get used to it – it’s your health.
7. Greet all and everyone, especially in the elderly. Wish all good health – hello to everyone.
8. Help people when you can, especially the poor, the sick, the needy and the wronged. Do it with joy. Answer to the need of heart and soul. Help the cause of peace!
9. Defeat greed , laziness , complacency , fear , hypocrisy, pride. Trust people and love them . Do not talk about them unfairly and not take unkind opinions personally.
10. Liberate your mind from thinking about diseases, disorders and death. This is your prize.
11. The idea is not separated from the reality. To read is good. But the most important thing is to DO!
12. Share and communicate your experience, but do not boast and do not brag it. Be humble

Something else that has helped me with personal & professional relationships is a book called The 5 Love Languages.  This book has helped guide me towards properly communicating with my friends, family & clients.  It has helped shape and mold me into the coach, friend, son, brother, significant other that I am continuing to improve upon.

I routinely share things like this to my athletes both young & old to give them a different perspective.  And one thing I constantly preach is embracing the process – which in itself is a process haha.

Hope you enjoy,

Mike

The first thing I’ll do is ask if they’ve had any injuries, then evaluate them. I’ll see if there’s anything that I’ve noticed that they haven’t told me.  To be honest though, sometimes, I don’t ask for an injury list because I don’t want to have any kind of bias during my eval.  I may evaluate, ask for injuries, and then reevaluate.

Sidenote*** It’s always good to get the injury list ahead of time, that way you don’t do something stupid in your eval that could further injure them.

Typically there are 3 main Blocks when programming:

1. General Physical Preparation (GPP)
2. Special Physical Preparation (SPP)
3. Competition Phase.

Between each block is a smooth transition.  Each day, week, month, year, decade blends to the next – this is paramount.  You do not want to have abrupt transitions – it’s dangerous.  Don’t just throw shit to the wall and see what sticks, have a plan.

What I’ve started to develop is what I call my “pre-GPP” block or my “Movement Prep” block.  It’s the time where I try my best to prepare my guys to perform the general movements in the GPP block.  Now, a lot of you that know your stuff will say to me, “yeah… that’s still GPP.” I’m aware of this, it’s just how I organize things.

In this Pre-GPP block, I will have specific movements that I utilize to restore function of general movements.  The stress of this block is geared towards improving:

• Soft tissue quality
• Function of feet
• Function of hip and shoulder girdle
• Posture
• Mobility & stability of injured or potentially joints
• Improve general function of sites that raise orthopedic concern
• Improve general work capacity

This block is typically linear & the progressions can be very quick or very long. It all depends on how the athlete responds. If they respond quickly, I will typically progress quickly, if not, then that’s cool too. I have no problem taking my time.

From here, it will blend into their first GPP block.

Now, anyone that has read or studied anything from the (as Buddy Morris would say) “Late/great Charlie Francis,“ knows that you always work backwards when programming. You find whatever time is needed to perform at the highest level for that season and distribute time/effort/stimulus appropriately throughout the training.

This is where I have a little bit of a difference in opinion with a lot of people. Since starting in this field, I’ve had a lot of realizations. I’ve realized that core work & flexibility are everything, I’ve realized that strength is everything, I’ve realized that speed & power are everything, I’ve realized that mitochondrial density and aerobic capacity are everything & I’ve realized that lactic work will give you cancer and squatting heavy shit for high reps will cure it. Needless to say, there’s been a lot of shit that I’ve realized.

My latest realization is: movement is everything. All these previous realizations come back to movement. If there are shitty movement patterns or quality, chances are you’re going to perform all the aforementioned realizations inefficiently.

Personally, I don’t really care how long someone performs an exercise; they’re not progressing from it until they’re good at it. Doesn’t matter if they’re in Pre-GPP, GPP, SPP, Competition or whatever. If they suck, and continue to suck, then we will either modify it or stay where we are and that’s all there is to it. If in the SPP block, they need to perform cleans and/or snatches as the CNS stimulus, but they can’t properly deadlift, then we’re finding a new stimulus for that block. If they can’t perform the first part of the complex movement properly, it’s going to setup the rest of the movement for failure right from the get go. Sure they might not get injured right away, but it just lays the groundwork for something to tweak. And again, sure, it might night happen under your watch in the gym, but it may work it’s way onto the field – where you’re not obviously responsible, but it’s probably your fault.

Side thought – Why do doctors get sued for malpractice but strength coaches don’t? Sounds a little ridiculous to me… Especially since I’ve known a few guys that have done significant damage.

What people fail to realize about this process that we aid our athletes in is the name of it: TRAINING.  We are TRAINING these athletes. Our job is to help them move correctly and hope that the training translates onto the field for improved sports performance. The only reason we should be performing a movement is if it enhances their sport performance. That’s it. If you’re doing a movement and can’t think of how it will translate onto the field, then there’s a good chance you shouldn’t do it. OR, sometimes, what’s even worse – if you’re doing something and it has too much of a transfer onto the field, it may be too advanced, and there’s a good chance you shouldn’t do it. Keep it simple.

I’ve given up on training guys to be bigger, stronger, faster, etc. If it doesn’t improve their on the field performance, I don’t care about it.

I rarely speak in absolutes.  Obviously no one situation, equation or outcome is universally applicable. People that do speak in absolutes usually don’t know what they think they know.

Hey Mike,

I am currently playing college football. I just had my second shoulder labral repair surgery. I heard that you had gone through the same or similar surgery. What advice could you give me to get back to and ready for next season after having two shoulder surgeries? What would your training look like? Thanks

There’s a lot that depends on your situation.  What kind of tear/repair was it? Where are you in your rehab?  Was it the same shoulder as before?   Was it the same injury as before?  Was it the same mechanism of injury as before?  Same doctor as before?  Same rehab?  You get what I’m saying?  There’s a lot to consider into answering your question fully.

So here’s my advice – find the common denominator and make your best attempt to strengthen that weak link.  Give me more specific information and I’ll give you more specific information back regarding your specific situation.

That being said…

You obviously either have really bad luck or really bad genetics… or both.

There’s a ton of lineman that I come across with chronically shitty shoulders.  A lot of it has to do with not just their positions, but their builds.  Why?

As time as has moved forward, football has evolved.  When the game first started, the biggest players (offensive lineman) were usually around 240lbs.  Now, linemen are 100lbs more than that.

The ideal build for a lineman: tall, long arms and a thicker build. 

Why?  Being tall stops players from being able to see the QB, it gives them more leverage and it’s intimidating as hell.  Having long arms gives them the ability to keep space between them and shorter, stockier, faster and stronger d-lineman.  By doing this, it enhances their height and leverage, making the combination of the two more effective.  Being thicker enhances their ability to absorb force, more cushin` for the pushin`, if you will.

The problem –

Because height & long arms are a priority, natural thickness is hard to come by.  And in my time at Defranco’s I’ve evaluated more sizes and shapes than most.  Here are the basic builds that we all know:

Succinctly put, you can be tall and skinny, short and thick or a combo of both.  And ideally, you want ecto height with an endo/meso build.  The ideal build for an O-lineman in today’s game is ecto height and limb length and endo thickness.  Unfortunately, most linemen I come across have ecto height & limb length have an endo stomach and if they’re lucky, they have a chest too.

Interestingly enough, most of the better high school linemen I come across tend to have more of an endo build.  Unfortunately, high level college and NFL standards believe their trial and error based research suggested that the ecto has more potential for development and success in the long run.

What I’ve noticed in my evaluations of the athletes at the gym is most ectomorphs that I’ve come across have a ton of laxity in their joints.  Laxity is looseness or instability in the joint.   It’s the same quality that big league pitchers possess that enables them to go through extreme ranges of motion with little acute trauma (considering the speed of movement and ROM).

Knowing a typical pitcher build, would you really put them up against a d-lineman?

Whose shoulders would hold up?

Now obviously, O-lineman now-a-days are not built like David Wells, however, they tend to have similar shoulders.   Because of the nature of their build, their shoulders/joints are capable of going through larger ranges of motion.

Why is this a problem for football but not for baseball? 

In baseball, laxity enhances the sport because the sport requires excessive ROM in order to excel.  The greater the ROM, the more time the arm has for acceleration and deceleration, which decreases the risk of injury (to an extent).  Not to mention, the forces, comparably speaking, are way more spread out during a throw than they are for a lineman blocking.  Excessive laxity in lineman becomes problematic because all the forces are accumulating in the same spot, play after play.  The lineman initiates contact force in his hands, and the body’s job is to transfer the force optimally to minimize damage.

Ex.

ForceàHands, wrists, elbows, shoulders, thorax, hips, knees, ankles, feet and then into the ground to create opposing forces to stop the opponent from reaching the QB.  Right?  That makes sense to me.

Each joint/section/area has a max & optimal force absorption/production.   What happens with linemen who are lax, the shoulders end up taking more force because they move more.  However, just because it’s able to take more force, it doesn’t mean it’s optimal for performance or longevity.  It may even be optimal for performance even, however, current statistics suggest that though it may be optimal for performance, it’s not optimal for shoulder health/career longevity.

What can we do to prevent or treat this issue with lineman? 

To understand and apply the answer, we must understand the variables.  The trauma involved with blocking occurs mostly to the posterior aspect of the shoulder.

Now, what happens to the shoulder during blocking is the posterior labrum and capsule become stressed from continual & excessive stretching.  And because they’re able to stretch more, it makes for more direct force on a smaller surface area.

As you can see, there’s more acute pressure occurring in the lax shoulder.  Over time, this can become problematic for a few reasons:

1. Chronic loading will accumulate over time.
2. As you play more, you will develop more awareness and efficiency, thus improving ability to generate more force.
3. As you play more, it’s assumed that the level of competition will also develop and produce more force that you will have to absorb.

As you can see, if there’s any room to give, at some point, something will give.

Majority of the time with lax shoulders, there’s an abundance of excessive stretching or subluxation that occurs.  Tears are usually a result of continual subluxations, which can lead to a dislocation.

Other Laxity Related Issues

When the shoulder moves excessively, though there may not be a tear, there is still trauma that occurs to the surrounding structures.   It’s not unusual for the humeral head to “bump” into surrounding muscles.  Doing this once or twice usually isn’t a big deal, the body is pretty resilient, doing this routinely, say, every day at practice or even once/week during games, or a few times a year over the course of a career can take a toll on the muscle.

This can cause the muscle to become dysfunctional or even cause a tear; particularly in muscles of the rotator cuff: supraspinatus, infraspinatus & teres minor.  Their responsibility is to stabilize the shoulder through various ranges of motion.  Any dysfunction in these muscles can compromise the structural integrity of the joint and inevitably lead to other detrimental issues.

Another thing the humeral head can disrupt during excessive ROM is nerve innervation.  As we know, nerves are pretty sensitive.  Any kind of tampering can lead to permanent damage.  Posterior subluxation can disrupt function of the suprascapular nerve, which will hinder the function of supraspinatus and infraspinatus.

And lastly, the shoulder can bump into other bones, which can lead to factures on the humeral head or the scapula.

How do we attempt prevent or fix these problems?

So if the problem is the humeral head posterior subluxation, then we need to strengthen muscles that aid in the preventing that movement; particularly muscles that aid in protraction & pushing: pec major/minor & serratus anterior.  However, it is paramount to understand what type of loading must be prepared for sport engagement.

Majority of forces linemen deal with are related to absorption (eccentric) and overcoming (isometric).  So, to train protractors to be able to handle eccentric forces and improve their ability to reverse the force would be beneficial.

Protraction Enhancing Exercises for Absorption:

Eccentric (Negative) Bench variations

Eccentric (Negative) Serratus Punch variations

Pushup Depth Jumps (Jumping down)

http://youtu.be/L38ajZquUw0

Receiving Chest Pass

Protraction Enhancing Exercises for Starting Strength:

Isometric (Static) Bench variations

Isometric (Static) Serratus Punch variations

Pushup Landings (Stick Landing in various positions)

Receiving Chest Pass and sticking the position

Protraction Enhancing Exercises for Reversal Strength:

Dynamic (Ballistic or Reactive) Bench variations

Dynamic Stabilizations Serratus Punch variations

Reactive Pushup Jump (Clap pushups or Depth Jumps)

http://youtu.be/50W-fSEUPgQ

http://youtu.be/B7HkbgcCK0g

http://youtu.be/aw_bF428Ehk

http://youtu.be/5E3RJkBl-h0

Receiving Chest Pass and Throwing it

Summing Up:

Essentially, if you’re a prototypical lineman (ectomorph), chances are that you’re going to be battling the drawbacks of laxity throughout your career.  Make sure you keep your pecs and serratus strong and stable to combat this issue.  I hope this was able to shed some light on your situation.

“Mike, Do you favor mixed training methods in a concurrent fashion for low level athletes (training age under 1 year) or do you still favor a block system methodology and why?”

Typically, the block system is designed for elite level athletes, focusing primarily on singular biomotor tasks.  I say “typically” because in theory, the elite athletes should have elite preparation.  And if you’ve seen this video, you know that’s not the case: