My good friend Art Horne mentioned to me the other day about a presentation that Angela Duckworth put on and absolutely loved her message and the research that she conducted. Do yourself a favor and check out what she has to say:
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This is a great video that I shared with my athletes and want to share with you.
They all enjoyed it and were inspired by it and have often mentioned many of the quotes over the past 2 weeks. It’s definitely motivational and you have to ask yourself how bad do you want to be successful.
How Bad Do You Want It from Greyskale Multimedia LLC on Vimeo.
Enjoy
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Do you push your athletes to higher levels or make excuses for them?
Is it Ok if your athletes miss workouts or miss reps because they are tired?
Is it Ok if your athletes show up a minute late or don’t record their loads accurately?
Is it acceptable if your athlete doesn’t follow the program strictly because they don’t feel like it?
Are you raising the bar for your athletes or bringing it down so they can achieve?
You as a coach have a personal responsibility to make your athletes better. Better can be in different ways…it can be physically, it can be emotionally, it can be mentally, it can spiritually, and it can be socially. Most of us as coaches, focus on the physical part but need to understand how we prescribe our training sessions, the environment we create, and how we hold our athletes accountable play a big part into making them better mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and socially.
For our athletes to achieve more in sport and in life, we as coaches need to raise the bar. Meaning we need to hold our athletes to a higher standard.
We need to try and get them to believe in achieving more and not settling.
We need to get them to understand how they think will effect how they perform.
We need to get them to understand that every little thing matters.
We need to get them to understand that not everything is going to go their way and it’s up to them to decide how to respond to the situation.
We need to get them to understand that if they have desire, effort, intensity and do it consistently that more times than not, they will be successful.
Are you raising the bar or bringing it down?
If you are raising the bar for your athletes; are you raising the bar for yourself?
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“The credit belongs to those who are actually in the arena, who strive valiantly; who know the great enthusiasm, the great devotions, and spend themselves in a worthy cause; who at the best, know the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if they fail, fail while daring greatly, so that their place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” –Theodore Roosevelt
Strength and conditioning coaches develop athletes year-round. Improvement is within the daily grind. Training performed during the pre-season, in-season, post-season and off-season is critical for injury prevention and performance enhancement. Without it our athletes will turn into steaming piles of amphibian crap. In-season our athletes compete week after week. We must continue this competitive drive in the off-season. This concept was first brought to my attention during my time at Central College (Iowa) as both an athlete and an intern under strength and conditioning coach Jake Anderson. This same idea was also the topic of a presentation I recently saw by Brijesh Patel, strength and conditioning coach at Quinnipiac University. It inspired me to write this article and share this information with anyone who is willing to sit down and read this.
Human nature thrives upon competition. Since the dawn of time humans and animals alike have had to compete for survival. The athletes we work with compete for the thrill, the rush of the fight. It is your best against someone else’s best with the season on the line. There is nothing more gratifying than standing with your hand raised, victorious, after an exhaustive battle of guts and glory. You know you gave everything and that is why you prevailed. However, during the off-season how do you continue to instill this rush of excitement when training? Compete year-round! You can’t play a scrimmage against ‘Nobody University’, so go with the next best thing; create the competitive environment in training! I’ll cover how we divide teams, make a point system, devise the competitions themselves, and reward the victors.
Tug of War Can Be A Great Competition Event
TEAMS
With our competitions we will separate each of our sports teams into smaller individual teams. These individual teams will be selected by holding a public draft, a captain’s draft, or a selection draft by the coaches. The public draft is the most fun as well as the most intense. We have all the athletes sit in the middle of a large room. Much like the NFL draft we will have a moderator for each team. This moderator can be a coach or a captain who selects their team. Each round lasts one minute and the athletes are selected in front of the whole group, by their peers, until all have been chosen. We like to have the moderator write down on a piece of paper who is to be selected and hand it in to the strength and conditioning coach. The coach then announces who has just been select. Some sports teams may react more positively to a public draft than others would, so choose wisely.
A captain’s draft is held with apart from the team, with captains and coaches only. The teams are chosen through a draft scenario as well and then posted for all to see. A coach’s draft is held by the coaching staff only. Teams are chosen by the coaches to be as even as possible. Once the teams are finalized each chooses a team name to represent them. This name must be appropriate, agreed upon by all team members and hopefully clever. This helps each team identify with each other and build unity within the group. The next important factor is the point system.
POINT SYSTEM
You can develop any point system in which you feel will work best. What we do here is evaluate each team member individually and each team as a whole. During each training session every single athlete has the opportunity to gain a point for their team, or a big, fat zero. After each session we meet as a coaching staff and discuss how each athlete performed. If there were any problems with effort, attitude, execution, following directions, or punctuality, that athlete will not receive their point for the day. If there were any major issues such as arguing with a coach, fighting, not showing up at all, they will receive a -5 for their team (as well as additional punishment). No matter what team they are a part of, they must all learn to work together and be held accountable for each other’s actions. For example, if a player receives a red card during a soccer match it is the team that must suffer with only 10 people on the field finishing the game. We instill in all of our athletes that every single thing they do has a cumulative effect on their performance and their team. You skip a rep, miss your times, show up late…it all adds up!
The individual competition point system revolves around ranking, according to each athlete’s performance to others. For example, if there were 18 athletes who competed in the competition, the person who got first place will receive 18 points and the person who got last place will receive 1 point. We form spreadsheets that keep track of each week’s competition status and post them for all to see. At the end of the off-season competitions, each individual’s total will be added to the team’s total. Thus, the athlete’s individual success or failure will either help or hurt their team.
In the team competition point system the points received are also ranked according to the team’s performance. Again, if there are a total of 18 athletes on the team, the team who receives first will get 18 points, second will be 12 points, third place will be 6 points. Every week we post the results and the total scores for individuals and the teams. Again, you can solidify any type of point system you wish. It can be as complex or as simple as you would like, just help the athletes understand how they are being evaluated.
COMPETITIONS
Each week we perform one individual competition and one team competition. Some weeks may require more than the usual one of each, however that is for the coach to decide. We like to challenge the athlete individually because it forces them to compete for themselves and not rely on others. The young cub must fight for its dinner against the rest of the pack! For the team competitions, we like to involve scenarios that require them to work together both physically and mentally. Sometimes these competitions are not all about brawn, but brains and team organization. Many times it is not the strongest or fastest team that wins, but the team that is willing to work together. Sounds like life doesn’t it?
Below is just a small portion of the competitions you can do with your teams:
INDIVIDUAL TEAM
Broad/Vertical Jump *Puzzles
Push Ups for reps Team Sit Ups
Wall Sits **Move the Mountain
Jump Rope Fireman Carry
Strong Man Medley Strong Man Medley
Sled Push/Pulls for time Sled Push/Pull Relay
MB Throw for distance Tug of War
Tire Flips Wheel Barrow Relay
Bar Hangs Dodgeball
TUG (tournament) Trivia
Pull Ups/Dips Farmer’s Walk
Grip Challenges Towel Wrestling
Slideboard Slideboard
Tendo Unit Speed Squat/Bench Obstacle Courses
Sprint/Conditioning Drills Sprint/Conditioning Drills
*After taking a look at this list you are probably thinking, “Is this guy seriously having his athletes do puzzles?” I respond with a most definite YES! They are mentally challenging and will require each team to work as one to complete. They are great after a training session when the athletes are tired and have a short fuse. Puzzles, riddles, trivia, anything that requires clear, consistent thought!
Puzzles are way to make your athletes think under pressure
**Move the mountain is having each individual athlete move a stack of Olympic bumpers one by one for a certain distance (we usually do 10 yards). Each team member will have to move the stack on their own before the next team member goes to move it. The mountain must be moved by every team member at least once. If you have uneven teams, say a team of 6 and another team of 7, the team of 6 will have one person go twice.
The possibilities are endless! Use your imagination, but at the same time keep your athletes’ safety and health in mind. Just because it looks cool does not mean it is effective and rationale. Always have a specific goal in mind for implementing the competition. No athlete should become injured performing a competition. Always make them competitive but safe. The benefits must always outweigh the risks!
REWARD
Finally, a reward must be present in order to receive full effort every week. Athletes should be intrinsically motivated, but an external reward will aid as well. We have a Champions Club established, wherein the team that comes out on top at the end of the off-season is the champion. They will receive an exclusive dinner with the coaching staff and t-shirts upon completion. Also, on in-season road trips they will be able to be first in line during meals and bus loading.
If you haven’t figured it out by now I love competitions! I always tell my athletes that I think I enjoy this stuff more than they do. It puts your athletes’ character on display. It separates those who are stronger mentally, physically, and emotionally. It shows you who can lead as well as follow. Often times you will find a team or two that has too many Chiefs and not enough Indians. It also shows you how your athletes handle defeat. Can they pick themselves back up and rise to the top, or do they continue to dig themselves and their team into a deeper hole? Most of all it will build trust and unity within your program. As Vince Lombardi once said, “The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.”
Yes, this will demand more time and effort. As a fellow strength and conditioning coach, I know we do not have a lot of extra time. However, we must be involved and stay on top of what is going on. For your athletes to give you 100% of their effort they must receive 100% of yours. I will tell you this: the reward you will receive from involving competitions into your program will outweigh all the work you put in to setting it up and implementing them. Your athletes will give you everything they have to compete and succeed. Create the environment and they will respond! Also, I welcome any fresh ideas that you can come up with. Please feel free to contact me.
Brandon O`Neall is a strength and conditioning coach at the University of Maine. He holds a bachelors degree in exercise science from Central College, and a master’s degree in kinesiology from Western Illinois University. He is certified through the NSCA and the CSCCa. You can reach him through email at brandon.oneall@umit.maine.edu.
Partner Workouts Increase Motivation
Partner workouts can be a very powerful tool within a coaches toolbox for increasing work output, motivation and incredible for team building. These types of workouts are not for the weak of heart and separates winners from losers. You, as a coach, will quickly find out what your athletes are made of and who is willing to push themselves under extreme states of fatigue and who won’t give in when tasks (exercises) become difficult. You will also find out who will be leaders and motivators instead of phonies.
We perform a circuits that we refer to as a “Jailhouse Circuit”, which describes the method of how we perform a particular training session. We will typically perform 6 exercises in an I Go/You Go alternating fashion. The athletes will perform 3 consecutive sets of one exercise for 30 seconds of work before moving onto the next exercise. Each athlete gets 60 sec rest between sets, meaning that there are only 15 seconds for partners to switch. If an athlete starts their set late or finishes before 30 sec, everybody will repeat the exercise again, so an athlete may have to perform up to 60 sec continuous work of a given exercise.
This can be extremely grueling as lactic acid build up increases throughout the training session. The goal of the workout is volume and increases work capacity and hypertrophy through the repetition method of training.
Here is a sample upper body training session that we have done:
Parallel Grip Pullups
Bench Press
Incline Row
DB Shoulder Press
Inverted Row
Close Grip Pushups
Here is a total body session that we did yesterday:
Parallel Grip Pullups
DB Goblet Squat
Bench Press
DB Incline Row
Shoulder Elevated Glute Bridge (45 lb plate)
DB Close Grip Pushups
We follow this up with a manual resistance circuit. Our athletes love it because it’s difficult and you get to find out who is willing to work and push themselves through their typical comfort zone and can become comfortable while being uncomfortable.
Try it out for yourselves and find out whether you will give in or give more.
We’ve recently been posting more and more about the mental toughness side of training athletes and how to hold them more accountable. I truly believe that this is an often overlooked part of the training process.
You can have the most intricate set and rep scheme, great plan for training and have the optimal blend of structural balance within your programs. But in the grand scheme of things, if you can’t get your athletes to work hard in every thing they do and truly believe that the work that they put in is going to benefit them, then all of it goes for naught.
I think we all get too caught up in trying to find a new exercise or progression when we should really focus on how to get our athletes motivated to work harder. The mental aspect of training is so important and is rarely ever touched upon by strength and conditioning professionals. In athletics, the most talented teams don’t always win. It’s the teams that have the belief and confidence that they won’t lose. I believe that we, as strength and conditioning professionals, can help to promote these feelings and environment throughout our training…but we have to demand it each and every day.
Mental toughness is having the natural or developed psychological edge that enables you to:
1. Generally cope better than your opponents with the many demands (e.g., competition, training, lifestyle) that are placed on you as a performer.
2. Specifically, to be more consistent and better than your opponents in remaining determined, focused, confident, resilient and in control under pressure.
The key psychological characteristics associated with mentally tough athletes are:
a. Self-Belief/Confidence
b. Focus
c. Motivation
d. Composure/Handling Pressure
e. Resiliency
Mental toughness is often thought of as an elusive quality that only the elite possess, but many sport psychologists and coaches alike believe it can be taught.
For the majority of people, consistent and intense physical exertion is the most accessible and common way to build mental toughness. These people believe in themselves more because they are accomplishing difficult tasks and doing things that they didn’t think were possible. This builds confidence, a positive attitude and a belief that they can handle themselves in any situation that arises.
We as coaches have to create this environment that creates and promotes mental toughness – which is teaching our athletes how to do the right thing ALL THE TIME!
We will post more over the next couple months of how we can try to create the environment and get more out of our athletes and show you how you can help your athletes in another way.
Check out some of these past tips that will help to guide you:
6/04 – Success vs. Significance
10/04 -Working Harder
1/05 – Teammate vs. Friend
11/05 – Goal Setting
4/07 – More than Coaches
5/07 – Qualities of a General
8/07 – Quality of Effort
4/08 – Training Intensity
8/08 – What Athletes Mean to Us
12/09 – Missing Factor
1/10 – Missing Factor 2
This month’s tip of the month is a guest blog post from strength and conditioning coach, Sergio Merino. Sergio has been interning for me since August and has really grown as a young professional and really gets what it means to be a strength and conditioning coach. He is still learning about training methodologies and how to coach and get athletes to do what he wants, but really understands that the field is very broad and we have many responsibilities as coaches.
This was a blog post that I really enjoyed and am sure that all of you will as well.
-Brijesh
The Missing Factor in Strength and Conditioning Programs
Long time no post but I’m really fired up for this one.
Sitting here at work I began to think to myself what separates losers from winners. Is it skill? Probably. Is it genetics? Probably. Is it better coaching? Maybe. Is it a better training program? Possibly.
There are so many factors that can influence the outcome of a game but what if you evenly matched every single outside factor? You’re left with a factor that must be internal. Then it hit me. Teams that win are competitors. No matter who they face they are ready to compete. They don’t hang their heads in defeat when the odds are stacked against them or they’re down by so many scores it seems unlikely that they can actually make a comeback.
