Structuring your off-season strength training program for football

Structuring your off-season strength training Program
for football

There are many efficient and successful ways to structure
your off-season training programs. This article is designed to
give you a peak at how we lay things out at the Next Level
Performance training facility. Keep in mind we are aware that
other coaches will implement their strategies differently, and
are not saying that they are wrong. We are simply sharing
what has consistently produced outstanding results with the
athletes who have come through our doors. With that being
said, our average first year, 17 to 21 year old football player
puts on 12-15 lbs. of muscle, decreases their 40 time by .02
seconds, increases their vertical by 3-4”, and dramatically
improves their relative body strength in their first off-season
at our facility.

We basically lay out our training structure based on the amount
of time each client has in their particular off-season. If they
can devote more than 12 weeks of continuous training the
athlete will use an undulating periodization scheme. This is
simply the alternation of volume and intensity from one training
phase to the next. If the athlete has less than 12 weeks to
commit to a training program we tend to use a conjugate
periodization scheme, which enables clients to improve multiple
strength qualities within each training block. Descriptions of each
and how we lay them out are listed below.

Undulating periodization: Generally we alternate higher volume/
moderate load phases and lower volume/ higher load phases
every 3-4 weeks. The benefits are as follows:
* great for single sport athletes with long off-season
* allows for more time to correct structural imbalances
* better long term progress in strength / size development
* decreases chance of overtraining and plateaus


This is how a 15 week off-season might be laid out using an
undulating scheme.
Phase I: structural balance / hypertrophy, 8-10 rep average
Phase II: structural balance/ strength, 5-7 rep average
Phase III: functional hypertrophy, 6-8 rep average
Phase IV: strength/ power, 4-6 rep average
Phase V: maximal strength / power, 1-3 rep average

When using a conjugate system athletes work on multiple
strength qualities at the same time while staying with the
same basic layout for the duration of the off-season. The
benefits to this system are as follows.
* great for athletes with shorter off-seasons
* quick increases in multiple strength qualities
* allows for great variation within training scheme
* most athletes find it mentally stimulating

A sample 8 week conjugate scheme at our facility might be
set up as follows:
Mon: upper body (focus on strength)
Tues: lower body (focus on strength)
Thurs: upper body (focus on power or hypertrophy)
Sat: lower body (focus on power or hypertrophy)

Hopefully this will give you some ideas and options for setting
up your own programs. Keep checking the blog and website
www.nextlevelperformancecenter.com , as we plan to continue
to share tips that have been successful at our facility. If you are a
local athlete interested in joining one of our off-season football
training groups contact us at 303-237-3390.


Best of luck in your training endeavors.