6 Things (Besides Strength) That Every High School Football Player Needs To Dominate On The Field

Since a large majority of the athletes that I train are high school football players, I get to see first hand how these athletes train at their schools. It seems that coaches, who have no experience as trainers and no knowledge of anatomy or biomechanics, are designing training programs for their football players. These programs are being designed without screening for any movement dysfunctions that their players may have and with only one goal... Maximum Strength. Now don't get me wrong, being strong and having a good strength base is very important but there are six other factors that have to be addressed in any complete, football training program.

1. Flexibility/Mobility - You need to keep the muscles and joints working efficiently in order to maximize your training results. Self myofascial release (foam rolling), static/active/dynamic stretching, joint mobility techniques, and other forms of flexibility will always improve performance and help with injury prevention.

2. Movement Efficiency - This goes hand in hand with #1. If the body isn't moving correctly, you're not getting the most out of your workouts and you will eventually sustain an injury... Period!

3. Core Strength and Stability - All athletes need a strong core in order to be able to efficiently absorb and transfer forces through their body.  Having a strong core will stabilize the spine from the pelvis to the shoulders and allow you to generate more power in the arms and legs. All powerful movements originate at the center of the body, so a strong core is a must for any athlete. Hip flexion, hip extension, rotation, and lateral flexion as well as exercises that resist these movements should be a staple in every football training program.

4. Power - The ability to generate forces quickly is imperative for any football player. Unfortunately, most high school football training programs do not have a complete 'power phase'. Developing power with olympic lifts, medicine balls, plyometrics, reactive training and contrast training is a necessity and should be included in every football training program.

5. Acceleration - Being able to accelerate quickly and explosively is a factor that can't be over looked when training football players. The ability to hit top speed as quickly  as possible  is something that every football player needs to be able to do. Having over-all speed is great but being able to accelerate explosively will definitely give you an advantage on the gridiron. This type of training should be done in short 'bursts' using body weight, weighted sleds and other types of resistance and paying close attention to body angle and maximum ground forces.

6. Proper Nutrition - In my opinion, this is one part of a football training program that you simply can't overlook. Eating clean and taking in the proper amount of calories to fuel your workouts, get you stronger, and give you the endurance to push through in the gym is essential for every athlete. I can't stress this enough. I've seen many high school football players struggle in the gym because of their eating habits. You need to fuel your body correctly in order to  increase lean muscle mass and strength, lose body fat, and maximize your performance. Eat To Perform!!!

As you can see, strength is only one piece of the puzzle. Training just for strength is like a baseball player only learning to catch and not throw or hit. You need to train 3 dimensionally if you want to take your game to the next level. In other words, you need to have a well rounded training program that covers every angle and has one main result... making you a totally unstoppable bad ass on the football field!

Train Hard... Lift Strong

Andy Moses B.S., PES, CES