I hope to see all of you at our “Even-Esh Underground Strength Coach and Mash Learn 2 Lift” Combined Certs. Here are the dates:
March 17th and 18th at the Mash Compound in Clemmons, NC find out more and get Early Bird Pricing Below:
June 9th and 10th will be at Zach’s place in Manaquan, New Jersy
Details coming later!
Intangible Attributes of Great Strength Coaches
Yesterday I had the honor of visiting the weight room of Wake Forest Football Strength and Conditioning. They just come off of one of their best in a longtime going 8-6, and winning the Military Bowl against 25th ranked Temple Owls. Being in the weight room with the team made it easy to understand why this team did so well. Did I mention that they are a young team as well, so look out?
Coach Brandon Hourigan is their Head Strength Coach, and it was easy to see what makes him great. Coach Hourigan brought the energy to the program. He was lit on fire, and the team responded. Weightlifting Coaches could learn a thing or two from great strength and conditioning coaches if they would open their minds to learning new ideas.
Here’s what made the program great:
• The Programming was excellent
1. Excellent movement and injury prevention warm up
2. Neck Work to prevent concussions
3. Cleans performed exceptionally well for a football program (remember they are not weightlifters)
4. Full Depth Squats
5. Emphasis on the posterior Chain
6. Partner Stretching
• The Team Comraderie was through the roof! People were cheering each other on, supporting one another, and helping each other.
• The Athletes were having fun! This one is way too often overlooked. If you make the weight room a scary, boring, or bashing place, none of the athletes will want to be there.
• The Coaches were coaching the entire practice. Yes they were pumping the players up, but they were also coaching the movements and helping the athletes.
• Work ethic was off the charts, and it was the entire team.
• The Head Coach was leading from the front, and he was the energy of the room. Coach Hourigan brought the intensity to the room. Plus I have to say that his new beard is on Fleek!
Some of these points might seem elementary to some of you, but I promise that 50% of these elements are missing from 95% of all programs. I have visited multiple D1 Weight Rooms, and I have to give Coach Hourigan an A+. I think that my man Coach Kenn of the Carolina Panthers would like this guy and his staff, and that’s saying something because Coach Kenn has the highest standards.
I am excited to announce that Zach Even-Esh and I are teaming up to teach another dual certification. I believe that combined we go over all the attributes necessary to become a great strength and conditioning coach. Here’s what we are going to cover:
• 1) Athlete Warm Ups & Assessments / Large Group Training
• 2) Bodyweight & Jump Training for Athletes (Sport + Strength Athletes)
• 3) Quick Lifts & Assistance Work for Sport & Strength Athletes (Barbell / Dumbbells)
• 4) Program Design for Athletes from Youth to D1 to Olympic Hopefuls
• 5. Snatch basics and teaching progressions
• 6. Clean basics and teaching progressions
• 7. Squat Programming and Tricks
• 8. Deadlift Programming and Tricks
• 9. Controlling and demanding the respect of groups
Guys great strength coaches are way more than programmers or technique guys. Personally I believe that great weightlifting coaches are way more than programmers and technique guys. One of the reasons that I love Dane from Garage Strength is that he gets his lifters fired up. His lifters feed off of his intensity. Heck, I can see that at the meets. He’s just a bigger taller version of me, and that’s why his team is unreal.
If your athletes don’t want to be in the weight room, you are not coaching. If your athletes aren’t working hard, you are not coaching. If your athletes aren’t cheering each other on and supporting one another, you aren’t coaching. If your athletes aren’t smiling because they are having fun, you aren’t coaching. This is the bottom line.
This is what separates the online gurus that have never produced one solid athlete, and the coaches that are producing the ballers. You can read “Supertraining” and all the programming books that you like, but these intangible traits of great coaches will be the ones that make or break you. You can develop the coolest looking excel sheets on the planet, but if your athletes don’t buy in to your program, you don’t have anything. What I am saying now is the truth that all of you need to hear.
Now go look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself if you are producing this culture in your gym or not. If you are not, these are the things that you need to work on. I have watched coaches with average sport science and programming knowledge produce amazing athletes by getting their athletes to buy in and producing the proper culture in the gym. I have also watched people that I consider to be brilliant exercise scientists never produce one good athlete.
Guys you have to have it all to be a great coach. You have to be the energy on the weight room each and every day. You have to find ways to get your athletes to have fun and want to be in the room with you. I hope that everyone reading this will become great strength coaches, and that’s why I am dropping this tough love on all of you. Now walk in your weight room today filled with energy. Walk in your weight room today and find ways to help your athletes love what they are doing.
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I hope to see all of you at our “Even-Esh Underground Strength Coach and Mash Learn 2 Lift” Combined Certs. Here are the dates:
March 17th and 18th at the Mash Compound in Clemmons, NC find out more and get Early Bird Pricing Below:
June 9th and 10th will be at Zach’s place in Manaquan, New Jersy
Details coming later!