Clash of the Titans in the Weight Room? Let's Talk About It
Teamwork makes the dream work
I have never had a strength coach that I’ve 100% agreed with. But I have never had a strength coach that I 100% disagreed with either. With each strength coach there are always a few pieces that align: high energy culture, technique, and a desire to get the team stronger.
I meet track & field coaches from all over the nation who are frustrated with their strength coaches not doing exactly what the T&F coach envisions or leaving out an exercise that they deem as important. But what I have learned in 25 years of coaching, is that it’s never going to be perfect, but it can still be great.
My focus in the weight room has become the following:
1. Get stronger in maximal strength, specifically in the back/front squat and deadlift
2. Become more explosive: both bar speed and weight progress in the power clean and hang clean
3. Always emphasize posture and technique (a non-negotiable)
4. Enthusiasm to improve plus high-energy team culture
5. Strength and power output improvement that helps create more durable athletes
Thousands of us have been through some sort of track & field education with USTFCCCA or attended a coaching presentation by Boo Schexnayder. At some point, we’ve seen how it’s SUPPOSED to be done. But the reality is, our strength coach hasn’t been there, and their certification might not quite cover the needs of our incredible athletes. The legendary Cliff Rovelto taught my USTFCCCA Multi-Events certification course several years ago, and I never forgot what he said. “You better be incorporating maximal strength, power, and something ballistic in all parts of the season. You can’t ignore any of it.” This was in 2012 and it immediately became a pillar for what I want to see in the weight room weekly. This concept is much more important than specific exercises or specific sets.
Whether we are doing way too many power clean movements with a stick or no weight on the bar (which always feels pointless to me), or too little warm up (or too much warmup), or even some exercises that make me roll my eyes (pull-ups again…really?) I have learned to lock in on what we are doing right.
If you get anything from this post, get this
Build a positive relationship with your strength staff so you have a chance at having some legit input. As a high school coach, a NCAA DII coach, and as a NCAA DI coach, I have always attempted to build a relationship with the strength coach for the sake of the athletes. I want to have a decent relationship with the strength coach so we can be in a place of helpful communication, respect, and hopefully input at some level.
Do I always get what I want? H*ll nah. Do I get frustrated sometimes that I don’t get my way, or the strength coach doesn’t agree with me? Yup. But I always go back to my focus list. Are we getting stronger, more explosive, with good posture and positive energy? If the answer is yes, then the athletes are getting what they need and I need to lock in on what we ARE doing.
But let’s be real…some lifts & work that I struggle with…
…overdoing bench press, maxing out on snatch (snatch should be a speed focused lift, not a strength only lift), ladder drills in warmup, sprinting in warmup (when we just came from practice), Nordbord hamstring tests—it’s too much torque on their hamstring for no reason
Without question, the weight room is where I have purposely let control and ego drift away. I have watched many coaches get too worked up and stressed out. The weight room absolutely can enhance what we do on the track and on the runway. And if the basic principles of increasing maximal strength and power with some ballistic movements are happening then progress will be made on & off the track.
P.S.
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NAU’s Intrasquad Meet Results
On Friday (Nov 22), my team had our intrasquad meet! Athletes knew it was happening and guess what—they were LOOKING FORWARD TO IT!