LiftNPlay's Road To CFB

[JardmanOLB]

I would go the D2 and try your hardest, don't give up even if it seems they won't give you a chance, and obviously red shirt the first year so you can build some real size and strength in a good environment.

[LiftNPlay]

I appreciate the feedback! I'm not saying its a bad thing, because I've done it to others, but it is a lot easier to say, "Go big or go home," when it doesn't effect you. I have a lot to think about in the next month or so.

[LiftNPlay]

THURSDAY

Afternoon
-Worked up to Max Bench: 265 (first time I've truly gotten 265, feel like I can get 275).
-3x7 Chins with 25 lb plate
-3x10 DB Bench
-3x10 BORs
-3x6 Lateral Raises
-3x10 Rear Delt Flies
-3x5 Heavy DB Curls
-3x8 Skull Crushers

I decided to have a little more volume in than usual (in terms of reps, you will see what my motivation was in the next paragraph). I got 265 up even though my spotter lifted the weight off early so wasn't in the best postion body-wise that I could have been in. Otherwise, nothing special about this workout.

Been looking at German Volume Training. Might do it just for next week to shock my body, sounds like you get crazy sore from the workouts. One problem would be that I would be so sore from the leg workout that I couldn't do my agility sessions. Another downside being that I would only do 1 leg workout that week/only 3 lifting workouts all together. The best thing is that it would be a good way to rest my CNS while still gaining muscle (because I would be lifting lighter weights and doing less agilitiy sessions.)

[JardmanOLB]

Too true man, Im from Aus and have no idea what the differences in level of play are like between D1, D2 and D3. Can you make it to the NFL from D3? If your end goal isnt to make it to the NFL, perhaps if you go to the D2 and they dont give you game then you can play with an amateur club?

[LiftNPlay]

Too true man, Im from Aus and have no idea what the differences in level of play are like between D1, D2 and D3. Can you make it to the NFL from D3? If your end goal isnt to make it to the NFL, perhaps if you go to the D2 and they dont give you game then you can play with an amateur club?

It's hard to explain the difference. You can go to the NFL from D3 (very few people make it, only some recievers who have some of the all-time best D3 careers go on to be ok NFL recievers.) but that's not my goal. I am all for shooting for the moon, but at the same time I need to be somewhat realistic.

Ok, so I have decided to stop being stupid and not do GVT. I have always wanted to do a hypertrophy routine like GVT or PHAT, but the reality is that they just aren't for football. Going to search for routines on the car ride tomorrow.

Just to clear something up: the DIII college that I have already visited that I said was in my top 3 was the public one. The private one I visited isn't completely out of the running, but its definetly the last on my mind right now. The facilities were great and they are better at football than the other 2 DIII colleges, but I think I'd rather go DII if I was going for facilities/competitiveness.

[SDOptimist]

good luck man. checkout my pm

[LiftNPlay]

THURSDAY

3x10 DB Incline Bench
3x8 Incline Bench
3x8 Chin-Ups
3x8 Chainsaws
3x7 Military Press
3x10 Band Pull-Aparts
3x10 Dips
3x10 Incline DB Curls

My recruiting visit on Monday went very well. I really liked the college and the visit itself was much more professional. They are very big into "sports-performance training" (they don't call it strength & conditioning). They are the top college in my state for ESS (Exercise and Sports Science) so that's a major plus. The coach from the other D3 called that night by coincidence and basically said that he just wants to help me find the right college for me. I don't know if it was only that call or something else but I just cannot take that college off my list (even though there facilites/jerseys/college in general isn't as nice). The colleges are right next to each other on a top regional college list so they would be about the same for education. The one I just visted would be better if I went for ESS, the other if I went for pre-law.

The D2 finally responded and basically said that I wouldn't even be able to tryout until the spring camp of 2014 (the year after this next football season). I sent out an email laying everything out (my hard work, etc.) and I will see what they say back but I highly doubt they will change their mind so right now I am not considering that college. I am somewhat suprised that I am not more dissapointed at this news. Maybe it will hit me a little harder once they say no once and for all.

So, for my sake and yours, lets get into a specific list of pros and cons of each of the two colleges:

Earlier Visited D3
+Football field is enclosed on all 4 sides (3 by bleachers, one by trees right past the fence)
+Two-toned turf
+Filled in endzones with names
+Locker room is football only
+Open wood lockers (like NFL-style is the only way I can explain it)
+Offseason they do a non-traditional challenge workout once every week and post results in locker room (like pushing/pulling tires in snow and races, great way to keep competitiveness up in offseason.)
+Close to home
+D-Cord is my favorite of all coaches I have met so far (also the S&C coach so I would see him throughout the year, he is the one that when he called me and knew I really liked a conference foe didn't try to persude me, only told me to go where it felt right).
+One of the largest D3 marching bands in nation (great for game atmosphere)
+Paving own path (not following high school friend to other D3)
-Locker room is split into two sides (one for underclassmen, other for upperclassmen, kind of a pro and con all in one)
-Shared weightroom/fieldhouse w/public.
-I feel like they have less upside (both teams had about same record last season (~.500)) even though they beat the other team last year.

Just Visited D3
+Athlete-private fieldhouse and weightroom (along with a large public rec/weightroom in another part of campus)
+Very nice Adidas Techfit jerseys
+Very large bleachers
-Bleachers only on one side (thats why there so large/nice)
-Field/track combo
-Shared locker room, cage lockers (shared during the season so basically guarenteed to be crowded)
-Endzones not filled in, not two toned
+Nicer campus
+Superior S&C program
+College itself is big on ESS
+Free sports massage/chiropractic work once a week in-season
+Close girl high school friend from my class going there

It's going to be a very hard choice. What do you guys think?

[MassiveKent]

education, cost and chances of getting on the field are the most important things. Its nice having a sweet locker and all but you need to be able to showcase your talents. You dont wanna be on that grind and not play.

another thing to consider is transfer rules.

[thenewguy23]

Good work finding these colleges bro, hope it all goes well on the next level. As for the colleges they both sound really good but I'm leaning to no.2 from your description

[SDOptimist]

education, cost and chances of getting on the field are the most important things. Its nice having a sweet locker and all but you need to be able to showcase your talents. You dont wanna be on that grind and not play.

another thing to consider is transfer rules.

Agreed.

Don't worry about what the locker room, weight room, stadium, and even the jerseys look like. This is d2/d3. They aren't going to be known for that, so don't put those as priorities. These should be your priorities in ranked order:

1. Cost of education (Free vs. Partial vs. All out of your pocket)
2. Quality of education in general and for your major
3. Quality and personality of coaches.
4. Playing time.

[LiftNPlay]

I understand my priorities, but heres the problem: even after factoring out the four you listed above, there is still no clear cut winner. Both schools are very close in tutition price (~18,500 per year after all factors) and I will most likely get minimal scholarships from either. Both rank high and right next to each other on a top public regional universities list so education quality across the board is basically the same. One would be better for ESS, the other for English/Philosophy (I have read that those are the best 2 majors for getting into law school, not pre-law). But, it is hard to chose one because of major because at this time, I go back and forth and could easily change my mind by mid-sophomore year (around the time I think I want to settle into a major). I really liked both coaching staffs, #2 had a better overall staff (somwhat biased because I spent a lot of time with #2s HC but only about 30 mins with #1s HC, both seemed like great coaches) but #1 has my fav coach who is D-Cord/S&C coach. Both stress importance of academics and being a good student/human and both at least said that the team is a close family. Both finished right around .500 last year. #1 has a position cut out for me at this time (small/quick outside backer, but only on 1 side, other side is large basically DE/OLB hybrid), but #2 puts more emphasis on quick players in general, although all backers are decently large and fast.

This is why I am getting down to the very specific details to help make my choice, and why this will be such a hard choice.

[LiftNPlay]

Forgot:

FRIDAY

Morning
Hurdle Drills
Cone Drills
Conditioning

Afternoon
10x2 Explosive Box Squats
4x4 Pistol Squats (HARD)
3x3 Single Leg Box Jumps
3x10 Single Leg Glute Bridges
3x12 DB Shrugs
3x10 Abs SS Obliques

[MassiveKent]

pistol squats are a bitch

you need to understand recruitment too. coaches are going to sweet talk you but once youre in they will control your lives and treat you like their underachieving gay son. the head coach oversees everything hes not going to be around you as much as your position coach. you report to your position coach so you need report with him. your head coach basically identifies weaknesses and coaches the position coaches. they can be all nice, introduce you to their family, etc but theyre all just ploys to get you to commit there.
its comes down to playing as soon as possible. where will you really do that?

[LiftNPlay]

Come on man, I am not that naive! I understand that they are trying to butter me up to go there, but they can also be decent, genuine coaches as well. That's what I am trying to sort out right now. I didn't get to spend much time with #1s HC so I FBooked a current player and asked about him and how close the players are. I heard from my HS friend that a good amount of people at the school don't like #2's HC, but I don't know how true that info is so I Fbooked one of that teams seniors as well and asked him about it. He (#2s HC) seemed like a genuinly nice guy, but who knows if it was just for show or not. I know for sure #1s D-Cord is a genuine guy.

Like I said above, I really can't tell which school I will get more playing time at.

[LiftNPlay]

Monday

Morning
-Linear Speed

Afternoon
-3x1 Near Max Bench
-3x3 Heavy Chin-Ups
-3x6 Incline DB Press
-3x10 Bodyweight rows (laying on ground, using bar above to pull up)
-3x10 Seated DB Power Cleans
-3x8 Upright Rows
-3x7 Bicep-focus Pull-Ups
-3x10 Tricep Extensions

Still haven't decided where to go. If I want to go into ESS, #2 is a no brainer but I am not sure if I will change my mind about that path or not. Very tough call.

[LiftNPlay]

Tuesday

Afternoon
-3RM Squat (355, new PR, know I could have done more weight.)
-3x1 Power Cleans
-3x3 Raised Reverse Lunges
-3x5 Good Mornings
-3x10 Barbell Shrugs
-3x20 Barbell Calf Raises
-Ab Circut

[LiftNPlay]

I am on the verge of choosing school #2. If Exercise and Sports Science is on my mind, I have to go there. I almost found myself making excuses for myself (I.E. what if I don't want to go into ESS?) just to go to school #1.

In fact, I am literally going to make my choice as I type this. You are hearing this before anyone else:

I AM GOING TO SCHOOL #2!

Weight has been lifted off my shoulders. ESS is my passion currently and, even though it may change, I can't see it changing now.

END OF DISCUSSION

[LiftNPlay]

WEDNESDAY

Morning
-Lateral Cones Drills

Afternoon
-Jumps

Got 2 new records today. I static broad jumped 8' 9", a 10" gain from my last time, but the last time I was mostly fatigued and this time it was in the middle of my jump training so I could probably get farther. I also (for a while now) can touch rim from a standstill, but today I calculated I could probably hit 10' 1" on a vert measurer and my standing reach is 7' 7" so my vertical is roughly 30".

[LiftNPlay]

THURSDAY

Afternoon
-4x8 Bench Press
-4x8 Chainsaws
-4x8 Incline DB Bench
-4x8 Chin-Ups
-4x8 Behind Neck Military Press
-4x8 Band Pull-Aparts
-4x8 DB Curls
-4x8 Skull Crushers

Friday

Morning
-Ladders
-Conditioning

Afternoon
-4x8 Hang Cleans
-4x8 Squat
-4x8 Lunges
-4x8 Deadlifts
-4x12 DB Traps
-4x8 Plate over head single leg calf raises
-4x12 Weighted Sit-Ups
-4x10 Obliques

Decided to do some high volume work just to change things up the past two days. That was probably one of my hardest/best leg days ever. Not too sure what next week will be. Thinking about doing a explosive oriented week. Going to foam roll and strectch tonight and tomorrow. Suprisingly, my legs aren't too sore, but they are more than usual.

Been doing these three stretches that I saw from David Claiborne's youtube channel after workouts the past four days to try to loosen up my hips:

-Get in hurdler position, put weight plate on one knee and lay back flat. Hold one minute then switch.
-Put leg from ankle to knee on bench so it is horizontal and put your back foot out as far as you can go. Hold for one minute then switch.
-Put ankle on bench and knee on ground. Flex glutes. Hold for one minute then switch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sr-c...bAo-Aw&index=2

After those I foam rolled my IT bands then did some regular stretches for hamstrings and calves.

[JardmanOLB]

Good to hear you've made your decision man, congratulations. I think ESS will be great to study. Nice work on the vertical jump btw, wish mine was near that.

[Mr.NoPrint]

Been doing these three stretches that I saw from David Claiborne's youtube channel after workouts the past four days to try to loosen up my hips:

-Get in hurdler position, put weight plate on one knee and lay back flat. Hold one minute then switch.
-Put leg from ankle to knee on bench so it is horizontal and put your back foot out as far as you can go. Hold for one minute then switch.
-Put ankle on bench and knee on ground. Flex glutes. Hold for one minute then switch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sr-c...bAo-Aw&index=2

After those I foam rolled my IT bands then did some regular stretches for hamstrings and calves.

Nice vid. Looks killer.

Ive been working my mobility harder than ever too. Definitely critical. Gonna go snap my IT bands now actually.

[LiftNPlay]

MONDAY

Morning
-Cone Drills

Afternoon
-Max Incline Bench (185, but i think my incline is too high but at least im definately working upper pecs than!)
-3x21 Push-Ups with one hand on box switching
-3x8 Behind neck chin ups
-3x10 BORs
-3x10 Shoulder Circut
-3x10 Db Rear Delt Flies
-3x8 Pull-Ups
-3x7 Weighted Dips

[LiftNPlay]

SHOUT OUT TO 4000+ VIEWS! THANKS FOR FOLLOWING MY PROGRESS!

TUESDAY

Afternoon
-5x5 Squats (@325)
-3x7 Step-Ups
-3x5 One Leg Glute Bridges with bar
-5x1 Power Clean, Front Squat, Jerk Complex
-3x12 DB Shrugs
-3x15 Barbell Calf Raises
-3xAb Circut

5x5 was extremly hard, probably hardest leg lift I have done in a long while.

WEDNESDAY

Morning
-Sprint Work

Afternoon
-Box Jumps

Both sessions were fairly light, legs were pretty tired from yesterday so didn't go too hard. Full body stretch session after box jumps this afternoon.

As funny as it sounds, I am going to re-apply the conjugate method back into my customized WS4SB3. I have literally taken out the main theory the program is based on and it needs to be put back in ASAP. I have been doing hypertrophy and max effort work but without much planning/reasoning. I haven't done a dynamic day in quite a while so I need to do that as well. I looked at using DUP as my basis but I still like conjugate better. They are similar but have fundamental differences.

For those who aren't familiar:

DUP
http://www.biolayne.com/training/dr-...periodization/

Conjugate
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_..._bible_part_ii

[LiftNPlay]

THURSDAY

Afternoon
-8x3 Dynamic Bench
-1x1 Bench Press (245)
-3x10 Reverse Grip BORs
-3x10 DB Incline Press
-3x8 Pull-Ups
-3x10 DB Rear Delt Flies
-3x10 Military Press
-3x8 Tate Presses
-3x10 Cable Curls (Basically holding you arm straight out to the side then doing curls with a cable column)

Didn't like the tate presses. The ROM isn't very great because you pecs get in the way. Maybe I will try them again but not a good first impression. 245 felt heavy but went up smoothly after the dynamic bench session.

FRIDAY

Morning
-Ladders

Afternoon
-12x2 Dynamic Box Squat
-1x2 Squat (365)
-3x5 Weighted Box Jumps
-5x3 Pistol Squats
-5x3 Clean Pulls
-3x Ab Circut

365 was heavy but felt very good after doing 12 sets of dynamic squats. I will either try to hit 375 for 3 next week or go for 405, confident I will hit either one I choose. I didn't get one of my legs up onto the box on one of the box jumps and was lucky to bail without any pulling/inury which pissed me off (I could have hurt myself, thats what got me going) but I still finished the rest. Getting a lot better at pistol squats, will try to go for 4 reps each set next time I do them. Overall a good few days of getting back to the true program.

[LiftNPlay]

TUESDAY

Afternoon
-Max Squat (405)
-Heavy Power Cleans
-3x10 bodyweight jump lunges
-3x5 Heavy Good Mornings
-3x15 Barbell Shrugs
-3x17 Barbell Calf Raises
-3x Ab Circut

Finally got 405! I know I should be past that (I tried for 425 but couldn't get myself siked back up) but if feels good to finally hit a lift you've missed 3 times. Will do front squats for my next 2 leg days after doing back squat for I think 4 leg days in a row.

[LiftNPlay]

WEDNESDAY

Morning
-Agility Ladder Drills
-Conditioning

Afternoon
-Plyometrics

College strength coach sent me the lifting program. It isn't as long as mine so I will probably do it then just do the rest of what I usually do. I may get a little less descriptive of my lifts just for program privacy reasons (no I will not email/share it with anybody, sorry).

[LiftNPlay]

THURSDAY

Afternoon
-4x8 DB Bench
-3x12 Explosive Push-Ups
-4x8 Chainsaws
-3x8 Chin-Ups
-4x4 Push Jerks
-3x12 Band Pull-Aparts
-3x8 Floor Press
-3x8 Reverse Curls (forgot the real name)

FRIDAY

Morning
-Cone Drills
-Hurdles
-Conditioning

Afternoon
-4x4 Hang Cleans
-4x6 Front Squats
-4x8 RDLs
-3x10 Single Leg Glute Thrusts
-3x9 LiftNPlay Calves (45 lb plate held overhead, one leg calf raises)
-3x Weigted Abs

Good front squat sets, nice to get back to them.

[LiftNPlay]

MONDAY

Afternoon
-4x3 Explosive Pushups
-4x8 BORS
-4x10 DB Shoulder Press
-4x5 Wide Grip Chin-Ups
-4x6 (Was trying to do 4x10 but my triceps were fried and even as I kept lowering weight I couldn't get 10)
-4x10 Preacher Curls
-4x10 Skull Crushers
-4x10 Band Pull-Aparts

-Sprints
-Stair Runs

Visited my college this weekend to look more in depth at it, hence why I did my whole Monday workout in one session (got back later in the day).

[LiftNPlay]

TUESDAY

Afternoon
-4x4 Hang Clean
-4x6 Front Squat
-4x6 Good Mornings
-4x4 Pistol Squats
-3xAb Circut

WEDNESDAY

Morning
-Ladder Drills
-Hurdle Drils
-Conditioning

Afternoon
-Box Jumps
-Tennis Ball Catch (Hand-eye coordination)

BTW when I am putting box jumps I just mean a plyo session I also do long jumps, vertical jumps, etc not just box stuff.

[LiftNPlay]

THURSDAY

Afternoon
-4x4 Push Jerk
-4x6 DB Bench
-4x8 Chainsaws
-4x8 Incline Bench
-4x7 Chin-Ups SS DB Seated Power Cleans
-4x10 Tricep Extensions

Friday

Morning
-Cone Drills

Afternoon
-4x4 Power Pulls
-4x6 Deadlifts
-2x5 Front Squat (see below)
-4x6 Good Mornings
-4x5 Single Leg Box Jumps
-2x Ab Circut

Did some med ball work after my workout on thursday. Changed my front squat hold from crossed to olympic style today. Gave me an uncomfortable stretch in the forearms, but I will get used to it and the pros easily outweigh the pros of the crossed hold.