This Should be a Sticky..or not. HOW TO BUILD A YEAR LONG PROGRAM(+1 year example)

[EndLineTraining]

Football season is coming to its final weeks of the post-season and it is time for athletes to start thinking about training for next season. You see a lot of questions on this forum asking how to increase speed in 3 weeks or pack on 10 pounds before the season starts next week. So for everyone who didn't feel like they optimized their off-season last year I’ll outline what your focus should be throughout the off-season.

The programs people follow are centered on building strength OR increasing your vertical OR packing on muscle OR increasing speed OR getting you in great condition. The truth of the matter is that athletes need to develop all of these qualities and not just one. It is problematic for an athlete to just follow a program that only focuses on one quality.

Conversely, it is also a major problem to take a speed program and combine it with a plyometric program and combine it with a strength program and combine it with a bodybuilder program and combine that with a conditioning program. If you do that you won't accomplish any of your goals. The problem with combining programs is that one program is a stand-alone product and it cannot take into account everything else you are doing. If the designer of the strength program knew you were doing a lot of conditioning, high rep finishers and sprints then I bet they would change some stuff around. Everything needs to be taken into account when designing a program.

Good programs will focus on different objects during different times of the season, with a primary focus on one or two qualities while the other qualities are put on the back burner but everything is taken into account of what is to come. I'm going to outline how you would go about putting yourself together a yearlong program leading up to football season.

This outline is in mind for a football player but the concepts can be informational for other sports as well. There are many different positions within football but the base of training is exactly the same. The main difference will be with the distances ran by position groups, conditioning requirements for position groups, special attention to the shoulder for the Qb, specific change of direction requirements and blocking sled/explosive work for linemen. This program is in mind for a lifter who has experience and proficiency in all the lifts.

Position Groups
Offensive and defensive linemen are placed in the Line group. Linebackers, TE's, QB's and FB's are placed in the big skill group. DB's, WR's and RB's are placed in the skill group. The majority of the sprints Line will do will be 20 yards, big skill with sprint at 30 yards and Skill will sprint at 40 yards. Here are the distances for extensive tempo runs: Line=60yds, big skill=80yds, Skill=100 yds.

www.endlinetraining.com

[EndLineTraining]

The program will adhere to this hierarchy:
1. Sprints
2. Jumps
3. Throws
4. Lifting
***Sprinting will always be done before lifting is done.

Rest Intervals
1. Sprints-Full rest periods between reps and sets. ~20-30 seconds for every 10 yards worked and 3-5 minutes between sets. If you want to run fast you have to give yourself proper rest periods. You can use fatigue and the stopwatch as your guide. If you are running slower and slower times during the set you might need longer rest periods or might need to shut it down for the day.
2. Jumps- Full rest periods. Will depend on the type of jump but roughly 10-30 seconds between jumps and 2-5 minutes between sets. Let fatigue be your guide.
3. MB Throws- Full rest periods. 3-5 mins between sets and let your fatigue be your guide between throws. The less skilled you are at sprints, jumps and throws the less rest you will need.
4. Core Lifts: 50%=30-40 sec, 60%=50 sec, 65%=60 sec, 70%= 70-80 sec, 75%=80-90 sec, 80%=90-120 sec, 85%=2-4 mins, 90%=2-5 mins, 95%+=3-5 mins. You don't always need complete recovery times here.
5. Accessory, Supplementary lifting: 30-120 sec. Incomplete rest Periods

Abdominal Work
Ab work will be done in two different capacities: one day will be for abdominal strength and another day for abdominal endurance. Abdominal endurance volume will climb from low to high throughout the off-season. These days will just rotate throughout the program and be done everyday.

***This outline will not include any Olympic lifts or their variations for the following reasons.
1. Athletes do not know how to perform the movements to a degree that will actually carryover to athletic development.
2. Athletes do not have a qualified coach to monitor technique as they progress from week to week (qualified being the key).
3. If you are slow or weak getting strong or fast will help you get explosive without doing explosive movements.
4. Most athletes don't have the basic strength needed to hold the correct positions to perform the Olympic lifts.
5. Most athletes cannot get into the correct starting position due to mobility and strength deficiencies.
6. Throws can elicit a similar outcome as cleans with the following benefits: A smaller learning curve, they teach true uninhibited triple extension and less strain on the joints especially the wrist shoulder and elbow.
*** Please note that I am not saying that MB throws are better than cleans but these are the reasons why they are not included into this program. I do think the Olympic lifts should be avoided for athletes who do not have access to a highly qualified coach.

Before the program gets started the athlete needs to test and record the following:
Vertical
Broad Jump
Overhead Backwards MB Throw for distance
5-10-5 Shuttle
40 yd. dash
3-5 RM squat
3-5 RM Bench
3-5 RM Deadlift
So let's kick off with the program. Here is a table of contents of sorts with the outline and goals:

Post-season (~3 weeks)
Goals: Rest body after long season. Restore proper movement patterns and address any weak areas that have been neglected. Fix asymmetries.
Offseason starts January 6th

GPP Hypertrophy/work capacity Block -3 weeks
Goals: Develop technique and work capacity in the weight room. Ready the body for upright running with hill sprints. Maximal hypertrophy
GPP Hypertrophy/work capacity Block - 3 weeks
Goals: Develop technique and work capacity in the weight room. Ready the body for upright running with hill sprints. Maximal hypertrophy.
GPP Strength Block 3 - 3 Weeks
Goals: Start to focus more on strength with the work done in previous blocks. Start acceleration work and jumps. Start to build up aerobic capacity
GPP Power Block 4 - 3 Weeks
Goals: Increase sprinting speed and maximize strength. Improve agility. Increase jump volume Testing. Build up aerobic capacity
Deload Week- 1 Week
Goals: Recover and regenerate
Pre-season for spring ball 2 weeks
Goals: Increase strength while increasing alactic capacity. Increase aerobic capacity
In-season for spring ball.
Goals: Continue to increase alactic and aerobic capacity. Keep athlete fresh for spring ball. Maintenance phase for lifting.
Maximal Speed Block- 3 Weeks
Goals: Increase top speed while gradually re-introducing lifting volume. Maintain aerobic capacity.
Maximal Power Block- 3 Weeks
Goals: Develop maximal strength and power. Improve agility and be prepared for the next alactic block.
Pre-Season Alactic Capacity Block 4 Weeks
Goals: Be able to repeat high power outputs with incomplete recoveries. Maintain as much strength and power as possible.
Deload for Start of Football Season

[EndLineTraining]

Methods: This is just an example of some methods of obtaining these goals. The number of days can be adjusted with some thinking (I wouldn’t go below 3 days per week and no more than 6 days). I’m not going to outline every set and rep for the core lifts but they can be easily made up with some thinking. Within the week some days can be high volume, medium volume and lower volume.
Example weekly adjustments might look like this:
Monday: High
Tuesday: Medium
Wednesday: Low
Thursday: High
Friday: Medium

EX: Blocks with full body days (High days should also correlate to high CNS stressful activities)
Monday: High
Tuesday: Low
Wednesday: Low or Medium
Thursday: Low
Friday: High

Potential Lower Body Cores Lifts
Squat
Front Squat
Pause Squats
Deadlifts (straight bar or trap bars)

Potential Upper Body Core Lifts
Bench Press
Incline Press (varying grips)
Floor Press or board press

Accessory/Supplementary Lower Body Lifts
Reverse Hyperextensions
RDL’s
Back Extensions
Uni-lateral work (I normally stick with lunges or Bulgarian split squats)

Accessory/Supplementary Upper Body Lifts
Rows (bent over rows, chain rows, db rows, cable rows, inverted rows)
Pull-ups/Chin-ups (add weight if possible)
Floor Press
Push-ups
DB pressing
Neck (manual neck, 4 way neck)
BPA’s
Reverse Flies
Curls


GPP 1 Hypertrophy/ Work Capacity Block
Lower body lifting will be done on Mon, Weds and Friday. Upper body lifting and sprinting will be done Tuesday and Thursday Week 1=60%, Week 2=67.5% and a rep max done week 3 at 75%. Sprinting will be done week 1,2 and 3. Week 1 will be 1x10@10yds, 1x10@20yds and 1x10@30yds, Week 2 will be 5x5@25yds & week 3 will be 4x4@30yds. Overall volume (reps X sets) will be kept high during this block. No tempo runs.

GPP 2 Hypertrophy/Work Capacity Block
Lower body lifting will be done on Mon, Weds and Friday. Upper body lifting and sprints will be done Tuesday and Thursday Week 1=65%, Week 2=72.5% and a rep max done week 3 at 80%. Hill sprinting will be done week 1,2 and 3. Week 1 will be 5x5@30yds, Week 2 will be3x6 s & week 3 will be 4x4@30yds. Overall volume (reps X sets) will be kept high but lower than block #1. Hill jumps will be included during this block and will be done one Tuesdays and Thursdays after sprints.

GPP 3 Strength

Upper body lifting, sprinting and jumping will be done Mon, Weds and Friday. Lower body lifting, tempos and medicine ball throws will be done Tuesday and Thursday. Sprinting will be on flat ground now or with a lightly weighted sled. Week 1 4x5 Week 2 4x4 Week 3 5x3 @30 yds. Lifting will be Week 1=70%, Week 2=77.5% and rep max at 85% week 3. As intensity increases the volume will continue to drop.

GPP 4 Power
Upper body lifting, sprinting and jumping will be done Mon, Weds and Friday. Lower body will be done Tuesday and Thursday. Sprinting will be on flat ground now or with a lightly weighted sled. Week 1 4x5 Week 2 4x4 Week 3 5x3 @40 yds. Lifting will be Week 1=75%, Week 2=82.5% and rep max at 90% week 3. As intensity increases the volume will continue to drop. The last week the athlete will test in the 40, shuttle, vertical, broad jump and OHB MB throw for distance.

Deload Week
2 Tempo runs. Beach type lifting if desired. Rest and regenerate.

[EndLineTraining]

Pre-season Alactic Capacity (Spring Ball)
The program will switch to all the core exercises being performed Monday, Wednesday and Friday’s along with throws, jumps and sprints. Monday will focus on the back squat and bench, Weds F. squat and incline and Friday deadlift and bench. Core lifts will be week 1 70%, week 2 75%, week 3 80% Tuesday and Thursday will be devoted towards Tempos, accessory lifting and abdominal exercises. Weds. Volume will be low. Alactic capacity drills will be done on Mon, Weds and Friday and will be the primary focus of the block.

In-Season (Spring Ball)
No sprint work or MB throws. Jumps will be supersetted with squats. Squats will be two days per week and bench two days per week. Volumes are decreased by ½ and intensity in the 65-80% range.

SPP 1 Strength
All core exercises will be done on Monday, Wednesday and Friday’s along with throws, Jumps and sprints. Tuesday and Thursday will be devoted towards Tempos, accessory lifting and abdominal exercises. Week 1 75%, Week 2 up 85%, Week 3 up to 93%. Testing of a 1-3Rm at this time. I prefer a 3RM but most athletes want to see what their true 1RM is at this point. Sprints will be done on Monday, Weds and Fridays with Weds being optional based on how the athlete is feeling. Sled sprints will be done for the following sets reps and distances: Week 1 4x4, Week 2 5x3 and Week 3 4x3 @20yds. Jumps can be more reactive in nature but still follow Prilepin’s Chart.

SPP 2 Speed
The program will switch to all the core exercises being performed Monday, Wednesday and Friday’s along with throws, Jumps and sprints. Monday will focus on the back squat and bench, Weds F. squat and incline and Friday deadlift and bench. Core lifts will be week 1 70%, week 2 75%, week 3 80%. Tuesday and Thursday will be devoted towards Tempos, accessory lifting and abdominal exercises. Monday and Wednesday will be maximal speed development and flying sprints will be done. Week 1 3x6@10yds, Week 2 4x4@15yds and week 3 5x3@20yds. Wednesday’s will be devoted towards change of direction drills for ~30 minutes and 10-15 reps of acceleration work or starts.

Save depth jumps for the next block.

SPP 3 Power
Core Lifting will only be done on Monday and Friday with Tues, Weds and Thurs being devoted towards accessory lifts. Tempos will continue on Tuesday and Thursday. Sprint work will be done on Mon and Friday with more emphasis on COD work and accelerations. No hill or sled work during this time. Weds will be dedicated towards positional drills for an hour. MB work and Jumps will be performed on Monday, Weds and Friday. More plyometrics and depth jumps will be included into the program. Lifting % will be varied from 70-90%.

SPP 4 Alactic Capacity (football conditioning)
http://endlinetraining.com/2013/05/1...-for-football/
The primary focus on this block is to maximize Alactic Capacity. The previous blocks were working on Alactic power and now we want to take all that power and be able to repeat those high level efforts time and time again without a performance drop off. It does no good to be fast just one time in football. The athlete needs to get so they can repeat those efforts time and time again. The reason for the late addition for the conditioning is that we need to develop maximal strength and power first and foremost. Conditioning a slow and weak athlete only gets them good at being slow and weak. Alactic capacity work will be done on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Core lifting will be done on Monday and Friday. Tuesday and Thursday will be Tempo work with regeneration modalities saved for Wednesday. Lifting will be in the 70-85% range.

In-season
The goal is to maintain qualities built from the off-season. Every football program is different so stresses will be really different in-season. Each position within each program will have different stresses so lifting should be individualized. Lifting 2-3 times per week with full body or upper/lower body split being used. Tempo runs should be done on the day after the game to help with regeneration and recovery. After a tempo run some accessory work can be done with ab work and stretching. Front Squats, Incline Bench and Floor press are staple core lifts during this phase.

[krakkerz]

The only problem with making it a sticky is that we'll all get infuriated because people won't read it.

This is a great article. Thanks.

[DCSpartan]

I vote for a stickie.

[EndLineTraining]

The only problem with making it a sticky is that we'll all get infuriated because people won't read it.

This is a great article. Thanks.

Well hopefully people will read it either way so you don't have to answer the same questions everyday.

[thenewguy23]

Should sticky.

Bookmarked thread for full read, but it looks good.

Edit: what are your thoughts on this program:

http://www.stack.com/2012/11/29/off-...tball-workout/

It's a 5 part program with similar points to you

[beertank23]

Great read!

[krakkerz]

Bumping until it's stickied.

[HunterTheRed]

Bumping until it's stickied.

same here

[Niko49ers]

How could this benefit a high school football team when some of them play different sports during the spring?

Some athletes play baseball and 'miss out' on football lifting. Some athletes participate in track & field and 'miss out' on football lifting.

There would only be a select 'core' group of guys that get the FULL benefit from this program from start to finish.

[EndLineTraining]

How could this benefit a high school football team when some of them play different sports during the spring?

Some athletes play baseball and 'miss out' on football lifting. Some athletes participate in track & field and 'miss out' on football lifting.

There would only be a select 'core' group of guys that get the FULL benefit from this program from start to finish.

If a kid plays a winter sport you would still follow a similar format with a post season block, GPP blocks, SPP power blocks and SPP capacity blocks. What would adjust would be the total amount of blocks and maybe the duration of the blocks. So it would look the same just shortened. Athletes who play winter and spring sports would be the same just even shorter. You would still need an post season block, maybe a 6-8 week GPP, 1 or two SPP power blocks and then an SPP capacity block before the season starts. Athletes who are more interested in football vs. another sport could still be building up qualities during their season but it will all be individual. Most athletes could still function in their sport with a heavy core and upperbody workload so that could be something to be looked into and some top end speed work because most sports won't ever work on that element.

[EndLineTraining]

Should sticky.

Bookmarked thread for full read, but it looks good.

Edit: what are your thoughts on this program:

http://www.stack.com/2012/11/29/off-...tball-workout/

It's a 5 part program with similar points to you

I would say it is fine but it only seems to talk about weight room stuff only which is incomplete when thinking about the preparation of an athlete.

[EndLineTraining]

Here is another thread I started that has a day by day outline of 3 weeks of programming.
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...03&pagenumber=

[krakkerz]

Bump

[krakkerz]

Bumped again

[EndLineTraining]

I put everything from this thread onto my website for an easier view. http://endlinetraining.com/2013/12/0...f-season-ever/

[thenewguy23]

I put everything from this thread onto my website for an easier view. http://endlinetraining.com/2013/12/0...f-season-ever/

Nice man, you should start posting on STACK.com

[OneLastChance]

I've been reading all of your threads. Definitely some quality material here.

[EndLineTraining]

Nice man, you should start posting on STACK.com

I looked into it and I'll probably start once my semester finishes up as I have a lot of other online stuff going, books, programs and a year long football training manual that will be out around the first of the year.

I've been reading all of your threads. Definitely some quality material here.

Thanks. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have.

[EndLineTraining]

Bump.

[krakkerz]

Bump again

[krakkerz]

Another bump

[DCSpartan]

bump

[krakkerz]

Ttt

[CHCL]

This should be a sticky. Bump for OP.

[CHCL]

Bump again.

[EndLineTraining]

Ttt

[Majoration]

Thanks for leading me here. I will look into doing this!