Championship Weight Training- The Latest Movement in HS Sports

What does it take to compete successfully in high school athletics? If you look back over the last 100 years, coaches and athletic programs have constantly come up with new ways and more efficient methods to improve their athletes and their athletic teams. 

In the 1960's and 1970's, coordinating programs down to the JH level helped many sports become stronger. Cross country and indoor track grew in the 1980's to help outdoor track programs. Camps and summer programs improved different sports throughout the 1980's and 1990's. Since 2000, club teams, travel teams, and AAU teams have improved HS teams. While all of these "movements" may have made for better players and better teams, many of these "movements" have also produced greater specialization of HS athletes. 

The next development to improve HS sports is going to happen in the weight rooms. Obviously most HS's have had weight programs since as early as the 1970's. In the 2020's, it is becoming clear there is a new direction taking place among schools in their weight rooms. This new approach in the weight room is not only improving school's athletes, it is also causing those schools to have fewer athletes specializing in a single sport. 

Just looking at athletes from different schools, it is easy to see how much stronger athletes at some schools have become. Over the last two years, I have been on a mission to explore what the best HS athletic programs do for their strength and conditioning. As I talked to more and more coaches and administrators about their athletic programs, it became clear most strong athletic programs are taking a new approach to strength training. Here is the direction of weight programs of many schools, and what successful weight program looks like:

ADMINISTRATORS TAKES OVER- The administration (Supt down to the AD) make it clear to coaches that there is going to be a “school plan” for lifting. It is not an option for coaches to opt into or out of the program.

STRENGTH COORDINATOR- One person is designated as the Strength & Conditioning Coordinator. One AD described their program, “The Strength Coach is the head coach in the weight room, and the individual sports coaches are his/her assistant coaches in the weight room.” Each sport coach gives input but it is the Strength Coach who makes the final decisions.

LIFT IN PE- There is time designated within the PE curriculum to lift. 

ATHLETES ALL LIFT- All sports are expected to lift. All coaches are expected to work on a plan of how to get their athletes into the weight room during the season, and how to motivate them to get into the weight room in the off-season.

ONE PROGRAM- The Strength Coach with input from individual coaches develops one basic program that is used by all athletes. When athletes step in the weight room, they are all doing the same program. This makes supervision for coaches and makes accountability of athletes both easier. It creates a sense of competition. The logic of one program is centered on the goal to have the majority of athletes be multi-sport athletes so they need to be trained as athletes vs trained for one sport. 

ATHLETES NOT BODY BUILDERS- Programs are designed to increase athletic functionality. 

DISCOURAGE SPECIALIZATION- Often times if a coach develops a sport specific program for their athletes in the off-season, it consciously or unconsciously encourages those athletes not to go out for another sport. The athlete feel like, "I will fall behind if I am not doing my sport training program."  A good measure is to see how many athletes in each sport play only that sport, play two sports, and play three sports. Some consider a healthy measure is for an individual sports program to have 25% or fewer of their athletes specialize, 50% do one other sport, and 25% do three sports. 

PERSISTENCE WINS-  The program is designed to have athletes lift 12 month per year. They do not take the summer off, and they do not lift light when in-season. 

BUILD STRENGTH IN-SEASON- Athletes will continue to lift while in-season. They will not back off or lift lighter, they are focused on building strength in-season. If most athletes are multi-sport athletes, they cannot afford to have multiple seasons where they just are going to maintain vs gain strength. 

IN-SEASON ATHLETE TRAINS TO PEAK- The programs are designed to have athletes taper at the end of their seasons to help the athlete be at max ability at the end of the season. 

LIFT THRU COMPETITION- Athletes may lift the day before competition or even lift the day of competition. They lift thru regular season contests. If athletes are lifting regularly, their body will be use to lifting and not be affected. The goal is to have the athletes build to be strong at the end of the year and at the end of their careers. 

SUPPLEMENTS-  Individual coaches may choose to supplement the basic school program with exercises for their sports, but the individual coaches find the time to do these exercises. 

NOT JUST STRENGTH- Speed, agility, and jumping are included with effective programs.

MEASUREMENTS- Strength coordinators have some form of pre and post measurement programs. These measurements serve a positive reinforcement for the athlete's work. 

MY CONCLUSION- This approach to lifting requires a change in thinking for coaches. As coaches, we are used to wanting to control as much of our athlete's lives as we can. But as coaches, we must learn to accept- "They are not my athlete."

These strength programs are not geared to produce better basketball players, better volleyball players, better football players, better track runners or jumpers, or better baseball players. These programs are designed to have the players view themselves as athletes. If coaches and players work to have players become better athletes- the better athletes can achieve success in multiple sports.