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How to do Speed Training for Football Lineman to have big, explosive, fast & dominating lineman. You are the most important players of the field, yet most fans don't know your name. You won't see many people wearing your jersey. You'll probably never score a touchdown or be named MVP... But, you are the most important players on the field. The game of football starts and ends with the big guys up front. A team with good lineman will be successful, even if their "skill" players are lacking. In football training, there are definitely some aspects of training that can be applied to all positions. However, to train everyone exactly the same way is a big mistake! Worse yet, most programs train lineman with the same Speed-building programs as the Running Backs and DB's! Do Lineman Need Speed Training? The old school mentality that Lineman should be big, strong and slow is ridiculous. Lineman, both offensive and defensive need to be strong, powerful and quick! Over the last 5 years or so, the shift has been towards athletic, fairly lean, and fast D-Lineman. Unfortunately, the O-line is falling behind. It's still the same ol'force feeding, get-as-big-as-possible theory. While it certainly helps to be oversized for run blocking; pass blocking a guy much faster but just as strong as you will get your ass kicked just about every time. And, even when run blocking, a fast D-line can really create havoc for big, slow lineman. How to Train the Lineman to Get Faster for Football In my experience, most linemen are strong. Strength is the foundation for speed, so why are some of them so slow? Relative Strength. Yes, these guys are strong but they lack relative strength (strength in relation to bodyweight) and explosive strength. There are two causes for this: 1. Training Slowly - Grinding out huge weights slowly, with no emphasis on force production will lead you right to the slow lane. 2. Never Addressing Relative Strength Gaps - In their quest for huge numbers, most programs just allow the big guys to keep slowly moving big weights, ignoring relative strength all-together. Solving the Problems
1. Training Slowly You must apply maximum force to the bar on each and every rep. Yes, Maximum strength is the main factor determining speed of movement, but, when the intent to accelerate the weight is not there, you will increase your chances of getting slow. This is a fairly simple fix...just start applying more force to the bar every time you lift it. Only lifting heavy can cause problems, even when trying to exert max force on the bar. How do you correct this problem? Add a Speed Training day to your football training program. In Powerlifting circles, this day is known as Dynamic Effort Training. Louie Simmons, father of Westside Barbell, the pioneers of Dynamic Effort Training says this about speed work: Explosive strength can be developed by using moderate resistance with maximum speed. This is the dynamic method. Two simple training methods to accompany the dynamic method are the box squat for squatting and pulling strength and the floor press with dumbbells or a barbell. For both exercises, after the eccentric phase, many of the muscles are in a relaxed state. This is followed by any explosive concentric motion. This will increase the rate of force development (RFD). We also find that maximum concentric work also increases RFD. With the use of extremely heavy weights, bar velocity may be slow, but nevertheless, overcoming a large load dynamically causes a fast RFD. Many have taken this to mean that simply lifting light weights quickly will build great speed. However, this is mistaken because of the body's natural protection mechanism...as you near lockout, your antagonists (muscles opposite of the ones being worked, i.e., the triceps and biceps) will contract causing a slowing effect on the bar. This is done to prevent joint injuries. Now, the whole point of Dynamic Training is to transfer power. This is done by lifting submaximum weights at maximum speeds. But, how can this be done if the body want's to slow down the movement as it nears completion? Accommodating Resistance Accommodating Resistance is simply using training devices that will actually make the weight "heavier" as you reach lockout, thus circumventing the problem of slowing down near lockout. Zatsiorsiky, in the Science and Practice of Strength Training, defines accommodating resistance as using special means to accommodate resistance throughout the entire range of motion rather than a specific point. Two of the most popular methods of accomplishing this are using chains or bands. Bands are probably the superior method. However, for beginners, or those who have experience but are new to this type of training, I would stick to using chains only until you become familiar with the process. There are two problems with using only bar weight when doing Dynamic Training. One, as we mentioned, is that the bar will naturally decelerate as you near completion. The other is that we are strongest near lockout. That's why you see guys who only squat down a few inches lift way
more than a guy who squats the full range of motion. Typically, we are weakest at the bottom, or middle-bottom of a lift, and then very strong at the top. There's a huge problem with this: · Often we are under-training the muscles in certain positions, many of them positions that are very near to those used in football. Muscles are actitive over a relatively short ROM and usually maximum muscle activity occurs near the top end of a movement. · To under train the top of a movement, i.e., the squat, would be leaving a huge amount of force "on the table." When running, we typically drive off of a knee angle that is similar to running. If we are under-training this portion of the squat, we are asking for trouble...not only in decreased speed, but also potential injuries! Using bands or chains will not only lead to bigger numbers in the weightroom, but it will also lead to more sport-efficient motor patterns by teaching the body to continue accelerating rather than decelerating as you reach the strongest part of the lift. Because of the increased resistance as you near completion, the bands will actually decelerate the bar. This works in your favor because you now have to work harder to accelerate and can avoid the body's natural protective mechanism safely. How to Apply DE Leg Training for Lineman Add Dynamic Effort training to your second leg day of the week. If you train legs heavy on Monday, do speed training on Thursday. For squatting, use 50-60% of your max with a method of accommodating resistance. Bands or chains must always be used to greatly reduce the deceleration phase. For squatting: 10-12 sets of 2 reps. For deadlifting: 6-10 sets of 1 rep after squatting. Relative Strength for Football Chins/Pull-ups And a hush comes over the crowd...I know, you were with me when I was talking Deadlifts, Squats, bands and chains. But, Pull-ups? Oh, the horror. I know, it sucks doing chins and pull-ups when you are big. However, they are essential to building your relative strength. More and more research is showing a positive correlation between your chinning ability and your speed. Basically more relative strength = get faster for football! Now, some of you are asking? Well, how the hell can I improve my speed with pull-ups when I can barely do them? It's a common problem with a fairly easy solution: work hard. Basically, if you can't do even one pull-up, you will use bands to assist you. You may need to start with a strong or green band and stick with that for a few weeks. Then move
to a blue. Then a lite band. Eventually you'll do them on your own. In my own case, years ago, I was only able to do 3 or 4 solid pull-ups. So, I started with help from a band. Over the course of about 7 months, I was not only able to hit 3 x 10 with no help, but I was able to add weight! One player I trained went from unable to do one to knocking off sets of 8...and guess what? His speed improved dramatically. The increase in speed can also be linked to less body fat. Simply, when you lose unnecessary fat and gain muscle, you will be relatively stronger and thus able to run faster and do more pull-ups. But, increasing relative strength is about more than pull-ups. A lineman should have the ability to do plyo-jumps, One-Leg Squats, and other bodyweight dominant exercises. Lineman can be just as agile and explosive as anyone else on the field. Next time we'll cover more speed training tips for football lineman. Just because you have big lineman doesn't mean they can't get faster for football!
Get Free Football Training Books, "7-Steps to Insane Game Speed," and "14-Must Do Exercises to Get Stronger & Faster for Football," please visit Football Strength Workouts and Explosive Football Training
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_Morris
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