Nathanael Littauer
@litt_strength
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Helping Individuals and Organizations build Stronger Futures for Themselves | Director of Sport Performance @RJRstrength
Winston-Salem, NC
Joined July 2017
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At the end of every year, I compile a list of what I read/listened to throughout the year. Here's this year's list ⬇️
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Dear Parent,
Your son wants to throw a football around more than they want to train. That, and they're 7.
Your child doesn't need a strength coach, they need their dad to play with them.
Sincerely,
Their Strength Coach
#TweetsToMyAthletesParents
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2K
Dear Parent,
Your son is 9, plays baseball/throws bullpens 11 months out of the year, hasn't played a different sport in 2+ years, and can't do a chin up.
There's no way to say this nicely: your son's shoulder/elbow are in danger.
Sincerely,
Coach
#TweetsToMyAthletesParents
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1K
Dear Parent,
Your son is indeed naturally talented. But he will fail to be a great athlete until you instill a level of responsibility in him.
At 17, don't make his lunch, clean his room, or pay him to do chores. Those are his jobs.
Sincerely,
Coach
#TweetsToMyAthletesParents
12
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1K
Dear Parent,
Your 7 year old son isn't interested in speed training. You're interested in speed training for him.
There's most definitely a difference.
Sincerely,
Coach
#TweetsToMyAthletesParents
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Agility isn't developed by doing a bunch of ladders and set drills. Agility is chaotic and requires reaction to changing environments. With kids, what better way to develop it than through a game?
#LTAD
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When you don't have wall capable of handling medball throws, but you've got KBs ⬇️
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Been bringing back the
#BenchChallenge
for my younger kids. Strength, patience, and decision making. They would have stayed and tried to complete this for hours if their parents didn't come to pick them up
#LTAD
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If you've got safety pins, it becomes a lot easier to overload the Eccentric on a single leg. Lower unilaterally, raise bilaterally
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Most progress for HS athletes can be made by simply showing up consistently 2-3x/week for 4 straight years. 3 month training binges then taking months off isn't optimal for long term development
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After finishing student teaching I gave the FB coaches who run the weight room a program for the rest of the year. Within a week they went back to the same program that left them riddled with injuries the last few years.
You can lead horse to water, but you can't make them drink
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We will always aim to move and move well.
We use a lunge variation like this 1-2 times a week as prep on days where we Front Squat or RDL, as a way of warming up the hips and increasing stability before a lift.
Pretty solid for her first time ever doing this variation ⬇️
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Was cleaning up a plank walking challenge and turned around to find the boys trying to jump from box to box. My only intervention was to make sure they didn't jump towards each other at the same time. Kids want to play, so why would we stop them?
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"Can you teach me how to power clean?"
*internal weightlifting geek freaks out*
"Yes."
45 minutes later 👇🏻👇🏻
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I get these girls for 3, 40min blocks per week. We hang clean once a week (we're on a mezzanine and can't drop weights, so stick to the hang). They wanted to know how they could lift more, so I taught them the full clean. A few of them caught on quickly!
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Create constraints for movement.
I could tell her to push through her heels all day long, but she wouldn't figure it out (we tried). But "pull into the pole"? That worked just fine 👌🏻
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If there is one side effect of HS Strength and Conditioning that could not be stated enough, it's the increase of confidence in each student.
Competency in movement provides confidence in other areas of life
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Exercise is the poorest form of punishment. Why would you use something which is so beneficial to health and performance, and create negative associations with it in the minds of your athletes?
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I complained to my coworker that I may have bitten off more than I can chew in life. His response, "At least you're not going hungry." My entire perspective changed after that. I may have put "too much on my plate", but at least I have stuff to put on it
#ConstantlyLearning
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One thing I try to get across to my high school athletes is that maxing out on a lift is a privilege, not a right. If you don't move well, you don't get to go heavy.
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How we've been teaching new athletes the hinge who struggle with posture already.
Two cues:
1️⃣ Push your butt to the wall
2️⃣Don't the let ball touch your knees
Adjust from there
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Dear Parent,
Don't blame your kid for gaining weight and losing athletic ability because he eats ice cream every night. He didn't buy it, you did.
He's simply the product of the environment you created for him.
Sincerely,
Coach
#TweetsToMyAthletesParents
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Dear Parent,
Running your 10 year old softball player til they vomit as a form of conditioning only conditions them to do one thing: associate negatively with training.
Seriously, just Google Pavlov's dogs.
Sincerely,
Coach
#TweetsToMyAthletesParents
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Solid S&C at high schools shouldn't be limited to just athletes. There's a lot of kids who'd work hard and want to learn if they had more opportunities during the school day
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When you don't have a Hack Squat machine to get some more targeted leg work.
Yes, it's different from a traditional barbell hack squat, but I personally much prefer this version
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Dear Parent,
Your child is not as athletic as you think he is. And it's not a bad thing. He's 12. Give him some time, let him be a kid, and he'll turn out just fine.
Remember, it's not just about sports, it's about his whole life.
Sincerely,
Coach
#TweetsToMyAthletesParents
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Athlete: "Coach I can't put on muscle."
"What do you eat for breakfast?"
Ath: "Lucky Charms because I only have ten minutes."
"Two eggs, some precooked bacon, and a bagel. Takes ten minutes to make and you can eat it on the way to school."
Easy fix 👇🏻
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Was testing 40s at the local HS this morning, and lot of kids were disappointed theirs were slower than last semester. But they haven't sprinted more than 15yd since November, only lifted heavy.
Don't be upset when you're not good at a skill you haven't practiced
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As I continue to coach, the thing that still seems to remain true is that 5x5 of any main lift executed with the highest level of intent and attention to detail is simple enough for the beginner and complex enough for the advanced individual
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Chest Supported Rows is one of our primary pairings of exercises we hit after doing any type of deadlifting or RDLs. We can express more output through the upper back, without the need to stabilize with a fatigued posterior chain
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Reading The Westside Book of Methods , and the phrase "Keep in mind that if you train a lift at 90% or more for 3 weeks, your CNS is negatively affected and your progress will go backwards," is used 3 times in 3 pages of text.
You think Louie was trying to get a point across?
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Dear Parent,
I understand your desire for your 14 year old to do sport specific training right off the bat, but remember that a pyramid can only be as tall as its base allows.
Skipping the basics now will limit success later.
Sincerely,
Coach
#TweetsToMyAthletesParents
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Dear Parent,
Your 11 year old did not run a 5.5 60yd dash.
A stopwatch is not a laser time.
Being top 10 at age 11 doesn't mean anything about his ability to play at 18.
Touting these things only builds a high with a terrible fall.
Sincerely,
Coach
#TweetsToMyAthletesParents
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Dear Parent,
Ability to train and readiness to train are two different things. Just because your child can physically handle being in a structured environment doesn't mean they can mentally handle it.
Sincerely,
Coach
#TweetsToMyAthletesParents
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As a coach, your job description isn't limited to teaching skills or making someone a better athlete. You must embrace the fact that you are building people. Teach life lessons, educate, and bond with your athletes. Sports fade, but life goes on.
#ConsciousCoaching
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Just got an email asking for speed/agility training for a 4 year old.
The real question is, is it too passive aggressive to reply only with a bunch of Google Maps locations of parks?
Coaches, how do we get the message of free play across to parents?
#coachesproblems
#LTAD
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Too many adults get stuck in mindset of doing long duration running for exercise, when most would get tons of benefit from adding more strength training and longer anaerobic work (20-60 second bouts)
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Mental strength isn't developed through ridiculous workouts or devastating conditioning sessions.
It's situational.
It can only be developed by repeated exposure to a contextually relevant situation to the domain mental strength is needed within
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Upper body Power. Minimal equipment needed.
I can't remember who I first saw this from, but it's become a staple primer for the Bench Press among my Powerlifters
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The Front Foot Elevated split squat is the depth achiever for those who can't hit a below parallel squat
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"Coach, I don't know why my shoulder hurts. Can I just sit out today?"
Those of my fellow coaches in HS's probably know this feeling all too well.
#DailyMeme
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Reverse planks: one of the many ways we train the spinal erectors to resist flexion. Stole these from the Chinese Weightlifting team years ago, and have been great in Leah's meet prep up to HS Nationals
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No dumbbells over 75 and needed to unilaterally load today. Landmines always come in handy in these instances
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#BenchChallenge
Champ! The boys from the last video kept saying how hard it was, so this young one walked over and nailed it first try. Then did it again so we had video proof!
#LTAD
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As tempting as it is to rush the process and get HS freshman as strong as possible as quick as possible, playing the long game and focusing on long term development is a better method for having healthy and high performing seniors down the road
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Just jumping things.
I use this one a lot with my kids who've shown they've got some solid single leg strength, or have a year or so of training under their belt. It's also a solid option for driving some form of rhythm development for some the "strong but not athletic" crowd
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Our Saturday class focus are athlete choice. This athlete chose to focus on bodyweight strength. So we developed his "relationship with the floor" by doing a series of crawls, rolls, and switches. He said he felt like a noodle at the end 😂
#LTAD
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Was working with my wrestlers in the weight room at their school and realized a weird situations. Most public HS won't hire a S&C coach, but are fine with buying 30 plyo boxes ranging from 16"-48" for a 1200 Sq ft weight room ... A good S&C coach could've saved that $$
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I've met very few 400lb Front Squatters who don't back squat over 500lbs.
I know plenty of 500lb+ Back Squatters who can't front squat over 400lb.
Front Squats definitely carry over to Back Squat
Back squats do not improve front squats at the same rate that front squats improve front squats and back squats.
If you know you know.
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If you work with high school kids, your program should always be movement and motor skills first.
Max lifting with incompetent movers will have them reaching plateaus sooner and lead to higher risks for injury
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Creating power in the weightroom isn't limited to Olympic Lifts.
✅ Jump
✅ Bound
✅ Sprint
✅ Throw Stuff
All of which are simple to teach and are unskilled enough to have a low barrier to entry
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I think as a culture we get focused on what high level athletes are doing in the gym, and not on the years leading up to middle and high school.
Nature and nurture have a lot of influence on future athleticism, especially in those developmental years.
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If too much Bench Press is bad for the shoulders and causes injuries, why do so many powerlifters Bench 3-4 times a week with no issues?
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Ath: "Can we back squat today."
"Do you back squat with your team?"
Ath: "Yeah."
"Do you front squat, RDL, do single leg work?"
Ath:"Not really."
"Then no. If we do the things you're already doing, ewe create holes. If we do the stuff you don't do, then we fill them in."
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I find it's easy to want to program lots of variety in a high school athletes training, when really one of the bigger things they need is consistency. Simplicity is always key.
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Dear Parent,
Your daughter is 10. I don't care if her vertical goes up this month. I care that she learns how to move her growing body and is having fun.
Sincerely,
Her Strength Coach
#TweetsToMyAthletesParents
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Dear Parent,
Your child doesn't need to "focus on toning." They need to fix their diet. Plus, they're an athlete. Aesthetics and performance aren't necessarily correlated like you think they are.
Sincerely,
Her Strength Coach
#TweetsToMyAthletesParents
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Dear Parent,
Your daughter doesn't need speed and agility training, she needs to stop playing Fortnite and go outside.
Sincerely,
Their "Speed" Coach
#TweetsToMyAthletesParents
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Some thoughts and observations on this weekend's S&C Twitter episodes
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Everyone talks about the strength and tendon health benefits of eccentric tempos, but I'll be honest, half the time I use them to help kids identify the proper positions and develop movement skills
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I think at this point in my coaching experience, I only program back squats for my middle and high school athletes as a way to teach them how to do the movement before a HS football coach has them max out on day one.
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A case for Front Foot Elevated Split Squats for those who use front or back squats in their training ⬇️
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Dear Parent,
Before you claim that your athlete is the strongest on their team in the weight room, remember that I have the data on their strength and power. And that the data tells a much different story.
Sincerely,
Their Strength Coach
#TweetsToMyAthletesParents
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If you looked at some of my youth athletes 3 years ago and now, you'd think I'm an awesome coach. I'd love to take credit, but frankly it's more a result of puberty than it is the style of training.
Puberty is the training method that yields some Athletes biggest gains
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Dear Parent,
Just because I'm a weightlifter doesn't mean I'm going to teach Snatches and Cleans to your 11 year old. They can barely move let alone move with weight. Trust me it's better for him long term.
Sincerely,
His Strength Coach
#TweetsToMyAthletesParents
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Dear Fitness community,
Now is the only time you can wear an altitude training mask and not be laughed at for it. Please use this opportunity responsibly.
Sincerely,
Coaches Everywhere
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Quickly learning this as I introduce structured High School S&C during my student teaching work this fall
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A HS football coach told one our shared athletes (a wrestler with scoliosis) that he can't belt squat in PE because "that's not an actual exercise," even though that's the only variation he can do without pain at the moment. So that's how my day is going so far 🙃
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This week marks a year since leaving corporate fitness to pursue my long-term goal of working in a school as a high school S&C coach, which meant taking a position as a head coach at a private franchise location listed as a "Speed and Agility School". Here's what I've learned...
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Sadly, I've been in a high school weight room before where this was written on the board multiple times during the week.
Kids are not bodybuilders. They aren't adults. They're kids, and motor learning in the weight takes far more precedence than weight on the bar or pump chasing
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Puberty takes care of a lot of desired hypertrophy gains for high school athletes if training is appropriate, consistent, and they actually eat big (the last one is a big key)
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I think when a lot of people talk about
#LTAD
, they refer primarily to youth athletes. But LONG term development applies to the whole spectrum. From basic Foundational Movement Patterns to game based play, everyone needs a little fun in their training
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A little Saturday snippet for you. The kids see a challenge, but it's also great for core work. I saw something along the lines of this before, but changed it to cup stacking with one hand. This was included in our strength portion of a session
#LTAD
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A big change for me recently has been not speaking negatively of those running the local high school weight rooms. While most are misinformed, I know that they have good intentions. The world's got enough negativity, there's no point adding to it. Change comes through positivity.
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Been volunteering as a HS wrestling coach for 3 years now, which has a "No Cuts" policy. The only way you're off the team is if you quit, which has shown me how much kids need sport.
They want a place to belong. You'd be surprised what work ethic is displayed to find that place
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I see a wide spectrum of opinions and applications of
#LTAD
out there. Some promote all crawling/balance/stability and creative movement while others promote learning weights/speed/agility.
Personally, I like a bit of both. It's never the wrong time to learn a hinge or pull
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PE and S&C aren't inherently the same. But with the current state of youth sport and the often lacking atmosphere of PE in schools , S&C is starting to replace or have to make up for where PE may have lacked.
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Had a conversation with a PE teacher/BB coach who said kids don't know what hard work really looks like anymore. Maybe it's true? Or is it a byproduct of the environment we adults created for them? Or do we inflate our own work ethic?
Genuinely curious what other's think on this
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"My baseball coach said I need to make my mile time faster."
"My soccer coach said I need to do more agility ladders so I'll get faster."
🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️
We have to keep educating our ath to get them past lack of knowledge. This week...
“My Club coach said I need to do more “core” work.” I say “we do lots of overhead, front squat, deadlift, planks...it’s all “core”...”no he means like crunches or twists” 👀
#MuscleAndFitnessAdvice
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Signs the head wrestling coach of the team I work with/assistant coach has created a great culture: the kids who showed up first for morning workouts immediately started folding the clean towels without being asked, "because that's what the team needs."
These kids are awesome 💪🏻
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The more I coach the more I feel like I'm doing things wrong.
The more I feel like I'm doing things wrong the more I realize that feeling is just part of the process.
#ConstantlyLearning
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Anti-aging training (being someone who is ever increasingly made more aware of what may lie ahead):
Power work. Done in multiple planes and intensities. Will update on this outcome in 20 years
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Saw a local football coach's workout for the team. All major movements (bench, squat, power clean, and deadlift) followed the same rep scheme:
8-5-5-3-1-1-Fail @ 93% of 1RM
Meanwhile my wrestlers are just chipping away at 5x5 at technical proficiency level and getting stronger
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In my opinion, doing curls in a HS program has some ROI. Not for any movement sake (though they have their benefits), but from a buy in standpoint. I have yet to meet a HS kid in any sport who doesn't want big or defined biceps. Use that to your advantage and bro out occasionally
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Took some drills from
@TheUofStrength
and tried them out with some of our groups this morning. Friday's are 100% game based drills and fitness, to see how athletes move in a real life scenario. The kids love to compete, and they loved the ability to use the full room today
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Injuries can be worked around in the weightroom, but that work around is best optimized through clear lines of communication with the athlete and their Athletic Trainer/Physical Therapist
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Walked into a high school school weight room to see the rep scheme for power cleans the day before:
8-5-5-5-3-failure
To which one of the kids (from the class) with me said that they were all done at the same weight 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️
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The gym got a new gym dog. She's literally going to live here in the facility, and be taken care of by the main crew. Rescued 2 weeks before she was slated to being put down.
Everyone meet Bella ⬇️⬇️
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In talking to college S&C coaches at
#SummerStrong12
, you can see the need for a different approach for MS/HS students. College coaches shouldn't have to start from scratch. They shouldn't have to do the same thing with college freshman that I do with HS freshman.
Just thoughts
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And we have a winner! Nailed it on the first try, then did it again for the video proof!
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We often promote work-life balance, when what we really need is work-life separation. To separate our work from our identity. In reality, this is a much more difficult task and requires us to ask uncomfortable questions about ourselves.
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Dear Parent,
Yes I just encouraged your son to go climb trees. It's called being an 8 year old boy. Trust me, it's good for him.
Sincerely,
His Coach
#TweetsToMyAthletesParents
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We can talk about the physical benefits of training kids all day long: strength, coordination, agility, power output etc. But what about confidence? Kids in adolescence can go through crazy high/lows physically. Solid training counteracts that through confidence building
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I think that kids sometimes are seen as lazy, when they are actually just lost. They need someone to take them on the right path instead of just telling them which is the right one to take.
Coaches need to be more like copilots instead of air traffic control
#ConstantlyLearning
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Did I buy a $12 dollar squat pad for the sole purpose of making RFE Squat stand(s) out of barbells? Yes. It it worth? So far, yes.
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Something to be mindful of when working with kids in an S&C role is how they may be coming to you to train for sports, you're simultaneously training them to build healthy life habits.
Most kids won't play sports past High School. But everyone has a body to take care of for life
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Sometimes, the best thing you can do with high school athletes is to sit and have a conversation with them. There's a lot of shouting voices in the world they're growing up in, and sometimes what they need is someone with listening ears.
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