As strength coaches, we are all number chasers to a point.

Traditionally, a huge focus has been placed on gauging the quality of your workouts -regardless of your training objectives or goals - by the feeling of the "burn” in your muscles.

• Want to grow muscle? Better get your pump and feel the burn.
• Want to get stronger? Burn it baby.
• Want to shed fat? Then you better feel the burn!

I, like many other strength coaches, went through school to earn my degrees. I sat through kinesiology and physiology classes. I studied nutrition and wrote up sample workout plans for my strength and conditioning classes. I interned at a nearby college, observing and even getting some hands-on experience with many different sport teams. While earning my masters, I was a graduate assistant at that same college.

In my last article I described how to program Olympic lifts for field athletes. I want to expand on this topic and give examples of training programs that address beginner, intermediate, and advanced level athletes incorporating the Olympics lifts.   

Have you been looking for a training modality that can rapidly deliver gains in speed, power, and vertical leaping ability? If you want to get powerful in a hurry, there are few applications that will deliver this in the manner that the French Contrast platform can. 

Curious about incorporating cluster sets into your programming? Here's why you should:

The full-time strength coach as a profession is still in its infancy. In 1988 when I graduated from college, there were only a handful of collegiate and professional strength and conditioning coaches. Little did I know that 25 years later, I would be working in this amazing, challenging field, shaping the lives of young athletes.

One of my major concerns when I made the move to the high school ranks after almost 15 years as a collegiate strength and conditioning coach was interacting with the parents.

I am in a unique situation: a K-12 private school. I deal with questions from parents of children at many different ages. These questions range from the routine to the very off-the-wall.

Early on in my transition, I came to realization that dealing with a parent was very similar to dealing with sport coaches. Sometimes it can be a difficult situation, and other times it can be smooth. The one thing the strength and conditioning coach must have is support from their administration. A supportive athletic director, principal, and administrative staff will be the strength and conditioning coach's best friends.

Ah it’s finally here! The college guys are home, all of the high school guys are finishing up school, and our summer strength and conditioning program is underway!

Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) tears and reconstruction are very common in the world of athletics. Either you know of someone who has had their ACL reconstructed or you have yourself. (Prior to being a physical therapist, I had mine reconstructed TWICE!)