Take A Peek At This High School Athlete’s Strength And Performance Results!
We just finished our 2020 Summer strength and performance training at Scott York Fitness.
School has started. College athletes have gone off to start their fall semester, some of the high school athletes will continue to train here 1-2 x week year-round while other high school athletes will take a break and return after football season. As an entrepreneur, it’s a good time for me to work on other projects – books, blogging, videos, consulting, online training, my training, my kid’s school, and more. Before I get started on some of those tasks though, I wanted to share some results with you.
It’s important that if you use a strength coach, personal trainer, performance coach, etc, you as a parent or potential client should expect some tangible results at the end of your athlete’s training cycle.
I email “progress reports” to my athletes’ parents every year around this time. It’s exciting for me to share the fruits of these hardworking athletes’ labor. It’s a way to show them why I’m demanding, why I set goals, and why I keep expectations high. Once these young athletes get amazing results, they’re hooked and my job becomes much easier. SO I work extra hard to help them achieve results.
Keep in mind that most high school athletes are undersized and underpowered. The high school years are the most important time to capitalize on the flood of testosterone and growth hormone but if your nutrition is less than optimal then you will not get much in the way of results. Getting high school athletes to eat correctly is one of the most challenging aspects of what I do. After years of trial and error, I have a system that works well for me and my athletes. Leading by example helps.
My food log
I insist that my athletes log their food daily just as I log my food daily. This is the part that trips up so many athletes (and the general public) because if you can’t take 30-60 seconds a day to log your food, failure is inevitable with my program. I figure that if I log my food then I earn respect from my athletes and they are more apt to do it willingly. Knowing your calories, calorie expenditure, lifting intelligently, and intensely, setting goals make up the cornerstone of this program.
“Don’t join an easy crowd; you won’t grow. Go where the expectations and the demands to perform are high.” – Jim Rohn
Here’s proof!
One of my athletes is still the ALL-TIME strongest athlete in multiple categories although he graduated from high school a few years ago. His numbers still haven’t been surpassed. He started with me at 15 years old. He returns to train with me after every college break.
Keegan Nichols, 360lb Bench Press, 535lb squat, 300lb clean, 1500 4 core
Another of my athletes was named “Lifter Of The Year” at Lago Vista High School 2020 due, in part, to his record-breaking 600lb deadlift. He qualified for State in powerlifting this past Spring but COVID-19 came along and changed everything.
Strength and performance results! What to look for.
As a parent, you may be wondering what to look for in terms of results from a strength and performance program. In my opinion, clear cut results would include specifics such as:
- Weight gain
- Strength gains
- Speed gains
There are many other types of gains that will usually occur, but unless you can specifically measure them, I’ll leave them out for this blog’s purpose.
Some include:
- Coachability gains
- Mental toughness gains
- “Junkyard Dog” gains
- Leadership gains
- Confidence gains
- Schoolwork gains
Let’s look at some real results from the last 7 months. Keep in mind that our training went virtual on 4/6/20 due to a Shelter In Place order on 3/24/20. This client did not participate in the virtual training so he lost some valuable time.
He was out from 4/6/20 until 5/26/20.
Lastly, as you read through this, keep in mind that at the highest levels of strength training, athletes will work a FULL YEAR just to add 5-10lbs to the bench press, military press, deadlift, or squat.
Name “Athlete R” (High School Junior)
Start Date 1/11/20
End Of Summer Progress Report 8/15/20
Start Bodyweight 145
End Bodyweight 165 +20lbs
[total pounds gained = 29lbs
since start 1/26/19 when he
weighed 136lbs]
Beginning Bench Press 175
Ending Bench Press 215 +40lbs
[total pounds gained = 70lbs
since start 1/26/19 when he
benched 145lbs]
Beginning Squat 275
Ending Squat 300 +25lbs
[total pounds gained = 75lbs
since start 1/26/19 when he
squatted 225lbs]
Beginning Safety Bar Box Squat 217
Ending Safety Bar Box Squat 260 +43lbs
[total pounds gained = 43lbs
For variety, and to avoid overuse injury,
I added a focus on Box Squats this
year.]
Beginning Deadlift 300
Ending Deadlift 350 +50lbs
[total pounds gained = 135lbs
since start 1/26/19 when he
deadlifted 215lbs]
Beginning Trap Bar Deadlift 340
Ending Trap Bar Deadlift 380 +40lbs
[total pounds gained = 40lbs.
For variety, and to avoid overuse injury,
I added a focus on Trap Bar Deadlifts this
year.]
Beginning Pull-ups 11
Ending Pull-ups 15 +4 reps
[total Pull-ups increased = 9
since start 1/26/19 when he
did 6 Pull-ups at a much lighter
bodyweight of 136lbs]
Beginning 10-yard dash 1.74
Ending 10-yard dash 1.70 (currently in 4th place amongst all athletes)
Key Dates:
3/24/20 – 4/5/20 Shelter In Place – Memberships Frozen
4/6/20 virtual workouts began
5/16/20 virtual workouts ended
5/18/20 – 5/26/20 in-person workouts resumed
There are typically 4 things that happen to a football player during the football season:
1) They get injured. Extra muscle and size is armor. The more armor the more injury resistant.
2) They LOSE size, strength, and power during the season. This is what happens to most players. They are weakest at the end of the season when they need to be their strongest.
3) They MAINTAIN size, strength, and power during the season. This is ideal but will only happen if they pay attention to nutrition and follow an intelligent, consistent, intense workout routine.
4) They GAIN size, strength, and power during the season. This is the Holy Grail and will happen to 1-3% of the football players out there. This is OUR goal.
I always keep my main objective in mind, which is to get my athletes bigger, faster, and stronger. The Football Coaches are responsible for making the players better football players. And as always, it’s about having fun, bonding with training partners/teammates, and learning valuable lessons that will last a lifetime.
-Scott
P.S. “Just wanted to give you a pat on the back for creating such a great atmosphere in your program, and taking a personal interest in all of us.”
Client/Cedar Park, Texas
P.P.S. “Hi Scott,
I am hoping this is the same person that works with a group of Lago Vista middle school boys. If so, my son is also an eighth-grade student in Lago Vista and plays on the offensive and defensive line. As he enters high school, we are anticipating that he will continue to play center. I am looking for someone to work with him on strength and agility. He is interested in getting stronger and I am interested in him learning correct lifting habits and being healthy. If you have room for him and are interested in working with him, please contact me.”
Potential Client/Lago Vista, Texas