Equipment placement is key to the “flow” of the training session. It is very common to have a cluttered weight room with too much equipment. I know it is very common now for high school programs to have top of the line training facilities, but for those of you that don’t, then you really have to be selective on the equipment that will take up your floor space. Platforms should be the focus of your weight room. Everything else should be positioned around them. For smaller facilities, the racks should be connected to the platforms. This will allow for more open floor space. As a coach, you should be very selective on the equipment that will be placed in your weight room. Again, if you are fortunate enough to have an enormous, top of the line weight room, then you can have a large variety of training equipment. But, if you are like the more common program, floor space and budgeting will be very restrictive. I went to Mary Hardin Baylor University for my USAW certification course and when I got there I was a little amazed on the size of their weight room. It was extremely small. As I sat there I observed the training facility. There was very little equipment in there. For a university, surely they should have more equipment? As I observed and began thinking of different training possibilities using the equipment they had available, I realized that they have everything that is needed to train for athletics. They had dumbbells, platforms, racks, and of course the all time gym favorite, bench presses. In the facility were also glute ham raises and a reverse hyper machine. Very little equipment but with endless training possibilities.
Here are a few of very versatile equipment. Many exercises can be done with these few items and they will help save space in your facility. The first image is a Power Lift half rack. All of your basic exercises can be done on this one piece of equipment. All different variations of squats, presses, and pulls can be done using this Power Lift rack. The next image is a Glute Ham Machine. This machine can be used to perform posterior chain exercises such as hyper and reverse hyperextensions and glute ham raises.
Music is a key component in developing an effective training atmosphere. Music alone can set the tone of a workout. When an athlete comes in for workouts they may be out of it. Early mornings or a long day of school and tests can cause an athlete to just make it through a workout. But, if there is loud upbeat music that the athlete likes than it can flip their thoughts. Let the athletes select the music. Do not listen to what you want to hear, you are not the one training! You have to motivate the kids. You have to know when to play the music. If you are introducing new lifts or explaining the training session, you must have the volume to a minimal or even turn the music off. The athletes must be able to clearly understand what you are explaining. When the training session begins, turn it back up. The louder the volume, the louder your coaching voice must be!
In order to properly pair partners, you must know each individual athlete. Their work habits, their age and maturity must be evaluated. An older guy may need to be paired with a younger athlete so the younger one can see how to work hard and efficiently. You can pair athletes based on position or strength levels. When pairing athletes, the main objective is to make sure that their workout is being done properly. It is a bonus if you can pair them by strength as well.
Group development is key component in how smoothly and effective a training session will be. I know in high school, it is tough to develop groups due to major time constraints. You are probably just breaking them down into an offensive group and a defensive group. This is fine and you must really place importance on partner pairing. Make sure that you have some older athletes mixed in, do not just allow a group to contain younger guys. This could be extremely harmful in developing their work ethic because they need to see the intensity the older athletes train with. With that being said, keep in mind that a 14 year old freshman handles stresses differently than an 18 year old senior. From a physiological stand point, it would be best to work out freshman together. Some seniors may not be your stronger workers and may be poor leaders, if this is the case, then do not hesitate to place the strong leaders, whether they are upperclassmen or not, in a position to lead the team.
Competition is a key component to success. The athlete must have a competitive spirit to drive themselves to the next level. There are several ways to develop competition while training. One of the more common ways is to develop teams. Teams can be chosen by allowing upper classmen or even coaches to be captains. Have the captains hold a draft. The competitions should be spread out to where guys with different abilities can thrive. Use your imagination to create ways to be competitive. One of the key things when deciding what event to have the athletes compete in is to keep the competition simple. Your goal is not to crush the guys or intimidate them, but to simply place them in a situation to succeed.
There are a few things that you must have as a coach. The most important thing is to establish one person in charge of the training in the weight room. This will allow all the coaches to be on the same page. This coach should be the authority in the weight room. A coach must establish himself as such or the athletes will find his weakness and pick him or her apart. The coach must be consistent with their expectations. The attire should be consistent from player to player. The attitude of the players must be positive and no matter how good your athlete is, you must be consistent with the rules and all consequences when the rules are broken. All it takes is one player to get off easy and the rest will believe they should get off easy. All workouts must be pre organized. If you are just throwing a workout on the board while the athletes are coming in, they will see this as it is. They will see it has if it is not a priority to you as the coach so they will not treat it has one. Be prepared before hand! A high energy level must be kept. Athletes will feed off the coaches energy. They will also feed off one another during a training session, so high energy is a MUST!
The overall goal of training your athletes is to create an atmosphere for success. Give them a chance to succeed, not fail. Everyday, you should provide an opportunity for your athletes to win. You are a coach trying to make gains, this cannot be done by downgrading and placing your athletes in a situation they cannot succeed in. Success can be gaining 1 rep on your 225 rep test or it can be gaining 50 lbs on your back squat. Either way they are gains and should be magnified and treated as such. Any gain is a huge gain!