Written by Team Juggernaut
By Chad Wesley Smith
Here at Juggernaut I have the awesome opportunity to work with some of the nation’s best high school football talent, many of which play for some of the state and country’s top teams. Recently I began working with one of the Class of 2013’s top offensive line prospects, unfortunately he is coming here with a torn labrum in his shoulder (that was repaired several months ago) and a stress fracture in his foot, that was just discovered before beginning training here. He currently has 3 weeks off from practice and will be training with me 6x/week. So how can you ensure that your athletes improve their conditioning level despite injuries to their feet, knees, ankles or lower body musculature that may limit their ability to run? You must limit or reduce stress on the lower body joints, you must raise their heart rates to the necessary levels for the proper durations to target the correct energy systems and if you own a private business, you must do this in a way that keeps them interested in motivated, otherwise they will go somewhere else.
Here is my plan with my star high school offensive lineman…
To prepare him for the rigors of his team’s summer training camp, as they prepare to defend their California State Title, we will utilize 3 alactic capacity conditioning days, all of which will focus on developing his abilities to perform at maximum intensity within the context of his team’s no-huddle spread offense. These days will follow a low-high-medium structure, with the low day using 10 series of 5-7 plays per series and each play being 4-10 seconds of maximum output interspersed by 20 seconds of rest between plays and 3 minutes rest between sets; the high day will be 14 series and the medium day will be 12 series. It is critical that we select exercises that allow him to have high enough output to raise his heart rate to the necessary level to improve his alactic power and capacity, but at the same time won’t aggravate his foot or shoulder injuries. We will also have him performing 3 days of aerobic capacity development work which will all be done in the pool to diminish the impact on his joints.
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3 week conditioning plan here at Juggernaut…
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| Day 1 (Alactic Capacity) | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 |
| 1-Bike Sprints | 4x5x8 seconds | 4x6x8 seconds | 4x7x8 seconds |
| 2-Grappler Twists | 4x5x3 each side | 4x6x3 each side | 4x7x3 each side |
| 3-Band Resisted KB Swings | 2x5x5 swings | 2x6x5 swings | 2x7x5 swings |
| 4-Lower Body Weights | |||
| Day 2 (Aerobic Capacity) | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 |
| 1-Pool Tempos, 10 pushups or 20-30 abs b/t ever rep | 2x6x40 seconds | 2x8x40 seconds | 2x10x40 seconds |
| 2-Upper Body Weights | |||
| Day 3 (Alactic Capacity) | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 |
| 1-Bike Sprints | 4x5x8 seconds | 4x6x8 seconds | 4x7x8 seconds |
| 2-Grappler Twists | 4x5x3 each side | 4x6x3 each side | 4x7x3 each side |
| 3-Band Resisted KB Swings | 4x5x5 swings | 4x6x5 swings | 4x7x5 swings |
| 4-Arm over Arm Rope Pull | 2x5x8 seconds | 2x6x8 seconds | 2x7x8 seconds |
| 5-Lower Body Weights | |||
| Day 4 (Aerobic Capacity) | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 |
| 1-Pool Tempos, 10 pushups or 20-30 abs b/t ever rep | 2x6x40 seconds | 2x8x40 seconds | 2x10x40 seconds |
| 2-Upper Body Weights | |||
| Day 5 (Alactic Capacity) | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 |
| 1-Bike Sprints | 4x5x8 seconds | 4x6x8 seconds | 4x7x8 seconds |
| 2-Grappler Twists | 4x5x3 each side | 4x6x3 each side | 4x7x3 each side |
| 3-Band Resisted KB Swings | 4x5x5 swings | 4x6x5 swings | 4x7x5 swings |
| 4-Lower Body Weights | |||
| Day 6 (Aerobic Capacity) | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 |
| 1-Pool Tempos, 10 pushups or 20-30 abs b/t ever rep | 2x6x40 seconds | 2x8x40 seconds | 2x10x40 seconds |
| 2-Upper Body Weights |
When performing the alactic capacity drills, perform 2 series of each exercise in a circuit fashion, until all the prescribed work is done. For example, on Day 3-Week 1, you would do 2 series of Bike Sprints, 2 series of Grappler Twists, 2 series of KB Swings, 2 series of Arm over Arm Pull, 2 series of Bike Sprints, 2 series of Grappler Twists and 2 series of KB Swings, doing things in this fashion will stop the quality of one exercise from becoming too diminished due to the one before it. Make sure when selecting a weight for the grappler twists, that the weight can be moved explosively by the athlete and they are able to complete the prescribed reps in around 6 seconds. To perform the pool tempos, the athlete will do high knees in chest level water for 40 seconds, one they have finished the high knees they will get out and do 10 pushups, then back into the pool for 40 more seconds of high knees and then out for 20-30 reps of bodyweight abs, repeat this for the prescribed number of reps, then rest 3-5 minutes before doing the next set.
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