Countdown to Training Camp..Easy on the throttle 'playuh'

With High School, College, and even pro camps 7-14 days away. Your strength and conditioning programs should be winding down in a way.


Your max lifts on the power movements (Squat, deadlift, power cleans, clean and jerk, snatches, etc.,) should happen within the next 5 days and then take your weights down a notch or two and focus on muscle endurance. The good news is that with this version of recovery, you should get even a little stronger by the time you hit the sled in first sweltering practice next week or so.

Reduce your sprints during your speed, agility, and quickness workouts by 10%. If you were doing 15-150 meter sprints per workout go hard for 10-12. Or you can ditch one or more sprint workouts for a middle distance run 1200-1500 meters at 3/4 speed.

The only thing that you should increase at this time is stretching. Even though you have been training year round (or at least I hope you have) muscle pulls and strains or worse generally take place in the first week or two of camp. You can help yourself not become one of these statistics by making sure that you are maximally flexible during these two weeks leading up to camp.

Once camp starts, if your team does not have a structured, in-season lifting program, do 2-4 days a week of basic strength and power workouts with no Olympic movements in the program. You will do this for the duration of the season. Make sure your last workout of the week is at least 48 hours away from game day. During this period you are just trying to get stronger in the 1-5 rep range to help decrease recovery time after games and reduce the chances of injury.

Tomorrow we will get into training camp nutrition so that you can not only survive camp, but help possibly secure a starting spot in September.

Lastly, if you have done everything that you know to prepare for camp, don't stress. Football will be one of the most memorable times of your life. Enjoy the ride, go to the beach, buy your girlfriend some flowers, be nice for a day to Mom, Dad, and your annoying Sister. Yeah surprise her with niceness, it will really make her mad!

Attention Athletes!
Improve your Strength, Speed, and Agility.
The US Sports Online Strength and Conditioning System
"Serious Programs For Serious Athletes"
www.fitnessgenerator.com/ussportsradio

Intensity Or Insanity? 'hmmm....'

What is Intensity and How does it apply to my strength and conditioning program?

I don't get this kind of question a lot, but I wish I did. This could be the key component to your winning on the field this season.
It is not an easy concept to convey but we can start with the 'all knowing' Wikepedia short definitions:
Physical ability

    * Physical strength, as in people or animals
    * Superhuman strength, as in fictional characters
    * A common character attribute in role-playing games

Conflict between persons or groups:

    * Virtue and moral uprightness
    * Courage or fortitude in the face of moral or social pressure
    * Persuasiveness of an argument
    * Military strength

 Politics

    * Party strengths. See political party

 Physics

    * Strength of materials, ability to withstand an applied stress without failure
          o Compressive strength, capacity to withstand axially directed pushing forces
          o Tensile strength, maximum stress while being stretched or pulled before necking
          o Shear strength, the ability to withstand shearing
    * Strength (explosive), the ability of an explosive to move surrounding material
    * Field strength, the magnitude of a field's vector
    * Signal strength, the magnitude of an electric field at a reference point
Okay that is getting a little brainy. Let me put it this way:
Intensity is when you are doing a heavy barbell squat and you don't think you can do any more reps and do one more rep.
Intensity is when you have to muster that little extra energy that causes a lift, a little more burst of speed, a little higher vertical that you didn't even know you had.

Intensity is hitting harder in the 4th quarter than you do in the 1st quarter of a close game.

In essence intensity is giving everything you got in every workout, every practice, every film study, every class, every exam, every relationship, every day. Maybe this is what Charlie Sheen meant by: "Winning"

Now you can't be very intense on the field if you consider playing Madden all day, all summer long your preparation off the field. Don't give your opponents the decided advantage this season. If a personal trainer or strength coach is not an affordable option, then think again. The US Sports Online Strength and Conditioning System starts at $25 per month! Train online save money, save time, and most of all; be ready to play! Click on the banner below to get started.

O-linemen, Lose the Fat Not Weight

"My QB Is Safe!"

Age old debate here. Would you rather have bunch of athletic 'hogs' or a Panzer Division protecting your QB and making holes for the horses in the backfield.

Well the answer is already on the field. Offensive linemen do not look that offensive anymore in modern football. They are leaner, faster and quicker while still weighing in on average over 300 lbs.

So how do you big boys train in the off season to achieve this level of performance? As there are days of our lives, there are many ways to go here, but the basic answer is: Much like the rest of your team. Here is a sample of the NFL Combine Workout from the Us Sports Online Strength and Conditioning System:

Week 12 - Day 3 (Thursday) of Billy Dee Arnez's Program	Week Difficulty: Very Hard
View Printer Friendly Version

Click on an Exercise Name to view a description of that exercise

Select		Exercise Name	Set and Rep Combinations
	1	Warmup and Stretch	8 minutes
	2	Video Power Clean	5 reps @ 125 lbs, 4 reps @ 150 lbs, 3 reps @ 175 lbs, 1 reps @ 200 lbs, 1 reps @ 225 lbs, 1 reps @ 235 lbs, 1 reps @ 225 lbs, 1 reps @ 225 lbs, 2 reps @ 210 lbs
	3	Video Reverse Hypers	8 reps @ 70 lbs, 8 reps @ 70 lbs, 8 reps @ 70 lbs
	4	Video Close Grip Pull Ups	17 reps, 17 reps, 13 reps
	5	Video Cable Close Grip Row (Low Pulley)	10 reps @ 175 lbs, 10 reps @ 175 lbs, 10 reps @ 175 lbs
	6	Keiser Hip Extension	10 reps @ 195 lbs, 10 reps @ 195 lbs, 15 reps @ 165 lbs
	7	Keiser Hip Flexion	10 reps @ 130 lbs, 10 reps @ 130 lbs, 15 reps @ 110 lbs

As always don't try any program without consulting your physician first. So big boys...Get Lean before camp and you are that much closer to securing a starting position in September.

Get your Max Lifts In Now!

Your Strength Coach Right There In  Your Hard Drive!

Nate Lewis-US Sports Strength and Conditioning
Friday May 27, 2011 1:26pm EST
With a little over 3 months until training camp for most of you, Get your max lifts in now to set the bar for your heaviest lifts. Your summer 8-12 week training cycle should consist of endurance type lifts heavy enough to be challenging, but light enough generally to get multiple  reps and sets.

This will help get your body ready for the pounding of training camp and minimize the shock of the first days in pads. I will usually take the football players that I train through a boxing conditioning program that will consist of many typical lifts but obviously with the anaerobic threshold in mind. Here is a snippet from a workout I designed for a D-lineman in Texas:

Select		Exercise Name	Set and Rep Combinations
	1	Warmup and Stretch	8 minutes
	2	Video Squat	10 reps @ 320 lbs, 5 reps @ 385 lbs, 3 reps @ 445 lbs, 2 reps @ 510 lbs, 4 reps @ 540 lbs, 6 reps @ 510 lbs, 6 reps @ 510 lbs, 10 reps @ 385 lbs
	3	Video Dumbbell Step Up	6 reps @ 70 lbs, 6 reps @ 80 lbs, 6 reps @ 80 lbs
	4	Video Dumbbell Reverse Lunge	6 reps @ 70 lbs, 6 reps @ 80 lbs, 6 reps @ 80 lbs
	5	Video Jump Rope General	3 Minutes
	6	Video Machine Leg Curl	8 reps @ 200 lbs, 8 reps @ 200 lbs
	7	Video Dumbbell Incline Bench Press (30 Degree)	6 reps @ 110 lbs, 6 reps @ 125 lbs, 6 reps @ 125 lbs
	8	Video Push Ups (regular position)	68 reps, 68 reps, 53 reps
	9	Video Push Ups (wide position)	51 reps, 51 reps
	10	Video Dumbbell Arnold Press	6 reps @ 75 lbs, 6 reps @ 85 lbs, 6 reps @ 85 lbs

You can see the Jump Rope intervals after the leg portion of the workout. This is a good way for you to 'get your legs' conditioned for the grind of the season ahead.

This is just a portion of a workout for a specific player so please do not try this at home without your doctor's clearance and proper supervision. In other words don't be a knucklehead!

To get your own custom workout, speed, agility, and quickness program with a detailed nutrition plan go to www.fitnessgenerator.com/ussportsradio and I will personally help you get ready to play!

Here we go again time to get ready to play!

Well it seems to happen year-round, but I see it more this time of year. Top-notch football players wasting their time in the gym doing bodybuilding or even worse 'no intensity' style workouts.

Look it's OK to look good for the beach in May, but guess what? You are going to look real good in your uniform in September flat on your back, ball fumbled, games los,s because you weren't training for football but your best body contest.

Hey if you want to be the next Tyson Beckford then stay on your path, but if you want to get ready to win, talk to you trainer or strength coach immediately or your six-pack is going to look like a rusty tall boy if you don't get serious now.
Need help?

Divas 'D' for Devastating!

-by Nate Lewis US Sports Network
After 3 weeks of football (which by comparison has to be the same at 6 weeks of the men's game) If your D.C. Divas are the championship squad that they look to be; then we will continue to see the 'shut down', 'lock down' performances of the Defense.

While the offense is averaging 326 yards per game and more importantly leading the WFA in first downs (41) the so far always fresh defense has allowed 8.7 points per game while sporting bona fide defensive stars in Tiffany Matthews (LB) and Rookie Nicole Fisk (DB). 'Tiff' by the way is 2nd in tackles for loss with 11 which will create a lot of down time for the defense with 3 and outs.

LB Tiffany Matthews has been a major headache for opposing offenses

Now there are still things that the Diva 'D' need to work on. There seem to be soft spots in the zone from a passing perspective that teams have had some success with. The Divas have been able to hide those deficiencies with pressure on opposing Quarterbacks thus far. But with tough matchups against good passing squads coming up, Diva Nation is hoping that that issue is addressed during this bye week.
Also the Divas are leading the league in penalties (31) and even though the Offense shares in this burden, you don't want to give away first downs to high scoring teams like New York and Boston down the stretch.

Look, in football nobody's glass is 100% full but the Divas particularly on the defensive side of the ball, certainly have more than half with more water out there.

Tune in Friday 04/21 at 9:15am for Diva Time, The D.C. Divas Football Show. We will be talking to Divas coaches players and special guests BJ from Womens Football Talk. go to www.ussportsentertainment.com or click on the big player above to tune in. We will be taking your chat questions as well.

D.C. Divas Looking Good Nearing the 1/2 way mark...

-Nate Lewis US Sports Network 04/20/11 11:11AM EST

 In case you haven't noticed, your D.C. Divas are winning impressively, even when they aren't playing at their best. The good news for the 2-0 Divas is that they can get even better as this season progresses, especially in the defensive backfield. Explosive as they want to be on offense the 'real first ladies of football' have outscored opponents 110 to 26 after 3 games.
They have the ability to run the ball 30-40 times per game with Grisby and Pickett in the backfield. And oh by the way wait until Rachelle Pecovsky works her way back into football shape." Tomorrow a few thoughts on the Divas 'D' because as they say: You can score 35 points a game, but you better keep your opponent under 35 to win." More profound insights tomorrow.


-(Pictured) Okima Pickett is averaging 5.3 yards per carry from her fullback position in 2011

William Bailey Earns All-American Status At NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships

(ALBUQUERQUE, NM)  Bowie State University sophomore William Bailey (Upper Marlboro, MD, Bowie) placed sixth overall in the Long Jump at the NCAA Division II Indoor National Championships hosted by Adams State College.

Bailey went 7.40m in the preliminary event and jumped 7.12m (23-04.50) in the finals which earned him All-American status.  This marks the second time in Bailey's career that he has earned All-American status.  He was selected an All-American in the same event at the 2010 Outdoor Nationals and was also named Atlantic Region Field Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) in 2010.

Bulldogs junior Artavius Williams (Baltimore, MD, Baltimore Polytechnic) also participated in the 2011 Indoor Nationals, placing 11th overall in the Triple Jump (14.13m / 46.04.25).

BOWIE STATE FALLS 94-81 IN NCAA REGION SEMIFINAL TO INDIANA (PA)

            (WEST LIBERTY, WV – March 13, 2011) Indiana University of Pennsylvania fell into a 14-point hole in the opening seven minutes of the game before the trio of Ashton Smith, Julian Sanders and Scooter Renkin rallied the Crimson Hawks to a 94-81 win over Bowie State University in the semifinals of the NCAA Atlantic Region.

            The Bulldogs made four 3-pointers in the first six minutes of the game and built an 18-4 lead on a steal by junior Darren Clark with 13:22 left in the half.  Ashton Smith hit a jumper on IUP’s first shot attempt of the game, but the Crimson Hawks missed four shots and committed six turnovers as the Bulldogs surged ahead.

            Renkin got the Crimson Hawks comeback started when he converted a steal into a layup and was fouled, making the free throw for a three-point play.  Smith made three buckets, including a 3-pointer, and Willi Estrella made two free throws at the 10:22 mark to cap a 14-2 run that pulled IUP within 20-16.

            Bowie State (26-3) held a 30-27 lead, but triples by Smith and Julian Sanders put the Crimson Hawks in front 33-30. Scooter Renkin scored seven straight points and his 3-pointer with 2:44 remaining in the first half made it a 40-34 Indiana (PA) lead.  The Crimson Hawks strolled into halftime with a 46-40 advantage.

            Indiana University of Pennsylvania (26-5) shot 57 percent from the field in the first half, hitting 17-of-30, which included five-of nine beyond the arc. 

            Bowie State hit 48 percent of its first period field goals (15-of-31), which included six-of-11 behind the 3-point line.

            The Crimson Hawks used the long ball to get back in the game and eventually pulled away from Bowie State.  IUP was red hot from 3-point distance, connecting on 13-of-19 (68 percent), 60 percent overall from the field and 23-of-26 (89 percent) from the charity stripe.

            Sanders and Smith hit 3-pointers on consecutive IUP possessions to make it 78-69 with 6:09 left in the game, and Darryl Webb along with Kevin Stewart also dialed up 3-pointers on back-to-back shots with the latter giving the Crimson Hawks their first double digit lead of the game at 84-72 with 4:04 remaining.  Webb scored nine points over the final 4:35 and IUP made all six of its free throw attempts in the final minute to secure the win.

            Smith scored a game-high 24 points, Sanders had 22 and Renkin added 14 points to lead five Crimson Hawks in double figures.

            Clark led Bowie State’s Bulldogs with 20 points followed by senior Eric Vann with 15.  Junior Jay Gavin and sophomore Bryan Wilson chipped in a dozen points each in the season ending loss.

(Bowie State U) BULLDOGS ADVANCE WITH 79-59 WIN OVER MANSFIELD

            (WEST LIBERTY, WV – March 12, 2011)  Making their first post season appearance since 2005, Bowie State University took advantage of the opportunity and defeated Mansfield University 79-59 to advance to Sunday’s 5 pm NCAA Regional semifinal.

            Bowie State (23-5), ranked No. 19 in the final NCAA Division II poll, led from start to finish and converted 18 Mansfield turnovers into 32 points. 

The Bulldogs bolted out to a 17-4 lead before the first media timeout and shot 51 percent from the floor in the first half, knocking down 18-of-35.

Mansfield (18-10) really struggled in the first half of play, hitting only eight-of-28 (29 percent) from the field. 

Bowie State held a double-digit lead until a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer by Mansfield’s Derrison Anthony trimmed the Bulldogs lead to 23-17 at the 10:34 mark of the opening period.

Bowie State went on a 17-3 run over the next 10 minutes and used that momentum for a very comfortable 45-25 cushion by halftime.

The Bulldogs lead grew to a game-high 25 points (50-25) early in the second half, which allowed Bowie State coach Darrell Brooks a chance to go deep into his bench.

“I was very, very thrilled with this post season victory”, said Brooks.  “For our guys to come back and forget about our conference tournament loss and perform the way we did today makes me happy.”

Bowie State juniors Darren Clark and Travis Hyman paced the Bulldogs with 24 and 21 points respectively to lead Bowie State.  Senior Eric Vann added 15 points to go along with four steals and four assists.

“This was a big win for us and tremendous morale booster for the team”, said Clark.

            Yuseff Carr led Mansfield with a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds.

            The Bulldogs will take on the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Crimson Hawks – Sunday (March 13) at 5 pm in the Academic, Sports and Recreation Center (ASRC) on the West Liberty (W.Va.) University campus.