Notice how the strongest & fastest athletes are always the most valuable? Prioritize strength & speed training.
“If we’ve learned anything in the past 10 years, it’s how critically important strength training is for all sports, espeically at the youth levels.
S&C isn’t a ‘football thing’ it’s an every sport thing & those who prioritize it reap the benefits of it.
The strongest & fastest win.”
-Ray Zingler on X
It was probably 10 years ago or so, I was on the phone with a prospective client’s father, in regard to strength training for one of his son’s who played football.
I explained our program, our philosophy, how we acclimate and progress beginners and all that good stuff.
Later into the conversation, we began speaking about general life stuff and he mentioned that he had another son close to the same age as his son he was in inquiring about, and I simply invited his other son to join along with his brother.
And you would have thought I was encouraging his other, soccer playing son, to try methamphetamines.
“Did you not hear me!? I told he plays soccer, not football, soccer is more about endurance, while football is more about strength!”
I remember almost spitting my coffee out, perplexed that a human being could actually think this way.
And then I went on to find out there were a hell of a lot of humans (less now, thank God) who thought this way.
Strength training is every bit as for the 12-year-old female, year-round swimmer as it is the 17-year-old outside linebacker.
Of course the weights, prescriptions, and “looks” of the athletes might be different, but the sentiment remains the same for all.
Strength training is for every athlete from every sport on the planet.
Go watch a College Baseball game.
Look at the dudes out there.
There is no shortage of sports skill, obviously, (which is also the case at the quality HS levels, too) but look at the guys.
You aren’t going to see a bunch of 160-pound dudes prancing around focused on band activation drills.
You’re going to see a bunch of 200+ pound horses who prioritize real strength training to throw hard and hit bombs.
That’s what the games are coming to, these days.
And its important for athletes and parents of athletes to recognize this.
Strength training is essential.
It’s not dangerous (when performed correctly) not in the slightest.
You want to know what’s dangerous?
Being weak.
Being weak is infinitely more dangerous than being strong.
Regardless of your gender, age, or sport, spend time getting STRONG this fall.
You’ll notice it in your performance.
