Being told by the football coach that I need to do the football offseason weight program or else I cannot use the weight

What program would you have your kids do instead? How is it different than the one the AD is setting up?

highschooltrackcoach wrote:

I'm a high school boys track coach. I've been coaching for 10 years, have experience as a collegiate and post-collegiate runner, and I have a USATF level 1 coaching certification (not that that stuff really matters, but I'm trying to show that I actually do know what I'm doing).

I have been told by my AD and the football coach that I must use the football program's weight program, BFS (Bigger, Faster, Stronger - a marketed generalized lifting program designed to build power and mass), or I will not be allowed in the weight room. The BFS program has been deemed by the AD as the "official school program".

I don't want to do the program because I don't think it is specific enough to cover an entire track team.

Thoughts?

Same thing happened to my school my senior year, Pretty much said "screw you" and used the wait room anyway. From my experience their program only takes 30-45 minutes on any given day. just wait for them to leave the weight room before using it if you want to avoid confrontation.

This subject comes up often. Bigger, Fatter, Slower, makes as much sense as having ALL athletes at your school run 50 miles a week for their off season training. Yes, 50 miles a week may help the CC kids, but would problably not be beneficial to the Shot & Disc kids or the lineman in FB.

Good Luck and Be an 11!

Ask your AD and Football Coach to get the name of the coaches and or schools that are good at distance running and are using the BFS program. Does York or FM use this?

How about Wisconsin, Stanford, or any other top NCAA program? Have you noticed that the group that markets the BFS program changed what the B stands for in the female version of the program? Yet it is the same program!

Wait

Why do you need to use the weight room at all? They're distance runners. Body weight exercises will be more than good enough and probably better.

Twitched wrote:

Wait

Why do you need to use the weight room at all? They're distance runners. Body weight exercises will be more than good enough and probably better.

OP coaches track, so not just distance runners.

Can I ask a related question?

Who is making money off of BFS? Someone is marketing this, gunning for exclusivity and making money off of it, so who is it?

body weight exercises are borderline useless.

Write an email to the athletic director, cc the vice principal in charge of extracurriculars and the principle. State that the BFS program is not meant for distance runners and could cause injury which would expose the school to liability issues. State that you have a program that does not expose the school to this culpability. This may not work but when bureaucrats see "liability" they often change their tune pretty quick. You can also claim the BFS is not good for girls and not letting them use the weight room if they won't do BFS is a title IX violation. Between the words "liability" and "title IX" I have never been denied. The trick is to document it with cc emails, don't just talk to them about it.

I'm not sure how BFS works exactly I guess. Does someone have an incentive to push the program? The FB coach is pushing it pretty hard, but I figured it was just because he wanted his FB players to be in the weight room.

He has discouraged all FB players from running track because we don't lift as much as they would in his program.

I have the distance runners use the weight room a couple times a week, but only incorporate light weight/high rep squats on the weight racks. The rest of their resistance training is done off the machines (med ball work, body weight squats, plyo drills, pull/chin ups, pushups, ab work, etc..)

The sprinters do cleans and squats as their core lifts, along with other supplemental lifts.

The throwers do the BFS program and I really don't have an issue with that because they also do a lot of extra explosive drills after the BFS lifting session. I have a throws coach that writes their workouts, and he is also a FB assistant coach. I didn't have a problem with the program until this year when I lost most of my star sprinters and was told I have to do this particular program.

I can't go to my AD about this because he seems to have no understanding about how different sports demand different training. Also, the BFS cycle does not fit in with our schedule. We need recover days, and we cannot be lifting heavy the day before a meet. I think it's dangerous and counter-productive to the kids' training....am I wrong in thinking that? I feel like this is some sort of practical joke!...how can an athletic department full of educated former athletes possibly think this is good for a school?

I need articles and direct examples of how this is detrimental to a school's sports program.

I've also been told that I need to combine the girls and boys programs. Aren't there gender equity issues there? Title nine issues?

Here are a couple of old threads on BFS:

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=1235397

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=3392935&page=0

Bottom line, I don't think anyone claims BFS has been shown to benefit distance runners. Sprinters and throwers maybe.

This all makes no sense to me. Why does an AD or a FB coach get to tell you how you can use the weight room? I would tell the guy to get his nose out of your business.

If there is a problem with that go to the principal and rat these idiots out.

Most ADs are small minded, power hungry, idiots anyway.

This all makes about as much sense as you insisting that the whole football team run 50 miles a week during offseason, just because it benefits your cross country team.

If the issue is that he wants "his" football players to do "his" weight workouts only, then he should either tell "his" players they must choose between football and track, or work something out with you whereby you will have only the players that will benefit from this program do such program.

Isn't BFS just a stepping stone to obesity?

HS Coach2 wrote:

Write an email to the athletic director, cc the vice principal in charge of extracurriculars and the principle. State that the BFS program is not meant for distance runners and could cause injury which would expose the school to liability issues. State that you have a program that does not expose the school to this culpability.

Fight a load of crap with another load of crap?

Thanks, but no thanks! That would be my message to your AD and FB coach. You could turn it on them and tell them than the football team should be running 50,60,70 mpw like your student-athletes...because it's all the same, right? If it gets your runners healthy, it should do wonders for the FB players.

In H.S. and college we always did 3 day a weeks off-season and 2 day a weeks in-season in the weight room, but it was always low weights with high reps.

This AD and FB coach clean and jerk types are probably just messing with you. They sound like Frat. boys who haven't grown up. Stay calm, have a sense of humor and get their "edict" in writing and then bring it to the attention of their bosses. They just are being territorial and don't want anyone else playing with their toys.

Plyometrics can work, be creative, use whatever resources you are given. Medicine balls, old equpiment, etc... If you want to do well, you will (granted there is no replacement for moving heavy weight). While the lifting phase is important, it is only a portion of the program that is used to improve performance.

Azaleas wrote:

body weight exercises are borderline useless.

Tell me that a person that can do 20 good dips/pullups/pushups isn't strong. Do you really need to cycle a track team through the "WAIT" room taking turns bench pressing to get stronger?

highschooltrackcoach wrote:I have been told by my AD and the football coach that I must use the football program's weight program, BFS (Bigger, Faster, Stronger - a marketed generalized lifting program designed to build power and mass), or I will not be allowed in the weight room. The BFS program has been deemed by the AD as the "official school program".

I don't want to do the program because I don't think it is specific enough to cover an entire track team.

If the Football Coach is not structuring BFS to his specific players then having this program as the "official school program" is even more stupid. What a lineman needs vs what a QB needs vs what a kicker/punter needs in a strength program may have some basic elements in common but the details are radically different.