CrossFit Athletic Group

Luke and Noah Heide are on board for their 3rd Champions Club Summer at the 8 am session. They are also both going into their junior seasons for Adrian College football; Noah is a quarterback and Luke is a tight end. Both have an opportunity to see the field this fall and want to make sure their weight training is ramped up.

The thing is, I don't know how much of that is needed.

Back in the winter they tested out and here's what the Tight End group looked like:

Luke Heide 6’2 220 
Bench 225 reps: 6  
3 RM squat: 345
Clean: 230
135lb strict press: 7

TE #2 5’8 210
Bench 225 reps: 12
3 RM squat: 405
Clean: 240
135lb strict press: 9

TE #3 6’3 255 (probably play OL)
Bench reps: 4
3 RM squat: 355
Clean: 225
135lb strict press: 7

TE #4 6’3 215 
Bench 225 reps: 5
3 RM squat: 315
Clean: 215
135lb strict press: 5

TE #5 6’0 205
Bench 225 reps: 5
3 RM squat: 335
Clean: 245
135lb strict press: 6

First off, I want to see this 5'8 tight end. Please bring him to the Champions Club and show him to me. Then dig up Bo Schembechler and Bear Bryant and show them too. Secondly, I was told the strict press was "strict" in the same way that our knees to elbows are "to elbows."

Now that that's out of the way, this kind of brings us back to the What is Strength discussion from 2015. The difference between barbell strength and sports strength is really difficult to pinpoint, but is definitely a thing - same way track speed can be different than "game speed." This is the difficult part of my job as a fitness coach; we're not training the end product, we're training for the end product. There are a ton of other factors besides Cindy score and CrossFit Total that goes into how well someone does in their sport.

When we look at the TE depth chart, Luke is entering the season presumed to be starting. You should note, however, that he doesn't have the clear-cut best barbell numbers: Human Bowling Ball is significantly ahead of Luke in all the lifts, and TE# 3 has a better back squat. Yet, they are both behind Luke, most likely for football reasons.

Also, we're talking about Tight Ends, and who the hell even needs Tight Ends any more? Let's move to the only real position on the football field. Here's what the quarterback group looks like:

QB #1
Bench 225 reps: 4
3 RM squat: 385
Power clean: 245
135-lb. strict press: 6

Noah
Bench 225 reps: 4
3 RM squat: 345
Power clean: 225
135-lb. strict press: 8

QB #3
Bench 225 reps: n/a
3 RM squat: 315
Power clean: 205
135-lb. strict press: 6

QB #4
Bench 225 reps: 0
3 RM squat: 205
Power clean: 165
135-lb. strict press: 0

QB #5
Bench 225 reps: 0
3 RM squat: 235
Power clean: 165
135-lb. strict press: 0

This requires Noah to take an honest look at what is truly the limiting factor. He's got the same bench at QB1 (who's also in the same grade), and 20 lbs. less in the clean and 40 lbs. less in the back squat. Strict press is whatever. In the world of weightlifting and typing numbers on a computer, that is a big difference. On the football field, I don't believe 40 lbs. in a back squat or power clean is a significant difference. 50-100 lbs.? I would probably say so, although it depends on how high up the Saquon Barkley Can Power Clean A Rhinoceros meter we are. My guess just by looking at the numbers (and Noah confirmed) is that the difference between Noah being a backup and being the starter is football-related, not strength-related.

Both Noah and Luke said they want to get stronger this Summer. My question for them is: why? Not "why" in a condescending tone, but more for them to make sure they're not just resorting to doing what's comfortable for them. One of the reasons why I have such an easy time coaching Cecilia, Mr. Carey and Saporito is they don't really like working out at all; they just know it's good for them. Noah and Luke, for some sick and twisted reason, actually enjoy working out. I haven't asked either of them, but I would bet that if they really were honest with themselves they'd realize they like the process of working out more than the process of playing college football (not just the games, but the practice and prep too.) It is really important not to get lost in that. In recent months I have come to believe that the things we least want to do are what we need to practice the most. Practicing things we enjoy and are comfortable with isn't really practicing, it's checking to make sure you still got it.

I think Luke needs to get in shape then pick one route every day and go through 40-70 reps of just that one route. The next day pick another one. I base this on knowing how much he hates long-duration workouts and how bored he gets with L-sits. No amount of weight room is going to get him to out-lift Human Bowling Ball, it's just not in his make up. He has two more years to grow and get stronger with whatever God blessed him with, but might be able to take short-term advantage of things he has more control over.

I think Noah needs to spend like 2 hours every day watching football film and 1 hour watching another sport and relating it back to football; if he misses a CrossFit session because of it, fine with me. Dude is a 20 year-old D-III quarterback with a 345 back squat and 26 rounds of Cindy. He's fit enough.