I think I was among many who breathed a heavy sigh of relief once the NFL lockout ended. Of course I am a fan, not a player. However, I was training a player this year in Columbus, Ohio, who was also anxious to get going for a different reason. Many of you probably read about me putting Armand Robinson through a great football/wide receiver specific workout this summer. Not only was it important to try and work on his speed and strength, but we wanted to put his body in an optimal position to reduce the chances of any injuries happening.
Armand and I worked for about 10 or 11 weeks, right up until the day the lockout ended. We worked on strength training, speed training, agility and explosive work, plus football specific conditioning. The hope was that all the drills and stress I was putting his body through was preparing his body for the type of stress he was going to feel when he started practicing with an NFL team. You would think that every NFL player and hopeful was going through this process, but my guess is that not everyone was as diligent as Armand was.
Could Armand and I have worked a little harder together? Perhaps. But, my guess (and I'm judging this by what he has told me that he has seen from other players during training camp) is that a lot of players said heck with the working out or just half-a$$ed it.
Since most of us have never played in the professional ranks before, let's liken this to getting ready for your beer league softball season. A lot of these guys lie around the couch all winter, then in the spring have a few batting sessions with the team, then get right into softball. The first big swing or hard run to first, they're pulling something. You can't have all that inactivity for 5 months, then go 0-60 in 5 seconds and expect to be right where you left off the previous summer.
Plus, take into account your age, not exactly the exuberant early 20 something guy, and you have a recipe for disaster.
Now multiply that experience by a lot and that is what these NFL players are going to go through. With the lockout, they couldn't do their scheduled team workouts with their certified strength and conditioning specialists. Without the professionally designed workouts and the accountability with the team, it was up to the athlete to get his workouts in.
You had three options: either work with a professional speed and strength coach such as myself; do the workouts on your own based on what you have done before in the past; do nothing at all and rely on your extremely gifted athletic talent to get you by.
My point is you should watch this season. I don't think as many guys will be in as good of shape as they think they are. Consequently, there will be more injuries because the body isn't prepped for the game yet. The players seem to think that the added time off will help their bodies and they won't miss a beat. I'm betting on the former. We will see who is right.
Remember, as you are preparing for your upcoming season, speed development and strength and conditioning isn't just all about getting bigger, faster, stronger. That is people's first big goal and really what most care about. But, the second goal, which is more important, is getting the body healthy to prevent injury. You do the team absolutely no good with all that speed and strength, if you are sitting on the bench next to the coach with a pulled muscle.
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