 | TIGER STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING
MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of the Strength and Conditioning staff at Louisiana State University is to provide each student athlete with the most up to date and researched training program that will allow our athletes to compete at their highest level physically as well as mentally. We believe in the pursuit of excellence in our student athletes as well as ourselves. It is our goal to provide every athlete with the proper training techniques and motivation to achieve their greatest athletic potential.
TIGER STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING PHILISOPHY
There are several areas that you must play close attention to when training athletes. Too much emphasis in one area will leave you deficient in another. Overall development, sport specific development, specific to the challenges of college athletics is our priority. Each area must be addressed individually to achieve maximum results. They are:
Nutrition
Nutrition is often the most overlooked aspect of an athlete’s preparation. You are what you eat! You must put the correct foods into the body in the correct amounts in order to continue to recover and improve. You must take the time to eat and live your life like a champion. Make an effort to go shopping and cook your own food! Do not rely on McDonalds and Burger King to supply your body with what it needs to grow. Treat your body like a temple.
Muscular Strength and Power
At LSU we are going to train with free weights and do barbell exercises that require a great deal of concentration and effort. These exercises are total body exercises and require you to exert a great deal of energy every time you step into the weight room. It is important that you understand that we are not bodybuilders, weightlifters, or power lifters but we will perform a great deal of the same exercises that many of these great athletes do. They are however, arranged, sequenced and prescribed in a manner that is designed for you to be the very best ATHLETE that you can be. This area is the base of your athletic pyramid. It is the one component you must develop by lifting weights. Lifting heavy weights requires a great deal of mental toughness; go to the weight room with a serious attitude. Make sure that you perform these exercises correctly and always concentrate on good technique. Strength gains are gradual, so you are unable to take long breaks from training and show consistent growth in this area. Do not miss workouts.
Endurance
The LSU TIGERS must be relentless competitors and play with toughness for the entire contest. To do this we must be in better shape physically than our opponents. Every individual must make a commitment to do his part or the team will ultimately be the one to suffer. Does anyone know of an easy way to do this? There is no easy way around it; you must out work your opponents in this area! Work as hard as you can for as long as you can and never quit. Come to workout with an attitude, a purpose, and a goal to get better.
Speed Improvement
Not everyone is born with incredible speed. Improvements take a disciplined effort day after day, week after week, and year after year. Speed of movement is the primary goal in improving performance. Speed is the limiting factor in many athletic events. The ability to perform at maximum speed is an asset to the greatest of all competitive athletes. Developing maximum running speed is a laborious task. If you “go through the motions” during speed improvement drills, you will show little or no improvement at all. Run every sprint as fast as possible. Always rest the prescribed amount of time while mentally preparing for the next rep.
Agility
Agility defined is the ability to rapidly change directions without loss of speed and/or coordination. You must be able to “move” and change directions in athletics. Straight-line speed is not very helpful if you can’t change directions. Don’t just go through the motions! See yourself on the field or court, planting and changing directions and making plays. Learn to control yourself in and out of the drills by maintaining balance, coordination and footing. Agility training is just like speed development. You must perform each rep at maximum speed, rest, and do it again. Concentrate on keeping your center of gravity low and change directions as rapidly as possible.
Flexibility
Generally speaking, most people think of flexibility as a means of “warming-up” for an athletic event or workout. This is very true but flexibility also plays an important role in a person’s ability to be a great athlete. You must be able to “bend” and move effortlessly during competition. Flexibility gives you the ability do this. In athletics the majority of people who are often injured are usually considered “stiff” people. It is our belief that this is due to stiff people getting into an awkward positions, and something must give. It’s usually the soft tissue around the joint that gives. When working on your flexibility remember to relax and try to work right up to the sticking point and gradually work past that point without pain. Developing flexibility is a gradual process, take your time and do it right.
Lifestyle
This is simple! You can’t train like a champion and live like a bum and expect to improve on a consistent basis. Drinking, drugs and late-night partying will do nothing but destroy you as a person and as an athlete. Think before you do anything that may harm your body and prevent you from being the championship caliber athlete that you want to be. Winning championships is an on and off the field commitment.
Rest and Recovery
WORK HARD; but understand that you must recover from the work in order to get stronger, faster and improve on a consistent basis. You do not get stronger while you lift, you get stronger after your body rests and recovers form the work. Lifting, stretching, sprinting and practice break your muscles down. If you do not give your body an opportunity to recover and grow, you will not be the type of fast, muscular, and explosive athlete that you want to be. A hard working, dedicated athlete requires 6 to 9 hours of rest a night. Make sure that you have consistent sleeping times. Go to bed and fall asleep at the same time each night and you will find that you feel much better. |