In his heyday as an NFL player, Shannon Sharpe was one of pro football's premier tight ends and, in 2011, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH. In retirement, it looks like the NFL ... Continue Reading
The 3 Indispensible Elements of Athletic Training
We live in a time of abundant, free information. The problem with this? Not all of this abundant information is productive or correct. With the emergence of YouTube and celebrity athletes on ... Continue Reading
Practice Like It’s Game Day
“Put your game face on!” “Train like your life depends on it!” “Practice like it's game day!” These are all phrases we coaches bark at our athletes. Like most of the things we say, our athletes tend ... Continue Reading
Could Head Trauma Bring an End to Football?
Like many Americans these days, my favorite sport to watch is football. The warriors of the gridiron only seem to get bigger, faster, and stronger, and the game more athletic and exciting as a result. ... Continue Reading
Football Linemen More Susceptible to Heat Illness
Between 1960 and 2009, 123 high school football players died from an illness resulting from excessive heat. According to a study this month in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, linemen ... Continue Reading
The Reliability of the NFL-225 Bench Press Test
Whenever a test is used to assess performance, we should question its reliability. The popular NFL-225 test, which consists of doing max bench press reps with 225lbs, is no exception. Researchers performed ... Continue Reading
Football’s Big Men: Fit or Fat?
Different sports reward different body types. Gymnasts are small and wiry. Basketball players are tall. American football players are big. Almost every play in American football begins with a collision ... Continue Reading
Football Players More Explosive Than 10 Years Ago
The combine for football has always been interesting to me. For scouting purposes its importance has been mixed. Many people believe it isn’t a very good measure of an athlete’s potential as a professional ... Continue Reading
Football Players Are Getting Bigger and Bigger
American football players are getting bigger every year. Never was this more painfully obvious than on New Year’s Day when Jadeveon Clowney, defensive end for the University of South Carolina, brutally ... Continue Reading
Book Review: “The Last Headbangers: NFL Football in the Rowdy, Reckless ’70s” by Kevin Cook
My father is an avid football fan, his fervor stemming from his experiences playing high school and college ball back in the day. I have many childhood memories of him yelling at the television during big ... Continue Reading
NFL 225 Test Accurate at Predicting 1RM Bench Press
“How much ya bench?” This is an all-too-common question people are asked if they even look remotely athletic or spend time in the gym. Although it may be an overused question, there is actually some merit ... Continue Reading
Free Sport Specific Workouts – Hockey and Football
Are you a hockey or a football player? Looking for a training program to get stronger and improve your conditioning? You're in luck, because Breaking Muscle is giving you free sport specific workouts ... Continue Reading
12 Reps with Terrance Gant, Football and Strength & Conditioning Coach
EDITOR'S NOTE: Welcome to 12 Reps - in each appearance of 12 Reps, our coaches, writers, and occasional guests will be answering the same twelve questions each time. Go "into the locker-room" with them and ... Continue Reading
Junction Boys Syndrome: Is Off-Season Training Killing Football Players?
Extreme training in off-season football is not a rarity. In January 2011 thirteen University of Iowa football players were hospitalized with rhabdomyolysis from an off-season workout. Extreme ... Continue Reading
Repeated Small Blows, Not Concussion Could Be the Real Danger in High-Impact Sports
For those who played sports growing up or have children who play sports, the common belief is hits and bumps to the head are no big deal if they don’t induce symptoms of concussion. Two recent studies ... Continue Reading
NFL Combine: Are They Testing the Right Things?
In only a matter of weeks the 2012 National Football League (NFL) Scouting Combine will take place in Indianapolis, Indiana. Each year a few hundred top prospects from the NCAA are invited to the combine ... Continue Reading
