Could you tell us a bit about your job as
strength coach at Wake Forest University?
Here at Wake Forest University we work with approx. 400 athletes
in about 18 varsity sports. Wake Forset has an enrollment of about
4,000 students which is next to the smallest NCAA Div.I-A school
in the country. Wake Forest University is a strong academic and
athletic school! I am the Head Strength Coach and I have two assistannts:
Mike Tolloti and Matt Jennings. I work specifically work with
football, men's basketball and women's volleyball. Mike and Matt
work all other sports. They do an excellent job. We train all
of our athletes in a team setting, not individually.We trrain
the athletes like a coach does a sport practice. Our strength
coaching staff works in the trenches, on the platforms, with the
athletes.
Tell us a little bit about your weight
room setup. What kind of equipment do you have in there?
Our strength room is completely redesigned. We have approximately
7,000 sq. ft.We have 20 6'x8' platforms, 20 squat stands, 20 olympic
bumper sets by Eleiko, 20 special designed power racks, two sets
of dumbbells(5-150 lbs.), 20 utility benches for the power racks,
tumbling-stretching mat, an area for plyometrics, hurdle dynamic
stretches, ladder drills, dot drills, med ball throws, 5 TV monitors
for posting power point workouts, 5 TV monitors for video "training
hall tapes" of great olympic lifters, 8 pairs of each weight
of kettlebells:18, 36, 53, and 72 lbers., we are expecting 4 pairs
of the 88 lbers. next week. We also have 4 of Scott Sonnon's clubbells
and 6 glute-ham raise benches. We have some machine and aerobic
machines but never include into our team workouts.
It sounds like you incorporate a variety
of different training protocols into your programs, such as Olympic
lifting, powerlifting, Kettlebells and bodyweight calisthenics.
How do you design programs so that all of these methods work synergistically?
We use a varity of modes of training our athletes. Being that
I was an
athlete and sport coach everything we do is to make our athletes
functional for their particular sport. We use olympic lifting
and squatting movements with olympic bars and bumper plates, one
arm kettlebell lifts for stregth and quick lifts, bodyweight calisthenics,
tumbling drills, hurdle drills, dot drills, ladder drills, bodyweight
cals, med balls, heavy wooden sleds for pushing and pulling, bleacher
runs, and cone agility drills. Emphasis is placed with different
modes determined by the needs of the sport. For instance, our
women's cross-country runners, which finished 9th in the NCAA
this fall, did predominately bodyweight cals, kettlebells and
some light olympic lifts and squatting with the olympic bars.
However, our field hockey which finished 1st in the NCAA this
fall, did predominately olympic lifting and squatting for the
main emphasis with olympic bars and kettlebells and they used
bodyweight cals as supplemental training. Both sports have cut
down on injuries and are producing in competition effectively.
