NJ Seminar with Joe DeFranco & Zach Even-Esh Review (Part 2)

After the workout was done and there was good food in our bellies from the Goffle Grill, you can check out the Goffle Grill Menu and please remember that we were at a strength and conditioning seminar not a nutritional seminar.   Ok where was I?  Yes, after we lifted and ate it was time for Q&A with Joe and Zach and it centered on their training structure. 

Joe gave a lot of insight for his in-season athletes who train with him.  Some of his key points to look at when training in-season athletes include:

Ø      Determine their current mood by asking questions to determine how to train them that day.

Ø      Cut down on the volume

Ø      Don’t do a lot of knee flexion exercises in-season especially if you are going to train them right before their practice.  Instead do leg work with;

o       The Prowler

o       The Sled

o       Band Good Mornings

o       45-Degree Back Raises

Ø      Glute-Ham Raises

Ideally get the in-season athlete in and out in 1 hour.

Zach talked a lot about the way he structures his training sessions.  For the beginning athletes he liked to train them in phases:

Phase I Baseline

Ø      Body weight exercises (squat, lunge)

Ø      Med. ball throws

Ø      Hand walking

Ø      Pull ups or recline rows

When the athlete shows proficiency in Phase 1 they can move on to the next phase:

Phase II

Ø      Box squats

Ø      Blug. Split squats

Ø      Push press

Ø      Sled and prowler work

Zach sets up his workout days by focusing on a particular body part.  After each month and he will then rotate days two and three so people training two times a week are exposed to different body parts to ensure balance in their program.

Day 1 – Full body workout

Day 2 – Upper body

Day 3 – Lower body

If Zach chooses to have a fourth day it will be a strongman type training day.

Zach likes to train progressively in four-week blocks:

Week 1 – Intro to movements

Week 2 – Repeat week 1 workout and try to break records

Week 3 – Repeat again and try to break records

Week 4 – Full deload

Well there are the highlights of Day 1 from the DeFranco and Even-esh New Jersey seminar.  As you can see there was a lot going on in a short amount of time. Stay tuned for Part 1 of  Day 2 coming up soon.