Category Archives: Training

March 30, 2011 · 6:54 PM

Brick by Brick

Brick by Brick by Coach Hays

This was the theme of summer conditioning the final year we coached.  I was really proud of this program.  I thought I’d finally found a theme which fit what we tried to accomplish like a glove.  I found the program while cleaning out some folders on the hard drive.  Funny how almost every file in the Tiger Sports folder brings back great memories.  Practice schedules, travel lists, depth charts, strength and conditioning data, it all comes rushing back as I click through the files.  I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did.  And if not, too dang bad, because now I have a whole computer folder full of things to share.

Brick by Brick

The foundation of a solid team is built brick by brick.  Each individual brick in a foundation wall is unique and important.  Every athlete in our summer conditioning program is unique and important to the foundation of the teams we are creating.  The coaches act as the bricklayers to put the foundation together.  Parents, administrators, former players and fans are the mortar which supports and holds the foundation together.  The goal of our Tiger Strength and Conditioning program is to provide the tools so that every athlete can mold themselves into the best brick they can be.

(As I looked over this, it occurred to me that in our final season, some of our mortar didn’t realize, or accept, that it was the mortar and instead wanted to play the bricklayer.  Our bricks were good, our plan was good, but as the wall of the team was beginning to come together, we lost our mortar and our wall crumbled.)

The 2008 Coach Hays Rules of the Road

1.  Show up and work hard, every day.

2.  We will work in groups.  You will choose your own group of 6-10 people.

3.  You will be held accountable to your group.

4.  Compete with yourself on a daily basis.

5.  Be the best you that you can be.

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February 23, 2011 · 8:11 PM

The Viking Laws

I don’t really know for sure who wrote the Viking Laws.  In fact, I cannot even recollect where I originally ran into them, but I am grateful to have found them. There almost has to be some fantastic legend that goes along with their origin. A great wisdom flows through, around and into the Viking Laws, no matter where their origin lies.

The Viking Laws work very well as a road map in a football strength & conditioning environment.  The attack mode and human weapon philosophy required to prepare one to physically, mentally and emotionally compete is mapped out in the Viking Laws.

Believe me, there is a lot to be learned in these 138 words.

THE VIKING LAWS

1. BE BRAVE AND AGGRESSIVE

  • BE DIRECT
  • GRAB ALL OPPORTUNITIES
  • USE VARYING METHODS OF ATTACK
  • BE VERSATILE AND AGILE
  • ATTACK ONE TARGET AT A TIME
  • DON’T PLAN EVERYTHING IN DETAIL
  • USE TOP QUALITY WEAPONS

2. BE PREPARED

  • KEEP WEAPONS IN GOOD CONDITION
  • KEEP IN SHAPE
  • FIND GOOD BATTLE COMRADES
  • AGREE ON IMPORTANT POINTS
  • CHOOSE ONE CHIEF

3. BE A GOOD MERCHANT

  • FIND OUT WHAT THE MARKET NEEDS
  • DON’T PROMISE WHAT YOU CANNOT DELIVER
  • DON’T DEMAND OVERPAYMENT
  • ARRANGE THINGS SO THAT YOU CAN RETURN

4. KEEP THE CAMP IN ORDER

  • KEEP THINGS TIDY AND ORGANIZED
  • ARRANGE ENJOYABLE ACTIVITIES WHICH STRENGTHEN THE GROUP
  • MAKE SURE EVERYBODY DOES USEFUL WORK
  • CONSULT ALL MEMBERS OF THE GROUP FOR ADVICE

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January 8, 2011 · 3:49 PM

Josh Hamiliton’s ESPN the Mag List

Rest Day Read (SR-68)

Josh Hamilton’s The List Cover

from ESPN the Magazine The List Issue, September 20, 2010

As we start the new year and re-evaluate ourselves, I thought the photo of Josh Hamilton’s arm tatoo, modified with his list of life priorities, is an excellent place to start.

GOD

HUMILITY

FAMILY

SOBRIETY

BASEBALL

If you don’t know Josh Hamilton’s story, he went from teenage phenom baseball prospect, to drug addict, to recovery, to determination-fueled comeback, to MLB MVP.  Quite an inspiring story.

Stay humble and don’t allow yourself to get too high.  Never give up when you get too low. ALWAYS trust in God.

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December 31, 2010 · 12:44 PM

One Final Act of Stupidity For 2010

For those who know me, my fits of stupidity will not be anything new to you.  But, I need to relate one final (I hope) Coach Hays stupid moment for 2010. Yesterday, I was running a mile on the treadmill as the weather was kind of nasty outdoors.  I was around the half mile mark when this Achilles’ tendon inflammation problem I have been fighting flares up.  It ticks me off because I hate my “old man” afflictions.

Out of blind, stupid pride, I stop the treadmill, kick off my socks and shoes, and then hit start. No more shoe rubbing against my inflamed Achilles.  I AM GOING TO FINISH THIS RUN. Besides, it’s only a half a mile to go.  It’s not so bad to run barefoot, a little loud on the treadmill. But, nobody else is home, so it won’t bother anyone.  And you know those Kenyans run barefoot all the time, so it can’t be THAT bad.

With about a quarter mile left, there is a strange feeling beginning in the balls of my feet,  but I keep going.  There’s only a few more minutes to go, I can finish this.  I need to finish this.  So I tread forward one step at a time.   Finally, I am done and hit stop with a great sense of accomplishment.

Then it starts, a burning pain in the balls of my feet that increases exponentially.  I can feel the blisters forming on my feet.  Oh, crap!  I’ve done it this time.

Long story short, I am now a little smarter.

I’ve learned some hard lessons with every painful step as my blisters subside.  I have learned the following:

  • Fat, old guys should not run barefoot.  Anywhere.  Anytime.
  • I need to be smarter about working out. Two days off of my feet was not worth the 1/4 mile I ran barefoot.
  • Finally, I am not a Kenyan marathoner

Have a safe and happy New Year’s Eve!  Tomorrow we will start a new year and have a post on resolutions and the the start of the fitness new year on April 1, 2011.  Last year’s post on the subject is HERE.

Treadmill

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December 5, 2010 · 8:30 PM

John The Baptist vs. The Establishment

Rest Day Read (SR-63)

Gospel of Matthew 3:1-12

1 In due course John the Baptist appeared; he proclaimed this message in the desert of Judaea,2 ‘Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is close at hand.’3 This was the man spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said: A voice of one that cries in the desert, ‘Prepare a way for the Lord, make his paths straight.’

4 This man John wore a garment made of camel-hair with a leather loin-cloth round his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.5 Then Jerusalem and all Judaea and the whole Jordan district made their way to him,6 and as they were baptised by him in the river Jordan they confessed their sins.

7 But when he saw a number of Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism he said to them, ‘Brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming retribution?8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance,9 and do not presume to tell yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father,” because, I tell you, God can raise children for Abraham from these stones.10 Even now the axe is being laid to the root of the trees, so that any tree failing to produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown on the fire.11 I baptise you in water for repentance, but the one who comes after me is more powerful than I, and I am not fit to carry his sandals; he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire.12 His winnowing-fan is in his hand; he will clear his threshing-floor and gather his wheat into his barn; but the chaff he will burn in a fire that will never go out.’

This is a scene from Matthew I wish was captured on video.  Can you imagine?  Picture the Pharisees and Sadducees faces when they get called out by John.  They’d heard the rumors and the mumblings about the madman in the desert, preaching, baptizing in the Jordan and proclaiming the coming of the King.  They sensed the drumbeats of a revolution, they sensed a HUGE threat to their status quo religious establishment and they crawled their way out to spy on what was really happening.  They weaseled their way into the crowd to bear witness of wrongdoing by the preacher in a camel hair garment who ate honey and locusts.  But John had guts, John was powered by the Spirit and laid into the Pharisees and Sadducees with a verbal attack the likes they had never been exposed to before.  I love it!  The holier-than-now Pharisees and Sadducees probably tucked their red faces between their tails and squirmed like snakes back to the comfort of their homes.  John the Baptist!  I think him and me would have got along very well.

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December 4, 2010 · 8:53 AM

Workout Songs: Red Barchetta by Rush

Pump up song extraordinaire!  With my friends Jeff and Shane, we went to see Rush on the Moving Pictures tour in April of 1981 at Kemper Arena.  Tickets were $10, if you can believe that, a steal even in 1981.  It was a Friday night, a beautiful spring evening.  Magnificent show to say the least.  Magical.  These three men were, and still are, absolute masters at what they do.   We loved Rush.  Shane’s older brother Kyle, now a most excellent physician, was almost a god in our eyes back in the 1979-1982-ish time frame, but not because of his academic prowess or his desire to cure the sick.  His two claims to fame for us rested  solidly on the facts that he, one, almost flunked out of college because he and his friends were making a “monster movie” out in the country instead of going to class, and two, Kyle could play the 2112 Overture on his guitar by heart.

I was so fired up, especially when Rush played Red Barchetta.  The animation video you see was projected on a 25-30 foot screen behind the stage.  It was cutting edge animation straight from the basic Atari race game.  So cool.  The song played in my head all night long.  We walked on air back to the car in the free parking lot four blocks away, down by the old stockyard bottoms.  We sang and tapped the heads of the cows as we passed them line up at the fence of the stockyard waiting to be loaded out come sunrise.  The next morning Jeff and myself competed in our home track meet, The Washington Relays.  I took the meet championship with my best throw ever in the shot put that day and Red Barchetta became one of my favorite pump up songs for life.

“I strip away the old debris that hides a shining car.  A brilliant red Barchetta from a better varnished time.”

“Drive like the wind, straining the limits of machine and man.”

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November 13, 2010 · 10:34 AM

Workout Songs: Bloodbuzz, Ohio by The National

Workout Songs

You gotta have them.  The workout songs.  The loud, chaotic, wall shaking music served with an underlying hum of intensity to prime your adrenaline pump.  That is what I am talking about.  It will push you through the tough times.  It will get that rhythmic beat starting in your head that snakes to your heart, through the gut and into all your muscles.  It goes to the top of the bell tower and starts the incessant ringing signaling it is time to get after it.  It is time to run.  It is time to turn it loose.  It is time to let it fly.

The music doesn’t have to be fast loud head banging, but in can be.  It can be something a driving as Kashmir by Led Zeppelin (my personal pro sports introduction song if I would have played pro sports and required an introduction) or something like Sandman by Metallica or country and western like, Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way? by Waylon Jennings.  And what about the funk classic from Parliament, Flashlight?  That will work and so will you.  It doesn’t matter it just must have that underlying hum of intensity.

Today’s Workout Song is Bloodbuzz, Ohio by The National.  Great song.

“I was carried to Ohio in a swarm of bees.”

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November 6, 2010 · 8:32 PM

The Physical Space: A Coach Hays Rant

Rest Day Read (SR-57)

The Physical Space a Coach Hays Rant

The secret to physical preparation lies in the the work.  The physical space is a vital component of that work.  The outpouring of heart and soul, blood and sweat, time and effort, is key.  The pressure applied by the athlete toward themselves over time prepares the body for physical challenge, much like pressure applied to carbon over time results in the formation of a diamond.  Hard work, every day, every minute, every second.

The secret to success is not a shiny new training space with matching new pieces of equipment.  The success lies not in mirrors and color coordinated outfits.  The success lies in offering a good physical space which, above all else, is safe and effective. Let me repeat, safe AND effective. A good physical space needs heavy things to lift, move and carry.  It needs places to hang from, drag things over and move upon.

The environment has to be welcoming, the athletes should want to go there to work.  Athletes should know they are expected to be there.  The cultivated physical, mental and emotional environment must make the athlete want to show up and put it out there every session.  Everyone gets better, everyday.  That is how teams are made.  That is how athletes learn to trust each other and become a unit, a team.  Players know their teammates are putting it out there.  Hard work and trust become contagious.  Then the diamonds are formed.

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October 6, 2010 · 8:48 PM

Do It. Did It. Done It!

Rest Day Read (SR-51)

Do It. Did It. Done It!

“Johnny did P90X”

“Mary did RKC”

“Andrew did CrossFit”

“Elizabeth did Maximum Effort Black Box (MEBB)”

“Frank did Bigger, Stronger, Faster(BSF).”

I was sitting in the doctor’s office with one of the offspring today.  It was quite the extensive visit, so I had the chance to read a couple Men’s Health magazines from their selection of reading materials.  It had been several years since I have even opened a MH issue.  I subscribed for a year to their spinoff Men’s Fitness a while back, but that was about it.  I was amazed how many “workout” systems they present in ONE issue of their magazine.  It sent my mind reeling.  Do you realize how many “workout” systems there are out there?  I imagine it is somewhere into the thousands.  And in the rise of internet based information, that number probably is more into the tens of thousands.  With the incredible number of choices and information floating around out in the world, how are we supposed to know what we are supposed to be doing for fitness?  Which choice is the correct answer?

Do, Did, Done.

Set a goal and get to the “do”.

Make a plan and make it a “did”.

Then get after the goal and get it “done”.

There are many ways to exercise, find one you like and get moving.  Walk, run, air squats, weightlifting, dancing, sports, etc.  Like TV?  Well do something during commercial breaks.  Just hop off your keister and get busy.

Do, Did, Done.

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September 30, 2010 · 6:19 PM

The Arena of Compete: Tickets, Please.

The Arena of Compete: Tickets, Please.

a Coach Hays Rant

“May I see your ticket, please?”

“What ticket is that, fine sir?”

“Your ticket to the Arena of Compete, of course.”

Now that’s the ticket I am talking about!  The ticket to the Arena of Compete.  The ticket to the big show, the big stage, the place where you get to shine.

By this point of the season, everyone, regardless of sport, has probably played a few games.  You probably know whether you possess a ticket or not.  You also probably have a pretty good idea who is holding the tickets on your team or your opponent’s team.  You probably know who belongs in the Arena of Compete and who does not.

Wins alone are not the ultimate indicator of possessing a ticket.  Even a broken clock is right twice a day.  S0,  maybe a win can be squeezed out here or there, regardless of ability.  What really matters is the ability to compete when times get tough.  The ability to compete when it is all on the line.  The ability to compete when the opponent or situation becomes daunting and overwhelming.

How much to buy a ticket, you ask?  Sorry, you can’t buy one.  Cash is not good at the Arena of Compete.  You can’t buy your way in with money, association or appointment.  There are no gift memberships.  Nothing is given freely, all must be earned!  Earned by blood, sweat and tears. Earned through hours of toil and labor.  Forged through continual preparation and through the Fail Cycle (pushing, failing and conquering…pushing, failing and conquering…)

No ticket? No problem.  You can still enter through the back door, even without a ticket.  Intertwined into the Arena of Compete is the Field of Fraud.  Sure enough, don’t do the work, just show up at the Field of Fraud.  Wear the right uniform, say the right things, look the part and you can get in there.  But, realize,  that you and your weaknesses will be exposed in front of God and everyone.  There is no place to hide on the Field of Fraud.  It will be obvious you did not earn a ticket.  You will lack the confidence and the swagger of those who did.  You will be a fraud and everyone will know it.

The Arena of Compete can be a brutal, unforgiving place for the unprepared or it can be a place of honor and glory.  the choice is yours.  Do the work.  Earn your way.   Earn your very own ticket into the Arena of Compete.

Hard Work is the Currency.

Hard Work is the Magic.

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