It has been an exciting off-season working with the Loyola Blakefield Lacrosse team in preparation for this upcoming Spring. The boys put in some great work over the last 4-5 months. I had the pleasure of working with about 20 of the athletes from the team somewhat consistently with training sessions 2x per week (excluding holidays). The team was able to put on more muscle and develop speed. An additional goal was for us to become more durable and prevent injuries.

From a training perspective we placed emphasis on the following movements:

Strength:

a. Shoulder: External Rotation & OH Carry/ Shoulder Stability

b. Upper Body Pull: Pull-Ups

c. Upper Body Press: Medium Grip Bench

d. Hinge: Trapbar

e. Squat: Barbell Back Squat

f. Hamstrings: Nordic Falls & Pulses

Speed:

a. Marches

b. Skips

c. Pogos

d. Banded Partner Sprints

e. Sprints

I decided to use three specific movements to test their strength and ensure progress in the strength department:

1. Bench Press

2. BB Back Squat

3. Trapbar Deads

For most athletes, we were able to utilize percentages during the training period.

The below image provides the results achieved for the athletes who were present for testing at the beginning and end of the training program. We were very excited to see the results and the overall strength increase for these athletes. Some of the players were able to increase their total by over 100-150lbs with one athlete totaling a 500lb Deadlift (with the Barbell).

It will certainly be exciting to see how the athletes transition into the season and how this increase in strength and speed can provide them with greater success on the field.

BEST OF LUCK DONS!!