ATHLETIC DIRECTORS

Win More With Less Injuries!

By Dr. Greg Shepard
Published: Fall 1997

This special fall edition of the BFS Journal is presented for the first time to athletic directors.  Many of you may have read our journal but I know also that many athletic directors are not that familiar with our organization.  Bigger Faster Stronger is dedicated to helping athletes succeed especially at the high school and college level.  Presently, we have about 500,000 high school athletes doing some or all of our BFS program on a regular basis.  We are the most widely followed strength and conditioning program in the country.  Welcome!

Athletic Directors are in a unique position to lead their coaches and physical education teachers to a unified strength and conditioning program throughout the entire school.  Very few schools enjoy a unified approach to strength and conditioning.  The typical three-sport athlete has three ways to stretch, weight train and lift during the season.  Terminology is never the same.  Every coach does his/her own thing.  Even the physical education classes can do something entirely different.

We do about 100 BFS all-day clinics per year in every corner of the united states.  We do them in rural , urban, small, large, homogenous and racially mixed schools.  Every coach in every sport gets on the same page!  Every athlete in every sport stretches and lifts the same way.  Every sport lifts twice in-season.  All use the same terminology with physical education classes even doing the BFS program.  Here are the average results one year after a clinic: two more football wins, three more basketball wins (both boys and girls), three more baseball wins and 20% more victories overall with injuries cut in half!

The benefits are obviously enormous.  More athletes have an opportunity to reach their potential.  More kids come out for sports.  There are more positive vibes within the school, community and administration.  More kids are willing to dedicate themselves to excellence because the BFS program is so much fun and continually rewarding.  Marc Anderson who heads up the Martinsville High School program in Indiana said, "I was amazed by the progress that our athletes made on the BFS program.  On the old computer program each lifter had to wait 8 long weeks until our next test to break a record.  On the BFS system, every kid breaks records every workout."  Martinsville won five state championships last school year!

Why do coaches so readily agree to do the BFS program?  First, we train athletes (not a specific sport) while emphasizing speed and jumping power.  Whatever gets our athletes to run the fastest and jump the highest is what we all should be doing.  Second, the BFS Program is extremely flexible and fits all high school situations.  Third, it takes far less time than most coaches think: Two thirty minute workouts per week during the season and it can be done in a 45-minute physical education class during the off-season.  There are hundreds of schools that have between 100 and 500 kids per day doing the BFS Program.

How do you, as an athletic director , incorporate a unified program.  One way is to have a BFS Clinic.  You can also easily learn the BFS Program with the BFS Total Program Book and one of the BFS Total Program Sport Videos or Women's Total Program Video.  Our new Training Posters and three Safety Charts are also ideal for teaching the BFS Program to all.  The winning secret is unification.  We also have specialized equipment to make learning easy for girls and junior high kids.  Certified strength and conditioning coaches are standing by on toll free lines (1-800-628-9737).  They can help with questions and/or help get you started.

The articles in this journal were selected to illustrate the BFS Program with a variety of sports and to help you understand our basic concepts.  Enjoy it!  But, more important, get started!

 

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