By Dr. Ken E. Leistner
I had the privilege of coaching football at two high schools on Long Island in the late 1960's. One was a tony private school, while the other served a community where fully one-third of the adolescents were classified as New York State ADC students, those receiving State aid or welfare in some form. I only spent one season at the private school before installing my version of the Wishbone Offense at Malverne High School where our teams were very successful. We had one of the first organized and extensive weight training programs in the area and by anyone's definition, I was "old school" in an era when every high school football coach was old school. Almost all of the coaches I played under in high school and college had a military background that included combat service in World War II or the Korean War and the emphasis was always on high degrees of conditioning for two-way play, and team discipline.
I carried this credo into my own coaching style and procedures as did the other coaches I knew. As Malverne was one of the few in and out-of-season weight training squads, I also applied the same attitude and principles to our strength program. Hard and intense work on a few basic movements I believed, was the key to physical improvement, a belief I have continued to stress in my work preparing athletes for their seasons and as a consultant in the area of strength enhancement and injury prevention to NFL and collegiate programs. My old school orientation placed my focus upon a few barbell and dumbbell exercises that worked large muscular structures. For years, this was the basis of the programs I recommended with the inclusion of "adjunctive" work that mirrored the types of things I did in my own preparation for football. The additional work included pushing cars and trucks, carrying my father's shop anvil in various positions, flipping large tires, doing what the old-timers referred to as "farmers walk" with heavy implements in each hand, and both pushing and pulling weighted snow sleds that I had modified for use on grass. None of my training partners knew that we were utilizing what would in the 1990's become "strongman events" or "functional exercise movements." With the growing popularity of strongman competition, lifting stones has become a more frequently used means of preparing players for the season. There are advantages and disadvantages to this specific activity with the former out-distancing the latter in my opinion, making it viable for most programs. Lifting stones forces football players to most often achieve a significant amount of knee bend in order to position themselves properly to elevate the stone from the ground. This produces a relatively full range of motion in what otherwise would be a deadlift type of motion and the position by necessity is usually with a more rounded low back alignment than one would use with a barbell. This is not a negative for those players whose bodily leverages do not place them in a position for obvious potential injury. The work for the upper and low back musculature as well as the hips and thighs is different than that when deadlifting with a barbell or dumbbells. Finishing the movement when using a low back position that is more rounded than one would use makes it necessary to consciously focus upon extending the hips with more effort than one would with a barbell, unless the trainee was performing a near limit deadlift or pull. Doing squats with a stone held at the chest is another movement we have had our players do for years. Utilization of the stone places a very concentrated stress upon the low back and it is imperative that an upright posture be maintained. As a believer that the full barbell deep knee bend is one of the most important strength training movements a football player can perform in and out-of-season, doing a stone squat is a staple in our facility.
Dr. Ken Leistner coaching a 130-lb. Super Heavy Med Ball Clean & Press
(All photos courtesy of Kathy Leistner)
Older lifters and coaches understand that a "press" implies an overhead movement with a barbell and any other pressing movement uses a modifier such as bench press, incline press, or dumbbell press. Using a stone to press, while potentially dangerous if not properly controlled, and I will comment further upon that, is very difficult. The weight is much more concentrated relative to a barbell and the work is redistributed among the primary movers such as the deltoids, triceps, and trapezii muscles making this a movement that requires a great deal of concentration. "Cleans" where the stone is taken from the floor to the chest in one movement is much different than that done with a barbell or dumbbells. Curling a stone in the thirty to fifty pound range requires the trainee to "squeeze" the hands at the lateral aspects of the stone and then flex the forearms. The mental focus and physiological "focus" for lack of a better descriptive term, forces the biceps brachii and other flexors of the forearms, the brachialis and brachioradialis to work at a very intense level. Even the pectoralis muscles get work as the arms are adducted or "held in tightly" to secure the stone as it moves through the range of motion. The intrinsic muscles of the hands join the fray and the curl, what many coaches consider to be a "throwaway exercise" or as many gridiron coaches have stated, "a bodybuilding exercise" as in "Curls for the girls!" now becomes a multi-muscle movement that is very important for on-the-field injury prevention and performance.
The stones that are usually used for the aforementioned exercises and many others that creative coaches have developed, are usually of either granite or concrete. Both types of stones have advantages and disadvantages. The concrete stones are relatively inexpensive and there are numerous sources for them. With the proper molds, one can make their own concrete stones and they are durable and usually have enough texture to make them "liftable" although when extremely heavy weights are used, grip is at times problematic. For smaller athletes, the very heavy concrete stones are rather large in their diameter, making them difficult to grab, control, and elevate to the lap, abdominal, or chest areas and thus successfully lift or exercise with. The limiting factor for smaller or shorter football players who may in fact possess the strength in the hips, thighs, and upper and lower back to successfully lift for example a 180 pound concrete stone, is often the size of the stone. They will not be able to do so because they cannot place their arms and forearms on the implement correctly and/or won't have the body leverage to get the stone started off of the ground. The combination of relative lack of texture and stone size can make it difficult for a high school football player to handle a 130 pound stone despite the obvious benefits in doing so and having the overall body strength that would have predicted success with the implement.
The granite stones are denser and more compact than concrete with much better texture for securing one's grip. Their density allows them to have a smaller diameter per equivalent weight, making them easier to lift and control. They are durable to the point of being almost indestructible as dropping them on a concrete driveway or similar surface will result in the impact surface suffering while the granite ball or stone will not. I have remodeled my own driveway on three occasions as a direct result of dropping granite stones on a triple layer of 3/4" rubber matting! The drawbacks to the granite implements are the texture and price. The very rough surface that allows for a much more secure grip and starting movement is uncomfortable and distracting for many, and for all, will tear skin away. This can be combated by the use of long sleeves or leather gauntlets but even long sleeves may not be a deterrent to the resultant bleeding forearms. Wearing a thick sweatshirt may be protective but can also impede the actual lifting process. Relative to concrete, the granite balls are expensive.
At a recent strength clinic held at Wake Forest University, I was introduced to what I believe to be a truly innovative product. Marty Mitchell of the Rae Crowther Company demonstrated what is technically named The D-Ball or SUPER HEAVY MED BALL. That this product was first produced in 1989 by a gentleman by the name of Dennis Montoya made me believe that I had missed the boat as I pride myself on being aware of every and any tool that can assist the athletes my wife and I train and rehabilitate. Marty was quick to point out that Wake Forest Head Strength And Conditioning Coach Ethan Reeve, my host for the clinic, was the true "master" in using, and finding new ways with which to use these implements, what many coaches refer to as "the sand ball" for the benefit of his athletes. Marty had introduced the product to Coach Reeve with a selection of useful, applicable-to-the-field exercises, but Coach Reeve, a former national wrestling champion, took "the next step," many next steps! One of the favored movements that was immediately introduced at our facility was demonstrated by Coach Reeve, and I loved it for its application to a lineman's in-fighting ability, combative sports, an awful lot of work for the upper back, biceps, forearms, and hands, and the mental toughness that strength training workouts are supposed to enhance. The trainee holds the weighted sand ball at their waist with extended arms, and literally rolls it up to one shoulder, secures it, and rolls it down to the starting position. This is then done to the opposite shoulder with the entire sequence repeated for the required number of repetitions. It proved to be most challenging and needless to say, it looked much easier when Coach Reeve demonstrated this great exercise than when I performed it.
MOVIE: 100-lb. Super Heavy Med Ball "Roll-up"
I first believed that the SUPER HEAVY MED BALL was a viable alternative for either concrete or granite stones but for numerous reasons, it is much more than that, this is a weight room solution!! The rubber type of surface allows for a secure grip with both forearms and hands without the discomfort or danger of skin damage. The combination of sand (leading to the "sand ball" reference) and steel or coated lead pellets makes for a very compact and concentrated load. Thus, even a 100 pound ball is only twelve inches in diameter, much smaller than a stone of similar weight. This allows athletes of all sizes, especially a strong but smaller high school football player, to easily use these balls for any combination of deadlift, clean, or pressing movements. A proviso when pressing a stone, standing or in a seated or inclined position, is that the obvious damage to the face or head is always "right there" if control of the implement is lost. Using the SUPER HEAVY MED BALL is much safer. Slight loss of control will not result in abraded cheeks or a shredded nose and complete loss is not nearly as catastrophic, especially with a spotter nearby. In a sense, the "sand balls" have provided all of the benefits of using stones in one's training program with none of the disadvantages. The ease of use and very real benefits make these the intelligent choice for the functional type of training that can make any preparation program more palatable, interesting, and infused with variety. Combining exercises like a SUPER HEAVY MED BALL clean with barbell or dumbbell curls done in "super set" fashion, with no rest between the movements elevates the intensity of the workout. The torso rolling exercise touted by Coach Reeve and Marty Mitchell followed by a standing barbell press will provide efficient and easily coached and supervised muscle stimulating work to the entire upper body. Teaming up Trap Bar Deadlifts with "sand ball" deadlifts or cleans combines two similar exercises that give very different work to the involved musculature, one being done with a "flat" or arched back, using the hips and thighs as the primary movers, while the other stresses more low back involvement due to the rounder backed position, and of course the enhanced work for the hands, forearms, and arms.
Scott Alix, former U.S. Marine Corps wrestler and competitive powerlifter, roughing it with a 130-lb. Super Heavy Med Ball
(All photos courtesy of Kathy Leistner)
The creative coach who understands the needs of his players can I'm sure, come up with many combinations of movements or specific exercises that will benefit his or her athletes but the SUPER HEAVY MED BALLS are a definite "must have."
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MOVIE: Ethan Reeve, Wake Forest University & Miscellaneous
Marty Mitchell, Rae Crowther Co. 800-841-5050
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