Whether you are planning the training for many athletes in a high school or college gym, or in a CrossFit type facility, there are many aspects you need to consider. The perfect plan can not be implemented if you do not have certain accessibility to knowledge, time or equipment. Here are some of the things that I find to be most important when programming for a large group of athletes:

This is a guest post from Joe Meglio, the Jersey Bandit, The Beast Coast Breaststroker, The Not So New Kid On The Block, the Bieber Fever Believer, The Deadlift Denominator, The Slayer Player, The Zach Even-Esh Liquefier, The Mid-Atlantic Fiber Frosted Fruitcake Flinging Flabergaster, The Bitchin Banana Hammock Hootenanny Host, the dude who has a bigger pull than you! When someone with ten badass nicknames talks, you listen. You're on, Joe...

One of the biggest problems I see in high school and college athletes is their off season training program. Too often I see high-level athletes performing the WRONG exercises. Instead of focusing on the basic exercises that have been proven to work, they focus on these gimmicky exercises that don’t improve athletic performance.

Simply put, you don’t have time to waste in the gym doing exercises that might work. Focus on the basics, as they are proven to deliver the best results. If I ask you why you are doing a specific exercise and you don’t have a legitimate answer, then scrap it.

When it comes to choosing the best strength exercises, you need to consider training economy, getting the most bang for your buck. As an athlete you need to spend time and energy developing your positional skills.

In this post I will focus on the ‘Top 5 Lower Body Strength Exercises’ for athletes. While jumps, medicine ball throws and sprints are critical to developing rate of force development and explosiveness, it is really useless unless you have a solid foundation of strength.

Trap bar deadlifts are an awesome exercise for you to strengthen your entire posterior chain. While conventional or sumo style deadlifts are great, trap bar deadlifts are easier to learn and very effective when done properly. Trap bar deadlifts are also less taxing on the body than traditional deadlifts.

When you do trap bar deadlifts, make sure you are sitting back and are keeping the tension on your hamstrings. Do not turn it into a squat.

I am sure you have heard 1,000 times that squats are the king of all lower body exercises and should be a staple in your training program. There is no denying that but a better question is what type of squats should you do? While some coaches prefer back squats, I find front squats to be superior for a few reasons. Front squats are much easier on the lower back because there are less compressive forces on the spine when compared the back squat. In addition to this the trunk is engaged much more in front squats compared to back squats.

Not to mention, you will have easier time learning front squats compared to back squats because it is much easier to maintain a neutral spine and upright torso in the front squat. Front squats can be done with kettlebells, sandbags or a barbell.

Hooray for the Glute Guy, Bret Contraras!!!

Unilateral leg training is critical to your performance because all athletic movements require you to produce force off of one leg. Think about anytime you go to make a cut on the football field, go up for a layup or dunk on the basketball court, or range to your right to field a ground ball on the baseball diamond.

Front loaded reverse lunges place a greater emphasis on the core compared to other unilateral leg exercises where you are holding the weigh at your side or on your back. Another major benefit of this exercise is it will improve your hip stability and help you overcome muscular imbalances caused from your sport.

Matty couldn't let everyone else have all the fun, he had to throw in at least one video of himself. Here is one of his very first videos, doing some front loaded unilateral work (pistols), along with some super sweet kipping pullups. For the record, I, Joe Meglio, think Matty is the dopest fucker out there, yo! (ok ok, Matt wrote this, I'm sure you're fooled)

The prowler and sled are awesome tools because of their effectiveness and their versatility. They can be used for many different goals and can be good for beginner athletes all the way to the professional rank.


The prowler is a great way to improve work capacity and general physical preparation. You can also load the prowler up with super heavy weight and push it for shorter distances to improve lower body strength with minimal stress on your joints. And finally, the sled and prowler can also be used as a rehabilitation tool when you are recovering from an injury and you need to do low impact exercises.

While there are a ton of other great lower body exercises, these are my go to ones because they work! In the next part of this installment I will share my top 5 upper body exercises for athletes.

If you want a program specifically designed to increase your athleticism and transform you into a freak athlete, check out my Lift Like A Man Training Course.

This is the exact system I use to get my athletes bigger, faster and stronger.

P.P.S Want more awesome muscle and strength building tips from Joe? Click here to get your FREE report http://musclebuildingcheatsheets.com/

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Most people familiar with athletic style training, Underground training, CrossFit, The Strength Shop and the myriad gyms of our kind, realize that it may be difficult at times to get a decent workout in when we visit an out of town gym, or simply try to change what we are doing in our own facility. But I will get back to that in a minute.  I also get asked frequently what my programming looks like. While I think I address these issues regularly, they continually seem to pop up. To be honest, I do not care where you train, something can be done to benefit you in your chosen environment, no matter how magnificent or terrible that may be.  I know some exercises are not allowed in some gyms, and rightfully so, as many people perform shitty and dangerous movement. It does not have to be so dangerous, nor does programming have to be such a nebulous concept. There are many things that I take into consideration when I conjure up a program for myself or my athletes. But when you take away the percentages, and all the nerdy shit, my basic template for the capable athlete looks something like this:

- power exercise
- strength exercise
- mobility/stability drills
- conditioning

The set and rep schemes will vary, the percentages will vary, and the exercise selection, among other things, will vary as well. This all depends on the athlete, the available equipment, the space, the ability, etc. It really is just another way of saying it depends on the situation. So, consider your situation, which means your ability, your needs, your goals, your equipment and available training time and make a solid plan. And I guarantee if you follow that basic template outlined above, and train in a way that challenges you, but does not destroy you on a regular basis, you will see your athleticism skyrocket in no time. 

The following video was shot a few weeks ago in a local commercial gym where I live in Fort Lauderdale. They had no bumper plates, but I still perform fast barbell movements to overhead, and I don't drop them, which would probably get me in trouble, asked to stop or leave. But pay attention to how the exercise is being done: fast, controlled, and safe (kind of) without me dropping the iron to the ground. Obviously learning how to lower the weight safely is probably most important given this situation.

In this particular training session I started with power snatches for a few triples, doubles and singles, but never went to max because that was too risky given the environment. I also chose to wear straps for all my sets because the bar was shit and I didn't want to risk it flying out of my hands. After working up to a few sets at 225, I moved on to a few sets of front squats. On this day I worked up to 315x5. Then I wanted to experiment with windmills with a weight plate. It was one of those plates that have a hole for a handle so it worked well. I hope it gives you an idea because it works well. I did a few sets of 3 windmills on each side and felt great. I then finished up with a barbell complex for a few sets with a light to moderate weight to build my work capacity, train my athleticism and jack that heart rate up. Check out the complex and the rest of the session below. 

Just because you don't have the perfect gym, the perfect equipment, or the perfect situation, doesn't mean you can't get a pretty damn good session in. Get yours now and let me know how it goes for you. Also, let me know what your favorite exercises are for the chosen template above. One of each;

- power
- strength
- mobility
- conditioning

You'll be amazed at the amount of different workouts you can get from this very basic template.