ESPN Story on A-Rod
I was a little disappointed to see ESPN roll with a A-Rod used steroid with the Yankees story. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4114292
What’s the story here? That A-Rod gained 25 pounds in the off-season from his sophomore to junior year? We have high-school athletes in our program that gain that much on a consistent basis. That’s not “irrefutable evidence”. Selena Roberts, the writer of the upcoming book on A-Rod writes that a high school teammate said that A-Rod went from a bench pressing 100 lbs to 300lbs in 6-months. The above picture is of A-Rod his senior year in high school. Does this look like a guy that can bench 300lbs?
Here is A-Rod in his rookie card picture in 1994.
When an athlete trains to prepare for a season with todays programs, it’s not uncommon to gain double digit weight. We forget that proper nutrition education, methodical planning, and customized recovery techniques can provide the growing body the necessary tools to gain strength and muscle. The high school athlete normally puts on 10-15 pounds a year on his own and even more from his senior year to his freshman year of college. With a quality nutrition program and systematic training plan, we can accelerate the process to help him gain 5-10 pounds more in a 6-month training cycle. We have done this consistently in our program for years.
Yesterday, I asked one of my linebackers how much did he weigh during his freshman year and how much he weighed now. His answer would surprise many, even our school president who was present in the weightroom and has seen us work out. He came to school as a skinny freshman at 135 pounds. He is currently finishing his senior year in preparation for college football at 235 pounds. This is a 100 pound jump in four years.
I would love to take Mrs. Roberts through 6-month program and see how she feels after having to grind through a 20-30 rep leg press followed by a 2-3 minute wall sit with 200lbs on her lap and by the way lets do that for two sets.
It’s almost like we have forgotten the meaning of hard work, consistency, and dedication to preparation. All we ever want to talk about are the negative aspects of athletics. If high school athletes are disciplined, committed, the coach modifies the training based on individual/team needs and is consistent with what they do in the weightroom, there is no reason for big jumps to be made in body weight.
What we should be highlighting is how athletes around the country are making extraordinary improvements mentally and physically, by being disciplined, consistent, and hard working within their programs without the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
