NFL Combine Prep, High School Studs and the Inverted Juggernaut Method

Well, as you all may have noticed, I haven’t had too many training log entries lately. That’s because I’ve only been training twice per week, but I’ve been getting stronger and losing weight. Also, you may have noticed that none of my log entries have been related to throwing the shotput. About two weeks into my attempted shotput comeback, I realized I just don’t have time to compete at the level that I want to and I’m not ok with just throwing for fun.

When I stopped throwing in May 2010, I stopped because I didn’t feel like I had enough time to devote in order to compete at the level I wanted to, and I have far less time now, so I’m not exactly sure what I was thinking. The reason that I’ve had so little time is because things at Juggernaut have been going great, especially in regards to football training. Currently, we have a group of 11 athletes preparing for the NFL Combine/Pro Days and are expecting tremendous results from them. Here are some highlights from their recent training…

San Diego St. QB Ryan Lindley performing drop MB pullover throws, which are a great way to build elastic/reactive power in overhead throwing athletes.

San Diego St. LB Miles Burris reverse blue band pressing 500×3. Miles has a great opportunity to break the Linebacker combine record of 35 reps at 225.

Fresno St. WR Devon Wylie ripping off an electronically timed 1.51sec 10-yard dash. Devon will be among the fastest athletes at this year’s combine and will be among one of four Juggernaut athletes who will challenge the sub 4.4 second barrier.

Vanderbilt’s S. Sean Richardson touching 11’ (he later went on to touch 11’2”) from a 24” depth drop. This 6’3” 220lb BEAST will be among the most athletic safeties at this year’s combine and one of four Juggernaut athletes with a chance to go over 40” in the vertical.

Miles Burris, U of Washington DT Alameda Ta’amu and Boise St. LB/DE Shea McClellin performing defensive line positional training.

In addition to this outstanding group of Combine/Pro Day prep athletes, we’re also currently preparing an outstanding crop of high school and junior college athletes for college football careers. On February 1, National Signing Day, Juggernaut had 15 athletes sign LOI (or commitments to service academies) to continue their college football careers, including two athletes to USC, two to UCLA, two to Air Force and others to University of Arizona (hopefully he is aware of such illustrious alums like Wendler and Rhodes), Navy, Louisiana Tech and several 1-AA and D2 athletes. These guys are almost through their 12 weeks of training and are showing amazing progress. Keep your eye out for several Juggernaut athletes who should be seeing significant playing time throughout the Pac-12 next season.

The initial block of training for these athletes (six weeks long), was based on the Juggernaut Method, but using an inverted set/rep scheme. During their first six weeks of training, these 16 athletes experienced an average of 42.7 pounds increase in their projected 1RM in the bench and 100.6 pounds in the squat. Their sprinting and jumping results have also been going through the roof. Through 12 weeks, they dropped their average 10-yard time by .06 (electronically timed), verticals are up by an average of 3.5-inches, broad jumps up by and average of 7.3-inches and that is with many of these athletes adding over 15 pounds of mass to their frames. With results like this, particularly among a group of athletes with a relatively high training level, I couldn’t help but give it a shot myself.

Check out this super springy high school junior WR/DB going 41’11” in a 4-fold jump.

My goals for this training block were:

1. Increase my special work capacity utilizing short rest periods.
2. Lean out – I began 2012 at 316 pounds and with no plans of competing in the near future (or possibly ever), I just have no reason to be that big.
3. Train like an athlete. I love sprinting, jumping and throwing and want it to be part of my training.
4. Don’t let my training take precedence over my athletes. When I compete, I go all in, and that occupies my mind and takes away from my focus on my athletes.

With all of those things in mind, here is my last six weeks of training:

Week 1 (bodyweight of 316)

Tuesday

1. Overhead Backwards Medicine Ball (MB) Throw – x 10
2. Explosive Pushups to Box – 4 x 2
3. Bench – 10 sets of 5 at 285 (60% of 475 working max), with one minute rest periods
4. Chest Supported Rows – 5 x 15
5. Shoulders, Traps, Arms for 2 sets of 15-20 reps, the exercises and weights I used here are inconsequential

Thursday

1. Tempo Prowler® Push Circuit – 2 x 6 rounds

This consists of pushing a lightly weighted Prowler® for 40 yards at around 75 percent pace and then performing either 10 pushups, 10 bodyweight rows or 20-30 reps of various abdominal drills.

Friday

1. Underhand Forward MB throw – x 10
2. Sled Sprints – 3 x 5 x 10 yards
3. Box Jump – 5 x 5
4. Squat – 10 sets of 5 at 455 pounds (60 percent of 750 working max), with one minute rest periods. This was MISERABLE!
5. RDLs – 3 x 10
6. Straight Leg Situps – 3 x 10

Week 2 (bodyweight of 312)

Tuesday

1. Overhead Backwards MB Throw – x 8
2. Explosive Pushups to Box – 5 x 2
3. Bench – 10 sets of 3 at 320 (67.5 percent of 475 working max), with 90-second rest periods
4. Chest Supported Rows – 5 x 12
5. Shoulders, Traps, Arms for 2 sets of 12-15 reps, the exercises and weights I used here are inconsequential

Thursday

1. Tempo Prowler® Push Circuit – 2 x 8 rounds

This consists of pushing a lightly weighted Prowler® for 40 yards at around 75 percent pace and then performing either 10 pushups, 10 bodyweight rows or 20-30 reps of various abdominal drills.

Friday

1. Underhand Forward MB Throw – x 8
2. Sled Sprints – 2 x 5 x 15 yards
3. Box Jump – 4 x 4
4. Squat – 10 sets of 3 at 505 pounds (67.5 percent of 475 working max), with 90-second rest periods
5. RDLs – 3 x 9
6. Straight Leg Situps  – 3 x 12

Week 3 (bodyweight of 309)

Tuesday

1. Overhead Backwards MB Throw – x 6
2. Explosive Pushups to Box – 6 x 2
3. Bench up to 355 x 13, which was 75 percent of my 475-pound working max. This was 3 reps over the 10 rep standard and moved my working max up 7.5 pounds.
4. Chest Supported Rows – 5 x 10
5. Shoulders, Traps, Arms for 2 sets of 10-12 reps, the exercises and weights I used here are inconsequential

Thursday

1. Tempo Prowler® Push Circuit – 2 x 10 rounds

This consists of pushing a lightly weighted Prowler® for 40 yards at around 75 percent pace and then performing either 10 pushups, 10 bodyweight rows or 20-30 reps of various abdominal drills.

Friday

1. Underhand Forward MB Throw – x 6
2. Sled Sprints – 5 x 20 yards
3. Box Jump – 3 x 3
4. Squat up to 565 x 12, which was 75 percent of my 750-pound working max. This was 2 reps over the 10 rep standard and moved my working max up 10 pounds. My previous best in this range was 550 x 11.
5. RDLs – 3 x 8
6. Straight Leg Situps – 3 x 15

Week 4 (bodyweight of 306)

Tuesday

1. Overhead Backwards MB Throw – x 10
2. Drop Pushups – 4 x 2
3. Bench – 8 sets of 5 at 315 pounds, 65 percent of 482.5 working max, with 75 seconds of rest
4. Chest Supported Rows – 4 x 15
5. Shoulders, Traps, Arms for 2 sets of 15-20 reps, the exercises and weights I used here are inconsequential

Thursday

1. Tempo Prowler® Push Circuit  – 2 x 6 rounds

This consists of pushing a lightly weighted Prowler® for 40 yards at around 75 percent pace and then performing either 10 pushups, 10 bodyweight rows or 20-30 reps of various abdominal drills.

Friday

1. Underhand Forward MB Throw – x 10
2. Sprints – 3 x 5 x 10 yards
3. Box Jump – 3 x 3
4. Squat – 8 sets of 5 at 495 pounds, 65 percent of 760 working max with 75 seconds of rest
5. RDLs – 3 x 9
6.  Straight Leg Situps – 3 x 10

Week 5 (bodyweight of 303)

Tuesday

1. Overhead Backwards MB Throw – x 8
2. Drop Pushups – 5 x 2
3. Bench – 8 sets of 3 at 350 pounds, 72.5 percent of 482.5 with 105 seconds of rest
4. Chest Supported Rows – 4 x 1
5. Shoulders, Traps, Arms for 2 sets of 12-15 reps, the exercises and weights I used here are inconsequential

Thursday

1. Tempo Prowler® Push Circuit – 2 x 8 rounds

This consists of pushing a lightly weighted Prowler® for 40 yards at around 75 percent pace and then performing either 10 pushups, 10 bodyweight rows or 20-30 reps of various abdominal drills.

Friday

1. Underhand Forward MB Throw – x 8
2. Sprints – 2 x 5 x 15 yards
3. Box Jump – 3 x 2
4. Squat – 8 sets of 3 at 565 pounds, 72 percent of 760, with 105 seconds of rest. I timed set seven and completed the 3 reps in 5.37 seconds.
5. RDLs – 3 x 7
6. Straight Leg Situps – 3 x 9

Week 6 (bodyweight of 299)

Tuesday

1. Overhead Backwards MB Throw – x 6
2. Drop Pushups – 6 x 2
3. Bench up to 385 x 10 (80 percent of 482.5), which raised my working max by 5 pounds, as it was 2 reps over the 8 rep standard. My best rep work ever is 425 x 7 (523 projected max) and this was a 512 projected max at a bodyweight of over 20 pounds less.
4. Chest Supported Rows – 4 x 10
5. Shoulders, Traps, Arms for 2 sets of 10-12 reps, the exercises and weights I used here are inconsequential

Thursday

1. Tempo Prowler® Push Circuit 2×10 rounds

This consists of pushing a lightly weighted Prowler® for 40 yards at around 75 percent pace and then performing either 10 pushups, 10 bodyweight rows or 20-30 reps of various abdominal drills.

Friday

1. Underhand Forward MB Throw – x 6
2. Sprints – 5 x 20 yards
3. Box Jump – 3 x 1 up to 47 inches
4. Squat up to 610 x 7 (80% of 760 working max). My previous 7-rep max is 595 pounds.
5. RDLs – 3 x 6
6. Straight Leg Situps – 3 x 8

With my diet I have been doing the following…

Weeks 1-3

Only incidental carbs every day. Each day basically looked like this:

• Meal 1 (7AM) – 5 eggs scrambled with spinach, turkey and cheese
• Meal 2 (10:30AM) – 4 scoops of Juggernaut Fat Loss Formula and either 2 TBSP of olive oil or 2 spoonfuls of peanut butter
• Meal 3 (1PM) – 16oz chicken, 2 cups green beans, 2 spoonfuls of PB or 1 handful of almonds
• Meal 4 (3:30PM) – same as Meal 2
• Meal 5 (7PM) – two half-pound burgers with cheese, 1 fried egg each, ½ avocado each, no buns, 2 cups of green beans
• Meal 6 (9:30PM) – 3 scoops of Juggernaut Anytime Shake, 2 spoonfuls of PB

 Weeks 3-6

Training Days

• Meal 1 (7AM) – 5 eggs scrambled with spinach, turkey and cheese
• Meal 2 (10:30AM, post training) – 4 scoops of Juggernaut Fat Loss Formula and either 2 TBSP of olive oil or 2 spoonfuls of peanut butter
• Meal 3 (1PM) – 16oz chicken, 2 cups green beans, 2 spoonfuls of PB or 1 handful of almonds
• Meal 4 (3:30PM) – same as Meal 2
• Meal 5 (7PM) – two half-pound burgers with cheese, 1 fried egg each, 1 bag of Trader Joe’s sweet potato fries
• Meal 6 (9:30PM) – big bowl of ice cream (my favorites are Ben and Jerry’s Oatmeal Cookie Chunk and Americone Dream)

 Weeks 3-6

Non-Training Days

• Meal 1 (7AM) – green tea
• Meal 2 (10:30AM) – 4 scoops of Juggernaut Fat Loss Formula and either 2 TBSP of olive oil or 2 spoonfuls of peanut butter
• Meal 3 (1PM) – 16oz chicken, 2 cups green beans, 2 spoonfuls of PB or 1 handful of almonds
• Meal 4 (3:30PM) – same as Meal 2
• Meal 5 (7PM) – two half-pound burgers with cheese, 1 fried egg each, ½ avocado each, no buns, 2 cups of green beans
• Meal 6 (9:30PM) – 3 scoops of Juggernaut Anytime Shake, 2 spoonfuls of PB

I would’ve expected to maybe drop more weight in the first few weeks, but considering how bad my diet was during December from both a quality (all shit) and quantity (two meals per day) standpoint, I understood why I didn’t lose more weight as my caloric intake was now way higher. In that first three weeks, I probably had two to three serious cheat meals as well, since there were playoff football games to be watched, beers to be drank and barbecue foods to be eaten.

Moving forward from here for the next four months, my goals are to continue dropping weight, bench over 500 pounds around a 275-pound bodyweight, squat over 850 (I’ll be putting my knee wraps on every other week now), keep sprinting and throwing, jump on a 50-inch box, which will tie my all-time PR, and train three times a week for less than 1.5 hours per session. I’m enjoying training and life right now and plan on continuing to do that.

More from Chad

Train with Chad at Juggernaut Training Systems

The Juggernaut Method E-Book

More Articles by Chad Wesley Smith

Chad’s Training Log

Total Performance Sports Seminar – Chad Wesley Smith – March 24/25 2012

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