Strength Training: Youth, Professional, & Collegiate Athletes
The tactics for training youth, collegiate, and professional athletes starts with one simple but important premise: don’t get hurt.
It doesn’t matter how scientifically superior or wise your program is if you end up hurting your athlete in the process. If you hurt them, they can’t be getting better at their sport by actually playing it. I know this from experience where I pushed what I was trying to do over helping the athlete get adequate recovery or trying too hard to get performance in the gym. I don’t care if you’re a coach or an athlete trying to squeeze the most performance you can out of a given workout or strict training schedule, you may set yourself back weeks to months of skipped games or tournaments simply because you thought the best way was total destruction.
However, there is risk in any form of training. But if you’re going to get injured, make it on the field of play. Not in the gym. This is not to say that your training should be completely reserved or weak, it’s just to say that your number one priority is to help prevent injury and not cause it.
That being said, a good strength program is one where you can become incredibly strong and still not get injured.
But it all starts with what are you trying to achieve.
Know Your Goals
Does every athlete I train follow the same program? Absolutely not. Even athletes from the same sport don’t get identical programs.
Each sport has unique demands when it comes to strength training. I’ve worked with MMA fighters, tennis players, football players, volleyball players, soccer players, boxers, young athletes as young as eight, D1 athletes, and pros. Do you think their workouts are the same? Not even close.
A tennis player’s upper body strength needs are vastly different from those of a football player. Does that mean we skip upper body work for tennis players? No way. It’s just a completely different approach. Most tennis players are already hitting for 2 to 4 hours a day, five to six days a week. It wouldn’t make sense to crush their upper body in the gym and then expect them to hit tennis balls for four hours. On the other hand, football players need maximal upper body strength and mass to withstand the collisions that are part of the game.
So, it’s crucial to understand what you need to strengthen and why. Your training must align with what you do in competition. Randomly lifting weights isn’t the way to go—building a training system that targets the specific strength requirements of your sport is.
Young Athletes
A common concern among parents is whether strength training is safe for their young athletes—will it stunt their growth? Could it lead to injury? The truth is, these worries are rooted in myths that have long been debunked. If you’re still unsure, a quick Google search will lead you to reputable sources like the Mayo Clinic or the National Institutes of Health, all of which confirm that strength training is not only safe but also highly beneficial. Early strength training can improve bone density, prevent injuries, and boost overall well-being.
For young athletes, it’s a marathon, not a sprint (though we do work on sprinting!). When a young athlete first comes to me, I always ask the parent or coach what they think we should focus on. I do this out of respect, though it often tells me more about the adult than the athlete. After putting the young athlete through a basic workout, I get all the information I need.
The focus is usually the same: keeping those fast-twitch muscles firing, mastering basic footwork relative to their sport, building foundational strength, improving control, and enhancing balance. We’re essentially preparing their bodies for the future while gradually adding strength.
It’s not difficult to make a young athlete stronger, especially if they haven’t been following a strength routine. Improvements on the field often come quickly—not because of some miracle I perform, but simply because they’re getting stronger. They gain better control over their bodies and can recruit more muscle to do so. The exercises we use are simple yet effective:
Light goblet squats
TRX rows
Light KB swings
Elevated push ups
Lunges
Step ups
Chin ups with bands
Nothing fancy, just fundamental movements that, when done consistently, make you stronger. The focus at this stage is on form and mechanics, not on rapidly increasing strength.
For young athletes, the goal isn’t to pile on the weight quickly. Their bodies aren’t ready to handle heavy loads. Instead, we build up repetitions until they can perform a high number of perfect reps, then we add a small amount of weight. The key is durability—remember, they’re in this for the long haul. The strength will come naturally over time.
As they grow older, we start incorporating heavier loads while continuing to refine their form. I’ve had 15- and 16-year-old tennis players squatting 255 lbs for reps and deadlifting over 315 lbs—not because we’re training powerlifters, but because they’ve been with me for a long time and have gradually, yet consistently, built their strength.
Being very strong is never a disadvantage, no matter what sport you play.
Collegiate Athletes
By the time athletes are preparing for college or Division 1 competition, they’ve usually been training for years. They’ve mastered their sport, competed at high levels, and have a solid idea of where they need to improve. At this stage, we’re focusing on squeezing out every bit of explosiveness and strength, or simply maintaining that high level of performance.
Again, it all comes down to the sport and its specific strength demands. I could design the perfect sports performance program, but if it doesn’t align with the college’s strength and conditioning philosophy, I haven’t done my job. For example, if I only train an athlete with lunges but their college program focuses on front and back squats, they’ll be behind before they even start.
That’s why once an athlete commits to their school, I reach out to get their program and tailor our training to match. There's no point in reinventing the wheel when another coach has their own system in place.
That said, I do prepare athletes for what they’ll likely encounter. They need to be proficient in front and back squats, pressing movements like the barbell or dumbbell bench press, pull-ups, rows, trap bar deadlifts, Romanian deadlifts, overhead press, and of course, prehab work.
It’s not rocket science—just making sure they’re fully prepared for whatever their college throws at them.
Professional Athletes
When it comes to training professional athletes, communication is everything. You have to know exactly what you're preparing for: their competition schedule, how they’re feeling on any given day, what injuries (and sometimes there are many) we’re working through, and what’s worked best for them in the past.
These athletes have been at this for most of their lives, maybe even through a collegiate program, and now they’re making a living from it. So, they know what they need. I’m not here to push my own agenda—some athletes feel like heavy lifting causes injuries, while others thrive on it. Some need more recovery time, while others want to be pushed to the limit every session.
That doesn’t mean I don’t weigh in as a coach. My job is to keep them injury-free, confident, and strong. If they gain confidence from pushing heavy weight, I’ll support that. If a movement doesn’t feel right to them, I won’t force it. For example, I have a pro tennis player who’s tall with long femurs—squats just don’t work for her. But with exercises like Bulgarian split squats, walking lunges, and reverse lunges, she’s still getting strong—and winning.
After we assess the current training schedule, I design a plan that builds strength without disrupting sport-specific work. In the off-season, we go hard. For athletes like tennis players, they might only have a few weeks before heading off to international tournaments.
At the end of the day, we choose exercises that match their sport and goals. We're not talking cardio or explosiveness—just pure strength. With the right weight, reps, and sets, every exercise on that list will get the job done if done right. No more, no less.
What It Boils Down To
Every sport has its own unique demands when it comes to strength training, and it’s my job to tailor routines to meet those needs while minimizing injury risks.
Take chest training, for example. For a football player, the barbell bench press is a no-brainer—it’s a staple in their training, so we’ll focus on building strength with heavy weights and low reps, or mass if that’s the goal. But for a tennis player or boxer, who rely heavily on upper body mobility and control, we’d go with dumbbell presses. Dumbbells allow more natural movement, and we’d keep the weight lighter, focusing on controlled reps and a slow descent. The goal isn’t to bulk up but to improve muscle function and joint stability.
Same basic movement, different approach—because every sport requires its own strategy.
The Exercises
Here’s my go-to list of the best strength exercises from over 30 years of training athletes. It’s not an exhaustive list, but if you focused on just these, you’d be in good shape. The key is knowing what you’re aiming to achieve and making sure these movements are safe and effective for your specific sport. Not every exercise is for everyone—some might need to add a few, others might need to cut some out. It’s all about tailoring your training to fit your unique needs.
For quads and glutes:
Back squat
Front squat
Bulgarian split squat
Walking lunge
Reverse lunge
Skater squat
Single leg squat
For hamstrings:
Deadlift
Trap bar deadlift
Romanian deadlift
Single leg romanian deadlift
Kickstand romanian deadlift
Nordic curl
For chest:
Barbell bench press
Dumbbell bench press
Barbell incline press
Dumbbell incline press
Push ups
Dips
For back:
Pull up
Chin up
TRX row
1 arm row
Incline row
For shoulders:
Standing dumbbell shoulder press (single arm or double)
Seated dumbbell shoulder press (single arm or double)
1 arm half kneel shoulder press
For abdominals:
Ab roller
Weighted straight leg sit up
We don’t do a lot of single muscle work like biceps, triceps, etc., because they are worked quite well when performing the other exercises, but if they are requested for intentional mass gain or some other reason:
Biceps:
Standing dumbbell biceps curl
Zottman curl
Dumbbell incline curl
Dumbbell curl to press (biceps/shoulders)
Triceps:
Skull crush
TRX skull crush
Rope or bar tricep push down
Cable chop
Here’s the deal: this list pretty much covers the core strength training exercises I rely on, and you’ll see most experienced coaches using them too. Sure, there are different variations, but the basics of each move are tried and true. Every sport and athlete has unique needs, so it's crucial to figure out what you’re aiming for before jumping into training. First, master the movement—then focus on building strength.
Proper form and slow, steady progressions are the safest and most effective ways to see real results. The moment you rush or try to push beyond your limits too soon is when you run into trouble. Trust me, by gradually increasing your load and perfecting the technique, you’ll get insanely strong over time.
I teach these movements as skills because it’s not just about picking up weight and moving it. For example, bench pressing is much more than lying down and lifting—it’s about technique. Same with all these exercises. If you’re not doing them right, you’ll face problems. That’s why having a coach to guide you with form and progression is key.
Get strong. Play to win!