Scott Bennett

Introducing Freshman Female Athletes To Strength and Conditioning Programs

I ncoming freshmen athletes, especially women, typically exhibit similar characteristics when strength training for play at the collegiate level. Many high school athletes come from environments that offered very limited or no formal strength training. The lack of basic exercise technique being taught to high school athletes of both sexes places incoming freshmen at a disadvantage when training at the collegiate level. The most obvious weakness in female athletes deals with the lack of hamstring strength relative to the quadriceps. Most female athletes must be taught to master their own body weight on such exercises as the squat and lunge before progressing to an overload. Romanian dead lifts, glute-ham raises, good mornings, etc., can be used inexcess to develop the hamstrings quickly and prepare the lower body to perform core movements, such as squatting and weightlifting. The aforementioned exercises also help stretch out the character i s t i ca l ly tight hamstrings many athletes bring to the weight room.