When it comes to training athletes, anybody can make an athlete tired and exhausted. What matters is who can get an athlete from point A to point B. Certain athletes leave clues that allow us as coaches to then go and help more athletes. What has been the secret for Roque? Smart work and consistency.
The model that he has used is very duplicatable although most aren't willing to do the work it takes. Looking back over the last 5 years from the time he was a senior in high school to now as a senior in college, a few things remained consistent in his training.
1- He always trained extra on his own in conjunction with team workouts
2- He knew WHAT to train extra on his own
3- He ate and slept to be able to recover from the training workload.
The extra training is the secret that most aren't talking about. Extra can be detrimental to an athlete IF they aren't handling recovery already. How do they handle recovery? simply by sleeping 8+ hours a night and having enough food. 17 calories per pound of body weight is enough for most male athletes to be fueled and 15 calories per pound of body weight for female athletes. Yes it is a lot more complex than that to become optimal, but for people not doing anything with nutrition currently, start there. The food and sleep allowed him to train more frequently and thus progress faster than others.
As a senior in high school, I remember seeing him squatting mid 400s during phase 1 (which we still use with athletes). Now a days, he is closing in on 700lb squats while also jumping a 30 inch vertical at 290lbs. Training MORE is great so long as you know what to be training. For example, doing more curls isn't going to make you a better athlete, but setting a new record on a jump variation will help.
The goal of training does not change for sport or person. The individual must be placed into a program that allows them to develop month to month and year to year WHILE staying healthy. How has Roque gone about doing this? He breaks records 24/7 on every single exercise he does. How is that even possible? Well, we've traveled all over the US to find out how to make that possible.
If in year 1 he squats 400, year 2 he needs to be squatting 450-500. If he is jumping a 24 inch vertical during year 1, he needs to be jumping a 27-30 inch vertical in year 2. You must know what to work on so that you aren't inhibiting the athlete from succeeding. If his squat goes up 100lbs but his vertical jump or sprint doesn't increase (which does happen with improper training) he would be wasting his time. Same can be thought about on a month to month basis, if in july, he does reverse hypers with 200lbs, come August, he needs to be doing at least 205lbs. Add that up month after month for 5 years and all of a sudden the athlete looks up and they went from doing DB bench with 15s for example to 80s. The right system will get an athlete from point A to point B every single time so long as the athlete is willing to do the work that it takes.
If you guys have any questions, feel free to reach out to us on instagram at maprovethemwrong or via email at maperformance18@gmail.com. Please please use and apply this information. Your career and in sport performance will thank you when you look back.