Developing Offensive and Defensive Linemen Part 1

Dan Dalrymple, head strength and conditioning coach of the New Orleans Saints, opens a two-part series on developing offensive and defensive linemen by laying the framework: the goals of the program, the principle of specificity, and the objectives that actually make a lineman bigger, faster and stronger. Every component is chosen for the demands of playing in the trenches rather than general weight room work.

What you'll learn

• Identifying and eliminating weaknesses, enhancing performance and managing injuries with functional flexibility
• Developing a championship mental attitude in the weight room
• The idea that speed kills and that linemen train to run to win
• Why strength is the key performance factor and the easiest factor to manipulate
• A conditioning philosophy aimed at increased work capacity
• The four components of a lineman's program: resistance training, power training, speed-agility-quickness training and conditioning
• Three exercise categories: core or focus exercises, assistance and special exercises, and supplemental exercises
• Medicine ball drills including the chest thrust for distance, overhead toss, side toss, slam, and clean and press
• Posterior chain work with Romanian dead lifts, single leg back extensions, slide board leg curls and floor glute ham drills, plus the stability ball as a speed component and the upper body push that builds a punch

Who it's for

Offensive line and defensive line coaches at the high school and college levels, strength and conditioning coaches, and head coaches who run their own off-season program for the front.

About the coach

Dan Dalrymple has been the head strength and conditioning coach of the New Orleans Saints and was named the Samson Equipment NFL Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year.

Part 1 of a two-part series on developing your offensive and defensive linemen. Runtime: about 55 minutes.