7 Ways to Develop a Running Back

7 Ways To Develop A Running Back

While at Garage Strength, I have been around many elite athletes. Two athletes I have helped are Brandon George and Nicholas Singleton. As of right now, Nicholas has 1,072 yards on 119 carries with 13 touchdowns. He is a freshman at Governor Mifflin leading berks county in rushing yards and second in touchdowns. Brandon George is a senior at Berks Catholic and will be attending Pittsburgh University next year on a 100% scholarship. With that being said, I don’t need to state his stats to show he is a monster. Most likely Nicholas will be joining Brandon at the Division 1 level, but the real question is, how did they both get to this point? How did these two athletes seperate themselves so much to be called “Men among Boys.” Let’s break this down.

1 ) Dedication

Both Brandon and Nicholas started training at Garage Strength when they were in 6th grade. Brandon has been training with Garage Strength for over 6 years now as a senior, Nicholas has trained with us for almost 3 years now and is a freshman. Just keep that in mind, 3-6 years of pure dedication. When people say “they are freaks” and that they are “men among boys”, they earned the right to be this good. It was not god given, they busted their asses to get to where they are.

2) Consistency

You don’t just train 3-6 years once a week and get good. No, no, no, you train 3-6 days per week for 3-6 years including during the season to become great. That is exactly what they have done, minimum of 3 days of training per week. The consistent effort here translates to the consistent effort on the field, practices, and in the classroom as well.

3) Toughness

To play running back at any level, is not any easy task. It takes all of the traits above and a tough person to be successful. The toughness starts in the weightroom, crushing weights and pushing their physical limits then translate into a running back that just doesn’t want to go down.

4) Olympic Weightlifting

Snatch and cleans are easily the most important, lifts for running backs. Snatches help shoulder strength, stability, and mobility in uncomfortable positions. Cleans not only help increase leg strength, but also core and back strength. All olympic lifts help with explosiveness off the line and running through people, speed and agility by getting in and out of cuts faster, and maybe the most important balance to be able to keep your center of gravity low and stable through any situation. Being strong in the snatch and clean not only help with running the ball, but maybe a more important aspect as a running back of BLOCKING! Having a low center of gravity and exploding into someone rushing your quarterback.

5) Single Leg Squats

Single leg squats are a close second when it comes to the strength movements and the transfer directly to the field. Single leg squats are imperative for hamstring development, paired with a hamstring exercise… fast as f***. Single leg squat isolate the quad and hamstring along with you having to focus and keep your balance just like running the ball on the field.

6) Plyometrics/Hill Sprints

Plyos are an important factor of training for explosiveness, speed, and incorporating football movements into your strength training. Typically at Garage Strength we include plyos throughout an athletes workout, or we will have strict strength days and then 1 day we call an athlete day where it is more plyometrics and core work. Hill sprints are the only sprints we recommend to any football player. Hill sprints teach high knee drive, exploding throughout the entire sprint to maintain speed, and forward lean while running. All key ingredients to a beast running back.

7) Nutrition/Supplementation

Last, but definitely not least, nutrition and supplementation. Wait, these kids are freaks, they can eat pizza all the time and recover fine without taking care of their body. WRONG, these kids must eat properly and take the right supplements to recover properly and get stronger so they can become faster and bigger and dominate on the football field. Brandon would listen to what we told him to eat and to take the cleanest supplements his body could take (Earth Fed Muscle). With Nicholas, he has a meal plan that he faithfully follows and takes Earth Fed Muscle every single day to ensure he is at his best.

To be a champion, follow these steps and Cultivate Your Power with Garage Strength.