THE BFS READINESS PROGRAMThe BFS Readiness Program is designed for those not yet ready to engage in the heavy weight trainingutilized by more mature athletes. After a person goes through the BFS Readiness Program, he or she wilthen graduate to the BFS Set-Rep System. This booklet will teach you where to start, how to do the exer-cises, how to progress, how to coordinate other athletic activities into a total program and finally, how tcgraduate.Strict supervision is a must along with the teaching of proper technique to make the BFS ReadinessProgram work. The BFS Readiness Program has been endorsed and approved by medical doctors, ortho-pedic specialists and many professional organizations.

WHO SHOULD USE THE READINESS PROGRAM?Junior High Boys and Girls

Students in the 7th grade may begin this program. We realize some orthopedic surgeons may say this istoo early to start any kind of weight training because their bones have not completely hardened. However,after careful study, thought and observation of young athletes who do weight train, we feel the benefitsfar outweigh any possible risks.We are in the business of helping athletes and people reach their potential. Without weight training thisis virtually impossible. A study on 7th graders concluded that no interference of bone growth resultedfrom weight training. Dr. Mel Hayashi, a noted orthopedic surgeon, stated, "The BFS Readiness Programshould provide great benefits to junior high athletes. I have no concerns as long as the athletes have goodtechnique." Dr. Hayashi has been a chief orthopedic surgeon at past Olympic Games and chief resident atthe Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.Many strength coaches of major universities throughout the nation were asked when an athlete shouldstart weight training. The vast majority responded, "In Junior High."Weight training is also one of the greatest ways to build self confidence and self esteem. A 7th grader canreceive just as much satisfaction going from 85 pounds to 100 pounds on his bench as can a 12th gradergoing from 285 to 300 pounds.

High School Female AthletesSome young women go into the weight room and lift right with the young men. They are not afraid orintimidated. Even though they use less weight, they match the men set for set and rep for rep. However,many younger high school women may be better served by starting with the BFS Readiness Program.

High School Male AthletesIf an athlete cannot squat to parallel 145 pounds for 10 reps with perfect form, then we advise those maleathletes to start with the BFS Readiness Program. At the beginning of the school year, this may mean asmany as 50% of the ninth graders, 10-20% of tenth graders and 5% of the upper classmen.

OthersInjured athletes may find the Readiness Program of great benefit during rehabilitation. Also, many par-ents would find the BFS Readiness Program a great way to get started on a free weight program with theadded benefit of progressing on the same program with their son or daughter.

THE FOUR WORKOUT SEGMENTSThe BFS Readiness Program is broken up into four workout segments. These segments are: 1) TheWarm-Up, 2) Stretching, 3) The Core Lifts and 4) Thp Auxiliary Exercise n^h ^Smsnt Pi*ya ~ ==tial role in the Readiness program. Do not skip any of the segments!

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THE WARM UPIt is extremely important to warm-up your muscles before youstretch or work out. The BFS Dot Drill is the ultimate warm-upbecause it not only warms-up your muscles but it also increases youragility. The Dot Drill will be hard at first. It is tiring and you mayappear clumsy. However if you will do it six times a week, in a veryshort time, improvement will come rapidly. You can have quick feetin a month or two.Each athlete should set two goals. The first goal is to do the DotDrill 6 times per week and the second goal should be to increasespeed. To gain further insight on how to get great at this warm-up,you may want to get our BFS Dot Drill Video.To do the Dot Drill, five dots need to be placed on the floor. It worksbest if 5" round dots are painted on the floor. Some coaches paintmany stations for larger groups. An athlete at home can use anythingapproved by his parents to mark his dots (i.e. masking tape). BFSsells a Dot Drill Pad that has a great non-slip surface with integrateddots.The Dot Drill is made up of five different drills, each drill is done atotal of six times.

1. Up and BackA. Start at one end with feet on A and B.B. Now jump quickly to C; with both feet then to D and E.D. Now come back the same way.D. Repeat 5 more times.

2. Right FootA. Your feet from up-and-back should be on dots A and B.B. Now go to dot C with your right foot.C.Now go in order: Dot D,E,C,A,B.D. Repeat 5 more times.

3. Left FootA. You will end the right foot drill on Dot B.B. Now go to dot C with your left foot. 3ftC. Now go in order: Dot D, E, C, A, B.D. Repeat 5 more times.

1. Both FeetA. You will end the left foot drill on Dot B.B. Now go to C with both feet.C.Now go in order with both feet: Dot D,E,C,A,B.D. Repeat 5 more times.

5. Turn AroundA. You will end the Both Feet Drill with both feet on Dot B. NowB.Now split feet to dots D and E as in the Up and Back Drill.C. Now quickly jump and turn 180 to the right and face the other way. You should still be on D and E.D. Hit C with both feet and then A and B with feet split.E. Now turn quickly again with a 180 spin to the left with your feet still on A and B.F. Repeat 5 more times.

DOT DRILL DIAGRAM

go to C with both feet.

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STRETCHINGThe BFS 1-2-3-4 Flexibility Program is the ideal way to get a thorough stretch on every muscle groupThe whole program can be done in 10 minutes or less. It has proven to be the most effective routine for allathletes in all sports at any age level.Each exercise should be held either once for 30 seconds or for 3 repetitions of 10 seconds each. Thestretch should not be done with a bounce but worked in a slow and controlled manner. Stretch every da>and work with intensity. The 1-2-3-4 stands for One Minute on the Bench, Two Minutes in the Air,Three Minutes on the Wall and Four Minutes on the Floor.

ONE ON THE BENCH

Hamstring and Back StretchKeep leg locked at knee and toes verticalpulling back towards the chest. An extrastretch can be felt if you look straightahead and spread the chest. Look forward.Switch to the other leg after 30 seconds.

TWO IN THE AIR

Latissimus StretchCross your hands and raise yourarms a&ove your Head and as tarback as possible.

Pectoral StretchCross your hands behind yourback, raise your arms up and backas far as possible. Stand tall.

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THREE ON THE WALL

Keep feet flat on the groundwith hands on the wall and movehips forward. Back foot shouldbe straight, look forward. Pressdown on back heel.

Achilles StretchSame as the Calf Stretch but slightlybend knee. Keep the back heel 1"off the ground and squat down toincrease the load on the Achilles ten-don. Switch after 30 seconds.

Quadriceps StretchWith one hand on the wall ,grab foot and p u l l legstraight up and away frombuttocks. Knee should be ata 90 angle.

FOUR MINUTES ON THE FLOOR

Abdominal StretchLay flat on the floor, put hands on the floorshoulder width apart, extend elbows creatingand arch in the back. Relax.

Adductor StretchWith feet as far apart aspossible, grab ankles or feet and pull the torso slow-ly toward the floor. If you can't reach your toes thenplace two fists on the floor behind you and pushforward.

Gluteus Maximus StretchTwist torso with opposite arm.Press knftA firmly with arm.forcing the knee to the otherside of the lower leg thenswitch after 30 seconds.

Groin StretchSit wi th bottom of feettnge.thftr. grah fet or ankles.pull in and press down withelbows on the thighs towardthe floor.

Hip Flexor StretchPlace front foot two feet in front ofknee, pla hands on knss and >?=

hips forward and down. Spread thechest - eyes straight ahead. Make suthe front lower leg is perpendicular.

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THE BFS CORE LIFTSThe BFS Core Lifts are designed specifically for the athlete. We are not body building or competitivilifting; these are entirely different kinds of games played in the weight room. Our goals are to get stronger, run faster, jump higher and farther, increase flexibility, endurance and agility, be less injury proneand finally, to WIN! Every athlete, regardless of sport or gender, should do the Core Lifts to achieve theiathletic potential. The Readiness Program has six core lifts which are listed in the box below.

THE CORE LIFTSParallel Squat Box SquatBench Press Towel Bench PressHex Bar Deadlift Power Clean

LIFTING STANCESEach Core Lift, or any athletic movement, utilized one of two stances. We call these stances the "JunifStance" and the "Athletic Stance".The Jump Stance is the narrow stance that you would naturally get into to jump. We use the jump stanceprimarily when we lift the bar from the floor such as with the Power Clean, Snatch, Hex Bar DeadliftStraight Leg Deadlift, etc. The jump stance is also used whenever lifting the bar off of the rack.The Athletic Stance is the same stance a short stop gets into anticipating the hit, a volleyball or tennisplayer uses anticipating the serve, a linebacker in football uses waiting for the snap, a basketball playeruses on defense, etc.With the athletic stance, the toes may be pointed out very slightly for balance. Spread the chest and keepthe buttocks back. Most importantly, the lower back should be locked in as far as possible. This posi-tion is critically important in nearly all sports and in every lift. A bad position of the lower back (roundedback) results in tremendous weakness and a much greater chance of injury.

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Athletic Stance Jump Stance

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THE PARALLEL SQUATThe Parallel Squat is the foundation for athletic excellence. An athlete must go all the way to parallel tcoptimally develop leg and hip strength for speed and power. Parallel Squats are necessary in balancingstrength development between the Hamstrings and Quadriceps.

Be tall

Upper thigh must goparallel to the ground

Lock in thelower back

Keep the kneesover the toes

Use an Athletic Stance

SPOTTING THE SQUAT AND VARIATIONSWith the Parallel Squat, Box Squat or any Squat variation, you wil l need three spotters. The back spot-ter should keep their hands firmly on the bar at all times. The back spotter is the lead spotter and shouldwatch the lifters back for correct technique. The side spotters should be watching for correct depth. Theside spotters do not put their hands on the bar or plates unless the back spotter requests help in the eventthe lifter cannot complete the lift on his/her own. All spotters should be enthusiastically encouraging thelifter throughout the lift.

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THE BOX SQUATThe Box Squat is a variation of theParallel Squat. It develops hip andleg strength. Choose a box that isabout two inches above parallel.Taller athletes may need to start outwith a box higher than two inchesabove parallel.Never plop down on the box. Squatdown in a slow and controlled man-ner until you are sitting on the box.Now, to help gain momentum for thesquat back up, you can rock back-ward about two inches and then onthe rock forward squat back up.

Eyes on target

Spread the chest

Keep the kneesover the toes

Use an Athletic Stance

Be tall

JUDGING TECHNIQUE FOR THE PARALLEL SQUAT & BOX SQUATNever allow If an athlete allows his/her knees to come in or the back to roundthe back to ^fin k. out wn''e lifting, the repetition is not counted.round ^fl^ |^f Additionally, for the Parallel Squat, if the athlete fails to go all

the way to parallel, the repetition is not counted. On the BoxSquat, the repetition is not counted if the athlete plops down onthe box.If one of these problems occur more than three times in one set,the set should be terminated and the weight put back. You shouldthen talk about what was wrong and the set should be attemptedagain. If the second attempt is bad as well, the athlete is notready for that weight and should go back down to the weightused during the previous week.

Be tall,spread thechest

The kneesshould nevergo in

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THE BENCH PRESSThe Bench Press is the most impor-tant upper body exercise for mostsports. It develops overall power inthe chest and arms.

Spread the chest

Arch the lower back

Eyes on target(focus on a spoton the ceiling)

Feet should be shoulder width,flat on the floor and backunder the knees

Always keep handsclose to the bar

SPOTTING THE BENCH AND VARIATIONSWith the Bench, Towel Benchor any Bench variation, you willneed a spotter. The spotter shouldwatch the lifter for correct tech-nique and should encourage thelifter throughout the lift.The spotter may assist the lifterin unpacking the bar but shouldremove his/her hands from thebar before the lift begins. Thespotter should not touch the barafter the lift begins but shouldkeep his/her hands near the barat all times ready to assist if thelifter needs help. Once the spot-ter touches the bar, the lift is ter-minated.The spotter should also assist thelifter in racking the bar once theset is completed.

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THE TOWEL BENCHThe Towel Bench utilizes thesame technique as the regularBench but instead of bringingthe bar all the way down to thechest, the athlete takes it downto either rolled up towels or apad. The pad may be held onthe chest by someone or may betucked under the shirt.

Before you start downwith the bar, take a deepbreath and hold it

Let the bar come all theway down and bouncewith control off the pad.

When the bar is halfway back up, exhale

JUDGING TECHNIQUE FOB THE BENCH AND TOWEL BENCHThe repetition doesn't count if: The athlete allows one side of the bar to be five inches or more highe:than the other, the athlete's feet come off the floor, the athlete's buttocks come off the bench or the athleteexcessively moves around his/her body or head.If one of these problems occur more than three times in one set, the set should be terminated and thtweight put back. You should then talk about what was wrong and the set should be attempted again. IIthe second attempt is bad as well, the athlete is not ready for that weight and should go back down to tluweight used during the previous week.

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THE HEX BARThe Hex Bar Dcadlift is halfway between a Deadlift and a Squat. It develops the lower back, trunk, hips, gluteshamstrings and quadriceps. When you combine shrugs, the trapezius area is also strengthened. This is considered