07 Mar Byrd: Coaching and A little Lifting

Big changes in life, job, and location! I decided to take on a big task, and one that will take some time. Building a high school football program is a difficult task, but rebuilding one that has been on a backwards slide for several years will be even more difficult. I recently accepted the position of a special needs teacher and head football coach at White Oak High School, in Jacksonville NC. It is my former high school, and at one point an established football program. Training is still going on, but a lot more solo work and making things fit around my new schedule.

This week we wrapped up with some maxes in the squat for those students who have been in weight training or consistently coming to after school lifting. All squats were done with no gear, and no belts. Our biggest squat was 435 by a young man who will play in the secondary and in the backfield for us. We had 12 squats over 325lbs, which is a good starting point for us. I have wrote out the next 6 weeks of training for the classes and after school, so it will be interesting to see if we can pick up the intensity levels and add some overall size and strength.

My training has been slow, and weak!

Squats this week went as follows
3×3@405
3×10 hamstring curls
3×8 single leg deadlifts

Bench:
Dumbbell press 3×8
3×25 push downs
3×10 hammer curls
3×10 zotman curls

Trying to fit in a regular bar and rack has killed my pec and shoulder. It sucks and makes it almost impossible to lift, but there is good news! A local gym that has a few lifters at it has just added a monolift and a competition bench. They have a few specialty bars and a squat bar. So of course I went ahead and joined online, and will be going by today to get some training in! Now if I can just find a few spotters I will be back on track.

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Jonathan Byrd

Jonathan Byrd is a competitive powerlifter, with over 16 years of training experience. Byrd has been ranked nationally for the past 6 years under multiple categories. His total has ranked as high as second nationally in the 275 class. He currently has a best total of 2500lbs. Best individual lifts include a 1040lb squat, a 750lb bench press, and 735lb deadlift. His 1040lb squat ranks him 26th all-time squats at the 308 class. Jonathan currently trains out of Team Samson Gym in Jacksonville, FL. Before powerlifting Jonathan was a college athlete at Methodist University as both an all-conference football player and track athlete. Following graduation he played four years of arena football in various leagues.

Latest posts by Jonathan Byrd (see all)

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