Sports specific: WHS coaches, athletes learn a new way to train

JEREMIAH BARTZ/ Frontiersman sports editor

WASILLA - Dan Bunz leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms out wide, showing the two Super Bowl rings that adorned a finger on each hand.

Bunz spent his day Friday touting an exercise regiment that he used as an athlete, and is now teaching, alongside his partner Steve Kenyon, to young athletes. As he and Kenyon spoke to a crowded room of Wasilla High School coaches, the massive pieces of jewelry he earned as a member of the San Francisco 49ers during his days as a professional football player in the National Football League appeared to be glistening bits of evidence that showed he and Kenyon's Sports Specific Training program does have merit.

Bunz, a college coach of WHS head football coach Jim Shetter, made the trip to Wasilla with Kenyon to share what they have learned in nearly two decades of work with athletes and exercise. Shetter, who accepted the head coaching position of the Warriors football program earlier in the offseason, sees an emphasis on the offseason training regiment of his players as a priority. He saw the SST program as something that could benefit his athletes on the WHS football squad. But from the perspective of an assistant wrestling and track coach, he wanted to find a program that would benefit more than just the football players at WHS.

While he was a member of the Service football coaching staff, Shetter invited Bunz and Kenyon to SHS, and saw the opportunity to do the same thing at Wasilla. With the help of principal Dwight Probasco, Shetter organized a pair of training seminars for the WHS coaches and athletes. On Friday morning, Bunz and Kenyon addressed 90 WHS athletes. That afternoon they met with coaches representing nearly every Warrior athletic program, and the school's physical education department.

Shetter has already implemented SST's techniques - a routine that involves the generation of speed, repetition and intensity - into his daily workouts. Considering many of his football players also competing in other WHS sports such as wrestling, track or basketball, Shetter thought it was imperative to find a workout routine that can benefit athletes 12 months a year. The first-year coach was extremely pleased with the reception SST got at WHS noting that the turnout of students at Wasilla more than doubled the 30-40 athletes who attended the SST training sessions at Service. The breakdown was about 50-50 between boys and girls, Shetter said.

The Warrior athletes had the opportunity to give the SST exercises a try, and coaches were shown the proper way to teach the exercises. SST preaches athletic movement with a dynamic range of motion. The program does not necessary replace many of the weightlifting exercises that are traditionally the basis for the average prep football workout. But it goes beyond the Olympic lifts - clean, squat and bench press - and utilizes much more speed development and lateral speed and agility drills.

Kenyon said their focus is the athlete, but it is a workout that is beneficial to anyone from 8 years old to 80.

&#8220Even the mother who is picking up her baby,” Kenyon said.

Kenyon has been fine-tuning his regiment for 20 years, creating a set of exercises that boast versatility and variability. All of the specific exercises he includes in his system are vary simple, and mimic natural athletic movements. There are box jumps, push ups and pull ups. There are standing broad jumps, and sprints. And the systems can be changed to coincide with specific sports.

&#8220You train like you work,” Kenyon said.

While Kenyon was speaking to the coaches, he had a group of his &#8220tools of the trade” sitting on the floor next to him. There was a power ball - a small ball that ranges from two to 18 pounds; a dynamic ball - a ball that ranges from eight to 120 pounds; a kettle bells - a cast iron weight that ranges from four to 40 kilograms; a set of dumb bells and an elastic strap used for pull ups.

&#8220This right here is an entire workout gym,” Kenyon said. &#8220The Olympic lifts, there's a lot to learn. It's hard to teach. Everybody can do this stuff tomorrow.”

One coach demonstrated the use of the power and dynamic balls. Just one exercises has the athlete starting at a standing position, slamming the ball to the ground, bending down to a squat position, catching the ball, standing up and doing it all over again.

Kenyon and Bunz have different models for their regiments. Exercises can be done in sets like 21, 15, 9 or 21, 18, 15, 12, 9. There is a 20 minute progression where athletes do one repetition this first minute, two the second minute, three the third minute and so on. By the 15th minute, athletes should be up to 15 reps. This could be a ball slam, push up, pull up or box jump.

One model, the xiong, has 10 different exercises with a certain amount of reps attached to each exercises. There could be 30 pull ups, 40 box jumps and 100 sit ups. That's just part of the exercises, and all has to be done in a certain time frame.

Kenyon said these exercises also allow athletes to workout in other places than just the weight room.

&#8220The facilities here at WHS are great, but you don't need a multi million dollar weight room to implement this program,” Kenyon said.