June 10, 2005
Q&A With Strength and Conditioning Coach Andy Zucker
Written by: Kevin Shields
Andy Zucker has been in charge of the Monarch's strength and conditioning program for the past 16 years. He was the first-ever strength coach hired by the university when he arrived in 1989 and has built up very respectable program in that time. He is in charge of workouts for all the varsity sports on campus and has been a big key to the success of the Monarch basketball teams. In his time as strength coach for the two teams, the Monarchs have won 20 league titles and been to the NCAA tournament 25 times.
What kinds of duties does a strength and conditioning coach have?"The duties of a strength and conditioning coach are vast. We are both a coach and an educator. Some of the things we do on a daily basis are to design and implement strength programs, conditioning programs, agility programs, flexibility programs, core training programs, and to advise our athletes on nutrition. The management of the facilities is another one of our duties. Weight room management is huge. When you have X amount of athletes in your facility, your ability to manage that large group which can be anywhere from 20 to 30 athletes at once will determine a lot of the success of the program. The bottom line is though that we motivate athletes to success in all areas of their college experience along with helping them train for their athletic endeavors. That means taking a sincere interest in their educational pursuits as well and motivating them to have success on both the athletic fields and in the classroom."
How many years have you been a strength coach and what all have you done in that time?"I arrived here at the university in August of 1989 and I was the first strength coach that the university had hired. Prior to my arrival there was no strength program...so we basically had to build everything up from scratch. We were in the H & PE building when I first arrived and I believe in 1992 we moved here to our present facility. The exciting news is though that we are planning and developing a floor plan for the new facility, which hopefully will be completed around this time next year. We're really excited about that and the facility will be a little over three times the size of our present facility that we have here in the Athletic Administration Building. Prior to coming here I spent 3 years at the University of Mississippi with 2 years as a graduate assistant and one as a full time assistant. Then the summer before that I had an internship at the University of Maryland after I got my undergraduate at Slippery Rock University. So all total I believe I'm heading into my 20th year as being a collegiate strength and conditioning coach."
The University of Nebraska's program is known year in and year out as being one of the best in the country. What sets those kinds of programs apart from the rest?"Well obviously your big name football programs have a reputation of having a very good strength and conditioning programs, but likewise there are plenty of good non-football schools that have very good strength and conditioning programs. The University of Nebraska really has a name in strength and conditioning because they were one of the first to really publicize and really talk about their strength program in association to the success with their football program. That's really what set them apart from others with reputation, but there are plenty of good programs out there that can rival theirs including the one we have here."
How do you feel the program here at ODU rates to programs like that?"Our strength and conditioning program here at Old Dominion can compete with the best in the country I believe. I feel it is one of the best around. One of our strong points is that we spend a lot of time with all of our teams here at the university. They all have equal access to the facilities, they're taught, there is time spent with them, and they go through good comprehensive programs. You don't get that everywhere and that's a big strong point of ours compared to other programs out there. Each team follows a specific workout that we've tailored for them and I think that's another thing that sets us apart from those programs."
What are the most important strength aspects you focus on in your basketball training?"For basketball and for the majority of our sports here at the university the primary emphasis of our training programs is to develop strong legs and core. We spend time on the upper body and that's important, but the success of a lot of our sports here is having strong legs and a strong core. Those are very important especially in a sport like basketball where body position is very strong. You'd be surprised how strong you need your legs to be to be a successful athlete. We don't really have one particular philosophy in regards to our training...we use free weights, Olympic weight training, conventional weight training, and machines."
What is the major difference in training for football as opposed to training for basketball?"When you train for football you're training more for a pure power and strength. In basketball strength is important, but what I'm looking for is more strength endurance."
How does the basketball training differ in-season compared to the off-season workouts?"In the off-season we lift 4 days a week...for example right now we're lifting 4 days a week, but then during the season we'll start out lifting 3 days a week before going to 2 days a week. Scheduling the workouts is a lot different especially when the athletes are coming to lift after practice, but our primary focus is on maintaining body strength. The athletes who don't play as much might train a little bit more intensely, but our main goal there is to maintain our overall strength with an emphasis on core and legs. We'll do 3 days a week before we get into our main swing of games, but the main difference is they're lifting after practice as opposed to coming in and warming up for 7 to 10 minutes in the off-season before doing a good strength training workout. It's important though to lift during the season. That is when you need to be your strongest. I mean you can lift the whole weight room in July, but if you don't do anything in January, February, and March to maintain that strength it is harder to keep going."
With there being a lot of attention focused on steroid use in sports, what kinds of measures does your program take to prevent steroid use here at ODU?"In regards to nutritional supplements we try to educate our athletes on what to take and what not to take. Then every year I go over the dangers of anabolic steroids and stress proper nutrition to them. I share a list with them of supplements that are permissible to take and which ones aren't under NCAA regulations."
Are there any supplements or products that strength and conditioning coaches would encourage athletes to take?"We advise the athletes on what supplements or products they can take and according to NCAA rules."Do you place any sort of boundaries on what the athletes do when they train?"Oh of course we do. Every year right at the beginning of the academic year in the fall we have team orientations with all of our varsity sports. At those times, we go over the rules and regulations of the facility, which are posted on the board when they walk into the weight room everyday. We also go over and strictly enforce a code of conduct that I expect the athletes to use when they come in here and hold them totally accountable to that. Each team though is on a specific training program and all of our programs are supplied with a computerized program or workout training manual. Each individual athlete follows a certain workout schedule. The athletes are free to use the facilities though for extra work when we have open workout hours."
Looking at the future, are there any kinds of advancements that the world of strength and conditioning can make to improve the way athletes train?"Yes and no. Obviously equipment is going to be constantly improving with modern day technology, but you can never reinvent the wheel in strength training. Your ultimate goal is to provide an overload to the muscle and that muscle has to overcome or adapt to that overload and that adaptation allows you to become stronger. That's the bottom line. Nothing replaces hard work and dedication."
What can ODU do to make things better in the future and continue to run a good program?"Well, I'd just like to say that I'm blessed with the support I get from coaches and the administration. The amount of support we get here in strength training is absolutely phenomenal and that is really the key to having a successful program. The support we get from the administration and sports coaches is second to none and I can't get any better than the situation I'm in. I'm blessed with the situation I have and I'm happy to be here at Old Dominion University."