Over the last 4 years (2013-2017), the first generation of the Cardinal Gibbons STRENGTH program has grown into a Strength of America award-winning high school program. This has been a team effort especially from Coach Steven Wright (Head Football Coach), many sport coaches like Coach Daniels (Sprints Coach), Coach Alex Buckley (Men’s Lacrosse Coach), Coach Alexander (Women’s Lacrosse Coach), and administrative staff like Jason Curtis (Principal) and Todd Schuler (Athletic Director) and many more staff including Mark Cashin (music teacher) and Darsey Williams (media teacher) among others who frequent our strength & conditioning facility at school.  Everyone who commits to the program has become accustomed to using the power technology tool called “TeamBuildr” to win the workout and reach their personal goals.

In this modern age of technology how can a strength coach design & manage programs, to monitor athletes and groups?

I believe I’ve found the answer through my partnership with TeamBuildr…read on to learn more…

TeamBuildr (founded by Hewitt Tomlin and James Peters) is the longest running partnership over the last two years. TeamBuildr is the ideal application for organizing and delivering custom strength and conditioning programs and gaining popularity among coaches and trainers at all levels because of its INTUITIVE LAYOUT, MOBILE CAPABILITY, and EXCELLENT SERVICE.  These guys have learned the secret of how to integrate the coach’s mind with the complexity of building software.  We have used this application for sports teams, strength and conditioning classes, and our staff fitness program in a very similar way Hudl is used for videos.  Someday my plan to put these two tools together at our school so athletes don’t have to manage two accounts (I hope someone from Hudl is reading this…)

My discovery of this application for strength coaches began about 6 years ago through advising some professionals seeking to build an app for coaches to plan, design, and monitor their strength and conditioning programs. I invested many hours communicating with computer engineers about what a coach needs in a software program. This process grew my knowledge deeper in how to bridge the gap between coaching personalities and computer programmers, to build an application that serves the strength coach well.  It also cost about $40,000 to go through this process so I guess you can say I have that much value to the reader.

Picture 1: Training the girls tennis program using TeamBuildr

I started using TeamBuildr 3 years ago and it has saved my meso-cycles to piece together the annual plan.  In addition, I use two flat screen TV’s to post these programs for groups (Picture 2). On the wall I have a simple percentage chart for them to figure intensities on exercises (Picture 3). At the end of class or a group training session I have students use their Smartphone to plug in the loads for the workout. Once they get used to the process it takes only a few minutes! For my health and physical education classes, my students to fill out their Teambuildr account to receive 25% of their grade. This helps with accountability and monitoring the their awareness of increasing or decreasing intensities for the exercises.

Picture 2: Using the two monitors on the wall to post the workouts

Picture 3: Percentage Chart

The application helps set approximate maxes to get them into the program quicker. I tell them that the more information they enter, the better I can monitor their progress. I showed a student the monitoring data, who was not being diligent in filling out his account, compared to a student who had been diligent and the progress over time is visual. Picture 4: Student progress report on TeamBuildr

My high school students make tremendous progress using this application. TeamBuildr allows the coach to send programs to students wherever they are during summer or other school breaks.  This is actually how the app began and is still the goal of the business to help coaches deliver programs while athletes are away.

These are just some of the reasons I’m excited to partner with TeamBuildr this year.  I desire to see this technology more accessible to coaches in North Carolina and beyond who want to build an excellent program for success.

There are only 13 schools and clubs using this tool in North Carolina and I’d like to be your coaching contact to answer questions.

If you’re a new coach or a young professional I’d recommend you get this technology tool going to create sustainable success in the future!  It will be the best investment you make in your program.

Chris Morland, MS, CSCS
Director of Strength & Conditioning/Teacher
Cardinal Gibbons High School

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Chris Morland, MS, CSCS

MorlandSTRENGTH CEO

Educator and Coach | Visionary in High School Strength and Conditioning
Director of Strength and Conditioning at Cardinal Gibbons High School | Teacher

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