Letter from the Publisher

Every morning as I take my first glance in the mirror, I cOme face to face with the man who is rapidly (and to my amazement) starting to look like my father. And, as if I needed any further evidence that I am getting old, every half-hour I hear myself saying something to one of my four children that years ago I swore I would never say. ("There are starving children somewhere who would love those green beans ...," or, "Not everyone can be pretty, but everyone can be polite...").

I ruminate about this getting old malady because I never wanted to write a letter focusing on "the good old days," and now I am doing just that. But I could not do justice to the new world of strength training without a glance in the rearview mirror to an era that is gone forever.

Back in my day, getting ready for the season consisted of the quarterback getting together with some of his receivers and throwing during the summer. Some extremely dedicated players would jog a few miles a day while others might run sprints in the afternoon after their summer jobs. Of course, there was weight training, but it consisted primarily of a select few of the super-dedicated "muscle-heads" going to the 10-by-10-foot makeshift weight room and cranking up Lynyrd Skynyrd on the eight-track. As any of us over 40 knows, getting ready for the upcoming season really meant going to the first day of fall practice, working your butt off and "playing yourself into shape."

Needless to say it is not that way anymore. Strength training in the year 2001 is a year around pursuit. From off-season workouts to improve strength, speed, flexibility, stamina and virtually every other measurable short of genetic sequencing, to in-season conditioning and post-season preparation, strength training is at the core of every program. Its importance cannot be overstated. Therefore, we are dedicating this entire edition to the subject of strength and conditioning. In this issue, we take a look at the godfather of the subject, legendary Boyd Eply of Nebraska, talk to strength coaches about what coaches should (and often don't) know about weight training, talk to experts about the latest weight room do's and don'ts, ask nutritionists to explain what fuel athletes need, and have coaches explain how they find time to work strength training into their busy pre-season schedules.

Just as we did last May in our special issue on technology, we hope to examine the topic, spur discussion and make this an annual edition of American Football Monthly.

I hope you enjoy this look at one of the most, if not the most, crucial area of your program.

Sincerely,

Barry Terranova