ATG USA School System

A foundational strength system for schools

INTRO

My school strength system is all USA-made or in process USA-made.

Since 2000, over 5 million manufacturing jobs have been shipped away in order to make more money at the top, and lately I can’t shake the sense that we now feel some long-term effects from that.

So from my shoes to clothes to equipment, I’ve got money in USA factories right now.

More importantly, through my experiences plus answering your questions, I can become a helpful resource for those of you wanting to make or switch to USA-made.

I answer lots of people on social media every week. Through ATG you can guarantee reaching me because we answer everyone. Messages specifically for me are sent to me.

To be clear, I’m 34, I’ve made plenty of mistakes, and I don’t know how well my USA-made businesses will do in the long run, but I’m going to share my experiences and remain easy to reach as I go.

For the 20% of you reading this who aren’t in the USA, I want you to know that I’m not against things being produced elsewhere.

I simply want to contribute to a good balance, and it’s become clear to me that America has swung too far into imbalance.

SCHEDULE

I’ve been coaching kids on and off for almost 20 years.

My conclusion is to give them plenty of time outside, use a wide variety of sports, and finish each day with just ONE exercise, taught as a scalable skill they can use for the rest of their lives.

BUDDY SLED

The main problem with turning my ATG system into a school system is the SLED.

My original gym built up around lots of sled turf, with at least 3 sleds available at all times.

Sleds allowed me to give all my gym members a vigorous yet safe and therapeutic workout, in a short time and with no prior workout experience needed since it’s such a natural human effort.

But sleds are heavy metal, and use weights on top.

This makes the sled unrealistic for schools, where you have lots of students and not a lot of resources.

I was stumped.

But I knew that I had to keep energy on some sort of solution.

The first breakthrough hit me one day: the STUDENTS can be the weights.

I immediately tested this with my own kids, and sure enough, they gravitated right to it!

But there still remained the matter of what kind of material could work smoothly, and stay durable - yet work on both field and court!

I remembered that in college, I used the “Magic Carpet Sled” by the legendary Spud, a manufacturer in South Carolina.

I took it with me to a commercial gym, loaded weight plates on it, and did backward sledding in the group class area when it was empty.

This helped me improve my knees during basketball season.

Fast-forward to today, and Spud now has a Buddy Sled prototype on the way to me.

It’s slightly longer, and with handles on each side, so the students can be the weight!

Since we don’t have to ship from across the ocean, I’m sure we can have a first edition ready for sale in just a few weeks.

RING ROWS, PULL-UPS & FACE PULLS

Once again, from my kids to my parents, everyone in the family loves rings!

For starters, my kids mostly just swing around. That’s a great workout in itself. I’m pretty sure my 5-year-old can hang with one arm as long as I can! Mere hanging is already great for the grip and back.

From the high school students to the oldest faculty, everyone I coach at the school has been able to win with the ring row!

Simply walk back to make it easier, or walk forward to make it harder.

And even the strongest rower on Earth could get a great workout by starting the process over again with just one arm!

Get good enough at the row, and the pull-up isn’t too hard to work on.

I keep the pull-up a fun thing for kids, encouraging them to jump with their legs as they begin to feel the tension in the upper body.

Then begin working to slow down your descent.

Get strong enough at slowing your body down, and you can reverse the motion and pull yourself back up.

For most people, ring row and pull-up is a great foundation.

For those specifically in throwing sports, which have the most shoulder surgeries, my best advice is to get as strong as you safely can in reverse of throwing.

Like the ring row, the ring face pull is smoothly scalable by how far you stand back. Since it’s so scalable and adds extra ability to commonly weak modern areas, I’m a fan of this for non-throwers, too.

P-BAR L-SITS & PUSH-UPS

I love the accessibility, scalability, and results of L-sits and full push-ups.

With the L-sit you’ve got two simple factors to get rolling: legs on or off the ground, and whether they’re bent or straight.

So in order of difficulty you have:

One leg off ground, legs bent.

Two legs off ground, legs bent.

Two legs off ground, one leg straight.

Two legs off ground, legs straight.

And with the push-up, you can start on your knees and get used to training your strength through your full range of motion.

Then get used to your full weight on the way down.

Get strong enough at that, and you can push back up.

HAM ROLLERS

High school and college sports are among the most common places for knee surgeries.

I wish it weren’t so, but it’s true. I lived it.

Unfortunately, those who need extra knee ability most, usually have the least access.

A hamstring roller is accessible, durable, and scalable, allowing hamstring training which can help with extra knee stability.

Progress from two legs, to two-legs-up-one-leg-down, to one leg.

SLANT SQUATS, CALF RAISES & STEP UPS

A slant is my personal favorite piece of equipment because of how easily it helps make well-protected knees.

Just by standing on it, you turn a squat into a major knee strengthener.

And unless your students are allowed to sit and squat on the floor during class, they’ve likely lost some natural mobility.

I simply let my students elevate the heels to whatever level feels good for them.

The other skill to know here is counterbalance.

Reaching in front makes it easier to sink lower.

So progression is both in load and distance from your body.

Lighter and full reach is thus easier, and heavier and closer to the body is harder.

Then flip the board around and you have an amazing exercise for ankle strength and flexibility.

I like progression from two to one leg, and from just stretching to doing calf raises.

And if someone is actively struggling to play their sport without knee pain, the slant step-up is my go-to.

It gives you a controlled exercise to improve ability downhill.

Just as with going downhill:

1. Less slope makes it easier

2. Smaller step makes it easier

3. Assistance makes it easier

Work at the pain-free level for high reps, and build up your ability over time.

LOADING

We’ve covered all the unique tools I use for my school strength system, but there’s still the matter of loading.

I like kettlebell as a foundation because it builds a lot of lost “farm strength” in the grip and upper back.

I also love dumbbells and barbells.

I just think kettlebell is a logical starting point, and they’re easy to set up and use with many students.

If anything, a foundation of kettlebell will make it even smoother to learn dumbbells and barbell.

Wanting to learn more about kettlebell training, I visited former CrossFit star, Marcus Filly, because he’s coached thousands of people on kettlebells, and he’s also mastered the ATG system. This free video shows his kettlebell basics, including how to add kettlebell loading to my school strength system.

That being said, some movements are quite simple in terms of holding the weights…

ROMANIAN DEADLIFTS

I’m a huge fan of the RDL, whether with kettlebells, dumbbells, or barbell.

Kettlebells are a convenient starting point since the handle is higher off the ground.

Get good at picking them up without your back rounding.

Then gradually put more intention into your hamstring flexibility as you go down.

Over time, I’ve seen this to be one of the most helpful abilities for real-world lower back injury prevention.

Of course, you can still do this with dumbbells, which is the main way I’ve started clients for many years.

Barbell is then useful for heavier loading.

FORWARD AND BACKWARD FARMER’S WALKS

You can then smoothly go from picking up the kettlebells, to walking with them.

From head to toe (literally), these provide a lot of benefits with incredible simplicity: just walk forward and backward!

For a student who isn’t growing up farming or doing manual labor, the farmer’s walk can be particularly helpful.

And when you walk backward with them, you get one of my favorite exercises for foot, Achilles, and knee health.

CONCLUSION

That forms my best effort to create a foundational strength system that’s easy to apply in schools, and I think it’s awesome that you can do all of the above with stuff that’s made in the USA!

As for the weights, Rogue and Sorinex have a lot of great USA-made options.

I’ll continue to focus on the unique stuff I love, while expanding my knowledge and connections so I can help more of YOU with your own USA-made businesses.

Yours in Solutions,

Ben

Equipment

Coaching