Ridgefield Strength Coach McLean Builds Athletes, Not Body Builders

Pete McLean serves as Ridgefield High School's primary strength and conditioning coach for the football, basketball, hockey and track & field teams.

In his 11th year at the school, McLean brings  an adaptive individualized scientific philosophy toward his job.

"Since we don't recruit here, we have to build our athletes," he said. "My philosophy is based on the idea that speed wins -- not building muscle mass." 

In fact, McLean runs an athletic consulting company called "Speed Wins Limited."

"Most high school sports are mechanically similar, and even middle distance track & field races are largely anaerobic exercises," he added. "These sports are short in duration, a minute or two, with periods of recovery."

As a first division rugby player since 1991, McLean practices what he preaches. He has an impressive resume, which includes one year as the New York Jets' strength and conditioning coach in 1992.

"Power is significant, and improving an athlete's fast twitch muscle response is critical to success in three respects -- linear, lateral and straight ahead or backward dimensions," McLean said.

"We take into account the different requirements of the sport when designing a training program and then we evaluate each athlete's strengths and weaknesses.  We then decide which exercises will help address his or her weaknesses to build upon their strengths."

McLean is certified by the American College of Sports Medicine, the National Strength  and Conditioning  Association and  the U.S. Weightlifting Federation as a level one coach.  He is a graduate of Dickinson College and obtained his MS in exercise physiology from the University of Pittsburgh.    

According to McLean, the regimen he employs is often referred to as a "Periodization Program" or a modified "West Side Approach", designed by Louis Simmons,  a well-known strength trainer.

"It is power-based and uses a conjugated method:  Week 1 - Maximum Effort, Week 2 - Dynamic (speed based), Week 3 - Metabolic (higher repetitions),'' he said.

According to McLean, the result is that the Tigers' teams have experienced very few injuries from overuse.

However, the Tigers did have a series of hip flexor injuries a few years ago.

"We addressed this problem by adjusting our warm-up regimen and by increasing core exercises," he said.

Many teams use a stationary warm-up before games, but, according to McLean, such an approach actually depresses the nervous system and makes injury in the early stages of a game more likely.

"We use constant movement during warm-ups to stimulate the central nervous system and fire up the neuro-muscular system before games," he explained. 

This approach has resulted in a significant reduction in serious injuries at Ridgefield during McLean's tenure.

Still, McLean has observed a general increase in shoulder and rotator cuff injuries in the last couple of years due to recent changes in the way many contact sports are played.

"At Ridgefield, we have started addressing this problem by adding stretch bands into our athlete's regular workout programs," he said.

McLean works with the football team 39 weeks out of the year. Offseason workouts begin the second week of December and continue until the start of practice during the third week in August.

After the season, he works with the players three days a week for two hours a day. During the summer, the load increases to five days per week.

This holistic approach to strength and conditioning  is designed to make sure each athlete is properly evaluated and monitored to reduce injuries.

"But it takes work, and that is what I am here for," McLean said.