| Riddell’s philosophy helping develop stronger Eagles BY MIKE UNGER
Photo by Jeff Watts |
Nothing in Jason Riddell’s weight room is done half speed. “Everything we do is done explosively,” Riddell said from his office in the team training room in Jacobs Fitness Center. “Whenever you’re lifting weight, it’s explosive. Whenever you’re coming down it’s under control, to protect joints and that kind of thing, but whenever you’re lifting or contracting a muscle, it’s done as fast as you possibly can. It’s not the strongest athletes that tend to be successful, it’s the most powerful athlete. The most powerful athlete is the person that can apply the most amount of force in the shortest amount of time. It’s the person that can change direction faster, outrun the next person, jump faster. Everything is done faster, with speed. That leads to success.” Riddell has been preaching that aggressive philosophy ever since he became AU’s strength and conditioning coach two years ago. His enthusiasm and belief in his methods have been infectious, leading to a stronger, better-conditioned brand of Eagle athlete. “I love what Jason has done in that department,” field hockey coach Steve Jennings said. “He’s brought a lot of knowledge and energy to that position. On the field we’ve got a lot more explosiveness, a lot more dynamic ability to get to loose balls.” Athletics and a dedication to training have always been front and center in Riddell’s life. He grew up outside Albany, N.Y., where he played football and basketball in high school. A graduate of SUNY-Cortland, where he spent two years as a tight end on the football team, Riddell decided to head south for graduate school. He earned a master’s degree in exercise physiology from the University of South Carolina, where he helped train members of the men’s and women’s basketball teams. After coaching positions at the University of Richmond, with Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim organization, and at a private training firm, Riddell sought out a job at an institute of higher education. “I love the nature of the college environment,” he said. “You look forward to game days. You enjoy game days. You enjoy being with your guys and girls and working toward championships. That’s really what I wanted to get back into college for.” When Riddell was hired by former athletic director Joni Comstock, he was blunt in his assessment of AU’s team weight room. “It was not a Division I weight room,” he said. When funding for an upgrade became available, Riddell oversaw the facility’s renovation. “My general philosophy is no machines,” he said. “I expect you to operate your body weight in all planes of motion. That’s how you play the game, and that’s how we’re going to train.” Riddell believes in the value of Olympic-style lifting. “We train with real heavy movements: squats, dead lifts, cleans, snatches, jerks,” he said. “High-powered, multijoint exercises, like the ones you see in the Olympics. The clean and the jerk, or the snatch, where you’re taking the weight and you’re throwing it over your head in one shot. The reason why those are better is because there’s no other exercise that you can do in a weight room that has as high a power output.” Part of Riddell’s impact on the athletic program can be measured in the durability of the athletes he works with. “I certainly feel that it is helping to prevent injuries,” Jennings said of Riddell’s program, in which athletes lift for 45 minutes twice a week during the season and three or four times a week in the off-season. “In the athletes’ minds, they feel a lot stronger and a lot more prepared to do the physical things they need to do, and that makes them more confident.” Just two years into his stint at AU, Riddell believes that from a strength and conditioning standpoint, Eagle athletes are on the right track. “We had a huge problem when I first came on board with injuries that required surgery,” he said. “My job is to reduce those injury rates. My job is to keep them on the field longer and healthier as well as increase their performance. When I have people who can play an entire season and still feel good at the end, I know I’m doing my job properly.” |
