As a strength and conditioning coach working with high school and collegiate football players, I have always stressed the importance of building strength and power. Over the years, I would hear people say, “Man, this athlete is so powerful” after an athlete maxes out for one rep on a bench or squat, while that same person will watch the same athlete hang/power clean 2-3 reps of maximal effort and say “Man, that kid is so strong.” Sometimes it’s the other way around: strong and powerful were used interchangeably. As I became more educated, I noticed the difference between being strong and being powerful, and I began to understand how they correlated with one another. Let’s take a closer look at the difference between power and strength, how they work together, and how to train for both in football, with plenty of Olympic weightlifting mixed in.
 
My definition of strength is the capability to exert maximum force. An example of measuring an athlete’s strength would be a one-rep maximum on the bench press, back squat, or deadlift. Most of the time when we have max-out testing for our football players, we look for them to exert maximum force within one to five reps. I believe that this rep range for a football player is good for measuring strength. Of course, when you get to the NFL combine, the athletes will do a 225-pound bench press test for maximum reps. That test does measure strength, but you will also see a display of power. The foundation of power is strength.
 
Power is being able to produce maximum force quickly. One way to measure power is to see how quickly an athlete can get out of the bottom of a heavy squat or how quickly an athlete can get under the bar to standing erect during a power clean. Football players who display great power in the weight room tend to be the better players on the field. I once coached a player who was about 5’7 close to 160 pounds power cleaning 240 at great speed and that was about 90%-95% of his max. This player moved faster than majority of the team even though they were players who could clean more but, the speed in which they could clean was not as quick as the 5’7 athlete.
 
When training for strength, the plan is to stay within 70 to 85 percent of an athlete’s projected 1-rep max in their bench press or back squat and do different variations of those lifts, such as front squats or incline bench press. The typical training block for this cycle can go from four to six weeks, depending on the time of year of the athlete. The rep range is preferred to be between three and six for four or five sets. Time under tension in training for strength training can be anywhere between one and five seconds depending on the movement variation that is being used. What we want here is controlled movement and speed with the bar. During the strength phase, resistance with chains, bands and any other modifications such as eccentric and isometric can be used here to increase strength gains.
 
Example Strength Phase One Day Workout (Core Lifts)

Hang Clean 5 sets of 4 reps @ 82%
Bench Press 5 sets of 4 Reps @ 80%
Deadlift or Clean Deadlift 5 sets of 5 reps @ medium intensity
 
During the power training phase, we like for our athletes to work from 85% and higher. At the end of the four to six weeks of this phase, we normally would test the athletes to see how they improved. Athletes typically perform one to three reps for three to five sets. Once an athlete starts to lift above 85% of their max, the workload is very taxing on the body and demands a lot of energy; therefore, keeping the reps low is more beneficial. When doing bench press and squat variations, the time under tension may be the same as it was during the strength phase. We still like to have our athletes move the bar as fast as possible with good technique. Speed of the bar is important when training to generate power and to be explosive.
 
In the power phase, we like to perform dynamic, explosive movements that require immediate use of quick twitch muscles as a superset during our core lifts (Olympic lifts, bench, squat, etc.). For example, if the athlete is doing bench presses for five sets of three reps at 87%, we would superset with wall chest press with med balls or exploding push-ups where the athlete will push their hands and body off the ground. Another example is after a set of power cleans or front squats. The superset would be box jumps or some plyometric exercise. The reps in the supersets are kept to under four to prevent fatigue. To translate the heavy workload of a squat, clean or bench to an explosive superset helps the athlete develop power.
 
Example Power Phase One Day Workout (Core Lifts)

Cleans Pulls 5 sets of 3 reps @ 87% + 15 pounds
Narrow Grip Bench Press 5 sets of 3 Reps @ 90% (Superset with 3 med ball chest press)
Back Squat 5 sets of 3 reps @ 90% (Superset with 2-3 box jumps)
 
Olympic lifts will be used in both strength and power phases. When using Olympic lifts, we would never go more than five reps or five sets. Regardless of phase, we want the time under tension under two seconds. If an athlete performs a clean, the time from their initial movement in the first pull from the floor to getting under the bar and standing erect should be under two seconds.
 
So, during a strength block we will use exercises such as split jerks, clean grip high pulls and hang cleans. The percentages will be based off a player’s projected 1-rep maximum hang clean or power clean because we will test either of the two. During the strength phase, we will work around the same percentages as we do in the bench and squat variations at 70%-85%. The rep range is three to five and the sets will be four to five. When training for power, the rep range works from one to three, and the set number is the same for strength phase. In power training, we implement more training from the floor such as clean pulls, snatch pulls, and power cleans. We emphasize both power and split jerks in this phase. Split jerks are awesome because of the foot speed required. We like to alternate feet and perform this exercise in even reps to prevent one leg from becoming too dominant.
 
Strength and power work in harmony with each other. Strength serves as a baseline for power and power serves as the output for strength combined with speed. Use Olympic lifts throughout your plan to develop speed under the bar. Olympic weightlifting is a baseline of many strength and conditioning programs, and it is heavily relied on. Olympic lifts promote good technique, strength, speed, and power. Adding Olympic lifts to your program will help you become a much better athlete.