Texans strength and conditioning coach Dan Riley is back for another installment of his Fitness Corner column.

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1 Texans strength and conditioning coach Dan Riley is back for another installment of his Fitness Corner column. Riley and assistant strength and conditioning coach Ray Wright will continue to post selected answers to your questions throughout the year. I currently attend Junior College and plan on transferring to a major university in two years. I am interested in strengthening my legs to try out for place kicker. I am working out at Bally Total Fitness to improve my leg strength and I am also practicing field goals. I know I need to gain at least another ten yards to have a chance at walking on. Is there any advice you can give me? Does Kris Brown do anything different from the rest of the players? -- Name Withheld The Texans are fortunate to have Kris Brown. He is one of our most dedicated athletes both on and off the field. Kris is among a large number of our players who are actively involved in our community. Kris foundation this year alone has already raised $48,000 for Texas Children s Hospital. Kris is a physically mature adult who weighs 210 pounds. He possesses very good strength and is lean and muscular. He is an excellent athlete and an accomplished kicker in the National Football League. Few high school or college kickers possess the physical qualities Kris exhibits. Kris doesn t lift weights to try and kick the ball longer. At this point in his career he is already big enough and strong enough that more strength will not enhance his kicking distance. Smaller and younger kickers may or may not experience some additional kicking distance by increasing their lower body strength. The only way to find out is give it a try. Kris trains as hard as any player on our team. His primary objective for lifting is injury prevention (Kris made a tackle this past week on the kickoff coverage team) and to help prevent the onset of leg fatigue as the season progresses. The aging process erodes strength and explosiveness. Increasing lower body strength will become more important and probably have a greater impact on Kris kicking distance, as he grows older. Kris utilizes the same leg routine used by all of our players. We have a standard leg routine template our players use to construct their own workout. The only difference is the piece(s) of equipment they select to perform each exercise. Players pick and choose the multi-joint (squatting motion or leg press) and single joint (isolation) exercises they prefer and plug them into the leg template listed below. Our lower body template includes the following sequence of exercises: Exercise # 1: Leg Press or Squat 12 reps Exercise # 2: Leg Curl 12 reps followed immediately by the hip extension.

2 Exercise # 3: Hip Extension 12 reps Exercise # 4: Leg Extension 12 reps Exercise # 5: Hip Abduction 12 reps followed immediately by the Leg Press or Squat Exercise # 6: Leg Press or Squat 12 reps Exercise # 7: Hip Adduction 12 reps Exercise # 8: Hip Flexion 12 reps Exercise # 9: Standing Calf Raise 12 reps We have a well-equipped facility giving our players plenty of options when selecting exercises they prefer. Our players select from the following Squat or Leg Press movements: 1. Hammer V-Squat 2. Pendulum Squat 3. Smith Machine Squat 4. Nautilus Xpload Incline Leg Press 5. Nautilus Xpload Leg Press 6. Nautilus Power Plus Leg Press (each leg works independent from the 7. Avenger Leg Press 8. Medx Leg Press 9. Pendulum Leg Press Our players choose from the following leg curl exercises: 1. Nautilus 2st Leg Curl 2. Nautilus Xpload Leg Curl 3. Avenger Leg Curl 4. Hammer Isolateral Leg Curl (each leg works independent from the 5. Hammer Standing Leg Curl (each leg works independent from the Our players choose from the following leg extension exercises:

3 1. Nautilus 2st Leg Extension 2. Nautilus Xpload Leg Extension 3. Nautilus Nitro Leg Extension 4. Avenger Leg Extension 5. Hammer Isolateral Leg Extension (each leg works independent from the Each player develops a preference for specific pieces of equipment. We provide our players with an exercise sequence (exercises 1 9 listed above) and they fill in the pieces of equipment to be used. Note: Our players perform several warm-up sets before beginning the workout. They use the first squatting movement or leg press to warm-up. More weight is added each warm-up set until they are ready to perform a near maximum effort on the first exercise. Only one set of each exercise is performed during the leg workout. We encourage variety. For example during one workout a player may perform exercises that allow both legs to work together and the next workout perform those same exercises on a different piece of equipment designed to force each leg to work independent from the other. This protocol is a must during rehabilitation to develop balance between the two legs. We have enclosed two leg routines used by Kris. During Routine #1 he uses equipment with a fused movement arm (both legs work simultaneously) to perform the squat, leg extension and leg curl. During Routine #2 he utilizes equipment with independent movement arms (each leg works independently from the to perform the leg press, leg extension, and leg curl. He frequently alternates between Routine #1 and Routine #2. Note: In all our squatting and leg press movements we position the players to keep the knee over the ankle (1; 2) in the squatting position. The further the knee moves forward of the ankle the greater the increase in shearing forces to the joint. Routine # 1 Exercise #1: Hammer V-Squat (1; 2) Exercise #2: Avenger Leg Curl (1; 2) Exercise #3: Hip Extension (legs straight) (1; 2) Exercise #4: Avenger Leg Extension (1; 2) (8 reps x 8 seconds to raise the weight) Exercise #5: Hammer Hip Abduction (1; 2) Exercise #6: Hammer V-Squat (1; 2) Exercise #7: Hammer Hip Adduction (1; 2) Exercise #8: Highstepper Hip Flexion (right and left leg) (1; 2; 3; 4) Exercise #9: Quantum Standing Calf Raise (1; 2) Routine # 2

4 Exercise #1: Nautilus Power Plus Leg Press (left leg; right leg) Exercise #2: Hammer Iso-lateral Leg Curl (1; 2) or Hammer Kneeling Leg Curl (1; 2; 3; 4) Exercise #3: Hip Extension (legs bent -- 1; 2) Exercise #4: Hammer Isolateral Leg Extension (1; 2; 3) Exercise #5: Hammer Hip Abduction (1; 2) Exercise #6: Nautilus Power Plus Leg Press (1; 2) Exercise #7: Hammer Hip Adduction (1; 2) Exercise #8: Highstepper Hip Flexion (1; 2) Exercise #9: Quantum Standing Calf Raise (1; 2) There is a reason we place these exercises in the order they appear, however the order of exercise is not the key to building maximum strength. The key to building maximum strength is how each repetition is performed and the intensity (how hard you are willing to work) of each set. Common sense dictates the harder you work (the higher the intensity) the better the results. Eliminate the use of any momentum while raising the weight. Always pause momentarily in the contracted position and take more time to lower the weight. Full range exercise will not be accomplished if you do not pause for a count in the contracted position. Extra Points, by Kris Brown We asked Kris to share some advice for young kickers and he offered the following five basic tips for the novice kicker. 1. Stance & consistent routine: a. Must be exact. b. Repeat it over and over. c. Start from the same position every time. d. Always take the same setup steps away from the ball - back three steps (1; 2; 3; 4) and over two steps (1; 2; 3). e. Be in a natural athletic position whatever is comfortable with the individual. 2. Approach: a. Shoulders should be parallel to the upright upon contact with the ball. 3. Plant foot: a. There is a direct relationship with the position of the plant foot and how the ball comes off the foot.

5 b. You want your heal to be positioned in the middle of the ball (overhead view, side view). 4. Ball strike: a. Foot contacts the football along the inside of the foot (1; 2). 5. Consistency: b. Young kickers should not worry about distance. c. Consistency is more important than distance. d. You must make the short ones before you can make the long ones. e. Off-season kicking drill Kris makes 15 field goals in a row from a distance of 30 to 35 yards. If he misses one he starts over. He says it is a drill that helps him to be mentally strong on each attempt. This drill forces him to focus harder to make 15 in a row than the focus needed to kick one in a game. Thanks again to Kris Brown for his contribution to this installation of the Fitness Corner.