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Brett Bower

@brett_bower3

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Assistant Director for Human Performance TCU
@tcu_swimdive
@tcutriathlon
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“I found mine”

Congrats Will and Morgan by @brett_bower3

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8 months ago

“The journey is what brings us happiness, not the destination.” Dan Millman taken in Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve by @brett_bower3

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a year ago

AEL INVERTED ROW

Inverted rows are one of my favorite exercises for developing relative strength through the posterior shoulder.

One way to progress the movement is through accentuated eccentric loading (AEL) using a 2:1 method. Use both arms to pull yourself up, then shift the load to one arm and control the lowering phase. This increases the loading demand on the working arm during the eccentric.

Here’s why it’s a favorite of mine:

🛑Posterior shoulder strength — increase loading demands on the working shoulder throughout the eccentric.
🛑Trunk stability / anti-rotation — resist rotation as the load shifts to one side.
🛑Scapular control — maintain control of the shoulder complex throughout the lowering phase.
🛑Thoracic spine control — maintain trunk position and control thoracic rotation.
🛑Eccentric strength — challenge the ability to control force under higher loading demands.
🛑Relative strength — develop the ability to control and move your own bodyweight.

The goal isn’t just to make the exercise harder. It’s to use a different loading strategy to create a specific adaptation.

Control the eccentric. Own the position. Don’t let the trunk rotate.

Load with intent.

#swimstrong #athleticperformance #shouldercare #collegesport taken in TCU – Texas Christian University by @brett_bower3

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19 hours ago

🛑LOAD THE CALF COMPLEX🛑

One area I’ve changed my approach to over the last year is how we load the calf and ankle complex.

Working with runners and divers, this area is critical for force production, elasticity, and managing repetitive loading demands. Yet, I think it’s often underloaded in the weight room.

Body weight or a 20 lb DB for a 20-second iso isn’t nearly enough to be the end goal.

Isometrics are great, but we also need progressive overload.

By using the SSB bar and Hatfield handles we add stability which allows for a higher load and a greater demand on the tissues targeted.

💰 We have progressed to using slant boards to force inversion and eversion. Force angles and train the tissues that matter.

The goal? Build a calf and ankle complex capable of handling the forces we ask it to produce and stop.

Don’t just check the box. Load with intent.

More coming soon

#SportsPerformance #StrengthAndConditioning #Running #Diving taken in Texas Christian University by @brett_bower3

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7 days ago

A potent unilateral superset from @tcutriathlon current block.

Over the last few weeks we have progressed to a unilateral DB bench which has many benefits
- unilateral pressing
- Anti-rotation and trunk stability
- Scapular control
- Force production from unstable position

We have also progressed to a favorite row of mine, the TRX Rotational Row
- Unilateral pulling
- Thoracic rotation
- Scapular retraction/upward rotation
- Trunk rotation & anti-rotation
- Posterior shoulder strength
- Proprioception
- Hip to shoulder transfer and coordination

Here’s why they pair so well
- horizontal push pull combination
- Stability and mobility
- Rotation and anti-rotation
- Strength with trunk integration
#athleticperformance #unilateraltraining #strengthandconditioning #shoulderstrength taken in Texas Christian University by @brett_bower3

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14 days ago

4 Equipment-Free Shoulder Exercises I Use With Overhead Athletes

Shoulder health and function are a big priority with my overhead athletes. These are four movements that consistently show up in our warm-ups and, depending on the athlete, can also be used as assistance work.

1. Shoulder CARs
A staple for our teams and something that lives in the warm-up almost daily. Great for assessing shoulder mobility, but just as importantly, it gives the athlete an opportunity to check in with how their shoulder is moving that day. We’re taking the shoulder through controlled rotation across multiple planes of motion.

The common theme with all four: control.

These aren’t movements where more reps automatically means better. I want athletes to move deliberately, create tension, and actually own the positions they’re getting into.

For most of our athletes, we’re talking 1–3 sets of 1–5 reps.

Simple doesn’t mean easy. And it definitely doesn’t mean ineffective.

2. Dancing Queen
Another great rotation check that challenges both shoulder IR and ER while adding a little more complexity through central-to-lateral movement. It’s simple, but it asks the athlete to control the shoulder while the rest of the body is moving.

3. Prone Snow Angels
A great warm-up or training exercise for getting the rotator cuff working while reinforcing good scapular movement and glenohumeral control. I like these because the athlete has to own the movement rather than just passively moving through a range.

4. Side-Lying IR/ER
One of my favorites for incorporating the thoracic spine into shoulder movement. The T-spine plays a major role in how the shoulder functions, so combining thoracic movement with glenohumeral IR/ER gives us a lot of return from a pretty simple exercise.

#shoulderstability #shouldermobility #overheadathletes #rotationalathletes taken in Texas Christian University by @brett_bower3

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a month ago

If you ask any of my athletes, crawling is going to be a staple of what we do and is a constant in our program.

However we aren’t just going to crawl 10 yards, forward, backward, left and right all year long.

Crawling has many benefits including:
- Core Stability
- Shoulder stability + serratus/upward rotation
- Hip and pelvic control
- Reinforces cross crawl coordination
- Improves proprioception and awareness
- Develops upper body work capacity

There are many variations of crawling and teaching progressions. I do program and get into a variety of animal crawls and stationary crawl variations such as pull through, kick throughs, 360’s, pick ups, and more.

But my locomotion progression is as follows:

Bear Crawl 2-4 sets of 10-20 yards (forward, backward, left, right)

Resisted bear crawl 2-4 sets 10-15 yards (forwards, backwards, left, right)

2-2 bear crawl 2-4 sets of 5-10 REPS (forwards & backwards) can be done lateral if desired

1-2 bear crawl 2-4 sets of 5-10 reps (forwards & backwards) can be done lateral if desired(Not shown)

2-1 bear crawl 2-4 sets of 5-10 reps (forwards & backwards) can be done lateral if desired

This is a great entry progression I’ve applied to my setting. A lot was inspired by the late @hesterkurt @sleech72 and @zachdechant

Get creative and add other variations

#swimstrong #divetraining #collegestrengthandconditioning #functionalfitnesstraining taken in Texas Christian University by @brett_bower3

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2 months ago

Was supposed to go some clean high pull work so decided to hop on the @powerliftequipment inertia trainer.

I’m spoken before on the benefits of inertia training such as
- Supramaximal Eccentric
- Eccentric RFD
- Auto Regulation
And more

This is a prime example of swapping a tradition lift for an auto regulated load which can cause eccentric overload. As @ashleykowalewski says “stay curious.”

The learning curve was super quick and this is something that could easily find its way into programming this year.

Let adaptations drive exercise selection and programming. Find an easier way and manipulate tools to be the most effective and efficient

#athleticperformance #olympicweightlifting #flywheel #powertraining #livehard taken in Texas Christian University by @brett_bower3

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3 months ago

Basic clean warm up or general warm up 🏋️

The purpose of a warm up is to:

- Increase body temperature
- Prime nervous system
- Activate primary muscles
- Rehearse movement patterns
- Prepare mentally

I use this clean warm up myself as it hits nearly all the primary muscle groups and movement patterns.

My athletes also use this as an extended warm up to rehearse the positions of a clean and add repetitions to key movements for the clean.

The complex can be done empty bar - 50% but is typically done with minimal weight as it serves as an initial preparation for the clean.

The complex is as follows:

5 reps of each

Hang clean pull (can progress to low hang clean): Focus on keep the bar tight at hip extension followed by a shrug or panda pull

Muscle clean: Focus on fast turn over and a solid receiving position

Front squat to press: Good depth on the squat and let the legs do the work on the press. I often add some shoulder protractions to loosen up further

Good mornings: Ribs and pelvis tucked and search for a big stretch on the hamstrings

Bent over row: Allow the bar to travel below the knee and have a good pull near the lower abdomen

For a warm up repeat 1-3 times with progressive weights

For accumulation or conditioning repeat 1-5 times at a constant weight or progressive every 1-3 minutes
#olympiclifting #athleticperformance #strength #power taken in Texas Christian University by @brett_bower3

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3 months ago

Don’t Forget the Basics of Training

As coaches, many of us take pride in two things: Our athletes’ performance and our own competence.

We spend countless hours, and often a lot of money learning new periodization models, return-to-play protocols, technologies, data visualization methods, anatomy, and more.

And we should.

Never stop learning.

But, don’t forget who we are and what we do.

Our job is to prepare athletes for sport.

That means building a foundation that allows everything else to work. While I use some “novel” or “different” methods with my athletes, they’re implemented with purpose, at specific times of the year, and in appropriate doses.

The latest trend should never replace the fundamentals. @wgray70 used the analogy of the most used crayons are the original 8 - not the fancy off colors.

No matter the sport, training age, or level of competition, we always come back to the basics:

Sprint
Jump
Crawl
Squat
Hinge
Push
Pull

Master the fundamentals. Earn the right to be creative.

The athletes who consistently perform at a high level aren’t usually the ones doing the most complicated things. They’re the ones who have built an exceptional foundation through consistent execution of the basics.

#athleticperformance #strengthandconditioning #humanperformance #strengthtraining taken in Texas Christian University by @brett_bower3

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4 months ago

Hang Snatch Complex

For snatch - The hang pull ➡️ hang high pull ➡️ hang snatch is one of my favorites

Patterning and positioning:

Using the pulls prior to the snatch itself allows the athlete to reinforce key positions for the hang snatch.

Hang pull:
Efficient stretch shortening cycle utilization and triple extension

Hang high pull:
Triple extension, pull timing, and bar path

Hang snatch:
Bar turnover and coordination

The second use for the complex is to build work capacity during an accumulation block.

The complex can be used to build a tolerance to large sets and a greater sum of work.

Programming: Depending on the goals the volume and load can be adjusted. For patterning I typically do 3-5 sets of 2-3 reps at 50-70%

For accumulation I will prefer 3-6 sets of 3 reps at 65-80%

#swimstrong #powerlift #olympicweightlifting #divetraining #athleticperformance taken in TCU – Texas Christian University by @brett_bower3

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4 months ago

There are many benefits to adding gymnastics movements to your programs.

Such as:
- Relative strength
- Shoulder stability
- Dynamic core work
- Motor control and proprioception
- Tendon/soft tissue development

However, not everyone can rip a 50yd handstand walk cold. So start slow with the basics.

3-year olds do these movements at gymnastics lessons, so why can’t college athletes?

My starting point for gymnastics movements:

- Rolls or summersaults - can even regress to rollbacks
- Cart wheels/round offs
- Wall walks or wall support handstand holds

Yes they will properly look terrible the first couple weeks but eventually athletes will adapt and organize to complete the movements more efficiently.

Isn’t that athleticism and adaptation? Not everything has to look perfect right away.

Add this for athletic benefits and just some fun quality training.
#Gymnastics #strengthandconditioning #athleticism #athleticperformance taken in TCU – Texas Christian University by @brett_bower3

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5 months ago