In 2011, I pursued my dream of playing at the highest level of professional football. I trained for months leading up to my Pro-Day at Grand Valley State University. Unfortunately, I was training incorrectly the ENTIRE time. This drove me to find out what the very BEST were doing leading up to their combines and pro days. The method of training I discovered to have the best results was none other than the Westside-Barbell Method made popular by Louie Simmons.

The Westside-Barbell Method is built upon all the aspects that are required to DOMINATE at your Pro-Day and Combine. These aspects are absolute strength, absolute speed, vertical/horizontal power, lateral quickness and we increase these abilities with 3 methods of training: Max Effort, Dynamic Effort and Repeated Effort. When you combine these methods with position specific technique work, you will be prepared to STAND OUT at your workout.

In the last four years, we have ran an NFL Combine Preparation Program, and we have helped 5 of our athletes put on an NFL jersey. In our first NFL Draft class in 2013, two out of three got a chance in NFL Rookie Mini Camps, and the third had private workouts in the CFL. All three received an opportunity to showcase their skills, and all three took full advantage of it. In the second NFL Draft class of 2014, we again had three athletes come to us out of Northern Michigan University. In this class, we had a WR run a 4.3 40-yard dash, a FS broad jump 11’1”, and an offensive lineman get his shot in an NFL Rookie Mini Camp. We continued our streak of 4 years in a row of helping another former NMU football player get a shot in an NFL Rookie Mini Camp and training camp with the Pittsburgh Steelers after he blazed a 4.40 in front of scouts at the University of Michigan pro day.

All 5 of these guys came out of Northern Michigan University and were considered “long shots” because they were coming out of a Division 2 school, once these “long shots” got their opportunity to showcase their abilities at the same platform as other D1 guys, they performed equal to or better than most of the other participants.

As you can see, this system works, and once more athletes find out about what Advantedge Sports Training can do for them, it’s only a matter of time before we become the destination center for NFL Combine Preparation!

- Coach Branch