Schools & Athletic Departments
One school. One standard. One unified system.
One unified system for every sport in your building, boys and girls, and the general students who play nothing. Coach Marty Martens built and ran it with a full room every hour, all day, for 25 years. Now he helps schools install a unified system their entire staff can actually run.
Clinics and speaking are delivered by 1MoreNow Performance, Coach Martens’ training company.
The problem
The problem isn't your workout. It's five different workouts.
Every coach in your building has an opinion about training, and most of them are defensible. Football wants one thing, basketball wants another, the PE department is running a third, and a new hire brings in a fourth. Nobody is wrong, and nobody is in charge.
So the program drifts, the testing data sits in three different notebooks, and when a coach leaves, whatever they built leaves with them. That is an alignment problem. A better workout does not fix it, because the workout was never the part that broke.
Unification is the answer.
70+ athletes.
One hour.
One standard. One unified system.
6 hours a day. For 25 years.
East Kentwood is one of the largest high schools in Michigan and one of the most diverse in the country. Every athlete in it trained off the same system, and the technique standard held.
What you get
What changes when everyone trains together
None of this comes from a new exercise. It comes from every coach working off one standard, and from somebody owning it.
Consistency
Athletes stop relearning the expectations every season. The warmup, the cues, and the standard are the same in September and in March.
Accountability
Every coach knows which standard they are responsible for holding. Nobody has to guess what good looks like in your weight room.
Measurability
Pre-testing and post-testing tell you whether the program produced anything. You get a number to point at instead of an opinion.
Efficiency
Large groups move safely without losing the coaching. Seventy-plus kids in one hour is only a scheduling win if the technique standard survives it.
Continuity
When a coach leaves, the system stays. The next hire steps into something that already works instead of rebuilding it from scratch.
Multi-sport development
Your best athletes stop getting pulled between competing systems, and they stop paying for a disagreement they had no part in.
The word that matters
What unified actually means
Unified is not a name for the football program with the other teams invited. It has a specific meaning, and every one of these has to be true or the whole thing comes apart.
Unified across sports
Football, volleyball, swimming, wrestling, and track train off the same foundation.
Unified across boys and girls
The same system, the same expectations, and the same coaching in both directions.
Unified across athletes and general students
The student who plays nothing gets the same instruction as the starting quarterback. That is the part that changes a building.
Unified across the calendar
One approach in the fall, the winter, the spring, and the summer, so a three-sport athlete is not restarted every time a season turns over.
One standard, held
A technique standard only exists if somebody enforces it the same way every hour of every day.
One person accountable
Programs drift when ownership is shared five ways. Somebody has to own the system, the data, and what happens when a number does not move.
How you know it works
The program is data driven
Every athlete is pre-tested and post-tested. Vertical jump, standing long jump, crush strength, height, and weight. At the end you compare the two, and when a number does not move you go back into the programming and find out why instead of guessing.
What you do not do is test the 10, the 20, the 40, or a 1-rep max on the first day of a class. That is how you injure a kid in the first week. Those come later, once there is a base under them, and then the numbers are worth something.
The engagement
A three-part series
Book one part or all three. Part three is the one most consultants skip and the one that decides whether the program survives the first semester.
Introduction & Stakeholder Session
4 to 6 hours
The philosophy, and a live look at what a unified session actually looks like. In Coach Martens' words, you get a chance to smell it, taste it, touch it.
In the room
Superintendent, principal, athletic director, coaches, parents, athletes
Technique & Implementation
4 to 6 hours
Hands-on work with the people who will run the program. Cueing, loading, rotation, tiering, and how to hold standards when the room is full. A sport coach does not have to become a strength coach for this to work. That is the point. Unification takes strength training off your plate, so your time goes to conditioning and the movement your sport needs.
In the room
Whoever runs your weight room. Other coaches are welcome, not required.
Evaluation & Follow-Up
Half a day to a full school day
Coach Martens comes back, watches your people run it, and tells you what is working and what is not.
In the room
Program leadership and coaching staff
In the building
Classroom and weight room, in the same day
Part one and part two each run four to six hours, split between a classroom session and live work in the weight room or the field house. Everybody comes dressed, including the people who sign off on the budget.
From the weight room
What it did for the people in it
Coach Martens is in the business of serving others, and he shows that with his actions in every way. He personally drove me to my first strength and conditioning conference when I was a junior in high school, after sharing with him that I wanted to be a Strength and Conditioning Coach for my career. He has supported me every step of the way since. Coach Martens has an expansive network, an unrelenting will to always seek the answer, and find a better way. With this…
Read the full noteCoach Martens is in the business of serving others, and he shows that with his actions in every way. He personally drove me to my first strength and conditioning conference when I was a junior in high school, after sharing with him that I wanted to be a Strength and Conditioning Coach for my career. He has supported me every step of the way since. Coach Martens has an expansive network, an unrelenting will to always seek the answer, and find a better way. With this unrelenting will, and his depth of knowledge in college sports, he has helped many like me, achieve their dreams. I couldn't be more excited as he begins this journey!
Hello, my name is Elise Kanda, and I am a linebacker at Saginaw Valley State University. I first met Coach Martens during my freshman year of high school when he was my weightlifting teacher. Initially, I thought that Coach Martens was scary since he maintained very strict standards for everybody. As I've matured, I've gained a real appreciation for his methods. He ran the weight room with discipline and purpose, ensuring it was a productive environment where real progress…
Read the full noteHello, my name is Elise Kanda, and I am a linebacker at Saginaw Valley State University. I first met Coach Martens during my freshman year of high school when he was my weightlifting teacher. Initially, I thought that Coach Martens was scary since he maintained very strict standards for everybody. As I've matured, I've gained a real appreciation for his methods. He ran the weight room with discipline and purpose, ensuring it was a productive environment where real progress was made. I can clearly see the results today.
Although Coach Martens was in charge of the weight room, his impact went far beyond that. He was passionate about the success of the football program, and it is difficult to think of the football program without Coach Martens. Around my sophomore year, before I had even became a varsity starter, Coach Martens began introducing me to college coaches. He saw potential in me before I fully saw it in myself. By my junior year, I had developed into a highly recognized player, but Coach Martens had already believed in me long before that point. I am incredibly grateful for everything he has done for me from taking me on visits to helping me gain exposure to college programs. I genuinely believe I would not be where I am today without his guidance and connections. He has an incredible network and consistently goes out of his way to help his players get noticed. More importantly, Coach Martens cares not just about the athlete, but about the person each player becomes. Whether it was football, academics, or life in general, he consistently stressed the importance of focus, academic achievement, and the pursuit of a goal. His influence on my life went past athletics, and I will remain forever grateful for his guidance.
We have had the opportunity to work alongside Marty as a colleague, educator, and presenter, and have seen firsthand the impact of his strength and conditioning programming in the high school setting. He brings a unique combination of expertise, practical experience, and an ability to connect with coaches and student-athletes. He has presented at two of my schools, our athletic directors association conference, and our coaches association conference, and every time he…
Read the full noteWe have had the opportunity to work alongside Marty as a colleague, educator, and presenter, and have seen firsthand the impact of his strength and conditioning programming in the high school setting. He brings a unique combination of expertise, practical experience, and an ability to connect with coaches and student-athletes. He has presented at two of my schools, our athletic directors association conference, and our coaches association conference, and every time he delivers relevant, practical information that coaches can immediately take back to their programs. He understands the realities of the high school environment and designs his programming accordingly. I would highly recommend Marty to any school, athletic department, or coaches association looking for a knowledgeable and engaging strength and conditioning professional.
Two ways to bring him in
The clinic, or a single session
Some schools want the whole system installed. Some want an hour on one piece of it for a staff development day. Both are on the table.
For a school or district
Bring Coach Martens in for the clinic
The three-part series, installed in your building with your staff, your equipment, and your athletes.
For a clinic, association, or PD day
Bring Coach Martens in to speak
One session on one topic, without committing to the series. Coach Martens has presented at clinics and coaching associations around the country.
- Unified Strength and SpeedHow to build one system that serves athletes, general students, boys, girls, and every sport in the building.
- They Can't Recruit You If They Don't Know YouWhat families and athletes get wrong about exposure, fit, and communicating with college coaches.
- Training Large Groups With AccountabilityHow to coach seventy-plus students per hour without giving up technique or standards.
- Relationships in CoachingWhy the relationships you build outlast every record you set, and how to build them on purpose.
- Preparing Athletes for the Next LevelStrength, discipline, communication, recruiting, and what actually happens when a kid gets to campus.
Outfitting the room
Not sure what to buy, or what order to buy it in?
Coach Martens will tell you what he would put in your weight room and what you can run with the equipment you already own. You do not have to book the clinic to ask.
Questions
What schools ask
Is this a football program?
It is the opposite, and it is the first question he gets in every building. The whole point is one foundation for every athlete in the school, plus the general students who play no sport. Football players and swimmers train on the same system.
Does this only work if we have a big weight room?
No. The system was built around bands, PVC, medicine balls, jump ropes, and platforms. Coach Martens will tell you what you can run with the space and equipment you already own before he recommends buying anything.
Do we have to book all three parts?
No, but the third visit is where most programs get their money's worth: Coach Martens comes back, watches your staff run it, and tells you what needs fixing.
How large a group can this handle?
Coach Martens ran a room of 70+ athletes every hour, all day, for 25 years. Crowding is the problem the system was designed to solve.
Can you speak on one topic instead of running the full clinic?
Yes, and schools ask for that often. A staff that wants to know how you program for that many kids at once can have that hour on its own, without committing to the three-part series.
What size audience does this work for?
Coach Martens has presented to small staff meetings and to clinic rooms of two hundred plus coaches. Tell him the room and the audience and he will build the session for it.
Can you combine a talk with a hands-on session?
Yes, and that is usually the better format. A presentation followed by live work in your weight room gives coaches something they can run on Monday.
What does it cost to book?
It depends on the event type, travel, prep, and whether it is a standalone talk or part of a clinic series. Send the details and Coach Martens will quote it.
Bring Coach Martens to your school
Tell him what your building looks like, what equipment you have, and who runs training now. He will tell you what he would do with it.