Florida A&M director of sports performance and five-season NFL strength and conditioning coach
Joshua Woods, MS, CSCS, is the director of sports performance at Florida A&M University, where he oversees strength and conditioning for Rattler athletics. He is certified as a strength and conditioning specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association and additionally holds the Certified Functional Strength Coach and Functional Range Conditioning credentials. He has been a member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association since 2016.
Woods spent five seasons in the National Football League. He began with the Miami Dolphins as a strength and conditioning staff assistant, working on GPS monitoring, hydration testing and functional movement screening, then served as an assistant strength and conditioning coach with the Minnesota Vikings. He returned to Miami as coordinator of sports science and strength and conditioning assistant, a role he held for three seasons with the Dolphins. His college and tactical work includes serving as director of strength and conditioning and sports science at Howard University, assistant director of strength and conditioning at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and assistant director for football strength and conditioning at the University of North Texas. He also served as the assistant coach in the XFL and as head strength and conditioning coach for the 1st Armored Division Combat Aviation Brigade at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas.
Woods founded Woods Performance and Science, a consulting and training practice through which he built athlete management dashboards and coach education for more than 450 athletes, and delivered return-to-play protocols, load monitoring and force plate testing. He earned a bachelor's degree in exercise science from the University of South Carolina, where he was a football walk-on, and a master's degree in cardiac physiology from the University of Southern Mississippi where he served as a graduate assistant strength coach.
Compound lifts — squat, hinge, push, and pull — are the multi-joint movements most high school strength programs are built around. This guide walks through each pattern, how coaches teach and progress them, and the movement screen that should come before any weight is added.
Aug 20, 2026
Strength and conditioning for high school athletes is planned physical preparation — resistance training, movement quality work, power development, and recovery, organized around the sport season. Here is what makes a program safe, how training changes across the year, and the questions to ask before enrolling.
Aug 20, 2026
Periodization is the system coaches use to organize training so the right work happens at the right time of year. This guide explains the four phases of the training year, linear and undulating models, deload weeks, and how plans change for multi-sport athletes.
Aug 20, 2026
A basketball player, a baseball pitcher, and a lineman need different things from the same weight room. This guide covers how strength programs shift emphasis, volume, and accessory work across basketball, baseball, football, soccer, and track — and the injury-risk profile each sport carries.
Aug 20, 2026
One coach says start now, another says wait — and someone always mentions stunted growth. Here is what the evidence says about strength training for ages 12 to 14, what readiness actually looks like, how beginner programs progress, and how to evaluate a supervised option.
Aug 20, 2026
Concussions in youth football are more common than most parents expect — and fewer than 10 percent involve a blackout. Learn the warning signs to watch for on the sideline, what to do the moment you suspect one, and the six-step return-to-play protocol athletes must complete before taking the field again.
Aug 19, 2026
Many parents assume football recruiting starts in junior or senior year — in reality, recruiting conversations begin as early as 9th grade. Here's what parents and athletes should do at every stage of high school to maximize their chances for recruitment.
Aug 19, 2026
Coaches spend the first weeks of camp figuring out where each athlete fits. This guide covers how the major position groups — quarterback, running back, receiver, offensive line, defensive line, linebacker, and defensive back — develop from youth football through high school, and the skills coaches prioritize at every age.
Aug 19, 2026
Quarterback development only works when the framework matches the athlete's age. This guide breaks the progression into age-banded stages — throwing mechanics first, footwork drops second, pre-snap reads third, and decision-making under pressure last.
Aug 19, 2026