Friday, January 27, 2012

Rest day! Take the time today to review your workout log…if you have not then start one. This is one of the most effective ways to track your performance and give yourself a pep talk. When you take the time to look back and see how much work you’ve accomplished it is motivation to keep going as you look to expand your potential. So what should a workout log contain?

1. Basic: The dates and times that you lifted plus the number of sets and the weight lifted. For conditioning, the amount of time that it took to complete the workout.

2. Tracking your progress: Everything that a basic log has plus how you felt physically on a given day before the workout, during the lifts/workout and after the workout.

3. Going the extra mile: Everything that “Tracking your progress” log plus the goals for each day, what you ate, how you feel emotionally, how much sleep you had and anything outside factors that may affect you.

Start off with the basic log and add aspects of the other two as you feel consistent and comfortable. If you miss a day, don’t worry we all make mistakes.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

This workout is the same as last Thursday. Once again if you have practice do it before practice, if not then complete 10 rounds of 1 minute running fast, 30 seconds jogging and 30 seconds walking.

Warm-Up:
Mobility: 10 forward hip circles, 10 backward hip circles each leg, 10 forward arm circles each leg, 10 backward arm circles, 10 squats, 10 lunges each leg, 10 pushups, 30 second plank, 10 pushups, 10 forward leg swings each leg, 10 sideways leg swings each leg, 10 iron cross reaches each leg, 10 scorpion reaches each leg
. Heart Rate Spike: 2 x (10m high knees, 10m butt kickers, 10m carioca, 10m falling start acceleration)

Speed:
1. 8 x 40m sprints with 2 minutes rest between reps. 2 sprints from a 3-point start, 2 from a standing start, 2 from a falling start, and 2 from a lying start. Focus on staying relaxed, keeping your elbows at 90 degrees and driving your arms from your shoulders. If your elbows are at 90 degrees then you will be able to drive your hand from your cheek (face) to your cheek (butt).

Ball Skills:
1. Finger taps at arms length. 60 seconds. Move the ball around and focus on keeping the ball on the pads of the fingers.
2. Shazams. 1 handed passing facing your partner/wall. Start with your hand underneath the ball with the ball touching your belly button. Drive with your forearms before finishing the pass by flicking your wrists. The object is to develop wrist strength. Complete 20-30 each hand.
Sideways Shazams. Turn side-on to your partner or the wall and complete as above. Complete 20-30 each hand.

Stretches:
Calves, hamstrings, quads and lower back.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

I thought that I would answer a question before it gets asked, “Why do I have the same warm-up all the time?” The answer is that it is a general warm-up for the body and mind. I have found that the best way to do this is to do the same thing. Your body gets warm as your heart rate goes up AND your mind gets ready for work by tuning out the distractions of the day with the focus on how your body feels at that moment. This is something that I learned from doing yoga. At the start of each session, the teacher would take us through a sun salutation and breathing exercises. Her instructions were to “listen and feel your body” with the message being that each day is different and listening to our body everyday is important. It is hard to do this with a warm-up that constantly changes. Also, I will be making a video of the warm-up and posting it.

Warm-Up:
Mobility: 10 forward hip circles, 10 backward hip circles each leg, 10 forward arm circles each leg, 10 backward arm circles, 10 squats, 10 lunges each leg, 10 pushups, 30 second plank, 10 pushups, 10 forward leg swings each leg, 10 sideways leg swings each leg, 10 iron cross reaches each leg, 10 scorpion reaches each leg
Heart Rate Spike: 2 x (10m high knees, 10m butt kickers, 10m carioca, 10m falling start acceleration)

Lift:
1. Hang Power Clean and Jerk. 5 (sets) x 3 (reps). The weight doesn’t have to be extremely heavy, but the focus should be on moving it fast. The goal is to have fast elbows on the catch and the jerk. This means that after you shrug and pull, your elbows snap around so they are parallel with the ground for the catch. This will allow you to catch the bar on the meaty part of your deltoids and if you then shrug up you will notice that the bar doesn’t touch your collarbones. As you go overhead, use push yourself under the bar and snap your elbows into a lock position as quickly as possible.
2. Front Squat. 4 x 8. Go heavier today. Focus on sending the hips back and down and keeping the elbows pointed forward on the descent and the ascent. This ensures that you keep a straight back through out the lift and allows all the drive from your legs to be transferred into moving the weight.
3. Bench. 5 x 5. Go a little heavier today. Focus on driving the bar away from your body quickly after a controlled descent.

Conditioning:
Complete 4 rounds as quickly as possible of the triplet: 20 lunges (10 each leg), 10 hand release pushups, and 10 Russian KB/DB Swings. The lunges are in place and initiate with a step forward with the downward motion finishing with the back knee touching the ground before driving up with the front leg to finish in the start position (two feet together in place). The pushups require you to go all the way to the ground with a flat body and rest your chest on the ground at the bottom before lifting your hands off the ground and then pushing yourself back up to the starting position. The Russian KB/DB should be a heavy about 50-75#. A Russian swing starts with the bell between your legs and finishes with your arms parallel to the ground. This workout is a gaser meaning that you need to push as hard as possible taking very little to no rest.

Stretching:
Achilles, calves, hips, quads, hamstrings and lower back.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

With most colleges preparing for the spring season, this workout is great to complete before training. If you do not have training, complete 3 x 800m conditioning and take as much rest as it takes to run each 800m.

Warm-Up:
Mobility: 10 forward hip circles, 10 backward hip circles each leg, 10 forward arm circles each leg, 10 backward arm circles, 10 squats, 10 lunges each leg, 10 pushups, 30 second plank, 10 pushups, 10 forward leg swings each leg, 10 sideways leg swings each leg, 10 iron cross reaches each leg, 10 scorpion reaches each leg
Heart Rate Spike: 2 x (10m high knees, 10m butt kickers, 10m carioca, 10m falling start acceleration)

Agility:
1. Ladder Work: 4-6 reps of each skill, if you don’t have a ladder grab a bunch of full water bottles and use them as cones spaced 18-24 inches apart. Single Foot Skips, Double Foot Skips, Single Foot Run, Double Foot Run, Bunny Jumps, Right Foot Hops, Left Foot Hops, Half Icky Shuffle, Full Icky Shuffle
2. 5-10-5: Complete 6 repetitions (3 going right first and 3 going left first). Recover for 1-2 minutes between reps and give it everything you have.
3. T-Drill: Complete 4 repetitions (2 right and 2 left). Recover about 1 minute between reps. Focus on short steps around the cones and driving out of the turns with low hips.

Ball Skills:
1. Tactile Pressure shuttle: Set up 10m shuttle and run while tapping the ball in your hand above your head. Complete 6 reps on each hand with 10 pushup penalty for every drop ball.
2. Ball Toss: Throw the ball into the air using a perfect spiral. Complete tosses for 1 minute using your dominant hand and 1 minute using your non-dominant hand.

Monday, January 23, 2012

The second week of the mini-offseason program keeps the same lifts with different conditioning components. The lifts are there to build a strength and explosive base. The ability to become familiar with these lifts will allow you to learn the movement and incrementally increase the amount of weight that use. The conditioning focuses on moving moderately heavy weight or your body quickly for short periods of time.

Warm-Up:
Mobility: 10 forward hip circles, 10 backward hip circles each leg, 10 forward arm circles each leg, 10 backward arm circles, 10 squats, 10 lunges each leg, 10 pushups, 30 second plank, 10 pushups, 10 forward leg swings each leg, 10 sideways leg swings each leg, 10 iron cross reaches each leg, 10 scorpion reaches each leg
Heart Rate Spike: 2 x (10m high knees, 10m butt kickers, 10m carioca, 10m falling start acceleration)

Lift:
1. Clean Pulls. 5 (sets) x 3 (reps). Focus on driving up with the legs into a shrug before you pull the bar high with your arms. It is alright to re-grip between reps. Use 70-80% of your Clean 1RM (rep max), this will allow you to focus on opening your hips and shrugging the bar.
2.  Back Squat. Sets of 5, 5, 5, 3, 3. Increase your weight every set, start with the weight you used on the fourth set last week. Again, keep your chest up and as you descend send your hips back again. When driving out of the hole, focus on keeping your chest up as your hips lift into the air. 
3. Push Press. 5 x 6. Increase your weight by 3-7% from last week. Focus on keeping your torso upright as you dip and drive. Finish with the bar stacked over your wrists, shoulders, hips and ankles. The only way this can happen is if you drive your head forward at the top of the push press.

Conditioning:
As Many Rounds As Possible (AMRAP) in 7 minutes of 7 Deadlifts (225#) & 7 Burpees. It is appropriate to scale this workout so you think you can perform the first 4-5 rounds of deadlifts without stopping (around 60-70% 1RM). The burpees are hard and you need to jump to finish each burpee. This brutal little couplet simulates the need to clear out effectively after getting up off the ground.

Cool Down and Stretching:
Complete 5-10 minutes of slow bike riding followed by stretching of the hamstrings, hips, lower back, quads, shoulders and chest. 

Saturday, January 21, 2012.

The last day of the first week, I hope that you have found the time to stay on schedule. I have programmed Saturdays during pre-season, if you have a game I would expect you to miss today’s workout.

Lift:
1. Hang Power Snatch. 3 (sets) x 3 (reps). Focus on keeping the bar close your body after you jump. This is achieve by keeping the elbows high and outside.
2. Deadlift. 5 x 5. Focus on your start position, getting everything locked into place with a flat back and a neutral spine alignment. The bar comes off the ground slowly and speeds up as the bar travels past your knees.
3. Military Press. 4 x 8. Focus on keeping your core tight and driving up while keeping your body stable.

Core:
2 sets of 15 single leg bridge, 30 seconds side plank each side.

Conditioning:
Complete 5 rounds of 100m sprint (50m there and back) and 10 heavy DB thrusters (35-55#). In this workout, you are training your body to move heavy weight after sprinting. This replicates a game where you chase a kick-off and the complete a tackle/clear-out.

Stretch:
Calves, achilles, hamstrings, hips, hip flexors, lower back and shoulders.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Rest Day!

With the start of the season comes the need to set goals. During this initial part of the pre-season focus the goals around fitness. Your short term goals need to be specific and measurable. For example, completing all eight 40m sprints under 6 seconds every Thursday. While this sounds like an easy goal, you will need a partner (or a video camera) to help you time yourself and you will need to bust your butt from certain starting positions to ensure that you achieve this goal.

Your goal needs to scare you a little bit. If you know when you set it you will achieve it then it is not big enough. An example from school, a student with a 3.0 GPA aims for all Cs. From past experience, this student should easily achieve this goal, however a goal of 3 As and 1 B is more reasonable and will scare the student who knows they need to work hard to achieve their goal.

 

How to Squat

How to Squat

A great article on the set-up and execution of the squat by Jason Ferrugia, owner of Renegade Strength and Conditioning.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

If you have started pre-season then complete this session before training, if not then complete the session and follow-up with 10 x 280m shuttle runs starting every 3 minutes. (Shuttle is out and back over a progressively longer distance: 5m, 10m, 15m, 20m, 25m, 30m, 35m).

Warm-Up:
Mobility: 10 forward hip circles, 10 backward hip circles each leg, 10 forward arm circles each leg, 10 backward arm circles, 10 squats, 10 lunges each leg, 10 pushups, 30 second plank, 10 pushups, 10 forward leg swings each leg, 10 sideways leg swings each leg, 10 iron cross reaches each leg, 10 scorpion reaches each leg
. Heart Rate Spike: 2 x (10m high knees, 10m butt kickers, 10m carioca, 10m falling start acceleration)

Speed:
1. 8 x 40m sprints with 2 minutes rest between reps. 2 sprints from a 3-point start, 2 from a standing start, 2 from a falling start, and 2 from a lying start. Focus on staying relaxed, keeping your elbows at 90 degrees and driving your arms from your shoulders. If your elbows are at 90 degrees then you will be able to drive your hand from your cheek (face) to your cheek (butt).

Ball Skills:
1. Finger taps at arms length. 60 seconds. Move the ball around and focus on keeping the ball on the pads of the fingers.
2. Shazams. 1 handed passing facing your partner/wall. Start with your hand underneath the ball with the ball touching your belly button. Drive with your forearms before finishing the pass by flicking your wrists. The object is to develop wrist strength. Complete 20-30 each hand.
Sideways Shazams. Turn side-on to your partner or the wall and complete as above. Complete 20-30 each hand.

Stretches:
Calves, hamstrings, quads and lower back.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Warm-Up:
Mobility: 10 forward hip circles, 10 backward hip circles each leg, 10 forward arm circles each leg, 10 backward arm circles, 10 squats, 10 lunges each leg, 10 pushups, 30 second plank, 10 pushups, 10 forward leg swings each leg, 10 sideways leg swings each leg, 10 iron cross reaches each leg, 10 scorpion reaches each leg
Heart Rate Spike: 2 x (10m high knees, 10m butt kickers, 10m carioca, 10m falling start acceleration)

 Lift:
1. Hang Power Clean & Jerk. 5 (sets) x 3 (reps). Focus on driving with your legs to open your hips. The shrug pulling you into the catch will help you stick the landing. On the jerk, focus on keeping your torso upright during the dip and then pushing yourself under the bar.

2. Front Squat. 3 x 10. Focus on building the shelf, by shrugging your shoulders up and keeping your elbows high. This will keep the bar path over your ankles and allow you to maintain your midline.

3. Bench Press. 5 x 5. Focus on keeping your back active through the lift and controlling the arc of the bar. I would prefer a narrower grip because of this is closer to the stiff arm and lineout lifting action.

Core:
2 sets of 60 second plank, 15 butterfly situps, 10 DB Russian twists each side (15#).

Conditioning:

Complete 6 rounds beginning every 2 minutes of 100m shuttle and 10 pushups. The shuttle starts at the goal line then sprint 5m then turn and come back to the goal line, then 10m, 15m, and 20m. The pushups are legit if only your chest touches the ground at the bottom and your arms lock at full extension at the top. This is an interval workout, where the quicker you complete the shuttle the more rest you.

Stretch:
Calves, Achilles, hamstrings, quads, chest, upper back and hips.