School sports are back! And unlike most New England August’s there’s a bit of a chill in the air. Football, soccer and field hockey squads are beginning their practices this week and double sessions are falling into order for most schools. But are you seriously prepared for the season ahead? Are you conditioned for your position? Can you handle the pressure of a successful varsity season or will you crumble in exhaustion because you decided to skimp on off-season and preseason training?
Have no fear. Even if you slacked all summer guzzling Big Gulps and Coolatta’s by the beach you can still make an impact on the roster. Heck if you train smart enough you may even steal a starting position!
Ahead you’ll find a basic training program, a two week quick-fix if you will, to getting in shape. You may even appear as if you’ve been fulfilling your coaches every summer preparation dream! Don’t worry though, we know you’re still kids and enjoying your summer is a must.
Now the above sports are without fail dependant upon two factors: your ability to handle endurance and your ability to resist injury. Sure strength, power, speed, quickness, flexibility, mobility, agility all count. But let’s be honest. If you get hurt your season is over. If you can’t handle being in the game due to fatigue and poor endurance you’re out too. So we need to maximize your speed and conditioning through intervals and you need to execute specific exercises to maintain a strong athletic stance. We’ll begin with conditioning.
For your conditioning we’re keeping it simple. Each day after practice-if applicable-begin by warming up with some basic dynamic stretches. Commonly choose the ones you are already familiar with. Second, start with a light jog about a couple laps around the track or field. Third we’ll move into sprints.
Begin with quick 10-20 yard sprints from your sports preferred athletic stance. After each sprint, take your time walking back to the starting line. If there’s one thing I must stress during this session is hydration and maintaining proper breathing. You shouldn’t be winded after 20 yards. Develop your breath control with every stride. Hands stay open, legs and arms move front to back, not side to side or swaying, and you’re pushing behind your body not straight down into the ground for propulsion.
After 5 sprints, have a sip of water and hit the track/field for some distance running; nothing crazy. We’re gonna set the time for this at 5 minutes maximum. Begin by jogging a half a lap, then pick-up the pace into a near sprint for the next 5 yards. Return to your starting pace and continue swapping the two speeds till your time is up. This isn’t rocket science and it’s not back-breaking. This is a simple and effective tool to get back in the swing of things.
For day one, begin with a warm-up perform 5 sprints and transition into a 5 minute jog/sprint interval. For each day after, add 2 sprints and 1 minute to the jog/sprint interval: simple stuff. By the end of two weeks you should be near 15 sprints and 15 minute intervals.
Now for your strength we have four cool exercises for you performed in supersets-two exercises back to back with little to no rest between. The first is a basic farmer’s walk. This will develop a strong grip for your stick sports and for maneuvering opponents. It’ll also add needed stability in the legs and work the entire the upper back and traps. Simply grab a weight plate or dumbbell in each hand and walk with the weights for 100 feet.
The second exercise will be performed immediately following the walk. You’ll get down the ground and lye on your back. Place your heels as close to your butt as possible with your arms by your sides. From here, simply straighten one leg, and push through the ground using the foot closest to your glutes till your hips lift as high as possible from the earth. Hold this top position for one second, return to within one inch above the ground and repeat for 11 more repetitions/lifts. Once finished with all the repetitions on one side switch legs. This exercise will build up your hamstrings and glutes protecting you from ACL injuries and giving your unilateral movements stability and your sprint power. Repeat this farmer’s walk/hip lift for 3 total sets.
The next superset is going to be a basic push-up combined with jump squats. First perform your push-ups, pushing until failure. Then stand up and perform ten deep high jumping squats all in succession. Try to land and jump from the same place each time. You may drift forward or backward an inch or two between landings but do your best to maintain positioning. Repeat this for three sets and you’re done.
This is a simple and effective two-week warm-up to get you ready for the onslaught of games to come. Also, this program can be maintained throughout the season. Lessen the sessions from five to six days to two to three. And don’t forget to stay hydrated, stay limber and focus on the
tasks at hand. Good luck scholastic-athletes. We’ll be rooting for ya.
