Category — conditioning

Serious athletes train all year round.  Training isn’t just playing sports, either, it’s working out during the off-season to prepare your body for a higher level of performance and less susceptibility to injury.

There are generally three training options for athletes:

1. The first is a comprehensive training program where the athlete works out under a strength and conditioning coach for a full training session with their teammates. This tends to lead to the best results and build a team community that lasts much longer than the competitive season.
2. The second is having an athlete follow a training program on their own and adapting the workout to the equipment available at their home, local sports field, or commercial gym. This type of training style tends to be the most economical but the athlete misses out on the corrective coaching cues that help them become more efficient in their movement patterns. Over and under training issues can arise with this approach as the strength professional does not have the ability to individualize the training volume and change the progression of exercises from a day-to-day and week-to-week standpoint.
3. The third is a hybrid of the two, where an athlete learns a set of 2-4 workouts each month then completes the workouts on their own for 3-6 weeks before receiving a new workout from their strength coach. This hybrid version tends to still be economical and allows the athlete to get some coaching cues each month and improve their technique, but poor habits can be reinforced and no guarantee can be made that over training issues will be avoided.

TRAINING PERIODS dictate the quantity, intensity, and quality of work for differing parts of the year. There are four basic training periods:

1. The 1st  period is during the off-season. This starts 2-4 weeks after the season concludes and goes for 8-12 weeks before their next season begins. Usually an athlete will have 8-24 weeks in the period depending on how many sports they participate in each year. In this period athletes should be building general athletic abilities that include the one listed above.  If an athlete participates in more than one sport, they may not have much time to practice anything more than the actual sport skills.  If they do have time, this should be invested in a well-rounded strength and conditioning that focuses on corrective measures related to movement patterns, general capacities, and injury prevention.
2. The 2nd period is the preseason, which usually consists of 8-12 weeks before the beginning of the season but can be longer if the athlete is competing at a semi-pro or professional level.  The athlete should continue general athletic development progressions but add components to the work out that will specifically enhance the characteristics of the sport they are preparing for.  For example, specific conditioning is implemented (i.e. 1,200 yards/game in football = 1,200 yards of sprints work), and the major movement patterns of the sport are trained with more intensity and volume.
3. The 3rd Period is in-season training. In many ways this can be the most important period for an athlete’s success.  This is also the easiest strength and conditioning training an athlete will do throughout the year but selecting the best exercises, reps and set can be the most difficult. Athletes really do need a personalized training program different sport positions often need different in-season programs to maximize athletic performance. This is where “tapering” principles are used to “peak” an athlete for the most important competition(s).

“Tapering” is when an athlete drastically backs off their training and drastically increases rest and nutritional intake to make their bodies as fresh and strong as possible for the big competitions.

“Peaking” is the result of tapering. This is when an athlete is the freshest and is the strongest in the competition season. The tricky part is to get this in sync with the day and hour(s) of a big game.

1. The 4th is the active rest period. This is usually 2-4 weeks after the last competition and purpose is to let the body recover from a long competitive season both physically and mentally. During this period an athlete should participate in fun recreational activities 2-6 hours a week and devote more time to other aspects of life, such as with their friends and family.

In the theme of the New Year, this week our exercise focuses on working the core, and promoting strength and stability from head to toe.  The stability ball is a great training tool, and a relatively inexpensive one, too!  You can pick one up at your local sports or department store usually for less than twenty dollars.

The stability ball provides a unique challenge in that it requires you to focus on balance and activation of your midsection.  People often say “I want to build a stronger core.”  Well, have you ever stopped and asked, “what exactly is my CORE?”  The “core” of the body refers to all of the muscles, bones, and joint structures spanning from your knees to mid-chest level.  This is the basis of power generation through the body.  A weak core translates to inefficient force application, and can increase your risk for injury.

Imagine trying to shot a cannon-ball out of a canoe.  It would be very difficult to hit your target because the base of the cannon is unstable.  Conversely, firing a cannon that was clamped down to a cement foundation would make it easier to hit your target.  The body works in a similar fashion – if you try to apply force through your appendages (arms and legs), but your core is weak, much of that power is lost.

I constantly try to explain this to parents, coaches, and athletes.  For example – when a football lineman comes out of his stance to deliver a block he is generating tremendous amounts of force through the legs.  HOWEVER, the point of impact is usually the hands or shoulders.  That power has to find it’s way to the impact zone somehow, and that is through the back and trunk.  If you have a weak core, it is sort of like taking a soda can and crumpling it up when you step on it; your body folds up like an accordion.  Conversely, if you have a strong core it would be akin to running into a door with a steel battering ram -   all that power is applied to the target.  Think how this can effect sports involving clubs, bats, or sticks – the more power you have in your trunk the more accuracy and velocity you should have on a shot or swing.

All right, onto our exercise, the SUPINE STABILITY BALL BALANCE.  It should be noted that this exercise is meant to be held in a static (motionless) position.  The length of time you hold the position is largely dictated by your conditioning level.  Generally speaking 30 seconds is a good place to start.  As you improve, you can lengthen the time out to as much as 2 minutes (or break it up into 2 sets of 1 minute, or more!).

1.  Begin lying on your back with your heels placed on the center of the ball and your hands at your sides.

2.  Lift your hips off the ground and maintain balance.

3.  You can use this progression to increase the challenge:

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1.  Hands down (picture 1)

2.  Elbows down (picture 2)

3.  Arms crossed on the chest (picture 3)

4.  Eyes closed

5.  Repeat the same progression using a single leg

Serious athletes train all year round.  Training isn’t just playing sports, either, it’s working out during the off-season to prepare your body for a higher level of performance and less susceptibility to injury.

There are generally three training options for athletes:

1. The first is a comprehensive training program where the athlete works out under a strength and conditioning coach for a full training session with their teammates. This tends to lead to the best results and build a team community that lasts much longer than the competitive season.

2. The second is having an athlete follow a training program on their own and adapting the workout to the equipment available at their home, local sports field, or commercial gym. This type of training style tends to be the most economical but the athlete misses out on the corrective coaching cues that help them become more efficient in their movement patterns. Over and under training issues can arise with this approach as the strength professional does not have the ability to individualize the training volume and change the progression of exercises from a day-to-day and week-to-week standpoint.

3. The third is a hybrid of the two, where an athlete learns a set of 2-4 workouts each month then completes the workouts on their own for 3-6 weeks before receiving a new workout from their strength coach. This hybrid version tends to still be economical and allows the athlete to get some coaching cues each month and improve their technique, but poor habits can be reinforced and no guarantee can be made that over training issues will be avoided.

TRAINING PERIODS dictate the quantity, intensity, and quality of work for differing parts of the year.

There are four basic training periods:

1. The 1^st period is during the off-season. This starts 2-4 weeks after the season concludes and goes for 8-12 weeks before their next season begins. Usually an athlete will have 8-24 weeks in the period depending on how many sports they participate in each year. In this period athletes should be building general athletic abilities that include the one listed above.  If an athlete participates in more than one sport, they may not have much time to practice anything more than the actual sport skills.  If they do have time, this should be invested in a well-rounded strength and conditioning that focuses on corrective measures related to movement patterns, general capacities, and injury prevention.

2. The 2^nd period is the preseason, which usually consists of 8-12 weeks before the beginning of the season but can be longer if the athlete is competing at a semi-pro or professional level.  The athlete should continue general athletic development progressions but add components to the work out that will specifically enhance the characteristics of the sport they are preparing for.  For example, specific conditioning is implemented (i.e. 1,200 yards/game in football = 1,200 yards of sprints work), and the major movement patterns of the sport are trained with more intensity and volume.

3. The 3^rd Period is in-season training.  In many ways this can be the most important period for an athlete’s success.  This is also the easiest strength and conditioning training an athlete will do throughout the year but selecting the best exercises, reps and set can be the most difficult. Athletes really do need a personalized training program different sport positions often need different in-season programs to maximize athletic performance. This is where “tapering” principles are used to “peak” an athlete for the most important competition(s).

“Tapering” is when an athlete drastically backs off their training and drastically increases rest and nutritional intake to make their bodies as fresh and strong as possible for the big competitions.

“Peaking” is the result of tapering. This is when an athlete is the freshest and is the strongest in the competition season. The tricky part is to get this in sync with the day and hour(s) of a big game.

4. The 4^th is the active rest period. This is usually 2-4 weeks after the last competition and purpose is to let the body recover from a long competitive season both physically and mentally. During this period an athlete should participate in fun recreational activities 2-6 hours a week and devote more time to other aspects of life, such as with their friends and family.

This week we will learn how to do a fairly common exercise:  The Lunge.  The lunge is an exercise that many people use but time and again is done improperly.  When performed correctly it is an exercise that develops the musculature thighs, glutes, calves, and trunk posture.

The lunge can be used in a few different varieties.  The most common one you’ll see is for general conditioning – it is usually part of a circuit during a workout aimed at overall body conditioning.  It can also be utilized as a strength developing exercise when you add dumbbells in the hands or a barbell across the back.  With any variety of the exercise a few key points should be made:

1. Take a step forward.  The step should be far enough to maintain a good relationship between the knee and foot which is indicated by having the shin perpendicular to the ground.  Your weight should be equally distributed between your front and rear foot.  If you find most of your weight is over your front leg you may feel pressure or pain in the front knee.  This is because you are placing a large amount of sheer force on the knee joint and it can lead to joint deterioration.

2.  The thigh should be parallel to the ground when at the end of the step.  Do not use the hands to push off your front leg.

3.  Make sure lateral distance is maintained between your feet so as not to fall off balance.  It is very common to see people perform a lunge with both feet lined up forward and backward.  This creates a narrow base of support and cause balance issues.

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4.  When performing a barbell lunge pay close attention to maintaining neutral spinal alignment; avoid trunk flexion or rotation.

5.  If you step backward instead of forward during the initial movement you should notice it is easier to maintain the correct positions of the lower leg and trunk.  A description on how to do the exercise when stepping forward has been included because it is the most common way most people recognize this exercise.  Keep in mind that just because you see an exercise being done frequently in a particular fashion doesn’t always mean it is the best way.

In the firehouse, how many times have you heard someone say, “I should start working out again?”  It may have come from one, two, or even three people on your crew.  You may in fact be one of those muttering these words.  In any case, this article will give you a few suggestions to get yourself, and your crew out of the lifesuckers and back into the exercise room.

The new K.I.S.S. principle: Keep It Simple & Short…for now.   At the beginning, keep your workouts to a moderate pace and length (30 minutes), and filled with exercises that you already know.  Too much instruction in the beginning can turn away your crew.  Overloading with instructions and intensity will not keep the interest.  As firefighters, our attention span isn’t more than an hour.  Keep exercise instructions brief, positive, and effective.  Demonstrate an exercise as you explain the key points.

Share the responsibility.  If you are leading the pack, just remember that everyone has a stake in the program too.  Take turns letting each crew member lead the warm-up, body, and/or cool down portions of the workout.  During the session, let each member take a turn monitoring the stopwatch while resting (if using timed intervals).  Once your crew nails some of the fundamental exercises, have each member create one workout for each week of the month.  Be creative and have fun with it.

Explain the benefits. A little knowledge can go a long way.  We are an inquisitive people, so play into the fact your crew members want to know,  “What’s in it for them?”  Let them know how each exercise or session will help reduce heart attack risk, improve recovery time between calls or tasks, increase the amount of time it takes before they suck down a bottle, or how this will help them play better in the next department softball tournament.  Make it personal to each member.

Now GO! Avoid spending excessive time on the preliminary stuff.  After you build the excitement (YES! Excitement!), you must start moving.  The workouts don’t have to be perfect, but they should be safe for everyone involved.  Having an idea of how to change the level of difficulty of each exercise will be helpful for all members.  Make sure you perform a good dynamic warm up routine in the beginning and end each session with a cool down.

An example workout for you and your crew using three timed stations could look like the following:

Station 1: PVC cable pulls x 60 seconds

Station 2: Dumbbell stepup-overhead press x 60 seconds

Station 3: Rest (third person using stopwatch) x 60 seconds

If you have additional personnel with you, you can add the appropriate number of stations and exercises so everyone is doing something. If using timed periods, continue with one person using the stopwatch during the rest station.

Another example circuit, using reps or distance per set, could look like this:

Station 1: Highrise squats x 10 reps per side

Station 2: Duck walk x 100 ft.

Station 3: Situps x 20

These are just a few tips you can use to help get yourself and your crew moving.  You can be a leader in your firehouse by eating right and exercising.  Leading the pack and making the workouts fun will help you and your crew stay focused and fit.

This week, we are going to look at a basic but effective exercise – the standing rotational medicine ball throw. As you take a look at the pictures I encourage you to think about some of the more common sport moves you see – swinging a bat, shooting a puck, throwing a football; they all involve similar mechanics.

One thing I see time and again are training programs that lack any form of rotary training. Particularly when we examine strength routines, most programs involve only flexion and extension exercises. Common examples of these exercises include squats, deadlifts, bench presses, barbell/dumbbell curls, tricep extensions, pullups, lat pulldowns, etc. These are all great things to do, but the problem is that they do not challenge your body the same way as swinging a bat or throwing a baseball does.

Many times people say, “I need to build up my core.” Well, what are you doing to accomplish that other than situps, crunches, and back extensions? It makes more sense to include exercises that involve rotation about the spine and other joints of the body, along with side flexion (as in, imagine the motion at the hip of a jumping jack). Most back injuries are due to an imbalance of strength between the legs and back. By using rotational type activities we help to reduce the risk of such accidents.

So onto this week’s exercise – the ROTATIONAL MEDICINE BALL THROW. This exercise can be done with any medicine ball of choice. I recommend beginning with a weight between 4-8lbs. Be careful not to turn this strictly into a strength routine. We are trying to develop the trunk in a rotary fashion without impeding the normal function of the body. If you choose a weight much greater than 8lbs, you may start to compensate for the extra resistance (the medicine ball) by changing your mechanics. This would be counter-productive to training a basic sport move. Follow these guidelines:

1. Begin in a shoulder width stance with the feet in a heel to toe alignment, holding the medicine ball approximately at navel level (right and top left).

2. Rotate the trunk, shoulders, arms and head to one side as far as possible and immediately twist back in the opposite direction to throw the ball. Focus on rotating the feet, hips, and shoulders first, and finishing with the upper body (remaining sequence).

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The important part of this equation is to use the entire body. The common mistake is to throw strictly with the arms. Remember a summation of forces involves using the large, slower muscles of the body first (i.e the legs, trunk, and chest) and follow with the smaller muscles of the appendages (the lower legs, feet, arms, and wrists). Emphasize a high velocity for this movement. Also aim at throwing against a wall so that the ball rebounds back to you – otherwise you’ll be chasing the implement down after every throw and the workout will take forever.

Integrating rotational movements into your everyday program is extremely valuable. I recommend doing some form of rotary movement at least twice a week, and if you only have time for one exercise, make it a rotation. Remember that balanced training of the body provides optimum results. By analyzing what you are doing for training, you will decrease the likelihood of injury and shorten your time to improvement. Ultimately, it is the person who improves the fastest who usually ends up winning.

As Safety Professionals, we inherently carry a sense of competition within us that helps us perform our jobs. Whether we’re trying to run down criminals, get that perfect stick in the patient’s arm, or get the first water on the fire, we often compete against ourselves and our colleagues. While this article uses the example of how to use competition in the firehouse, the information can be carried over into the police and EMS worlds too. I often hear about firefighters having a bench press competition in the firehouse, and the majority of those stories end up the same way – with a firefighter blowing out a shoulder and a new S.O.G. prohibiting this practice in the future. In this example I use the bench press because it is a common exercise many Safety Professionals will use to compete against each other. The bench press is a useful exercise in the right environment and application just like we can all foster a competitive and fun atmosphere to help stay fit. The bigger issue here is how can we use our competitive spirit in the firehouse to motivate each other and have some fun while getting fit. This article will offer tips on how we can use competition in the firehouse in a responsible way.

1 ) Use safe and effective exercises. Stay away from the ego-stroking exercises like the squat, bench press, or deadlift unless you are disciplined and use common sense or have experience performing or coaching these exercises at a higher level. The squat, bench press, and deadlift are good technical exercises to use in your program, but not the best when it comes to competition in the firehouse. Training with your partner can be enough motivation; however, using these exercises for competition can be dangerous.

2) Use exercises that EVERYONE can perform. Just like your crew has different body shapes, they all have different injuries and ranges of motion. Pick one or a group of exercises that can improve one’s fitness and firefighter abilities. Some examples to compete in are the number of stair sprints within a certain period of time or the number of rounds you can complete a circuit within a certain period of time.

3) Race against the clock…not each other. Set a specific time-period for your crew to complete an exercise or group of exercises (in circuit fashion). Tally up the reps you have completed per set and record the data. Next time you do the workout, you should motivate yourself to beat the previous amount of reps within the same time period. For example, if you did 42 squats within 60 seconds today, next week you should strive for 45 within 60 seconds. Each week you can push yourself safely to do more. In the end, you will all be exercising together, but you’ll be competing against yourself.

4) Compete for charity. There are many short, medium, and long distance runs set up to help raise awareness or to increase donations for a particular charity. Whether you’re a born runner or not, these races will require some training and preparation. Have your crew train together for a 5K walk/run or even a half-marathon, which supports your local area or favorite charity. This is a win-win-win for everyone involved.

Competition in the firehouse can effectively motivate you and our crew; however, you must use competition responsibly and respect the fact that we will push ourselves to achieve a goal. In doing so, some of us will push our bodies beyond safe limits, which may be dangerous and cause career-ending injuries. Make sure everyone is cleared medically to participate in an intense exercise program. As we push our bodies, we will often need time to recover, so avoid hard workouts on consecutive days. Over the course of two to four weeks, if you see your performance drop while using the same time period you need to examine your daily habits and workouts to see where your progression is being halted. Sometimes nutrition and hydration can be the answers to a drop in performance.

If you follow these tips and guidelines, you will be able to compete against yourself and fellow firefighters without increasing the risk of injury or death. Lastly, you will find great motivation to continue your workouts, which translates into a healthier lifestyle, more productive firefighter, and happier retirement.

Learn more about Firefighter Fitness at Iron Jake’s

The goal of this post is to clear up a very common misconception: ”We get fast in the weight room.” This point is only partially true.

Speed is a result of force production and sound mechanics; lifting weights does very little to improve sprint mechanics. Why? Because we’re not sprinting when we are lifting weights! This is common sense! For all the veteran coaches out there – hold on! I’m not to my point yet. Strength training is absolutely necessary for anyone who wants to have success in athletics. However, the issue at hand is too many coaches spend 90% of their time focusing solely on strength training, when they should be spreading their training time out amongst other things, such as coordination, balance, agility, biomechanics, jump training, core development, acceleration, etc.

On this note, let’s remember there is a difference between training and practice. When we TRAIN, we work on general conditioning, strength, flexibility, stamina; physiological variables that are relatively easy to develop if we put in the time and are consistent. When we PRACTICE, we are doing neurological things such as eye-hand coordination, balance, coordination, cognitive response (i.e. how to react to a game situation), etc. PRACTICE is what most coaches are good at as it requires knowledge of their respective sport or game. TRAINING is what most coaches usually are not as well versed in, because it requires knowledge of exercise physiology, kinesiology, bioenergetics, metabolic pathways; the geek stuff you go to school for.

These are two separate knowledge bases; it’s important to recognize the difference! We can all do our taxes if we have to, but it sure is a lot easier to hire a CPA who does it for a profession, knows what to look for, and has a ton more experience then to do it ourselves? So why are some sport coaches still insisting they know so much about quickness and agility?

So back to speed in the weight room. The take home message is that speed is developed by challenging the body in a manner conducive to enhancing sprint mechanics, not bulking up with weights. While it is impossible for an athlete to fully capture their full speed without weights, beware not to overemphasize either component. If we were to take an arbitrary number, I would recommend spending 35% of your time working solely on sprint mechanics, 35% of your time on special strength enhancement (i.e. resisted sprints, sled pulling, acceleration drills), and the remaining 30% in the weight room. And once more, the exercises you choose in the weight room had better do more then just make you look good in a bathing suit.

This weeks article is the last installment of a 3-part series examining the question “What are the commonalities of great coaches?” Our first article examined Administration, our second Technical Instruction, and this one being Motivation.  The idea behind this series of articles is to provide a bit of perspective on how we all fit into either teaching others or individually learning ourselves.

There are three major components to successful coaching; administration, motivation, and technical instruction.

MOTIVATION is something I consider to be somewhat of an innate skill, and perhaps the most difficult of the three to be good at.  All great leaders have charisma to a certain degree.  To me, inspiring a group to follow you has a lot to do with showing your vulnerability.  If you show people your human side, your audience can identify with what you are preaching and develops a connection.  They will be more apt to listen to what you have to say if you bring yourself down to their level, showing empathy toward their plight.

It’s sort of like when you listen to a song and can identify with the lyrics – that musician has told a story that perhaps you can relate to.  It invokes a memory and emotional response that motivates you to listen more.  At this very moment you are reading this article – if you’ve made it this far, I hope you’ve connected with some of the points I’ve made!  Everyone has a different way of doing this.  The one thing I do see as a constant between great coaches is their ability to put themselves into the shoes of those who they serve mentor too.  Simply put, you must be realistic with your perspective on whatever situation you happen to be coaching in, and be able to relate to those who you work with.

Conversely, poor motivators can and will torpedo any program they are involved in.  Without the ability to move people to action, very little is accomplished.  A poor motivator is usually bad at the administrative and technical aspect of their sport too.  The single point that keeps coming back to me is the job of the motivator is to pump energy into their audience and move them to action.  Again – there are many ways of accomplishing this.  Just take a look at the different coaching styles that exist; scientists, yellers, cajolers, disciplinarians, pacifists, to name a few.

The mark of a poor motivator is just the opposite of a good one – they display an inability to connect with their audience, and often lack the perspective to see and say things the way they really are.  They often compensate for this inability by becoming ultra-proficient in the administrative component.  It is their way to exert control over the team or the individual by creating a wall of defense through rules and regulations.  This usually stifles progress and creativity because participants become fearful of the consequences related to breaking these rules.  The adage of “Not seeing the trees for the forest” is usually akin to this scenario.

To me consistent motivation is the mark of an exceptional coach.  As previously stated, every coach has his or her own way of motivating their athletes.   Not all athletes are as motivated as others, but it is the coach who consistently finds a way to discover the majority of their athletes who will be the most successful.

This post we look at why running may not be the best way of getting oneself into shape. Even though on the surface level it may seem as if running is very beneficial, there are other ways of improving your conditioning level.

First thing we start with – do you have a treadmill at home? If you do, is it an expensive coat rack? Did you know that the treadmill is the most commonly sold piece of exercise cardiovascular equipment, but it’s also the least used? A large reason for this is that running is rather boring. It’s the same repetitive task. Although there are several different things you can do to interject variety into a running workout, it is at the foundation the same thing.

Running creates a lot of impact on the joints. Think of things this way; if it takes you 250 strides every ¼ mile you jog, that means you are landing on your feet 1,000 times for every mile you run. Now if you’re a person who already has low body fat and is at your target weight, this may not be that large of an issue. But if you’re someone who could stand to lose a couple of pounds, are not in shape, and choose to use running as your method of improving your shape, well, you’re asking for a lot of joint pain and muscular soreness. Now let’s factor in if you are not a 20-something year old and think about the accumulated joint wear and tear you are creating. I think we would all like to be able to walk when we’re 40, 50, 60, 70 years old.

When we look at low intensity jogging for long durations, we’re look at a significant time investment to burn calories. From a physiologic standpoint there are numerous other activities available that burn more calories and challenge the cardiovascular system in a non-repetitive manner. If are aim is to improve as fast as possible, the goal should be to simulate the non-sequential, unpredictable environment of the athletic arena or real life we each face. So from a metabolic standpoint running is an inefficient way of improving our conditioning when we talk about time investment.

The last part of this is that particularly when we look at sport or even real life running does not simulate the skills we actually need to perform in either of these situations. Other than being a distance runner of track, in what sport do you jog during game play for more than just a few seconds? The majority of sports out there require short-duration max intensity bursts of speed. In everyday life situations we see the same thing. Imagine if you were on the 3rd floor of a building and the fire alarm goes off. You see and smell smoke. Are you going to jog down the stairs? If you are, I’d like to be in front of you and I’ll see you when we (or I) are outside.

So what should we do other than jogging? Below are a few examples of simple things to improve your conditioning that are more valuable:

1. Do agility drills. This involves 5-10 seconds of max intensity sprints where you cut and turn around cones or other objects. Rest between drills should be 10-30 seconds depending on the complexity of the drill.

2. Do metabolic sprints. Things such as suicides or preset short distances up to 50 yards in length with specific rest intervals are extremely valuable. For instance, if you did ten forty-yard sprints with 30 seconds of rest between each one, you would accumulate 400 yards of maximum intensity sprints. If we look even further, another example would be an average football lineman will sprint between 1,000 and 1,500 yards per game. Most of their plays will be 5-15 yards, which means they should do a sprint program between 40-80 reps adding up to 1,000 – 1,500 yards total.

3. Do cross training. A simple example would be to do a squat jump (where you jump off the ground from a full squat), a regular body weight squat, then a squat hold (where you stay in the low position) for 30 seconds each with no rest. This would be the equivalent of 90-seconds of non-stop work. You can use any callisthenic type exercise and put them into a circuit which in turn creates a higher intensity workout then running. They also typically use better ranges of motion than jogging that are similar to sport moves. Or how about doing some sort of ax-chopping type of motion, similar to what a throwing or striking athlete (i.e. swinging a bat or stick) might do?

4. Join a training group. It’s always harder to cut corners on a workout when you’re part of a group. Whether you’re exercising with a friend, or part of a fitness boot camp, you’ll find yourself pushing yourself harder than if you were on your own.

There is absolutely no reason for people to become bored with their exercise routines or to plateau. If you find your results starting to stagnate I encourage you to consider if you are doing activities that truly challenge your body in a non-repetitive manner, or are you participating in a workout that even simulates what you need to be training for? There is an infinite variety of exercise and workout medleys available; you are only limited by your own imagination.