50 More Tips for Serious Athletes
by Jeremy Frisch [url=javascript:pager.gotoPage(1);]
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Last year I sent T-Nation my first article, 50 Tips for Serious Athletes,
and received a lot of great feedback from the readers. Since that time
there's been a number of requests for a sequel, and I thought that was
a great idea. So I dug deep and tried hard to outdo the first 50 tips.
Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. 51.
You ever get that "I don't want to go to the gym" feeling that lasts a
couple of weeks? It's bound to happen and when it does, you should
listen to it. Every now and then an athlete needs to get out of the gym
for a few weeks and change things up a bit. Maybe go to a playground or
a track and do some non-traditional apparatus and bodyweight training. Don't
worry about your maximal strength, but instead focus on your
conditioning, mobility, flexibility and strength-endurance. This will
unload your body, both physically and mentally, from all the heavy
lifting. After a few weeks you might notice some of those aches and
pains disappearing, replaced by the roaring urge to get back in the gym
and start banging around the heavy iron again. 52.
If you're interested in that last tip, here's an example of a
non-traditional apparatus and bodyweight workout I did last week at the
playground near my house (you might want to wait until all the
neighborhood moms and kiddies have gone home: I think I may have scared
a few.)
Set 1: 10 broad jumps / sprint return / airplane push-up x 20/vee-up x 20 x 3 sets
Set
2: pull-ups on swing set x failure / bear crawl forwards 15
yards-backwards 15 yards / low walking lunges 15 yards forwards-15
yards backwards x 3 sets
Set 3: Inverted row holding swing set x 20 / sumo squat burpee x 10 / 50 yards tempo run down and back x 3 sets 53.
Many people avoid doing snatches because of the difficult technique
required. The snatch balance is a light-weight movement that allows you
to develop the technique, timing, mobility, balance, and speed without
devoting too much time to a lift you're not thrilled about in the first
place. You can perform a snatch balance in either a base stance or in
the split.
54.
In most competitive sports, starting strength is crucial to an
athlete's successful performance. A great exercise to work your
starting strength for sprints is isometric medicine ball scoop throws.
Hold the med ball in a full squat between your legs for 3 seconds, then
explode up and throw it vertically as high as possible. A more athletic
appropriate variation is to have the coach give a go call to throw the
ball. This simulates reaction speed for athletes like Linebackers or
Track Athletes. Legendary track coach Dan Pfaff uses this with his
athletes.
55.
Manual resistance exercises can be a great addition to any training
routine. You can use a training partner to do auxiliary exercises like
resisted push-ups, rows, neck, and arm work. When there are two
dedicated athletes pushing each other as hard as possible these
exercises can get really intense.
56.
There are many athletes out there who still train 1 or 2 body parts a
day and have not really ever dealt with total body workouts. Many
readers often e-mail me asking about how they can switch it up. Here is
a sample 3 day total body athletic training routine. Day 1: Day 2: Day 3: Power cleans: 5 x 3 1 Arm DB bench 3x8 RDL to shrug 3x6 DB lunge/alt press 3x6+6 Chin-ups: 3 x 5 (weighted) BB split snatch 4x4
(Switch feet each rep) Front squats: (clean weight) 4x5 Inverted row: 4x10 Medicine ball push-ups:3x reps Lateral Lunges: 3 x 6+6 Leg curl on ball: 3 x 8 Clean combo:
Hang clean/jerk x 2 3 front squats (6 sets) Bench press: 5x5 RDL to high pull: 5x5 Single leg squats: 3x6 Pull-ups: 3 wide
3 close/3 parallel x 3 57.
We all know how great the Olympic lifts are for athletes. You can add a
great variation to these lifts by catching them in a split stance. Try
doing cleans, snatches, and jerks, catching the weight in a split (one
leg forward-one leg back split squat position). To do these lifts
correctly the athlete must possess split second timing, foot quickness,
balance and speed, all important characteristics of athletic ability.
58.
A great way to do multi-throws with a medicine ball is to throw it up a
hill. With the throw itself nothing changes, however, due to the
downward slope, you can really get some distance in without worrying
about chasing after it. Do squat throws, overhead backwards throws,
single leg squat throws, and scoop throws and just let the ball come
rolling back to your feet. 59.
I'm sure you've all seen or heard about the "300 workout." Athletes,
especially young adolescent athletes, frequently get fired up over
workouts like these. I agree that it was difficult and intense, but a
workout like that should serve only as a rare challenge, not as a
training program. Throw these types of workouts in the mix every few
weeks to switch things up and test yourself, but maintain a thoughtful
program for the majority of your training. 60.
I love front squats. They are one of the most challenging but
productive exercises an athlete can do. The only thing I love more than
front squats are front squats superseded by a clean. For a few months
skip using the power rack to do front squats, but instead power clean
the weight into position. You will definitely notice your heavy sets
becoming much harder, just by adding that one clean prior to squatting.
61.
The Squat Clean. Whether you go heavy or not, the squat clean is a
great athletic exercise. Complete the clean by dropping deep into a low
front squat rather than pulling and catching the bar as high as
possible. I usually try to teach this right away with my athletes to
develop good habits. They often have a tendency to jump the
legs out wide rather than drop under and catch the weight in a squat
once the weights get a little heavier. You have to be lightening-quick
in order to drop under the weight and possess strong legs in order to
decelerate the weight eccentrically. Practice dropping low while your
weights are still light, because once the weight gets heavy enough you
may have no other choice.
62.
Many of us have heard of or used towel chin-ups to work on our grip
during our back work. Towels can be used to crush your grip in
countless other methods. Pulling movements like seated rows, inverted
rows, partner rows and even grip specific work like farmer walks with
towels through a kettlebell or a plate will leave your hands feeling
like arthritic claws for hours. 63.
If you like the idea of training your grip through towel work, here's
one you can do right at home. Roll-up a large beach towel, soak it in
water and put it into the sink. Then ring out the water with both hands
as vigorously as possible for 1 minute. This'll crush your grip and you
can do it right before you hop in the shower after a workout. If you
shower at the gym and want to give this a shot, do everyone a favor and
do it beforeyou drop the shorts. 64.
Warm-ups are meant to do exactly what their name indicates. You should
raise your body temperature until you have nice beads of sweat running
down your forehead. For athletes, this means doing ground-based total
body movements in multiple planes of motion. Skipping with arm swings
forward, backwards and sideways, shuffle with big arm circles, carioca
with arms overhead, high knee running with forward and backwards arm
swings and push-ups mixed with crawling motions are just a few that we
use with our athletes. These exercises are essential for 3 main
reasons. They incorporate both the upper and lower body at the same
time, teach coordination and synchronization between body parts, and of
course, warm up the athlete. 65.
Who says you need to spend all that money on a sprint sled? Just find
an old tire, tie some rope to it, tie the other end to a belt, put the
belt on and sprint. It's simple, effective and affordable. 66.
Make do with what's available. If you're from an area that actually has
four seasons, you know how shitty and unpredictable the weather can get
during the winter. Unless you're fortunate enough to have an indoor
track or facility near your house, it becomes impossible to get any
sprint work done during this season. I found a solution via a
hotel staircase a few blocks from my house. It's about 5 floors and is
just about perfect for quick accelerations or conditioning work. You
can vary it up hitting every step, skipping steps or even jumping up
steps. If you're worried about people in the stairs, ask yourself when
the last time you opted out of the elevator and used the stairs at a
hotel. Whether you use a hotel staircase or not, be creative and get
your workouts in despite the obstacles in your path. 67.
Everyone knows how important it is to switch up your routine in order
to make progress in the gym. Instead of changing up the exercises or
the reps and sets all the time, try mixing up the emphasis of the lifts
instead. For example, at our facility we like to vary our hang cleans
using a progression from an isometric hold, to an eccentric lowering
and then onto a ballistic movement.