Back to it.

You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.
- Plato

Took a break from this thing for a minute there, but I'm back to it now. The past few months have been great for my training, I've progressed in a lot of key areas I've been emphasizing (step-ups, hang cleans, lateral movement, etc...for example) and spent LOTS of time regressing and improving other areas that definitely needed it (overhead squats, split-squats, postural control, for example). You know what your own weaknesses are, make sure you give them their due. Lots to cover today so I'll jump right into it.

Things that are awesome:

- Mini-bands. Simply the most effective way train lateral movement and strengthen the outer hip muscles. The options with them are simply endless. Just start with the greens first big guy, then work your way up.
http://www.performbetter.com/detail.aspx_Q_ID_E_3893_A_CategoryID_E_327

- 10 commandments. Couldn't have said it better if I tried.
http://www.saintwilhelms.org/Commandments.htm

- 50 tips for serious athletes. Great article.
http://www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do;jsessionid=BC65C70A3950A8AA59188E6D56E5972E.hydra?id=1354863


Today's workout:

Movement Prep: 15mins worth of jump-rope, bodyweight squats, split-squats, inchworms, handstand pushups, side lunges, etc. Again, save that static stretching for afterwards when you want to put the muscles to sleep. Not before.

Medicine-ball Work:
I incorporated medicine ball throws into the beginning of my explosive work now and it's been phenomenal. Really warms the entire body up at once and innately trains the "kinetic chain" from your feet to your fingertips. Plus it's fun. I designed a 3-step sequence that hits the most functional type of movements.

Move from one throw to another without rest.

Throw 1: sumo-squat overhead toss. Put the ball on the floor, squat down in proper squat form, pick the ball up and throw it straight overhead with arms extended exploding upwards. Catch the ball.
Throw 2: Ground Slam. Standing upright put the ball behind your head (like a soccer player attempting a throw-in). Jump up while at the same time throw the ball down in front of you as hard as you can. Your feet should stay together and will be out in front of you at the height of your jump. So your lower body is exploding up while your upper body is moving explosively downward. Catch the ball on the bounce in a front-squat position.
Throw 3: Front-squat throw: Since you're already in front-squat position finish it off with a front-squat throw, leaving your feet and throwing it straight up as high as possible, like a jump-shot straight up. Catch the ball.

Sequence: Go through the throw-sequence 5 times with no rest, then put a mini-band on just above your knees and and shuffle back and forth while staying low, on your toes (feet always pointed forward and feet should never touch each other). I do my throws on a basketball court and then shuffle down n' back to halfcourt twice.

2 times through, resting after the band shuffles. Add more throws as you see fit.

Explosive Movement:

3 new types to go over. Incorporate these into your normal box jumps, box marches, etc. Explosive & nimble are the name of the game here. Minimal ground contact as possible. I usually pick 2 of these and work 2-3 sets in.

- Mini-band high knees. Same as the box march but with mini-bands just above the knee. Stay as anaroebic as possible. Don't stress is the bands ride up the quad as you're going, sometimes it happens, just power through. Go till failure and keep that form solid.
http://www.exrx.net/Plyometrics/BoxMarchHigh.html

- Back n' forth step-ups: using the low plyo box stand with the box in front of you. As fast as you can while staying on your toes step-up onto the box with right leg first then left leg then step down in front of the box following the same pattern. Now reverse the direction while still facing the same way (always face the same way) so that you are stepping back up onto the box and then back to your original position, then repeat so that you are going back n' forth to the front and back of the box, back n' forth..etc. Alternate which leg leads the next time through, or tranisition during movement if you're advanced enough. Can also be done with those plastic reebok stepper things if you need a smaller box. Incorporating backwards movement with step-ups is the shit.

-Sitting box jumps: Sit on the edge of the medium plyo-box with your feet in dorsiflexion. From the sitting position explode up and land on top of the plyo box on your toes in a 1/4 squat (or deeper if you are able). Your landing should make zero noise, focus on your landing mechanics- absorbing with your muscles not your joints. In fact, your landing mechanics should be on your mind for every ballistic movement you make. When you stick it, hold it there for a second or two then jump down with control and repeat (you can also do a depth jump from here if you're so inclined). If you don't stick it then it's now an exercise in reactivity, bounce out of it and back to the ground as safely and as athletically as possible. Who said we only have to train jumping forwards?

Functional Strength-training:

1A: Overhead squats. Keep the heels on the floor. If you can't do these well then put the medium plyo box or a bench behind you and do box-squats. essentially re-create sitting back and standing up out of a chair, but with a bar overhead.
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/OlympicLifts/OverheadSquat.html
1B: Lateral shuffles on the low plyo box with the mini-bands above the knee. 30-45 seconds
http://www.exrx.net/Plyometrics/BoxLateralShuffle.html

Twice through, resting after the shuffles

2A: Overhead split-squats. Don't lunge out, all your weight should be on the posterior chain of the back leg, not the quad of the front leg.
2B: lateral shuffles as above. Don't be scared tough guy, it's only 30-45 seconds.

First time through split-squat forwards. 2nd time through split-squat backwards.

3: hang-cleans heavy. 3 sets. Substitute another full-body lift if you can't perform these. Deadlift, deadlift-to-high-pull, more split-squats...etc.

4A: front-squat thrusters: with the bar in the push-press position perform a front-squat and finish with the bar overhead.
4b: jumping pull-up tucks TF: stand under the pull-up bar, jump up and perform a pull-up while simultaneously bring your feet into a tuck position so that you finish your pullup in a full tuck. land, repeat. Shoot for 10-12 or to failure. I also mix these in intermittently whenever I feel like so that I'll usually finish with 5-7 sets of these at the end of the workout. Same with plyo-pushups.

2 sets through, rest when necessary.

5: 2 sets of either heavy front-squats, or heavy walking split-squats.

6: 2-3 sets of hamstring/posterior chain dominant exercises: russian deadlifts, GHD's (try 1 leg if you're able) are all good examples.

Finish with 10mins of a core circuit, emphasizing your transverse abdominis (translation= do something more than just crunches.)

Now you can stretch, foam roll and eat.

This weeks schedule:
Monday- Workout above
Tuesday- Interval work & 10min. core circuit
Wednesday- Winter League game
Thursday- yoga or recovery/stretch day, depending on how I feel
Friday- weights
Saturday- Flag football in the morning, golf in the afternoon
Sunday- 40min. Heavy-bag work (punch & kick combo), pickup frisbee in the afternoon.

Have a good week, and remember to always train as close to game speed as possible.

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