The walking lunge with upper body rotation is a good exercise that will improve core strength, lower body strength, running speed and dynamic balance.
When you do the walking lunge with upper body rotation, keep your torso upright, don't let your front knee go past the front foot and don't let the back knee touch the ground. Also, when you lunge, the front thigh should be parallel to the ground. Rotate your upper body with the medicine ball in both hands when you lunge (see picture above).
Do this exercise as a warmup or regular workout exercise. To work your hamstrings more, lunge out further with the front leg. A shorter lunge will work the quadriceps more. Most athletes need more hamstring strength to prevent injuries.
Increase the weight of the medicine ball to increase difficulty.
Include the walking lunge with upper body rotation in your regular workouts.
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Monday, July 13, 2009
Walking Lunge With Upper Body Rotation
Friday, July 10, 2009
Improve Speed With Power Step Ups
Improve your speed with power step ups. Do this exercise full speed with control.
1. Face a bench or platform (knee high) and put your right foot on the bench. Your knee should be bent 90 degrees. Don't do this exercise with dumbbells until you have mastered the bodyweight version.
2. Alternate your feet on and off the bench or platform (you will be sprinting in place).
3. Explosively drive your knees up and pump your arms as fast as possible. Each set should be 20-30 seconds.
4. Do this exercise with correct running mechanics.
Challenge yourself to get better each day!
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Thursday, July 9, 2009
Side Plank With Lateral Hip Raise
Do the side plank with lateral hip raise to strengthen your core and hips.
1. Start with the side plank, keep your body straight and torso braced (as if taking a punch to the gut).
2. Hold the side plank position for 5 seconds.
3. Raise your top leg and hold for 1 count. That's one repetition.
One neglected area of training for many athletes is improving lateral strength and lateral speed. As an athlete, many of your movements in games involve lateral movements like shuffles.
Part of your athletic "power center" is your core and hips...you need to constantly condition and strengthen them so your body is ready to "fire on demand" in the heat of competition!
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Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Improve Speed With Feet Landing Under Your Hips
MAKE SURE YOUR FEET LAND UNDER YOUR HIPS (your center of gravity) and you'll improve your running speed! You'll generate more power running this way.
When the foot leaves the ground, it should follow a path straight up to the buttocks. It should not flail from side to side.
One of the most common running mistakes is overstriding. When you overstride, your heel lands first with your foot well ahead of your body's center of gravity. This causes "braking" and slows you down. Its also a good way to get injured. The heel should never touch the ground when you run.
Strengthen and condition your hips, glutes, thighs and hamstrings. These groups make up your athletic "power center" and great athletes dominate with these muscle groups.
Train smarter and not just harder!
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Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Choose Quality Speed Training Over Quantity
"Quality speed training" work is better than just "quantity of speed trainig" work. Speed training for 5-6 days a week will break down your body and lead to injuries.
When you do quality speed training, like 3 days a week, you give your body the needed time to recover. If you've had a very intense speed workout, your body needs at least 48 hours to recover.
Speed training, unlike endurance running, will not benefit you more by doing more and more speed work. Choose quality speed work over quantity of speed work (less gives more benefit). So, doing sprint training every day will eventually give you mental and physical exhaustion.
Also, if your body is exhausted, you will not be able to give the "maximum effort" it takes to improve your running speed. You have to train fast to get faster.
Even during a quality speed training workout, you need adequate rest between sprints. So, if you are doing 80 yard sprints, rest about 8 minutes between sprints (about 1 minute of rest for every 10 yards sprinted).
Finally, speed training should be done at the beginning of your workout when you are fresh. Your body's neuromuscular system is highly fatigue-prone at high intensities.
Train smarter and not just harder!
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"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"
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Thursday, July 2, 2009
Deep Knee Bends And Deep Knee Bend Jumps Improve Vertical Jumps
Deep knee bends and deep knee bend jumps will help improve your vertical jump height.....also, the fastest players often have the highest vertical leaps.
Deep knee bends will strengthen your knees and ligaments around them. Having strong, stable knee structures will influence how high you can jump.
For deep knee bends, make sure that your back is straight when you are bending your knees. Crouch down as low as possible and rise back in a slow motion. Repeat this exercise for 10-15 repetitions. You can add dumbbells to this exercise as you progress.
Deep knee bend jumps are like deep knee bends. When you reach the lowest point of the crouch, leap vertically and explosively as high as you can. When you land, crouch back down and jump again. Do 10-15 repetitions.
Make sure you have perfected jumping and landing techniques to avoid injury.
Include deep knee bends and deep knee bend jumps in your sports fitness training routine to improve your power and speed.
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Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Maintain Speed And Power During Long Season
You need to maintain your speed and power during the season or you will waste all your hard off-season work!
Simply put, you don't won't to lose any of the hard-earned strength, power and speed you improved in your offseason program! In general, a weekly training program that includes 1 strength, 1 speed and 1 plyometric workout during the season will maintain your strength and explosiveness for competition.
The strength workout doesn't need to include "max out" lifting but should include full body strength training in the 8-10 repetition range for each exercise.
The speed workout can also be as simple as running ten 60-yard sprints at maximum effort before practice. Players should also perform all drills, scrimmages, plays, etc. at full speed. This way, you will continue sport specific speed training during the season.
The plyometric workout should include exercises for the upper and lower body such as medicine ball throws, depth jumps, squat jumps, tuck jumps, etc. During the season, some coaches incorporate plyometric training into regular team practices.
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"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"
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Her Fitness Hut Blog Her Fitness Hut is featured on EmpowHER, a great health issues website for women!
My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!
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