Sports Conditioning

Are you on Christmas overload?  Are you struggling or suffering from Obsessive Christmas Disorder?

Are you holiday partied out or ready to shake your groove thing until 2020 rolls around?  Anyone need some tips and guidance for not over indulging at ALL of the fun holiday parties this season?  Check out these former blog posts that will perk you up and keep you accountabile even in the home stretch of Christmas.

Let’s talk about 2020.   It’s coming fast.  Any of you have your heart set on learning a new sport, activity or hobby?   Any runners aspiring to complete a 10k or marathon?  Have you been dreaming of tennis lessons and a cute tennis skirt?

One area of my job as a fitness instructor that I don’t talk a lot about is sports conditioning.  As a personal trainer, I often get hired to help people improve their game.  Adults and students athletes come to me with a very specific goal.  The games/ sports vary from marathon training, cycle races, mud runs, to improving their tennis, golf, lax or soccer skills.

I love this type of work because it allows me to get creative and drill down on hand eye and agility training.  

Each of these sports are unique which means they require fundamental training movements.  Isolating areas such as hips, arms or fancy feet work is critical for growth.

For instance, I worked all Summer with a soccer goalie.  I often had her on the BOSU from her knees.  I would toss her a weighted med ball high and low.  Sudden unexepcted movements to stabilize the core and fast hands to reach for the ball.

I put my tennis athletes on a BOSU and swing a weighted bar to strengthen their forearms.  These simple exercises can make a BIG impact on game day!  There is a method to sports conditioning and it works.

Every time I go on a ski adventure I too want to get better. I want to be stronger so that I have better mobility and strength for turns and coordination.  It’s never a bad idea to train for simple ski trip.

It’s never a bright idea to go cold turkey on a new sport or activity without some pre-training and conditioning.  Even a casual game of bowling can cause severe shoulder and back pain if you don’t stretch or regulary workout.  TRUTH!

PRE-TRAINING SLOPE READY EXERCISE AND STRETCHING

I do a ton of side lateral movements, shoulders and triceps.

Lateral movements train my heart.  Lateral movements elevate the heart rate in a hurry which is an important factor when skiing.  When your 10,000 feet above sea level and the air is thin, it’s hard to breath.  Therefore prep work with lateral movements helps strengthen the legs and heart for the coming week of deep breathing.

Side shuffles, tricep kick back with band, push outs and dips.

I also spend more time on the elliptical.  I do slow heavy elliptical rides focused on bending at the knees leaning forward.  This is practicing. good lean forward form. Side to side jumps are also a good warm up exercise.

Get in on the action and pre-train for ski season!

 

How cute is this cropped pull over by Core 10.  I found it on Amazon.  It’s superior quality and who doesn’t love a classic pull over sweatshirt.

JUST BEFORE THE FIRST RUN

Stretching before a cold winter sport is imperative. Warm up the body.  Once your body is in motion from walking the halls of your condo in five hundrered layers of winter gear and hauling equipment to the slopes your body temperature is elevated.  This is a good time to take a few stretches.  Give the arms a little tricrep love and tug.  Bend at the waist and hang like a rag doll.  Bend at the knees and loosen everything up a bit.  Do some shoulder circles and wake up the muscles.

 

It’s now.  It’s time to shine.  Do it for your health.  Do it for yourself.  Do it for your game.  Just do it!  Let me help condition your body for greatness.  Overall strength and muscle tone.  Increase your energy and lose weight.

If your student athlete needs some top notch training, I can carefull guide them to a tight core, faster feet and hands and stronger body control.