The Squat Exercise, Part 4: Training the Squat
To get better at your squat, there are a few things that you need:
1. More muscle mass: The more muscle mass you have, the stronger you have the potential to be. It’s going to be important to increase your muscle mass to lay a foundation for strength gains.
2. Stronger legs and hips: Since they are so important in the squat, you need to make your legs and hips stronger to have any hope of improving your squat.
3. Stronger trunk: Your trunk keeps you upright and even assists with squatting, so it needs to be stronger too.
4. Practice: To get better at the squat, you have to squat.
With the above in mind, the 12-week program for improving your squat focuses on two sessions per week (Monday/Thursday, Tuesday/Friday, etc.). The first session is the heavy day, might as well get the worst workout out of the way at the beginning of the week. This is the one that will develop strength. The second session focuses more on increasing muscle mass and also helps you to practice technique with more repetitions. Because this is being done over twelve weeks, the workouts are going to change a little from week-to-week to keep you from getting stale.
Weeks one through four are to help get you adjusted to training like this without killing you. Weeks one through three see a gradual increase in volume and weight lifted with week four being a back off week. On the first workout of the week, the eccentric squats (literally take ten slow seconds to descend into the bottom position then attempt to explode back up) are designed to help reinforce technique during the descent and to significantly improve trunk strength.
The workouts will appear as follows:
| Week One | Week Two | Week Three | Week Four | |
| Workout One | Back Squats, 3×4-8×80%Eccentric Squats, 3×3-6×80%Romanian Deadlifts, 3×4-8
Standing Calf Raises, 3×4-8 |
Back Squats, 3×4-8×82.5%Eccentric Squats, 3×3-6×82.5%Romanian Deadlifts, 4×4-8
Standing Calf Raises, 3×4-8 |
Back Squats, 3×4-8×85%Eccentric Squats, 3×3-6×85%Romanian Deadlifts, 5×4-8
Standing Calf Raises, 3×4-8 |
Back Squats, 4×4-8×80%Eccentric Squats, 3×3-6×80%Romanian Deadlifts, 3×4-8
Standing Calf Raises, 3×4-8 |
| Workout Two | Back Squats, 3×12-15×70%Lunges, 3×12-15Good Mornings, 3×8-12
Leg Curls, 3×12-15 Seated Calf Raises, 3×15-20 |
Back Squats, 4×12-15×70%Lunges, 3×10-12Good Mornings, 3×8-12
Leg Curls, 3×12-15 Seated Calf Raises, 3×15-20 |
Back Squats, 5×12-15×70%Lunges, 3×8-10Good Mornings, 3×8-12
Leg Curls, 3×12-15 Seated Calf Raises, 3×15-20 |
Back Squats, 3×12-15×70%Lunges, 3×12-15Good Mornings, 3×8-12
Leg Curls, 3×12-15 Seated Calf Raises, 3×15-20 |
Weeks five thought eight are heavier than the first four weeks. Again, the first three weeks of this part involve increasing the weights while the last week is a back-off week for recovery. Pause squats have replaced the eccentric squats (in a pause squat, squat all the way down to the bottom position and hold the bottom position for a full second before coming up). These help to enhance strength in the bottom position and also strengthen the trunk.
The workouts will appear as follows:
| Week Five | Week Six | Week Seven | Week Eight | |
| Workout One | Back Squats, 3×2-6×85%Pause Squats, 3×3-6×80%Deadlifts, 3×4-8
Leg Press Calf Raises, 3×4-8 |
Back Squats, 3×2-6×87.5%Pause Squats, 3×3-6×82.5%Deadlifts, 4×4-8
Leg Press Calf Raises, 3×4-8 |
Back Squats, 3×2-6×90%Pause Squats, 3×3-6×85%Deadlifts, 5×4-8
Leg Press Calf Raises, 3×4-8 |
Back Squats, 4×2-6×85%Pause Squats, 3×3-6×80%Deadlifts, 3×4-8
Leg Press Calf Raises, 3×4-8 |
| Workout Two | Back Squats, 5×12-15×70%Lunges, 3×12-15Reverse Hypers, 3×12-15
Leg Curls, 3×12-15 One-Legged Calf Raises, 3×15-20 |
Back Squats, 5×12-15×72.5%Lunges, 3×10-12Reverse Hypers, 3×8-12
Leg Curls, 3×12-15 One-Legged Calf Raises, 3×15-20 |
Back Squats, 5×12-15×75%Lunges, 3×8-10Reverse Hypers, 3×8-12
Leg Curls, 3×12-15 One-Legged Calf Raises, 3×15-20 |
Back Squats, 3×12-15×70%Lunges, 3×12-15Reverse Hypers, 3×8-12
Leg Curls, 3×12-15 One-Legged Calf Raises, 3×15-20 |
Weeks nine through twelve follow the same approach as the previous eight (i.e. the first three weeks see an increase in weight while the last week is a back-off week). On the heavy day, the number of exercises have been introduced with the have squats being combined with a plyometric exercise. The idea being that this helps to cue the nervous system to help make you stronger. Note all the pre-exhaustion work on the second workout of each week.
The workouts will appear as follows:
| Week Nine | Week Ten | Week Eleven | Week Twelve | |
| Workout One | Back Squats, 3×1-4×90% + Jumps, 3x10Reverse Hypers, 3×12-15Standing Calf Raises, 3×4-8 | Back Squats, 3×1-4×92.5% + Jumps, 3x10Reverse Hypers, 3×12-15Standing Calf Raises, 3×4-8 | Back Squats, 3×1-4×95% + Jumps, 3x10Reverse Hypers, 3×12-15Standing Calf Raises, 3×4-8 | Back Squats, 4×2-6×85% + Jumps, 3x10Reverse Hypers, 3×12-15Standing Calf Raises, 3×4-8 |
| Workout Two | Leg Extensions, 3×12-15Leg Press, 3×12-15Back Squats, 5×8-12×70%
Leg Curls, 3×12-15 One-Legged Calf Raises, 3×15-20 |
Leg Extensions, 3×12-15Leg Press, 3×12-15Back Squats, 5×6-10×72.5%
Leg Curls, 3×12-15 One-Legged Calf Raises, 3×15-20 |
Leg Extensions, 3×12-15Leg Press, 3×12-15Back Squats, 5×4-8×75%
Leg Curls, 3×12-15 One-Legged Calf Raises, 3×15-20 |
Leg Extensions, 3×12-15Leg Press, 3×12-15Back Squats, 3×8-12×70%
Leg Curls, 3×12-15 One-Legged Calf Raises, 3×15-20 |
The squat is one of the most effective, albeit misunderstood, exercises in the weight room. Done correctly it is safe and has a powerful effect on the glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, and trunk/core muscles. Done improperly it can (at best) be a waste of time and (at worst) cause injury. Combining good technique, lots of practice, and a smart program can get you well on your way to a stronger squat and bigger legs!
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The Squat Exercise, Part 2: Dangers
We’ve probably all heard that squats are bad for the knees. This all comes from a classic study done in the 1960’s by a professor at the University of Texas named Karl Klein that looked at the impact of the “deep squat” exercise on the knees. The deep squat exercise (in his study) is where the athlete squats all the way down until the hamstrings touch the calves. In that study he compared the knees of weightlifters (perform the deep squat as part of training) with a group that had never done the deep squat exercise. He determined that almost 50% of the squatters had medial collateral ligament (MCL) instability, almost 70% of the squatters had lateral collateral ligament (LCL) instability, and almost 50% of the squatter had anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) instability. By comparison, an insignificant number of the non squatters had MCL and LCL instability and approximately 40% had ACL instability. His conclusion was that the deep squat exercise caused the instability in the squatting group. He had two recommendations as a result of his findings: First, the deep squat exercise should be avoided. Second, squats should only be done until the thighs are parallel to the floor (he called this a half squat).
The study seems pretty definitive, right? Since then a number of things have happened:
• First, nobody actually read the study. Dr. Klein recommended that squatting until your hamstrings touch your calves be avoided, but that half squats (i.e. parallel to the floor) are fine. A lot of people looked at this study as an excuse to avoid squats altogether.
• Second, nobody has been able to reproduce this study, even using Dr. Klein’s own methods. Now this is actually important; with all the weightlifters, powerlifters, bodybuilders, and athletes using the deep squat and the half squat exercise today we should notice some link between the exercise and damage to the knees.
• Third, a lot of research has been done on how the squat exercise impacts the knees and it doesn’t work like most people think. The rest of this part of the article is going to discuss how squats impact the knees.
Broadly speaking, the squat impacts the knees in one of three ways:
1. Tibiofemoral compression
2. Cruciate ligament tension
3. Patellofemoral compression
Tibifemoral (TF) compression refers to the compression of the femur (thigh bone) on the tibia (shin bone). To a point this is important because it keeps the tibia from moving forwards or backwards relative to the femur (i.e. it protects your ACL and PCL). Too much, however, could be bad as it could damage the meniscus in your knee or your cartilage. According to Escamilla, et al. (2001) TF compression increases as you descend in the squat and decreases as you stand up. It is also slightly higher for wide-stance (i.e. feet wider than shoulder width) squats. This means that theoretically, too much weight combined with a squat that is too deep/too wide could damage the meniscus and cartilage in the knee. In practical terms it means that if you have an injury to either area, you need to avoid really deep/wide squats.
Your cruciate ligaments are important because the keep the tibia from moving forwards or backwards too far relative to the femur. The squat does not appear to stress the ACL regardless of stance or depth (Escamilla, et al. 2001). There’s a number of reasons for this. First, the hamstrings take up a lot of the tension that would exist. As I discussed earlier, the hamstrings are pretty much active throughout the entire squat exercise. Second, the gastrocnemius helps to take up some of the tension the ACL might experience. Third, the fact that the squat is weight bearing (i.e. you are standing up) causes TF compression which helps to reduce the tension that the ACL might otherwise experience.
Now, the PCL is a different story entirely. The tension on the PCL increases during the descent of the squat and decreases as you get out of the bottom position. This means that people with PCL injuries need to avoid squats deeper than 50-60 degrees at the knees.
Patellofemoral (PF) compression refers to the patella acting on the femur. Clearly if your patella were rubbing on the femur it would be extremely painful. PF compression increases as you descend into the squat, the compression is greatest at around 50-80 degrees of knee flexion (i.e. above parallel). It decreases as you get out of the squat. This means that people with PF injuries should avoid squatting deeper than 50 degrees.
The squat isn’t bad for healthy knees. Squats lower than 50-60 degrees could be a problem for people with certain types of knee injuries, but if you are healthy you’re probably fine as long as you observe good technique. The next post will cover technique on the squat.
References:
Escamilla, R.F. (2001). Knee biomechanics of the dynamic squat exercise. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 33(1), 127-141.
Escamilla, R.F., G.S. Flesig, T.M. Lowry, S.W. Barrentine, & J.R. Andrews. (2001). A three-dimensional biomechanical analysis of the squat during varying stance widths. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 33(6), 984-998.
Klein, K. (1961). The deep squat exercise as utilized in weight training for athletics and its effect on the ligaments of the knee. Journal of the Association of Physical and Mental Rehabilitation, 15(1), 6-11, 23.
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The Squat Exercise: Part I, What it Does
The squat exercise is widely used in bodybuilding, weightlifting, athletics, powerlifting, strongman, and recreational training. It has an effect on the lower body, trunk/core, and total body strength unmatched by almost any other exercise. And yet, it is also one of the most misunderstood exercises largely due to a single study done over forty years ago.
This will be the first of four posts describing what the squat actually works, how it effects the knee, how to perform it properly, and how to train for it.
What it works:
The squat is an important exercise for the development of your quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves. Having said that, you should be prepared for the fact that muscle recruitment of the quads, hamstrings, and calves during the squat doesn’t work the way everyone thinks it does, this is because of the anatomy and functioning of the lower body. Many of the muscles that act on the knee also act on the hip, these include the hamstrings and rectus femoris muscles. Others are single joint muscles (i.e. act on the knee only) such as the vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and vastus intermedius.
It turns out that while descending in the squat, the quadriceps (vasti muscles plus rectus femoris) are actually more active than during the ascent. This is because of the rectus femoris, which in addition to extending the knee also flexes the hip. Quadriceps activity peaks at about 80-90 degrees of knee flexion (i.e. a parallel squat) and does not increase when you go lower into the squat.
While ascending from the bottom position, the hamstrings are more active than during the ascent. This is because they also act on the hip (besides flexing your knee, they also act to extend your hip). Hamstring activity peaks at about 50-60 degrees of knee flexion (i.e. a quarter squat). A number of researchers think that the hamstrings probably work throughout the entire squat exercise, which is why the squat provides so little strain to the anterior cruciate ligament.
The gastrocnemius is also active during the squat, especially during the descent. In addition to raising you up on your toes, the gastroc helps to flex the knee. It also keeps the tibia from moving forwards relative to the femur (this is called translation).
In addition to working the quads, hamstrings, calves, and glutes, the squat also has a number of other benefits. First, it helps to strengthen the muscles of your trunk including your “core” muscles. Second, it makes your bones stronger (they have to support the weight). Third, it has a lot of transfer to everyday life and to sports. Finally, a lot of people feel that the squat has a synergistic effect on the rest of the body (i.e. doing squats helps your whole body grow).
If squats are so good for you, why doesn’t everyone do them? One reason is that there is a lot of misinformation about them. The next post will cover where this comes from.
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Strength Training for the Sprints: Practice vs. Theory
Leo Settle has written an old school article on strength training and sprinters. I call this old school because he is drawing heavily from some of the older material from Dintman, Ward, and Telez (circa Sports Speed) and Dunn and McGill (The Throws Manual). At the core of this article are two ideas. First, strength training should develop strength and power that can be applied to the sprints. Second, this should be done without significant weight gain. I agree strongly with both points. Strength and power that cannot be applied to the sprints is useless for the sprinter. Weight gain (i.e. significant hypertrophy) is only useful if it enhances the event, the problem is that the athlete has to be able to sprint with that extra mass and there is a point of diminishing returns.
Coach Settle is advocating focusing the sprinter’s training around “neurological” training. In other words, designed to improve the nervous system’s ability to recruit muscle fibers rather than significantly increasing the size of those muscle fibers. In theory, this is done via a combination of approaches. First, use the Olympic lifts and their variations. Second, focus on lower volumes of training and high speed movements (i.e. less than six reps per set). Third, incorporate plyometrics into the training. Fourth, keep the volume low and intensity high on maximum velocity and acceleration training.
The author provides recommendations for “ideal” strength levels on the squat, bench press, and power clean that have been reprinted from Dintman, Ward, and Telez’s Sports Speed. Coach Settle also provides a great test battery reprinted from Dunn and McGill’s Throws Manual consisting of the standing long jump, standing triple jump, thirty meter sprint, and the overhead back medicine ball throw. These are all simple field tests that can tell you a great deal about the sprinter’s fitness for sprinting.
I agree with most of the author’s points in this article as far as the practical part of training the sprinter. I disagree with some of the concepts that this training is based upon. First, as I mentioned in a previous post, it’s actually unclear if the concept of muscle fiber types works the way we think it does (see http://wp.me/p1XfMm-3f). Second, as I’ve covered in other posts the neurological part of training may not work the way we want it to (see http://wp.me/pZf7K-55, http://wp.me/pZf7K-5d , http://wp.me/pZf7K-5j ). Finally, ideal strength levels have to be taken with a grain of salt. Dintman and Ward were both speed experts and worked extensively with NFL teams. Coach Telez coached athletes like Carl Lewis. The point behind this is to remind the reader that these coaches worked with a totally different level of athlete and these strength levels may not have application outside of that level of athlete.
Settle, L.A. (2012). Developing speed: A neurological approach. Techniques, 5(3), 8-14.
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The Nervous System And Exercise: It May Be More Complicated Than We Think
Roger Enoka has been an interesting author and researcher for a number of years. He did an analysis of the pull in Olympic lifting that is a classic paper and also published an excellent textbook with Human Kinetics. He has a review article on fatigue in the February issue of the Journal of Biomechanics that is a summary of a lecture he gave in 2011. This article really challenges a lot of things that we thing we know about the nervous system and exercise.
This paper starts with the premise that we have not made advances on our understanding of fatigue during activities of daily living, this is because there are several outdated concepts that we cannot let go of:
1. Enoka argues against the existence of fast and slow-twitch muscle fibers. He points out that the studies originally establishing the existence of this were not looking at twitch contraction times but were looking at fatigability. According to Enoka, there don’t appear to be differences in contraction times. Another interesting point the author makes is that it appears that those fatigue-resistance motor units actually fatigue. It’s his view that we need to abandon the idea of motor unit types.
2. Enoka also argues that EMG is a poor measure of fatigue. This is because force production can change independent of any changes to EMG. The author points out that neither the amount of muscle activation nor the level of neural drive can be reliably estimated from EMG amplitude during fatiguing contractions.
3. According to the author, fatigue cannot be reduced to a handful of physiological or biomechanical measures and must include a more global perspective including psychological perceptions of fatigue as well as physiological/biomechanical ones.
For me, the first point in particular (slow vs. fast-twitch muscle fibers) is really interesting. This is the first time that I have encountered this idea. The original paper establishing slow, fast fatigable, and fast fatigue resistant motor units was based on looking at cat gastrocnemius muscle fibers in vitro. In a politically correct way, Enoka is essentially arguing that some of the results contradicted the conclusions and that successive researches and practitioners may have made some stretches on their application and interpretations of this paper.
Enoka, R.M. (2012). Muscle fatigue – from motor units to clinical symptoms. Journal of Biomechanics, 45: 427-433.
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Heat Stress and Football Linemen
Heat stress is a major concern in athletics, particularly American football. The evaporation of sweat is the major way for reducing body temperature during intense exercise. Deren et al in their 2012 article in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise point out that the number of sweat glands is fixed by the age of 2. This is significant because as body mass changes, the number of sweat glands do not change – which is a potential problem for individuals with a great deal of body mass.
Deren et al looked at whether there are differences in upper body sweat rates between football linemen (i.e. larger body mass) and football backs. The authors studied six linemen and six backs. They had the athletes ride a stationary bike for 60 minutes in a temperature/humidity-controlled room, the idea being to have them exercise at an intensity designed to produce a fixed amount of heat production.
The authors measured the core temperature, mean skin temperature, and the local sweat rate at the forehead, forearm, chest, and lower back. Measurements were taken at regular periods during the exercise session.
The authors found that the local sweat rate was significantly greater for linemen than backs at the forehead, forearm, shoulder, and chest. The authors also found that the linemen had a greater core temperature during the last 15 minutes of exercise.
These two results are very interesting because when taken together they contradict each other. Despite sweating more, the linemen have an elevated core temperature compared to the backs. The authors feel that the linemen evaporate a smaller proportion of their sweat than do the backs. This could be due to aerobic fitness levels, body fat percentage, or something else.
The take home message behind this study is that there may be a need to pay more attention to the linemen in terms of fans, mists, and other things to help them keep their skin wet and to help them better evaporate their sweat in order to better help them regulate their heat.
Deren, T.M., Coris, E.E., Bain, A.R., Walz, S.M., and Jay, O. (2012). Sweating is greater in NCAA football linemen independently of heat production. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 44(2): 244-252.
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The Core and Athletic Performance: Murky Waters
Our understanding of the role of core training is in transition currently. It’s gone from being the holy grail of training (i.e. essential to performance and injury prevention) to having its significance and effectiveness debated. Another wrinkle in this debate is provided in the February issue of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research by Shinkle et al.
The authors of this study point out that static core tests (i.e. hold this position for a period of time) are not specific to the dynamic nature of athletics. In their study, the authors attempted to develop more functional tests of the core and see how these related to actual athletic performance.
The authors studied 25 Division I American football players. The athletes were tested on their squat, bench press, vertical jump, 40 yard sprint, the proagiltiy, and a power test was also administered. The bench press and squat were expressed in absolute terms (amount of weight lifted) and relative terms (amount of weight lifted as a percentage of body weight). These test results were related to the athletes’ performance on a number of core tests involving medicine ball throws:
• Static tests: The athlete was in a seated position and strapped to a chair to limit use of the core muscles.
• Dynamic tests: The athlete was in a seated position but was unrestrained.
Each of the static and dynamic tests involved a forward medicine ball throw, a backwards medicine ball throw, and a throw to each side.
The results are interesting and bear some discussion:
• First, the correlations between the static and dynamic throws are statistically significant but, with the exception of the right and left throws, are not very strong. For example, the correlation between the static forward throw and the dynamic forward throw is only 0.51. Now, there is a much stronger relationship between static left and dynamic left and static right and dynamic right.
• Second, there are statistically significant relationships between most static and dynamic throws and the power measure. There is no relationship between the forward throws and the power test.
• Third, there are not many correlations between the medicine ball throws and the absolute strength measures (~0.43 between dynamic forward throws and absolute strength, that’s it).
• Fourth, there are relationships between the static left/right throws and relative bench press.
• Fifth, the 40 yard dash, vertical jump, and proagility are correlated with all of the static throws except the forward one. The vertical jump is also correlated with the dynamic left/right throws, though the sprint and proagility are not.
What do these results mean?
The relationship between the right/left and reverse throws with the power measure suggest that the obliques and erector spinae are important for transferring force from the lower extremity to upper, thought the rectus abdominals may not be. The relationship between the right/left throws and the bench press makes sense because these are predominantly upper extremity movements, so being good at one suggests the athlete would be good at the other. The relationship between the static throws (except forward) and the sprint/jump/agility measures may be due to the fact that these throws mimic how the upper extremity is used during sprinting/jumping/agility. Whereas adding the core (i.e. the dynamic measures) changes the movement pattern enough that it no longer resembles sprinting/jumping/agility.
With these results, the authors have a number of observations. First, they feel that the core is important for athletic performance though the extent of this importance cannot yet be determined. I disagree with this statement given the results of the study. It’s unclear if the dynamic throws even measure the core. It’s also a curious statement given that there seem to be more static throws (i.e. non-core, upper extremity driven) that are related to the various performance variables than dynamic throws. Second, the authors point out that static/endurance tests (like the plank) are not dynamic measures and may not accurately reflect the importance of the core to athletic performance. I think this is an excellent point. Finally, the authors make the observation that dynamic training tools, as opposed to static endurance ones, are going to be more important to the training of athletes (who function in a dynamic environment). With this statement they are specifically referring to the fact that the plank exercise, while commonly accepted as a core training tool, isn’t going to transfer well to sports.
I think that there are several take home messages with this study. First, athletics is dynamic and training/testing needs to reflect that. Second, there is no smoking gun in this study (the authors’ statements notwithstanding) that indicates that the “core” is important for the performance tests these football players conducted.
Shinkle, J., Nesser, T.W., Demchak, T.J., and McMannus, D.M. (2012). Effect of core strength on the measure of power in the extremities. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 26(2): 373-380.
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Shake Up Your Warm-Up, Part 5: Putting Everything Together
In the first four parts of this series we covered dynamic flexibility exercises, core training, prehab training, and jumps and throws as warm-up (see http://wp.me/p1XfMm-2O , http://wp.me/p1XfMm-2S , http://wp.me/p1XfMm-2V and http://wp.me/p1XfMm-2Z ). This part will focus on putting everything together. We’re going to focus on three workouts; a lower body workout, a chest/shoulders/triceps workout, and a back/biceps workout.
Lower Body Workout:
We’ll do a pretty straightforward lower body workout. We’ll start with leg extensions to warm up the knees, progress to back squats, do some leg presses, then leg curls and calves. It’ll look like this:
1. Leg Extensions, 3×15-20
2. Back Squats, 3×8-12×80%
3. Leg Press, 3×12-15
4. Lying Leg Curls, 3×12-15
5. Standing Calf Raises, 3×12-15
Normally to warm up for that you’d do 5-10 minutes on the stationary bike followed by stretching. We’re going to change that to incorporate the above exercises. Table one shows how this can be done.
| Component | Workout | Duration |
| Dynamic Flexibility | Walk on toes, 10 meters
Leg swings, 10 times/leg Hamstring march, 10 meters Inchworms, 10 meters Butt kicks, 10 meters Lunges, 10 meters |
5 minutes |
| Core Training | Circuit (2x, 20 seconds each exercise):
Crunches Sit-Ups Front hold Cross Knee Crunch Side Crunch Reverse Crunch Hips up Flutter Kicks |
5 minutes |
| Throws/Jumps/Prehab | Squat jump, hold landing, 10x
Split jump, hold landing MB Chest pass, stand on one foot, 10x each foot |
5 minutes |
Chest/Shoulders/Triceps Workout:
This will be a pretty straightforward “pushing” workout. The workout will consist of the bench press, incline press, flies, giant sets for shoulders (front raises, side raises, and bent over rear delt raises), pushdowns, and dips. It will be set up as follows:
1. Bench Press, 3×6-10×85%
2. Incline Press, 3×8-12
3. Dumbbell Flies, 3×12-15
4. Giant Sets, Shoulders, 3x:
a. Front Raises, 12-15
b. Side Raises, 12-15
c. Bent Over Rear Delt Raises, 3×12-15
5. Pushdowns, 3×12-15
6. Dips, 3xMax
Table two shows how the various exercises discussed in this article can be incorporated into the warm up for this workout.
| Component | Workout | Duration |
| Dynamic Flexibility | Arm Circles, 10x
Bear Crawls, 10 meters Wheelbarrows, 10 meters Push-Ups, 10x |
5 minutes |
| Core | Circuit (2x, 20 seconds each exercise):
Front hold, push up Front hold, right foot, push up Front hold, left foot, push up Side hold (right) Side hold (left) Supine hold |
4 minutes |
| Prehab | Internal rotation, 2.5 lb plate, 15-20x/arm
External rotation, 2.5 lb plate, 15-20x/arm |
2 minutes |
| Throws/Jumps | MB Chest pass, 10x
MB Chest pass, stand on right foot, 10x MB Chest pass, stand on left foot, 3x Clapping push-ups, 10x |
5 minutes
|
Back/Biceps Workout:
This “pulling” workout will consist of deadlifts, pull-ups, seated rows, barbell curls, and concentration curls. It will be set up as follows:
1. Deadlifts, 3×2-6×80%
2. Pull-Ups, 3xMax
3. Seated Rows, 3×8-12
4. Barbell Curls, 3×12-15
5. Concentration Curls, 3×15-20
Table three illustrates how the exercises in this article can be incorporated into a warm up for this workout.
| Component | Workout | Duration |
| Dynamic Flexibility | Arm Swings, 10x
Shoulder flexion with resistance tubing, 10x Bear Crawls, 10 meters Wheelbarrows, 10 meters |
5 minutes |
| Core | Circuit (2x, 20 seconds each exercise):
SB, prone, walk forward on hands SB, prone, walk side to side on hands SB, prone, arm raises Stability ball sit-ups Stability ball crunches Stability ball cross-knee crunches
|
4 minutes |
| Prehap | Prone back raises, 30 seconds
Prone fireman, 30 seconds Internal rotation, 20×2.5 lb plate External rotation, 20×2.5 lb plate |
4 minutes |
| Throws/Jumps | MB Behind Back Throw, 10x
MB Front Throw, 10x |
5 minutes |
Incorporating dynamic flexibility exercises, core training, prehab exercises, and throws/jumps into your workout is easily done. These exercises serve to prevent injury, warm you up, and teach you how to use those muscles that you are working so hard to develop. They also make the warm up a little more interesting and fun.
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