1. Deadlifts: Deadlifts and Squats are in a close tie for the best exercise for athletes. Both strenuously work out your glutes, hamstrings, lower back, and quads. Any top strength and conditioning coach will tell you that focusing on your posterior chain (Glutes, Hamstrings, Lower Back, Claves) is the key for athletic development.
You can train for power development. 3 sets of 6 reps. You can train for strength, 5 sets of 1-5 reps. Or if your looking to put on weight you can do 3 sets of 12 reps. Some variations include Hex bar deadlifts.
This is a great choice for athletes because the bar places all the stress in your center of gravity. Think of any athletic movement… A vertical jump, screening your opponent in basketball, or getting in position to smash a backhand stroke across the tennis court. All your power comes for your center of gravity with a great athletic base. Stay in that zone and you will be on your way to success.
Also, another variation you can do with the hex bar deadlift is a 10-30 second isomeric hold. Isometric holds strengthen your body at that specific joint angle your holding the weight in. This can recruit fast twitch muscle fibers. Even though this may seem counter intuitive because your not moving your body fast at all and even your actually not moving at all.
The way this works is that you are overloading your muscle fibers and training your nervous system to recruit more muscle fibers. A highly trained professional athlete recruits more muscle fibers than an untrained athlete so become a believer that you can run faster and jump higher with proper training and the right attitude.
In every exercise your nervous system starts by recruiting your slow twitch muscle fibers first, and after they are finished or maxed out you start using your fast twitch muscle fibers. Training your fast twitch muscle fibers is key to training for athletes and training your deadlifts heavy and with these variations you are without a doubt going to be a better athlete.
(To perform a Barbell Deadlift walk up to the bar and stand as close to the bar as possible. Keep your head facing forward or slighting looking up. Squat down and squeeze the bar as tight as you can. Keep a good athletic posture with no bends in your back and lift the bar using your glutes and hips. Make sure you stay away from bending your back as that can add stress to your lower back leading to injury).
2. Barbell Squats: Squats is second place on this list but many say that these leg builders are the king of exercise. Just like deadlifts the squat works primarily your posterior chain. And as we know now that’s one of the keys to training athleticism.
Whether your sport is bodybuilding and your using squats for building mass or getting your legs ripped, or your a college level sprinter, squats have a place in your training program and must be emphasized.
The guidelines set in the deadlift post above about strength, power, and muscle building and sets and reps apply to Squats and the following exercises expect Power Cleans, Sprints, Vertical Jumps, and Bounding. Also a great benefit from squats is that they will help you set records for your vertical jump and short sprint times.
(To preform a proper Barbell Squat try thinking about sitting on a chair when you descend with the weight and use a wide stance. This puts emphasis on your glutes, hamstrings, and lower back and takes pressure off your knees. If your would like to focus on your quad development (the front of your legs above your kneecaps) focus your attention on front squats. But remember because of the bar placement your going to be putting more pressure on your knees.)
3. Bench press: Bench press should be a staple in every athletes training program as it trains your chest, triceps, and shoulders. Think of a lineman in football blocking a defender and pushing or extending out with his arms, or of a sprinter forcefully pumping their arms in a race. A strong and powerful upper body is key for any athlete as it’s crucial for running, and sprinting.
(To preform a bench press correctly I recommend a powerlifting style. This way you know that your going to maximize strength gains as the sport of powerlifting is all about lifting as heavy as you can. Use a wide grip and when you lower the bar tuck your triceps in.
This may seem awkward at first but your going to be able to lift heavier guaranteed. Also keep your feet flat on the ground during the entire movement and keep your core/entire body tight. Keeping your body tight is key to any strength training exercise. And finally if your looking to lift as heavy as possible arch your lower back. That’s the way powerlifters do it).
4. Push-ups: There’s a reason why the push-up has been one of the stable exercises the military uses and without question, there’s a great reason why.
Push-ups not only use your upper body but they activate your core and lower body as well. Think about this when doing push-ups.
Your essentially doing a plank while doing a push-up which just got added in as one of the military’s fitness tests. So know your getting a high quality core workout as well.
(Make sure you squeeze your core while doing a push-up and when lowering your body to the ground squeeze your upper back together. You can also change it up with different hand positions (hands together work your triceps more and wide hand position works more of your chest) And don’t forget you can add a weighted vest for more resistance).
5. Push Press: If you haven’t done this exercise then your missing out on one of the best workouts you can do to improve your vertical jump. Do this exercise 4 Sets of 6 Reps to develop lower body power.
(To preform a Push Press correctly start by moving the bar on your squat rack to shoulder length. Place the bar on the front of your shoulders grab the bar and do a quick quarter squat and press the bar over your head using the momentum of your lower body).
6.Jumping up Stairs on One Leg: This is one that I learned from my Track Coach Nate Wilford and will have you begging for mercy when finished.
This is considered a unilateral movement which is very important to focus on when training for sport. unilateral movements focus your energy on one side of your body at a time and are great for fixing muscular imbalances.
Other important unilateral movements that didn’t make this list are Step-ups and lunges. Jumping up steps on one leg offers a more explosive workout than weights and once you start skipping steps with your jumps you will improve your stride length and power.
7. Sprints: Sprints are a great explosive workout every athlete should be focusing on. When training for sport you should focus your time on movements that are specific to your sport.
What better options do you have than sprinting that will improve your power and technique in the same movement. Start with striding and build up to 10 sprints for 60 meters or vary the length depending on the distance you cover in your sport.
(To preform a sprint use explosive arm action, like you are using a hammer. Lift your knees, and land with your foot flat on the ground (Dorsi-flexion) and extent on the front of your foot).
8. Vertical Jumps: What better way to improve your vertical jump than to actually practice it! Add a weighted vest to improve Power. Do 5 sets of 10 reps.
9.Bounding: This exercise as well as the jumping up steps on one leg is most likely one of the best power workouts you can do that your probably not doing. I’m going to add a video so you can see how to preform this workout. Do 5 sets of 10 reps each leg.
10. Barbell Row: When training to become a better athlete it’s easy to focus on your lower body and do bench presses. Don’t forget balance and training your upper back.
This is where Barbell Rows come into place. I don’t think you’ll ever see Arnold miss Barbell Rows and you shouldn’t miss this mass builder either. If you want a thick back and big biceps then this exercise is for you.
(To perform a Barbell Row start with the barbell on the ground with 25-45lb plates in each side. Instead of a deadlift where you have your chest up keep your back horizontal to the ground, keep your core tight and with a medium to wide grip pull the weight towards your chest and squeeze your upper back together.
Don’t forget to control the weight down on this lift and on any of the other weight training exercises. Lowering the weight (eccentric phase) vs the (concentric phase) is what tears the muscles down the most and is just how your muscles work).
There you have it!
The Top Ten Exercises for Athletes by (International Sports Sciences Association Certified Personal Trainer) Coach Austin. Total Body Fitness Program Week 1-4 Endurance Training Day One Lower body Day
Warm-up 5-10 minutes
Barbell Squats 3 sets of 20 reps
Front Squats 3 sets of 15 reps
Leg Press 3 sets of 20 reps
Straight-Leg Deadlift 3 sets of 10 reps
Lunges 3 sets of 10 reps each leg
Planks 3 sets of 40 seconds
Hanging Leg Raises 3 sets of 25 reps
Bicycle Sit-ups 2 sets of 20 reps
V-Ups 2 sets of 10 5 minute Jog for cool down
Day Two Cardio/Ab day 45 Minutes of Stationary Bike
Planks 3 sets of 40 seconds
Hanging Leg Raises 3 sets of 25 reps
Bicycle Sit-ups 2 sets of 20 reps
V-Ups 2 sets of 10 reps
Day Three Rest/Stretch/Walk Toe Touches 3 sets of 30 seconds
Quad Stretch 3 sets of 30 seconds
Lunge Stretch/Hip Flexor 3 sets of 30 seconds
Groin Stretch 3 sets of 30 seconds
Downward Facing Dog 3 sets of 30 seconds
Day Four Upper Body Dumbbell Bench Press 3 sets of 20 reps Super Set w/ Push-ups 10 reps
Bench Dips 3 sets of 15 reps
Triceps Extensions 3 sets of 12 reps
Chin-ups 3 sets of 10 reps
Lat-Pull Downs 3 sets of 20 reps
Dumbbell Row 3 sets of 15 reps
Day Five Lower body Day
Warm-up 5-10 minutes
Barbell Squats 3 sets of 20 reps
Front Squats 3 sets of 15 reps
Leg Press 3 sets of 20 reps
Straight-Leg Deadlift 3 sets of 10 reps
Lunges 3 sets of 10 reps each leg
Planks 3 sets of 40 seconds
Hanging Leg Raises 3 sets of 25 reps S Bicycle Sit-ups 2 sets of 20 reps
V-Ups 2 sets of 10 reps
35 Minutes of Cardio (Elliptical) 5 minute Jog for cool down
Day Six Cardio/Ab day 45 Minutes of Stationary Bike
Planks 3 sets of 40 seconds
Hanging Leg Raises 3 sets of 25 reps
Bicycle Sit-ups 2 sets of 20 reps
Day Seven Upper Body Dumbbell Bench Press 3 sets of 20 reps Super Set w/ Push-ups 10 reps
Bench Dips 3 sets of 15 reps
Triceps Extensions 3 sets of 12 reps
Chin-ups 3 sets of 10 reps
Lat-Pull Downs 3 sets of 20 reps
Dumbbell Row 3 sets of 15 reps Repeat week One for four weeks before starting week two.
Weeks 5-9 Strength Training
Day One Upper Body/Core Incline Bench Press 3 sets of 8 reps
Shoulder Press 3 sets of 10 reps
Dips 3 sets of 10 reps
Pull-Ups 3 sets of 10 reps
Upright Rows 3 sets of 10 reps
Dumbbell Reverse Flys 3 sets of 10 reps
V-Ups 3 sets of 15 reps
Weighted Sit-ups 3 sets of 10 reps
Hanging Leg Raises 3 sets of 50 reps
Planks 3 sets of 45 seconds
Day Two Shoulders and Cardio Lateral Raises 3 sets of 10 reps
Front Raisers 3 sets of 10 reps
Standing Military Press 3 sets of 10 reps
Weight Push-ups 3 sets of 12 reps
Planks 3 sets 1 minute each
45 Minutes of Step Climber
Day Three Legs/Core Sumo Deadlift 3 sets of 10 reps
Front Squat 3 sets of 6 reps
Set-ups 3 sets of 12 reps
Lunges 3 sets of 15 reps each leg
Planks 4 sets of 45 seconds
Bicycle sit-ups 4 sets of 25 reps
V-Ups 3 sets of 25 reps
Hanging Leg Raises 3 sets of 50 reps
Day Four Upper Body/Core Incline Bench Press 3 sets of 8 reps
Shoulder Press 3 sets of 10 reps
Dips 3 sets of 10 reps
Pull-Ups 3 sets of 10 reps
Upright Rows 3 sets of 10 reps
Dumbbell Reverse Flys 3 sets of 10 reps
V-Ups 3 sets of 15 reps
Weighted Sit-ups 3 sets of 10 reps
Hanging Leg Raises 3 sets of 50
Planks 3 sets of 45 seconds
Day Five Cardio and Abs 20 Minutes of Jump Rope
Planks 4 sets of 45 seconds
Bicycle sit-ups 4 sets of 25 reps
V-Ups 3 sets of 25 reps
Hanging Leg Raises 3 sets of 50 reps
Weeks 9-12 Power Training
Day One Lower body Day
Warm-up 5-10 minutes
Barbell Squats 3 sets of 6 reps
Front Squats 3 sets of 6 reps
Leg Press 3 sets of 6 reps
Straight-Leg Deadlift 3 sets of 8 reps
Lunges 3 sets of 10 reps each leg
Planks 3 sets of 40 seconds
Hanging Leg Raises 3 sets of 25 reps
Bicycle Sit-ups 2 sets of 20 reps
V-Ups 2 sets of 10 reps 5 minute Jog for cool down
Day Two Cardio/Ab day 45 Minutes of Stationary Bike
Planks 3 sets of 40 seconds
Hanging Leg Raises 3 sets of 25 reps
Bicycle Sit-ups 2 sets of 20 reps
Day Three Upper Body/Core Incline Bench Press 3 sets of 8
Shoulder Press 3 sets of 10 reps
Dips 3 sets of 10 reps
Pull-Ups 3 sets of 10 reps
Upright Rows 3 sets of 10
Dumbbell Reverse Flys 3 sets of 10
V-Ups 3 sets of 15
Weighted Sit-ups 3 sets of 10
Hanging Leg Raises 3 sets of 50
Planks 3 sets of 45 seconds
Day Four Shoulders and Cardio Lateral Raises 3 sets of 10 reps
Front Raisers 3 sets of 10 reps
Standing Military Press 3 sets of 10 reps
Weight Push-ups 3 sets of 12 reps
Planks 3 sets of 1 minute reps
45 Minutes of Step Climber
Day Five Legs/Core Sumo Deadlift 3 sets of 10 reps
Front Squat 3 sets of 6 reps
Set-ups 3 sets of 12 reps
Lunges 3 sets of 15 reps each leg
Planks 4 sets of 45 seconds
Bicycle sit-ups 4 sets of 25 reps
V-Ups 3 sets of 25 reps
Hanging Leg Raises 3 sets of 50 reps
There you have it! If you've followed the 12 week Fitness Program then you should have noticed you were stronger, leaner, more flexible, and confident!
If you would like to have a Custom workout program or continue with the nutrition coaching with Coach Austin you can text or call him on his cell 253.882.6385!
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