Workout Week of 8/25/14: Recovery, Mobility, Core

Your priorities this week are:
-Take care of your body.  Tweaky?  Hurt?  Sore?  Do what you need to do to heal.  Take the week off?. Two weeks off.  Often that's the best thing you can do for the team.
-Pod Practice & Throwing
-ACL Prevention Sessions
-Lifting
-Workout

I've put together a recovery workout this week that focused primarily on mobility and stability exercises.  It is not cardio intensive, has no impact, and should only take 30 minutes or so.  Only do what feels ok for your body.  If your body is feeling great this week, email me and I'll give you advice on a second track workout for the week.

Part I: 10 minutes of rolling

• Roll your glutes (ankle over knee to really expose your glutes to the roller), top of your hip, IT bands, quads, adductor (inner quad both high near your groin and low near your knee), hamstrings, calves, tibia flexor, back (only on a foam roller, not a pipe), lats
• Roll the bottom of your foot on a baseball or lacrosse ball (shoes off)

Tips:

• If you find a knot, hold yourself on the roller on that spot.  Breathe through the pain.  Allow the roller to sink into the muscle knot to loosen it.
• 5 times (down and back) on each muscle is a good starting point.  Spend more time if the muscles are tight.
• Googling foam rolling images will give you a good sense of how to roll certain muscles: 

Part II: Mobility

Do 5-10 deep breaths in each pose.  Hold it longer if you want.

1. Kneeling hip flexor stretch, each side
2. Pigeon, each side.  Spend time in this position.  Move your upper body, change the angle of your foot, and see if you can get deeper into your hips.
3. Frog.  Again, spend time here.  Move your feet around.  Lean into the stretch.  Feel where the tightness is and explore that boundary.
4. Leg raises with a band.  Lie on your back.  Loop a band (or a rope or a towel or a long sleeve shirt) around your the ball of your left foot.  Using the band, hold your left foot, leg straight, up in the air at 90 degrees to the floor.  Raise and lower your right leg from the floor to parallel with your left leg.  Keep your hips flat, feel your hamstrings stretch.  10 leg raises each side.
5. Back rotators.  Lie on your back.  Bring your left leg to your chest, then gently lower your bent left leg to the right side of your body.  Your body will likely twist.  Stretch your right arm straight out to the side.  Lay your left hand on top of your right hand (or wrist/arm).  Slowly arc your straight left arm over your body so it is straight out to the left side of your body; bring it back.  You now have your arms spread wide and your left leg bent and resting across your body to the right side.  Repeat 10 times each side.
6. Hip bridge.  Lie on your back.  Bring your feet under your knees, legs bent.  Raise your butt so your body is in a straight line from shoulders (on the floor) to knees (in the air).  Slowly raise your left knee into the air until your quad is perpendicular to the flower.  Lower back to the ground.  Repeat 10 times on each side.  Focus on keeping your hips square and your body in line.
7. Toe squats.  Get into a squat position.  Grip your toes with your hands.  Gently raise and lower yourself in the squat position, never letting go of your feet.  Feel where your squat position is limited by your flexibility, and gently push the boundaries.  10 reps.
8. Lunges forward and back.  Step forward into a lunge, then step back.  Slow and balanced.  10 each side.
9. Angle rock lunges.  Step into a lunge, left foot forward.  Bring your back knee to the ground.  push yourself forward until your ankle stops your motion.  Come back to your original lunge with your back knee on the ground.  Push forward slightly to the left until your ankle stops your motion, come back to center.  Push forward slightly to the right until your ankle stops your motion, come back to center.  Repeat 5 times through each direction, each side.
10. Side lunges.  Start standing.  Step laterally to your left, left toe pointing straight ahead, and lean into the lunge.  Keep your right leg straight; it's ok if only your heel is on the ground.  Return to standing.  Repeat 10 times, each side.  Explore your lateral lunge flexibility.
11. Side lunges with rotation.  Same as above, except now you step back and rotate 90 degrees.  For example, start facing forward.  Step back with your left leg so that your toe now point 90 degrees to your leg.  Explore your flexibility here.
12. Dipping bird for hamstrings (similar to one of our plyos).  Start standing.  Kick back your heel of your right leg, dipping your upper body forward until your body is parallel to the floor with a straight line from your head to your right heel.  Bend your left leg slightly for balance.  Using your left butt and hamstring, pull yourself back into a standing

Part III: Stability

1. Dead bugs (from Tina and Sophie).  Lie on your back, in the same position as #6 above.  Keep your butt on the ground.  Press your spine into the ground.  Slowly raise one leg so your quad is perpendicular to the floor.  Lower.  Repeat on other side.  Focus on keeping your hips stable and your spine pressed to the floor.  3 sets of 10 knee lifts.
2. Plank Arm/Left Lifts.  Get into a plank position with straight arms.  Pick up your left hand and touch your right shoulder, lower back to ground.  Pick up your right hand and touch your left shoulder, lower back to ground.  Pick up your left leg straight up, lower, then your right left straight up, then lower.  Repeat 4 times.  Do 3 sets total with rest in between each set.  Focus on keeping your shoulder and hips square to the floor while raising and lowering your limbs.  Don't rotate!
3. Balancing.  Stand on one leg with your eyes closed for 60 seconds.  Repeat 2 times, each side.
4. Balancing Test.  Stand on one leg, eyes closed.  Raise the other knee up as if doing high knees.  Hold that knee high for 10 seconds (see if you can do it!).  Do both sides.  It's hard.  You'll probably be waving your arms at first, and that's fine.  Work to be able to hold this pose, eyes closed, for 10 seconds with your arms relaxed at your sides.

Part IV: ACL Plyos

If your body is healthy enough to do these plyos, do the next session.  You may be finished with Set 1 or starting Set 2.  Set 2 is the same as Set 1, just for longer time intervals.  Lester suggests doing two sets of some of the jumps, like the squat and tuck jumps, at Session 6.  

Plyometric Training                                        Session 1         Session 2        Session 3

Jump	Time	Reps	Reps	Reps
Wall Jumps	20 seconds
Tuck Jumps	20 seconds
Squat Jumps	10 seconds
Barrier Jumps (S/S)	20 seconds
Barrier Jumps (F/B)	20 seconds
180 Jumps	20 seconds
Broad Jumps (stick 5 seconds)	5 total
Bounding in place	20 seconds

Plyometric Training                                        Session 4         Session 5        Session 6

Jump	Time	Reps	Reps	Reps
Wall Jumps	25 seconds
Tuck Jumps	25 seconds
Squat Jumps	15 seconds
Barrier Jumps (S/S)	25 seconds
Barrier Jumps (F/B)	25 seconds
180 Jumps	25 seconds
Broad Jumps (stick 5 seconds)	10 total
Bounding in place	25 seconds

Workout Week of 8/18/14: Light, Linear Sprint Workout

If you haven't run this week except for Wednesday practice (and your body isn't tweaky), you can do this workout Thursday.  If you've already run hard outside of practice the week (pod practice, a different workout because I was slow sending this out), do not try to squeeze this workout in before Heavyweights.

Taking care of your body, practice, lifting, and throwing are your priorities this week.

Warmup, Dynamic Stretching

2 x 20 m slow butt kicks

2 x 20 m fast butt kicks

2 x 100 m rolling sprint

Phase 1: ACL Plyos.  You should be on your second or third session of Set 1:

Plyometric Training                                          Session 1         Session 2       Session 3

Jump	Time	Reps	Reps	Reps
Wall Jumps	20 seconds
Tuck Jumps	20 seconds
Squat Jumps	10 seconds
Barrier Jumps (S/S)	20 seconds
Barrier Jumps (F/B)	20 seconds
180 Jumps	20 seconds
Broad Jumps (stick 5 seconds)	5 total
Bounding in place	20 seconds

Phase 2: Lower Chain Workout

A “set” will consist of the following:

START SET

2x10m ladder (choose your own adventure), followed by a 15m sprint.  Explode out of the ladder; work on your quick first step.

8 pushups

2 x 40m sprint

20 hip thrusts (10 in a row for each leg) – Lie on your back with legs slightly bent and feet flat on the ground (about where your calf would be if legs were straight). Using only one heel, push against the ground to lift your hips and lower trunk off the ground (the only points of contact with the ground should be your heel and the backs of your shoulders), until your form a straight line from shoulder to knee.

80m of bounding

30 seconds dynamic plank

END SET

Complete 4 sets, taking as much rest as you like throughout.

Warmdown/throw

Stretch ass, hamstrings, and lower back well

Pod Practice - Possess

Beginning of Pod Practice.
Warm up jog/Plyos
Week 1 ACL Prevention jumps.

Plyometric Training                                             Session 1         Session 2        Session 3

Jump	Time	Reps	Reps	Reps
Wall Jumps	20 seconds
Tuck Jumps	20 seconds
Squat Jumps	10 seconds
Barrier Jumps (S/S)	20 seconds
Barrier Jumps (F/B)	20 seconds
180 Jumps	20 seconds
Broad Jumps (stick 5 seconds)	5 total
Bounding in place	20 seconds

Superset
3x10/side Monster Walks with Band.
3x10/side Disc Plank crunches. (Video to come soon)

Ready to go, ready to throw.

1) 2x2min Herschels with a focus on possession. How many passes can you get in a row? Can you possess the whole time?
Full 2 min rest in between.

2) Long V Break with whole Pod. Work on stuff expand yourself.

3) 3x10 Nitchees.
-We are a team that will consistently break the mark. Show off your skills here with a focus on possession. If the mark shuts you down, turn to your "dump".
- Feeling tweaky, do this in a bigger group. Feeling great, try this as a smaller group. Only have a small group? YOU GOT THIS!

4) 3 girls 2 dics 1 box.
- Each person (3 people total) stand in the corner of a 10yd x 10yd box. 2 people have discs. The person without a disc cuts to the corner of the box where there isn't a person. She receives the pass and then the person who threw it cuts to the open corner and receives the disc from the other person. Then she cuts and gets the disc from the initial person and so on. The hardest part is starting. But once you get going follow the logic: throw, take the empty corner, catch, repeat.
- Get 50 in a row. If there is a drop or a misthrow, play defense
- How to play defense: Set up cones at 5 yd, 10 yd, and 15 yd. For each turn you will run this suicide ladder. If you posses on offense, no need to play defense. Don't like to possess, get it back by running hard on D.
- Complete this 3x. Rest in between each 2-3 min.

5) Optional: Focused throwing.
- Pick 5 scenarios in a game time situation. Make them specific. Work on the muscles memory and complete 10 passes in a row to the correct side of your partner. Be critical of yourself so you are practicing good muscle memory.
- Example 1: IO flick to a bowling alley cut. I will focus on first pulling my mark over with this fake and then throwing a soft pass to the inside of my person. I will complete 10 passes in a row of this scenario.
- Example 2: Throwing a flick huck off an oven cut. I'll dish it to myself and throw it to my partner with a good amount of float and IO so it sits out in the space.

Lower Booty Circuit

Courtesy of the Daily Hiit.

25 Split Squats

1. Stand with hands on hips or clasped in front of your hcest. Position feet far apart; one foot forward and other foot behind you-either on a weight bench, sturdy chair, or flat on the floor.
2. Squat down by flexing knee and hip of front leg.
3. Allow heel of rear foot to rise up while knee of rear leg bends slightly until it almost makes contact with floor.
4. Return to original standing position by extending hip and knee of forward leg. Repeat.
5. Continue with opposite leg

60 second Glute Bridge

1. Lie on your back on an exercise mat or the floor in a bent-knee position with your feet flat on the floor.
2. Place your feet hip-width apart with the toes facing away from you.
3. Gently contract your abdominal muscles to flatten your low back into the floor.
4. Gently exhale. Keep the abdominals engaged and lift your hips up off the floor.
5. Press your heels into the floor for added stability. Avoid pushing your hips too high, which can cause hyperextension (arching) in your low back.
6. Hold for the suggested amount of seconds.
7. Inhale and slowly lower yourself back to your starting position.

30 Leg Circles

1. Lie on your right side with your right upper arm on the floor and your head resting on your right hand.
2. With knees straight, bend at your hips so your legs and torso form a slight angle.
3. Raise your left leg 6 to 8 inches and make 8 small forward circles from the hip, raising the leg higher with each one.
4. From the highest point, make 8 more small circles in the other direction as you lower the leg to start. That’s 1 rep.
5. Repeat on the other side.

20 Donkey Kicks

1. Start on all fours, with your hands directly under your shoulders and your knees directly under your hips.
2. Keep your right knee at a 90-degree angle as you slowly raise your leg behind you until your thigh is almost parallel to the floor. Pulse your flexed foot toward the ceiling by squeezing your glutes. Your back should remain perfectly still in a neutral spine. The motion should be small and controlled with the muscle doing the work and not momentum.
3. Return to start position to complete one rep. Do 20 on each side, two to three times.

15 Fire Hydrants

1. Place your body on an all-fours position. Elbows should be slightly bent.
2. Back should be parallel to the ground, not arched or swayed downward.
3. Keeping the kneeling position raise left leg out to the side, parallel to the ground. Maintain for a second and slowly return to the initial position.
4. Repeat movement with same leg until set is finished. Repeat the exercise using the right leg.

Pod practice - Kill drills

1. Warm-up

2. Hershels (10-20 throws of unscripted running and throwing, in and away cuts) or party drill (scripted cuts/throws)

3. Two versions of Kill Drills

First: In pairs, one thrower and one cutter. Place one cone downfield from the thrower. The cutter should be about 10 yards away cutting between two cones about seven yards apart. The thrower and cutter must complete 20 throws in a row (10 throws each person). If there's a turn, start over.

Do four times. On the third time, focus on leading passes and complete 20 throws total, not in a row.

     cone         cutter-->           cone

                    thrower

  

Second: Add a V cut to the first cut. Place the cones closer together and add a cone in between the cones five yards back. Do three times.   

       

                cone

  
cone                       cone

             thrower

4. Throw/go drill. Make a diamond out of cones, roughly 10 yards apart. In pairs, work out throwing and going. Throw and cut to a cone while looking for the next throw. Set a timer to one minute. Repeat three times. B-Pod Record: 54 throws.

5. Complete a series of in-cut throws with your pod. Left hand only, right hand only, both hands. B-pod did two throw each (16 in a row) for left and right hands and 50 total for both hands.

Pod Practice - Post C Cup

Hey all,

Way to win all the things this weekend. Let's keep it going.

The focus of this pod practice will be breaking the mark, the dump and swing, and some hucking. Enjoy. Feel free to modify based on how people's bodies are feeling.

Here is a post from different people about breaking the mark. Read at least 1 before pod practice so you can enter practice with a new breaking technique or mindset to work on.

http://www.usaultimate.org/news/the-huddle-issue-14-breaking-the-mark/

Warm up - Throwing build up and plyos.

McFluegan Series.
Complete as 1 big group to learn from each other. Each person gets 10 throws in each series. Push yourself to be better today. Try something new. Perfect something taht isn't high percentage.
1st McFluegs - Everything is awesome. You can throw whatever you want.
2nd McFluegs - No high release. Work on your fakes, pivots, body angles, release points, etc.
3rd McFluegs - No high release. No big step. put down 2 volcano cones (the little ones) about 1-1.5 yds apart. Can't step beyond this. Works on arm extension, finding the holes with quick controlled releases while moving the mark. If you can do this, anything else will be easy.
4th McFluegs - 5 minute challenge. Break into groups of 3 or 4. How many completions can you get in the time limit? This is the time to be possession based. Share your numbers with the team afterwards. No high releases. B pod winner will get a popsicle...

Dump Swing Weave. 
Scripted Weave - Run 3x with all passes completed. Didn't complete a pass do another one.
Oh God... This is going to be rough to write up. Here goes.
3 players across. Start the disc on a sideline. Middle person cuts oven and gets it. The person who threw it pushes to the D 1 position, plants and comes back for the around throw and throws the swing pass to the thrid person who was pushing up field and now comes back for the disc. It all starts over. The middle person who threw it now goes oven gets the disc...

Unscripted weave - Run 3x with all passes completed.
DO WHAT CHA WANTS! Just run handler cuts.

Hucking
Take 5 minutes of focused hucking time. Know what the disc is going to do when it leaves your hand.
2 x 2 min Herschels  (3 people cutting). Mix up your cuts and add in a deep cut. Throwers have a plan of how the disc will fly when it leaves your hands. Did it do it?

AND THAT's EVERYTHING.

Workout Week of 8/11/14: Circuits

Circuits Again: http://mbtstrong.blogspot.com/2014/06/circuits-week-of-62314.html.  We're running 4, 4, 4 of each circuit.  Add some pushups into your rest in between sets.  Throw in between sets if you've got a partner.  Challenge yourselves.  Put in the work now so you know that when you step onto the field at nationals, there isn't anyone who can outwork you.

Workout Week of 8/4/14: Plyos again

After a tournament weekend, here are your conditioning (non-practice) priorities:
-Take care of your body.  Hurt? Tweaky? Exhausted?  Rest and recover.
-Lift.  At this point in the season, your lifting is primarily for injury prevention.  Please talk to Lauren or me if you have questions about what you should be doing when you lift!
-Track workout, likely toward the end of the week

We are going to give our sprinting muscles a break and do the plyometric workout again: http://mbtstrong.blogspot.com/2014/06/plyos-workout-week-of-6214.html.  If this workout isn't good for your body, do an alternative workout that involves explosion both forward and laterally.  If you do hills, for instance, do some lateral jumps or 5-10-5's in between sets.  Get those hips into it!