In this article I want to cover a couple of workouts that we do with our team during the general preparation phase of training. These workouts are great for athletes to work up and get back in shape. They come from various sources and are always evolving, feel free to take them and put your own spin on them.
A couple of years ago, Romona Pagel gave a great presentation at the NTCA Convention. She really does have some great workout ideas. One of the workouts I got from that session with her, I now call the Pagel Circuit. The Pagel Circuit consists of all the bodyweight exercises, so there’s no need for specialized equipment or a lot of space. Athletes complete 10 repetitions of each exercise with no rest between exercises. We complete the exercises in this order:
-belching
-V-ups
-jump squats
-Lizards
-Split jump squat
-Side Jump
After completing all 6 exercises, we walk or jog 200 meters to recover and then repeat the circuit for three cycles. I track the time it takes to complete each cycle and use that as one of my data points to verify that our training methods are effective.
Another good early season drill is the medicine ball relay. This exercise was introduced to me by a former athlete in our system, Dan Hytinen. It’s a pretty quick but brutal workout that athletes really get into. We use heavy non-bouncing medicine balls and athletes are paired up in groups of two. The men use a 25-pound ball and the women use a 16-pound ball. Working around the 200-meter indoor track, the first partner picks up the ball and chests it in front of him, then runs to it and continues a full lap around the track. After crossing the line, partner 1 does a breaststroke around the track while partner 1 rests. On round two, athletes throw the ball forward through the legs, dropping the hips down and then driving them up. In the final leg of the relay, the athletes run while holding the ball above their head. With this training, you have to be careful not to have too many athletes throwing balls at the same time. I limit it to only 3 athletes on the court at any given time to reduce the risk of medicine balls hitting them.
Each of these workouts can be completed in a relatively short period of time. They are great for athletes to get back in shape and improve work capacity with minimal chance of injury. I have found that they are a good combination of volume and intensity for early season training.