Off-season training

[Alan H]

I am putting together my off-season program right now. OK, well....it's planned already. Call me obsessive. Here it is...



Actually my right elbow is bothering me, and high pulls aggravates the sore spot, so I will probably do rack pulls for the rest of the month, and probably November. High pulls are an explosive exercise, and that's what I'll be doing in Feb-March.

[eclarkhb]

Looks good - how are you alternating the training days? You have 5 days listed, but you are lifting 3 days a week....

For me, I'm pushing for some PR's in squat & overhead press by Dec 31st, and I've also integrated some speed work.

Right now I'm doing a variation of Wendler's 5/3/1, 3 days a week, but I'm squatting each day, because my squats (and flexibility) need a lot of work.

For speed/explosiveness, I'm aiming for Sprints Monday, Bounding (plyometrics) on Tuesday, Box jumps on Friday & hills on Saturdays. I'm doing short distances & focusing on speed & power not cardio. I don't hit them all every week, but that's ok, I'll get more intense with it starting in January. I'll also taper the intensity through Jan-Feb-March-April...

In January, I'm also switching to The Juggernaut Method by Chad Wesley Smith, which will have me doing some higher rep cycles in January & Feb, which will be good for me.

My throwing technique needs a lot of work, so I'm trying to do drills 5 days a week, when I can fit it in & practice on the weekends (when kid's soccer doesn't interfere). Again, I don't beat myself up if I miss something, because I have a very busy schedule with work & family, so I view it as a set of goals each week & try to get as close as I can.

[Alan H]

Looks good - how are you alternating the training days? You have 5 days listed, but you are lifting 3 days a week....

Right. So for example if I start with a squat Day on Monday, I won't squat again until the following Friday. This is a ten day cycle, which is probably a long time between various exercises, but we'll see how it goes. I tend to adjust as I go along.

For me, I'm pushing for some PR's in squat & overhead press by Dec 31st, and I've also integrated some speed work.

Right now I'm doing a variation of Wendler's 5/3/1, 3 days a week, but I'm squatting each day, because my squats (and flexibility) need a lot of work.

5-3-1 = good. Two thumbs up.

For speed/explosiveness, I'm aiming for Sprints Monday, Bounding (plyometrics) on Tuesday, Box jumps on Friday & hills on Saturdays. I'm doing short distances & focusing on speed & power not cardio. I don't hit them all every week, but that's ok, I'll get more intense with it starting in January. I'll also taper the intensity through Jan-Feb-March-April...

I'd suggest to not try to both "lift big" and also do all this cardio at the same time. Sprints? Great...love them. Mike Pockoski recommends sprinting and Mike knows his business. Just...should you be lifting for weight PR's AND do pylos and stuff at the same time? You can do quickness and explosiveness work during the beginning of the season.

In January, I'm also switching to The Juggernaut Method by Chad Wesley Smith, which will have me doing some higher rep cycles in January & Feb, which will be good for me.

My throwing technique needs a lot of work, so I'm trying to do drills 5 days a week, when I can fit it in & practice on the weekends (when kid's soccer doesn't interfere). Again, I don't beat myself up if I miss something, because I have a very busy schedule with work & family, so I view it as a set of goals each week & try to get as close as I can.

Bold added by me...."drills" if you mean ten minutes worth of foot reversal drills and maybe chucking a softball around, that's fine. If you mean an hour of drills with the full weights, you might want to think about that. Nobody I know does the weights AND the explosiveness AND the drills concurrently.

Don't get me wrong, I am all about drills, but honestly, can you actually do all this stuff and have a life? I suspect you're going to burn out. I know that Queen Mary is not THAT far away, but you might want to talk to the OC Practice group people about what they do. Seriously.

Personally, during the first part of the season...March- May, that is when I am working the hardest. I lifted once a week and threw MAYBE 3x a week this past year and that was A LOT. Seriously, a 90-120 minute throws workout, three times a week....most Pro's don't even do that. Volume is good, and to some degree you jus thave to do this stuff over and over again, but it's better to practice SMART. Next year I will not throw more than 2x a week, and I will probably do more lifting during the season.

[eclarkhb]

Thanks for the feedback, Alan -

As far as the sprinting, etc goes, I'm not doing it for Cardio, I'm doing for speed & explosiveness & general GPP. At this point its not a priority in my training, so it gets done when I have time & can fit it in. I'm resting between sets more than I would if my focus was on cardio & the distances are very short. Sprints are typically 10-30 yards, with the total distance for the entire session being <150-200 yards for example. It actually makes a great warmup for lifting. Not to mention, I actually enjoy doing this stuff, which has as much to do with it as anything...

Also as far as the drills, 5 days a week is a target, but I don't hit that often. And yes these are drilling sessions, where I take 1 exercise & work on footwork. These sessions are typically 10-25 minutes, and not strenuous. With stones, I will typically do some throws, but the focus is technique not distance. With WFD or hammer, I don't have the implements, so I'm working with no implement or sometimes with a orange traffic cone, to provide some resistance. the only time I'm able to work with actual implements is at the OC Highlander's practice sessions on the weekends, but right now I have kids soccer commitments every weekend...

So I sort of put this together, with the different exercise session having different priorities. Lifting 3 times a week is non-negotiable. If I miss Monday due to work or family, then I'll do Monday's workout on Tuesday, for example. For the other stuff, I do it if I have time & can fit it in. I work from home most of the time, and I work out in my garage, so this kind of schedule works very well for me & its not enough where I'm going to get burned out.

[Alan H]

Gotcha.

When I do sprints, they're also very short. I do stuff like put a shoe on the ground and then 15 yards away put another shoe on the ground. Accelerate fast from the first shoe, then decelerate and touch the second shoe, then accelerate AFAP back to the first shoe. Stuff like that. Works for me. Mike told me that his coach had him do 100's and 220's when he was training for discus with his eyes on the Olympics.

Regarding drilling...gonna show you a super-great, super cheap substitute for that traffic cone. Get two of these. You can buy them pre-loaded with sand or you can fill them yourself...which is what I did. Load one up to about 8 pounds. Load another one up to about 20-25. Then drill WFD and hammer like a crazy man. The 8 pounder is for exactly what the traffic cone is for. The 20-25 pounder is starting to feel like a "real" weight.

http://www.vsathletics.com/product.php?xProd=516

Here are some drilling videos that you might find useful.

A. LWFD first turn drill. I swear, if you can do the first turn of a two-spin...1.) just replace your feet and 2.) hit the power position in the back, balanced and 3.) with 60% of your weight on the back leg and 4.) a good amount of bend in your knees..

If you can do that, and then NOT STAND UP as you move into the second spin, then the rest of the throw just sort of happens.

First spin..turn and drop, and then single spin throws. Do these with both the light powerball and the 20-25 pounder. They're soft, they won't trash the grass in the backyard or in the park, even when it's wet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCf3mtMfHmo

Greg Hadley...has LOTS of good videos on YouTube, BTW...showing off core crushers, which I honestly think is THE EXERCISE for a big LWFD and HWFD. I do ' em with 180 lbs. 3 x 8.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zv-RQ...eature=related

How Greg uses the powerball for drilling/exercising hammer winds. I do this too, btw.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asR-j...eature=related

two-spin drills with the powerball - throw up against a wall somewhere, or at the park. Heck, throw a few while the kids are playing soccer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN3s6qMfwYs&NR=1

There are also "indoor" shot puts..or "soft" shot puts. They're not the same thing as throwing a stone but it's not THAT different. You can heave these things up against the house, in the driveway and you won't ruin the garage door, especially if you get a 12 pound or 6K shot rather than the 16. They will put divots in wet grass, but somewhat less than an iron shot. They are not cheap, not by any means but if they let you drill in the driveway, then they might be worth it. If you're a rotational shot putter/stone thrower then VS Athletics also sells a halfway reasonable throwing shoe that it worth it's weight in gold, in terms of saving your knees.

http://www.vsathletics.com/product.php?xProd=462

[eclarkhb]

Awesome post! thanks for all the links!

I also love the fact that VS Athletics are located in Torrance, CA - which is about 30 minutes from me. That means I can pick up & don't have to pay shipping :-)

And I am a rotational thrower for shotput / open stone. I have some videos from Ventura posted here: http://www.youtube.com/eclarkhb123

I'm still figuring out the proper footwear for a grass surface. At this point I'm using running shoes for stones. I have owned throwing shoes before, but it seems like that would be too slick in the grass....I have soccer turf shoes, which worked well for caber & hammer (at least until I get blades). Not sure if I'll use the turf shoes or running shoes for LWFD...

[Alan H]

Awesome post! thanks for all the links!

I also love the fact that VS Athletics are located in Torrance, CA - which is about 30 minutes from me. That means I can pick up & don't have to pay shipping :-)

And I am a rotational thrower for shotput / open stone. I have some videos from Ventura posted here: http://www.youtube.com/eclarkhb123

I'm still figuring out the proper footwear for a grass surface. At this point I'm using running shoes for stones. I have owned throwing shoes before, but it seems like that would be too slick in the grass....I have soccer turf shoes, which worked well for caber & hammer (at least until I get blades). Not sure if I'll use the turf shoes or running shoes for LWFD...

Mike P actually has a pair of old fashioned cleats...you know, with the thick round spikes? He ground off all the spikes, down to nubs EXCEPT the one that is right under the ball of his foot- under his big toe. So when he throws rotational stone, he still has some grip but the whole shoe rotates around that one spike. voila, no destroyed knees.

You're going to throw stones on those SAAA plywood platforms with artificial green lawn carpet, huh? Think about a pair of the VS Athletics throwing shoes. They might not cut it on real grass, but I bet they'll work out on the plywood.

The turf shoes all depend on the type of gripping sole they have. The Adidas Turf hogs that I have are wonderful, just wonderful on real grass. On the plywood platforms at Ventura, they'd have sucked so I used my old Nike high-top artificial turf, turf shoes. These have much smaller "nubs" on the bottom of the shoe than the Adidas. That worked out pretty well.

[Alan H]

Hey, that video looks pretty good! Head-chest up at the delivery.....Man, you look a LOT better than my rotational throws! Good job!

[eclarkhb]

Mike P actually has a pair of old fashioned cleats...you know, with the thick round spikes? He ground off all the spikes, down to nubs EXCEPT the one that is right under the ball of his foot- under his big toe. So when he throws rotational stone, he still has some grip but the whole shoe rotates around that one spike. voila, no destroyed knees.

Interesting....

You're going to throw stones on those SAAA plywood platforms with artificial green lawn carpet, huh? Think about a pair of the VS Athletics throwing shoes. They might not cut it on real grass, but I bet they'll work out on the plywood.

Yes, those would absolutely work. They used those turf platforms in Ventura, which was my 1st games. Is that common? Any idea what kind of surface they use at Long Beach or Costa Mesa? Or do I just need to have a bag full of shoes & be prepared for anything?

[eclarkhb]

Hey, that video looks pretty good! Head-chest up at the delivery.....Man, you look a LOT better than my rotational throws! Good job!

Thanks a lot! Tons to improve on, though - that's why I love having the video. I'm using almost no legs, standing straight up & not maintaining the power position - I'm also looking down in the middle of the throw & again at the very end (looking at my feet). And then to top it off I'm throwing from about 2' behind the trigg....

So lots to work on!