Whether you are an elite athlete, a weekend warrior, or a general fitness enthusiast, there are necessary components required when you put together a complete workout program. Identified here are eight different areas of emphasis, from the active warm to the recovery phase. For best results, each will require maximum effort, commitment and understanding.
Active Warm up
The active warm up is the preparation prior to the workout. The focus is on active range of motion in all the major muscles and joints throughout the body. This helps increase blood flow and core body temperature. Some additional movement drills are included, such as side-to-side shuffles and high knees skips.
Rotator Cuff Exercises
The rotator cuff requires important exercises that increase blood flow to the muscles of the shoulder and upper back area, along with preventing injury and breakdown. Suggested equipment are tubing bands, therabands, or very light dumbbells, no greater than 5 lbs. Exercises include internal and external rotations with the arm and elbow at a 90 degree angle, upper back retractions, lateral deltoid raises, and front shoulder raises with the arms at a 45 degree angle. Sports that benefit could be baseball, swimming, volleyball, or tennis.
Movement
Movement is a series of fast footwork, agility, and change of directions drills that can be used in a variety of sports as well as boot camps and weight loss programs. Equipment may include footwork ladders, cones, and resistive bungee cords. Stressed here are the ability to stop and start in a small area, to move laterally and backward, and increasing the rate of burning calories.
Core Training
The core is labeled as the area of the body between the shoulder and hip joints. Muscles include abdominals, obliques, lower back, hips and upper gluteals. Exercises may include medicine ball tosses, both overhead and rotational, low back extensions, side body weight plank holds, and dual arm heavy rope training.
Strength Training
The use of free weight dumbbells, barbells, cables, high tension tubing, and even body weight in order to increase lean muscle mass on one’s skeletal frame helps define strength training. This part is especially critical in order to avoid any type of muscle pull or strain when a sport or activity places excess demands on the body.
Post Flexibility
This is performed at the end of the workout. Ideally, it is partner assisted. The person being stretched lies in a supine position on the ground. Both static held and dynamic range of motion stretching are employed. The stretches emphasized are the hamstrings, low back, hips, quadriceps, hip flexors, inner thighs, and shoulders.
Nutrition
According to www.coreperformance.com, any post-workout drink you intake should have a ratio of carbohydrates-to-protein in the range of 1:1 to 4:1.
This can be in the form of a blended supplement shake or pre-made beverage of some kind. An example would be about 90 g of carbohydrates and 30 g of protein after a workout. Total calories in this case would be 480.
Recovery / Regeneration
Last but definitely not least is the use of modalities such as professional massage, a foam roll self massage, hot tub/cold tub soaks, ice packs, epson salt baths, and just plain rest. A proper recovery following a maximal effort workout, practice, or game can make a difference in how the individual bounces back the next day or the next game.
