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Winter workout

01.01.70

All you warm weather athletes, winter is for you! It's the best time of year to build precision moves and explosive strength. Even marathon runners need explosive strength to win - often it's a burst of speed over the last mile that determines who gets the finish ribbon.</p><p> A big benefit of developing athletic power during winter: you can allow time for full recovery. In warmer weather, when you're doing a programmed training progression, there's often no room for full recuperation from plyometric and precision work. That leads to the dreaded overtraining syndrome; or to its borderline edge, which is a main cause of season slumps. If you're doing power workouts at the same time as training for your sport, and hit a plateau where results just don't improve; the cause may be the draining effects of overtraining, which actually goes down to a cellular level. Recovery from it can take a full season.</p><p> Your muscles may need a brush-up once your season starts, but if you've already built the mechanics of precise moves and plyometric explosive strength, you're conditioned to make those moves. You've got the physical memory in place; so merely refreshing it while doing sport specific training won't deplete your energy reserves.</p><p> The first winter workout exercise is easy, and it breaks your body in gently so you DON'T get micro-trauma - the physical overload that stresses unprepared joints, tissues and muscle fibers; causing very minor, but lasting injury. You'll need ten pennies and a 12-13-step flight of stairs. Start by holding five pennies in each hand at the bottom of the stairs. Hop up the stairs with both feet shoulder width apart. Walk down slowly. Two steps from the bottom, toss the pennies to the floor. Bend down to pick them up, first with one hand, then with the other. Bend from the hips or squat. This improves spinal flexibility, grip precision and prepares the lower body joints for plyometric work.</p><p> Next, use a jump rope to improve explosive power and foot precision. Try to jump for a minute at a time without missing. Each time you miss a jump, allow your heart rate to return to normal before starting another set of jumps. Once you get to the point where you can jump cleanly for one minute, do five sets, walking around between each set until your heart rate drops back to normal. Do this every other day. If you're a masters athlete, it takes longer to recover, so do all these exercises only twice a week.</p><p> After the first month, or 10 workouts, add one-legged hops. Measure off a line 30 feet long. Hop on one leg the length of the line, then hop back using the other leg. Try to improve the distance and height of each hop. Get rid of muscle imbalances by working on better form with your weaker leg.</p><p> After six weeks, or 15 workouts, add in vertical jumps. Chalk your fingers to make a measurement base. Squat down, then jump up with all your power, touching the wall with both hands at the top of your jump. The chalk mark is your base (tape wrapping paper up so as not to mark the wall). As you jump, push hard off the floor with your feet, then make the explosion of power move UP; through your thighs, hips, core, shoulders and arms. Once a week, measure improvement with chalked fingers and date each mark. Even a few more vertical inches tells you that as an athlete, you've really improved.</p><p> Wina Sturgeon is the editor of the online magazine Adventure Sports Weekly (adventuresportsweekly.com). For the latest in training and workout information, go to: http://adventuresportsweekly.com</p><p>Adventure Sports Weekly (adventuresportsweekly.com)

Source: Kansas City Star