Sports Lessons For Life

Try This At Home…………………………

Ask your child if he can think of any exercises that he can do without any equipment, just his own body.  He will probably come up with sit ups, push ups, etc.  Ask him if he has ever heard about plyometrics.  Share the following post with him and have him try it out for himself.

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Last week I talked about cross training and why it is so important and effective both mentally and physically.   This week I’m going to focus on my personal favorite cross training workout, Plyometrics and other strength building exercises.  In this post I’ll talk about simple plyometrics and strength building exercises and next week I’ll talk about more complex and traditional plyo’s. 

A plyometric exercise is one in which your child, using his own body weight, forces his muscles to contract forcefully and quickly.  Plyometrics help increase speed and power.  Since I’m not an expert in the science of it, I’m going to refer you to a website which describes in detail what a plyometric is.  http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/plyometrics.html. I don’t know much about the website, but I thought it had a good explanation.

No matter what your child decides to focus on there is almost always something that, although not directly related to the activity, can make him better.  Plyometrics is one of those things and is ideal for any sport that requires speed, strength and power.  In most sports you don’t bound across a field or jump like a frog, but doing those things will improve your child’s explosive speed and power.  Granted, he may look a little silly doing them, but even the coolest kid will have a good time, even if he won’t admit it. 

When I was in middle school we did a unit of relay races and games in gym class.  It was the most fun I ever remember having in gym class.  We had skipping races, crab walk races; the list goes on and on.  I also remember being unbelievable sore the next day.  I was flabbergasted and quite frankly a little embarrassed that I was that sore from kids games.  What I didn’t know at the time was that a lot of the races we did were plyometrics, and as I would find out later on in my career they always made me unbelievably sore.

I don’t suggest starting off with the kind of plyometrics that involves jumping onto and off of boxes. If your child has never done this kind of thing before have him ease into it with some other plyometrics and strength building exercises.  Below is a sample of some of my personal favorites. 

The following exercises can be done in the following order up to two or three times a week. (three is a lot.) Make sure there is at least one day off in-between plyometric days, in most cases more is ideal.   I suggest starting with once a week and building from there.  You can alternate this set of exercises with the hill running workout, which I explain at the end of this post.   The best thing about all of the following exercises is that they are effective and free.  You don’t need to join a fancy gym; you can do them in your local park or incorporate them into your practices.   I suggest doing them on grass.

Make sure your child warms up before he gets started.

Hopping

Have your child pace off 30-40 long strides.  He can mark the beginning and end with his water bottle, jacket, cones, or whatever he has handy.  Once he’s used to it he can increase the distance to 70 paces.  Then have him hop the distance in one direction on his right foot and in the other direction with his left foot.  Initially have him do this only once or twice and from there he can build up to three or four times.  Tell him to focus on making each hop as high and far as he can.  He can take a short rest between sets.

Skipping

Have your child pace off 30-40 long strides.  He can mark the beginning and end with his water bottle, jacket, cones, or whatever he has handy.  Once he’s used to it he can increase the distance to 70 paces.  Then have him skip the distance focusing on skipping as fast as he can in contrast with bouncing high.  Initially have him do this only once or twice and from there he can build up to four or five times.  He can take a short rest between sets.

Bounding

Have your child pace off 30-40 long strides.  He can mark the beginning and end with his water bottle and jacket, cones, or whatever he has handy.  Once he’s used to it he can increase the distance to 70 paces.  Bounding is a lot like skipping, but instead of focusing on a fast forward movement have your child focusing on skipping as high as he can with as much force as he can.  Initially have him do this only once or twice and from there he can build up to four or five times.  He can take a short rest between sets.  Have him think about exploding off the ground every time he pushes off.

Duck Walks 

Have your child pace off 10-15 long strides.  He can mark the beginning and end with his water bottle, jacket, cones, or whatever he has handy.  Once he’s used to it he can increase the distance. Have him squat down in a low squat.  Then without standing, have him walk forward.  His legs will swing forward out to the side resembling a duck walk.  Make sure he keeps his back straight.  Have him walk the distance two or three times.  As he gets stronger he can add weight; a weight vest is a good way to accomplish this.  An economical way is to fill a car inner tube with sand and drape it around his neck.  That is what my first coach, Rich, had me do.  He can take a short rest between sets.

Standing Jumps

Standing on a level surface have your child squat down and then jump up as high as he can.  Encourage him to squat down and then jump up in one fluid motion.  Remind him to use his arms by throwing them up over his head while he jumps.  Have him start off with three jumps and he can increase it to as many as ten.  He can take a short rest between sets.

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Running Hills

Running hills was a staple off season work out during my cycling career and had I been a rider who focused on the sprint events on the velodrome I’m sure I would have done it year round. Running hills will build your child’s leg strength and power.    Have your child find a hill that is fairly steep and takes about 20 -30 seconds to run up.  To start have your child run up the hill ten times, running up the hill and walking quickly down.  As he gets used to it he can increase the amount of times and the intensity, eventually he’ll be sprinting up the hill.   He can build up to as many as thirty times up the hill.    I sometimes mix things up by repeating the following set over and over again: Hill one, run up at a fast pace, but not sprinting.  Hill two, bound up, and hill three, sprints up. It helps keep things interesting.

These exercises are a lot of fun and will be a huge benefit to your child.

I’d like to give a special shout out to my first coach, Rich, who taught me a great deal, including introducing me to plyometrics.  He made me understand what sore was!  Thanks Rich!!!!!!!!!!!

For more information about me and my children’s books please visit www.erinmirabella.com.