Are you in training?
“Everyone is an athlete. The only difference is that some of us are in training, and some are not.” Dr George Sheeham
Pre-season training commenced on 26 July and many have turned up and got stuck in. Others have done sessions away from a Thursday night and this shows. For some pre-season starts with the first league games on 22 September….not ideal. You have a few weeks left, so here are some ideas to spice up your training –
Out and back – run at a gentle pace for 15 mins, turn and run the route back trying to beat the time taken out. (in other words beat 15 mins back!!!)
Wind it up – 10 mins easy pace, 10 mins steady pace and 10 mins hard pace
Quick one – up and down a hockey pitch (2 x 100m), 30 second break between each rep. Repeat 4 times =’s one set. Have 2 min break between sets. Complete 4 sets.
Fartlek – varied running pace and terrain. But in random speed, intersperse with speed sections lasting 30 – 90 seconds. Run for 30 mins.
Slow and quick - up and down a hockey pitch (2 x 100m) then round periphery (400m), equates to one set. On the 200m section run at pace, steady recovery run on 400m. Repeat 8 times.
NB - start with a 5 min warm up (plus stretches) and 5 min cool down (plus stretches)
Developing your fitness outside of club time
It needn’t take a great deal of time to make changes to your general level of fitness. Below are 3 areas which you can work on at home.
Cardiovascular fitness
Cardiovascular fitness refers to any exercise of low to moderate intensity. To help improve your cardiovascular fitness, you may want to consider including running, swimming or cycling for example in your training program. Aim for 3 sessions per week of at least 30 minutes duration. Even if you only manage 1 session a week in addition to playing hockey, you should see some benefit to your game.
If you do not enjoy the prospect of running on your own, you could join a local running club. All clubs welcome anyone, regardless of ability. Local clubs include:
Stainland Lions – www.stainlandlions.com
Halifax Harriers – www.halifaxharriers.co.uk
Holmfirth Harriers – www.holmfirthharriers.co
Core muscle exercises
Core muscle essentially refers to your abdominal or tummy muscles. Whatever exercise you do it is important to develop your core muscles. Core muscle exercises will help build up your core stability, which in turn will help prevent injury to your lower limbs and will help your legs work more efficiently and powerfully.
Attached are 5 good core muscle exercises that can be done in less than 5 minutes at home. If you do not have a swiss ball then the final exercise can be performed kneeling on your sofa. It is important to note that if any of these exercises hurt, stop doing them as you are probably doing them incorrectly. Remember it is not about volume when doing these exercises but technique.
Please refer to the "core muscles workout" which you download by clicking here.
Resistance Training
You may also consider doing some weight training to help inject more power behind your hits. A gym is not required as a number of basic exercises can be performed in less than 10 minutes at home such as press ups (full press up on the floor, or with your hands on the bottom stair or with your feet on the bottom stair) and tricep dips off the sofa. If these exercises are unfamiliar to you or you would like to know a few more exercises, please speak to one of the coaches on Thursday evenings.
Yours the fitness guru
Luan Underwood
