College and even high school campuses provide one of the best settings for conditioning or physical preparation work that an athlete could dream of. Most people would think being a student limits such opportunities, but with a little creativity a school campus can be your greatest training asset. And it’s FREE to use!

Think about what you’re chasing…a certain training effect. You’re looking to do 1 of 2 things, maybe a little of both:

  • Cardio For Fat Loss Puposes
  • Conditioning or GPP (general physical preparation)…this includes speed work, agility, and anything else an athlete might do to PREPARE him/herself for sport
  • Once you decide which training effect you’re chasing, THEN you can design your session to achieve that effect.
High school and college campuses offer plenty of places and ways to do this if you know where to look and what to do. I recently took a trip back to Clemson and was excited and almost overwhelmed with the options I had for my 1 day of conditioning work. I was almost disappointed I couldn’t do them all. Almost!
So what options are out there for YOU?
  • Hills
  • Stadiums (football, baseball, soccer, tennis, etc)
  • Tennis Court Sprints (lot of lines for creative change of direction sprints/shuttles)
  • Tracks
  • Running Trails
  • Sidewalks
  • Sand pits or beaches
This is the exact spot where I ran my stadium sprints. This is the view from the bottom. I, like you (I assume) was looking for a physical preparation effect. Therefore my training needed to resemble in-game situations. I’m pretty sure you’re coach would bench you for jogging up and down the court or field, so we want HIGH INTENSITY, all-out effort on this session! Here is what I did:
  • 1 regular sprint (walk down resting only the time it takes to walk back down)
  • 1 Carioca facing to the right
  • 1 Carioca facing to the left
  • 1 regular sprint
  • 1 side shuffle facing right
  • 1 side shuffle facing left
  • 1 regular sprint
  • 1 regular sprint
Took 10-12 minutes and I was DONE! With sessions that can be completed this quickly, time can never be used as an excuse again!
The view from the top…of the lower deck!
Clemson sits on a lake, which presents a unique opportunity for hills. Clemson has a series of dikes around the lake which offer several places to run some very long and very steep hills. It was a tough call choosing between this hill and Death Valley, but Death Valley isn’t always open, so I jumped on the chance to get inside that place! Above you can see a jogger (boo jogging!) making his way across the top. The lake is on the other side, so the view from the top is a sweet reward for those willing to make the climb. But isn’t that usually the case?
Bottom line is this: Get creative & get it done! Reap the rewards of doing the things that others wont.