I got a very scary text from one of my baseball players yesterday. His coach had them doing some pre-season “conditioning”. So he made them run 10 miles!! Seriously. Baseball players running 10 miles??? Talk about WRONG…WOW!

So what’s wrong with that you ask? 

First of all, baseball is a POWER sport. By power sport, I mean the game is played in short bursts lasting no longer than 10-12 seconds. Therefore training, or “preparation” should mimic this environment. And running 10 miles is exactly the opposite!

Make no mistake about it, every athlete needs cardio and conditioning. In sports, the most mentally and physically prepared teams or individuals win 99% of the time. But, physical preparation is a term that much more accurately reflects what we’re aiming for when we say “conditioning”.

So from here on out, physical preparation is our focus. Are you physically prepared to dominate YOUR sport?

The YOU in the above sentence is important. What is your sport? Baseball? Basketball? Strongman? Martial Arts? Wrestling? Football? Distance running?

How you answer that question is very crucial. In fact, how you answer that question will dictate how you prepare yourself.

SPECIFICITY RULES!

Meet the SAID principle. Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands. In other words, you get good at what you do.

Want to get good at squatting? Squat. Want to get good at distance running on hills? Run long distance over hilly courses.

Power athletes don’t need distance running. First and foremost, they need STRENGTH, and the ability to produce force rapidly. As far as conditioning goes, they need strength endurance and work capacity. That is, the ability to do more work, and maintain form, technique and intensity over a prolonged period of time. This requires developing higher top end performance and then building the work capacity to do it for longer periods of time.

In other words, let’s say you play baseball and your coach wants you to be able to SPRINT the bases as fast in the ninth inning as you can when you’re fresh in the first inning. So what does he do? Answer: It sure as hell isn’t jogging 10 miles!

Instead, they should be working on sprint technique, getting faster, and doing multiple short bursts of sprints to build top end speed and the previously mentioned work capacity. If you can’t deadlift 225 pounds ONCE, how can you expect to do it for 20 reps???

I can’t tell you how many basketball players come to me wanting to lose the flab from the gut, improve their conditioning, and become more explosive.

Guess how they “condition” themselves? By running 2-4 miles every couple of days.

Let me ask you something. What does it look like when somebody runs for 2-4 miles. Aside from the mind-numbing boringness, it looks like a lazy, fluid, controlled, and steady motion. Would you use ANY of those words to describe the game of basketball? Did this same athlete use ANY of those words when he/she told me about losing the gut, becoming explosive, or building stamina? NO! So why would YOU “prepare” like this?!

Basketball, like baseball and most other sports, is a game of bursts. The game moves quickly and rapidly from one end of the floor to the other every 20-30 seconds. And during those 20-30 seconds, athletes must endure the lactic acid buildup of holding a quarter squat while in the defensive stance, sometimes changing direction, or even short sprints before transitioning to the opposite end of the court again. This pattern will continue nonstop until a foul or turnover temporarily stops play for 15-60 seconds. Timeouts are also randomly distributed in the middle and high school game. College athletes have the luxury of knowing that every 4 minutes brings a TV timeout.

What does this mean? It means that basketball players need to be “prepared” to maintain a moderate intensity of constant motion that includes short bursts of power and strength for periods of 2-4 minutes. These “intervals” will continue for 24-48 minutes depending on the length of the game.

The sample workout below is great for any sport that involves short bursts of maximal output followed by brief rest intervals. (Football, basketball, baseball, etc…)

This is great for small groups. Set up the 4 stations, put 2-3 athletes at each station and rotate through.

Do 4 “sets” of each pairing with little rest between the movements. Rest 1-2 minutes before moving on to the next pairing or station. The rest periods and numbers of “sets” at each station can be adjusted to accommodate current preparation levels and needs.

A1. KB Swing x 3

A2. Hill Sprint x 90′ (30-40 yds)

B1. Tire Flip x 3

B2. Speed Farmer’s Walks x 30-40 yds

C1. Sandbag Bent Rows x 8

C2. Backpeddle w/Sled x 30-40 yds

D1. Alternating Lunge Jumps x 3/leg

D2. Prowler x 30-40 yds

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