Combined training for physical preparation
On the way to the Europeans
In this season conditioned by the virus that has canceled all competitive commitments up to now on the calendar, the first competition will be the European Championships in Gdansk in Poland from 22 to 25 January.
I must say that the programming has been revised and modified several times, this demonstrates that periodizing a season is always very difficult and requires continuous updates.
One of the things I am carrying out is the proposal to athletes of combined exercises that, in sequence, go to train: the core, a muscle and, to close the sequence, an exercise to transform the previous one.
In this way I try to stimulate the strength of the core, particularly useful in the race, often being in contact with the opponents and moreover on an "unstable" surface, the maintenance of strength with high but quickly moved loads, the transformation into power, a key element of the discipline.
I'll give a couple of examples so as to make the concept clearer and give food for thought:
8 Crunches on fitball + 4 Front Squat Fast + 6 frog jumps on the spot
of this 4th series with a recovery of 1'30 "
In this case, the crunch on the fitball stimulates the core in situations of instability. A great lengthening of the muscles is not required, as much as an intense abdominal hold during the exhalation phase.
Immediately you go to work at the Front Squat; I am not yet listing the reasons that lead me to choose the FS that I have already expressed on other occasions, the important thing is the working time: 1 second for the eccentric phase, no pause in the squatting phase but immediately transfer to the concentric contraction which must be as fast as possible for the load being moved. In terms of speed we are between 0.4 and 0.6 m / s, therefore force modulated in a fast way.
The transformation into power takes place with the frog jumps in place.
The recovery of 1'30 ”also serves to train the metabolic aspects and to accustom the athletes to have performances even with incomplete recoveries, as happens in competition.
Going to work on the rear kinetic chain both for the tightness and for the rapidity of opening of the hip and knee angles, extremely useful for the discipline, I propose, for example:
8 bird dog crunches + 4 regular deadlifts + 8 kettlebell swings
of this 4th series with a recovery of 1'30 "
I like the bird dog crunch motion because it combines, with the aspects of the abdomen and core, also the balance and the verification of the proprioceptivity of the athlete who must be able to perform the exercise without entering into rotation with the pelvis .
Deadlift is the exercise that I believe everyone should use from birth to death. It is complete, hard, it gets used to pushing the legs towards the ground to be aware of its position, it strengthens all the muscle bundles of the posterior chains putting them in balance with the often hyperprogrammed anterior chains.
Finally, the transformation through an exercise that I was able to often appreciate in the interesting lessons of prof. Emanuele Conti. He described and explained it as if it were a sacred writing and from him I learned to love it and to insert it in my favorite exercises for physical preparation, in particular for elite athletes but also in children of the introduction to sport.
I believe that this training proposal can be useful in order to get closer to a competitive event without overloading the structures and making the training very little monotonous.
There will be fatigue, of course, but the subsequent sensations will be excellent.
For further information and advice, you can write to me in private.
