Low volume for lacrosse strength training

Lately, I’ve been lurking on the forums at Inside Lacrosse. More specifically, the training section. Every 10-15 posts, someone says they want to put on size and strength and posts a program for all to evaluate. This program ends up being some sort of split program where the upper body day has three exercises for every body part and the lower body has the same. I remember seeing these programs in the old Muscle & Fitness magazines in the 80′s. (Yes, I’m that old)

What we fail to understand is the body simply cannot handle the volume of work prescribed without some pharmacological help. Some of these programs were designed by those using anabolics for those taking anabolics. You’d need the drugs to recover from a program like this.

If you’re like most lacrosse players, your nutrition is barely on point, so recovery from training is challenged as it is. That being the case, you can get a great training effect from a program with a lower volume of exercise. I believe in whole body training, one exercise per movement. I have friends who subscribe to the Westside, Conjugate, Skinny Bastards method, and even they only do one heavy exercise per workout session.

The take home message is get your nose out of body building magazines and seek out the advice of a professional strength coach who has your best interests at heart.

PS. With summer coming, new camps and strength programs will be announced. Sign up for our newsletter to get the most up to date information.