Certain people have a predisposition for certain sports. Some people are meant to play football and not run cross country. Some are gymnasts and not baseball players. Some are CrossFit athletes and other are just not. There are many videos on You Tube which will illustrate my point. Just do a search for “CrossFit Fail”. There are hundreds of videos giving visual proof that CrossFit is not for everyone. My fear is that Inside Lacrosse is telling the lacrosse community that CrossFit is a viable option to all Lacrosse players. I’m telling you it’s not. Everyone can exercise, but not everyone can do CrossFit.

He discussed movement and how dysfunctional movement could cause pain in certain areas of the body. For instance, knee pain usually is caused by dysfunction in either the hip or ankle, or both. Not the knee. Too many times we treat the pain, not the cause of pain. I’ve heard this before and typically prescribe to this train of thought. Many times, as I’ve written here on this site, I’ve used tools such as a foam roller or lacrosse ball to provide a self myofascial release to muscles I feel have too much spasm to allow normal movement in a joint or joints. What I learned was with each release of a facilitated or spasmed muscle, there is a coressponding muscle that is inhibited, that needs to be stimulated. Dr. Nickelston said this needs to occur within 60 seconds of releasing the faciliated muscle. Without doing this, the released facilitated muscle will just ball up again in time. The relationship is as follows:

Upper Trap (Facilitated)——>Lats (Inhibited)
Iliacus (f)——————->Tensor Fascia Latae (i)
Pec Minor (f)—————–>Mid Trap (i)
Piriformis (f)—————->Adductor Magnus (i)
Quadratus Lumborum (f)——–>Psoas (i)
Calves (f)——————–>Glutes (i)
Hamstring(f)——————>Glute Max (i)
Rectus Femoris (f)————>Tibialis Anterior (i)

The take home message I learned is massaging a faclitated muscle is not enough. I have to stimulate the inhibited muscles as well. And I have 60 seconds to do that. For more information about Dr. Nickelston, or his methods, go to www.stopchasingpain.com.

We use the TRX Suspension Training Pro Pack for a lot of our exercises. This is the ab rollout for core stability. Its a great regression from the Barbell Ab Rollout.

Using the Training Ropes is another method of conditioning indoors. This combination of exercises is probably the most basic, but in our case it’s a very good conditioning exercise. For more information on the Battling Ropes, go to John Brookfield’s site at www.powerropes.com.

Tags: Lacrosse, Strength, conditioning, battling, ropes, john, brookfield

This exercise is a modification of the standing anti-rotation press. The press is usually done with both hands on the handle. To make it more difficult, we tried one handed. Give it a try.

A few weeks ago I mentioned using step ups as a beginners exercise for the lower body. We can also adjust the exercise by adding a 20 lb. weight vest and speed up the cadence of the exercise. This gives it a nice conditioning effect. Gotta love the 80′s music in the background. We’ll try to get another CD for the next video. I hope:)

I get emails all the time asking about getting started with conditioning or strength training. Since I can’t be with these people in my gym, it’s very hard to try to teach them the basics of certain exercises. Except for the step up. The Step Up is a great exercise for beginners because it’s very easy to do and can be challenging as well. The best part about the exercise is the movement pattern has been practiced by humans since we were 2-3 years old. So there is not a lot of technical skill that goes into the exercise. In this video, we are using an 18 inch box. Also, if you use enough weight, the exercise can be challenging for grip strength as well. That’s just a little side benefit you have to experience to appreciate. Give it a shot.

> Hi, Pete-
>
> I saw your email address on your Athletes Acceleration website, and I was
> wondering if you could give me a good wind sprints/conditioning program for
> next year. I’ve played lacrosse before, but that was almost 10 years ago and
> at 29, I’m a little out of shape. I can jog 3 miles non-stop and have just
> begun to add :30 sprints in my jogging. It’s a challenge, but I’m slowly
> improving.
>
> I’m going to play defense, but I would love to be able to keep up with
> speedy attackmen and middies, and be able to change direction when they do.
>
> If you could help me out, that would be much appreciated. I understand
> you’re busy, but any help would be great!
>
> Thanks and have a great day!

Glad to hear you’re going to give it a go again. Your mileage is fine. Like you said, you need to be adding more sprints. The intervals you are doing is a great way to start. Once you are comfortable with that I’d start adding some change of direction type intervals. That would be setting up a 25 yd course. Start with sprints of 100 yards, so 4 reps of your 25 yd course. The change of direction will make it much more difficult than 100 yards straight, but it’s more specific to your activity as well. Try starting with 3 sets and rest 2-3 times as long as it takes to run one set, between sets. As you get better at this, either increase your distance or decrease your rest. Not both, pick one.

Please keep in mind, it takes a long time to get back into shape again. Just stick with it and remember, your body doesn’t recover from workouts like it did when you were 19.

Good Luck and let me know how you are doing.

Pete

If you have any other questions, please email them to me at Pete@lacrossestrength.com or go to www.asklacrossestrength.com.

Conditioning doesn’t always have to require running. In our case, at the end of the workout, we can condition by dragging the sled, doing farmer’s walks, suitcase walks, battling ropes, prowler, etc. Tonight, this athlete finished with a paired set that included pull ups and his grip strength was shot. I was planning on doing farmers walk and suitcase walks, but had to change things because I didn’t think his grip would hold up to make the exercise effective. So we went to the waiter’s walk. This exercise doesn’t tax the grip as much, but with the resistance overhead, it can work the trunk and shoulder complex isometrically while conditioning the athlete as well.

Tags: Lacrosse, strength, conditioning, waiters, walk

For the rest of the team, I believe in a week or two of active rest. Frisbee, basketball, or just going on a jog is fine. For HS kids, finals is coming up also, so studying is also a priority.

After that, it’s time to hit the gym. I wouldn’t wait any longer than two weeks after the season is finished. The longer they wait, the further they get into the summer, the harder it is to get back into the weight room and make progress.

Spots are filling up for our summer program already. If you’re ready to get in on the action, either email me at pete@lacrossestrength.com or call 201-970-4470 to schedule an interview.

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.

Keith includes a full self-assessment section, corrective exercises for each major joint in the body, detailed and targeted soft-tissue work, and something called “plug-ins.” For these “plug-ins,” Keith took the corrective exercises and categorized them so that they can be integrated into any training program to ensure that folks are taking care of their issues while still continuing on their current plan.

Check it out at YourUnbreakableBody.com.

Multiplanar Training – Frontal Plane