Download Strength and Conditioning Program Introduction

Strength and Conditioning Program
Introduction
Welcome to the Lake Zurich Lacrosse Club Strength and Conditioning Program.
This program is 13 weeks starting November 4th 2013and ending February 2014. For best results athletes
should lift 3 times per week. An optional twice a week speed program is also available.
Week one will involve orientation and assessment. During this time athletes are expected to become
familiar with the basic lifts and exercises by viewing them online and completing the Orientation
Sessions and the initial assessment.
Weeks 2-13 will involve three progressive phases designed to increase the athlete’s strength, power,
endurance, mobility and coordination. Since these are progressive phases it is essential that athletes
complete a phase before moving to the next.
The top priority of the program is the athlete’s safety. That’s why we will be stressing proper form and
execution over single rep Maxs.
Before starting a resistance or strength training program you need to be aware of the following
concepts:
1. Proper Form. Every exercise is designed to work the body in a specific way. Using incorrect
form can diminish the results you achieve or lead to injury. Make sure you get instruction from
a qualified trainer, coach or instructor before engaging in a particular exercise.
Most people observe the person next to them and model their form. This is a guarantee for
failure for two reasons. First the person is probably not using the correct form. Second the
person’s fitness level, strength and workout history is different from yours.
2. Intensity. This is the level of exertion used to lift the weight with proper form to complete the
required repetitions. Intensity is an individual assessment. Only you can tell how much effort
you’re using to complete a set. In general use a 10- point scale to assess your intensity. 1 being
easy and 10 maximum level. For best results do a warm up at about 5 and your workout at 7-9.
3. Repetitions. These are the number of times you do an exercise before resting.
a. 10-15 reps at a 6-8 intensity level are best for building endurance.
b. 6-8 reps at a 7-9 intensity level are best for building strength.
4. Speed/Tempo. The speed in which we lift and lower a weight also impacts intensity, strength
and endurance. Using a faster tempo (i.e. 2 seconds to lift and 1 second to lower) allows people
to perform more repetitions. However because of the speed, momentum limits the amount of
stress on the target muscle. Doing slower movements (i.e. 10 seconds to lift and 10 seconds to
lower a weight) puts more demand on the target muscles and limits the number of repetitions
one can do before muscle failure. The key here is “time under tension “or how long the muscle
is actually being required to work. For best results, use a 2- 4 tempo. By controlling the weight
throughout the movement using 2 seconds to lift a weight and 4 seconds to lowers you ensure
that the muscle is doing the lifting and not momentum.
5. Rest Period
This is the amount of time spent between each exercise. Shorter rest periods require the
muscle to recover faster and as such it becomes progressively more difficult to do the same
number of reps using the same weight.
To maintain an elevated heart rate and increase muscle endurance use rest periods of 30-60
seconds.
Longer rest periods allow your body and nervous system to more fully recover. This allows
individuals to use heavier weight and focus on strength. If your goal is to increase strength then
rest 2-4 minutes between sets.
As with most elements of an exercise program variety usually provides the best results.
6. Muscle Failure/Form Failure
This is the point in time of an exercise where a person cannot complete an additional rep using
proper form.
Most strength coaches believe that training to muscle failure is the key to muscle growth and
improved strength. The down side to this approach is that your muscles with need longer to
recover both between sets and between work outs. Always training to muscle failure on every
set of every exercise is not advised. Doing so can lead to over-training and injury.
7. Progressive Resistance
This is the notion that in order to grow your muscles and increase strength you need to
continually increase the resistance or weight that you use. Muscles learn to adapt so we need
to challenge them with more resistance to make them grow. Adding five pounds to the weight
you use to bench press each week is an example of progressive resistance.
8. Balance
Every muscle has an antagonist. While one muscle is flexing its antagonist is relaxing. For
example:Biceps and triceps

Chest and upper back

Lower back and abdominals

Quadriceps and hamstrings

Calves and shins
Training one muscle at the exclusion of the other can lead to muscle unbalance and injury. In
sports many hamstring injuries are due to over training the quads and under training the
hamstrings.
Be sure that your training program gives equal attention to each pair of antagonistic muscles.
9. Recovery Period
Contrary to what most people believe, muscle growth doesn’t happen while working out. It
happens while your body recovers from your training. Without proper recovery time between
training sessions your muscles will never get enough time to repair and grow. As a general rule
people should wait 48 hours before training a muscle group again. For many people training a
muscle group with high intensity once a week is enough to see steady and sustained results.
10. Length of a Strength Training Session.
Depending upon how many muscle groups you are training the ideal amount of time doing
resistance training is 30-45 minutes. After 45 minutes your body’s ability to produce the
hormonal response for building muscle. In fact after about 45 minutes of intense exercise your
body starts producing the hormone cortisol which can cause people to gain weight especially
around the mid section.
Combining Strength Training and Cardio.
If you are going to combine your workouts it is usually best to do your strength training first and
then your cardio. Using this sequence enables you to use more weight at a higher intensity and
burn more fat. The strength training will use up the glycogen stored in your muscles so that the
body will draw from your body’s fat stores for energy while doing cardio.
Combining the two can be done effectively in an hour if you focus on high intensity with shorter
rest periods between sets.
If you don’t want to go to the health club or purchase weights you can get a great workout by
simply doing body weight workouts.
Overview
Header• Top left corner identifies the phase of training.
Row 1• First two columns identify the week and day of training.
• Column 3: Identifies the core lift for the day.
• Column 4/5: Identifies the number of sets/reps of each movement
• Column 6: Identifies the tempo of the movement. 501 means 5 second
eccentric, 0 second isometric, 1 second concentric
• Column 7: Is left open to for athletes to write in the load used for that movement
• Column 8: Gives any additional notes/coaching points for the movement and
also allows the athlete/coach to take notes on any movements
Below Row 1-
• Column 1: Identifies the order of the superset. For example, 1A, 1B, 1C means
complete one set of exercise A, then proceed to exercise B, then proceed to
exercise C, then return to exercise A, and repeat until all sets are completed.
• Column 2: Identifies the category of movement (abbreviation key below).
Movements within each category are interchangeable.
• Column 3: Identifies the name of the movement
Abbreviation GuideEquipment
• BB= Barbell
• DB= Dumbbell
Upper Body
• BHPush= Bilateral Horizontal Push= Two-arm horizontal pressing movement
(BB Bench Press)
• UHPush= Unilateral Horizontal Push= Single arm horizontal pressing
movement (DB Bench Press)
• UVPush= Unilateral Vertical Push= Single-arm vertical pressing movement (DB
Vertical Press)
• BVPush= Bilateral Vertical Push= Two-arm vertical pressing movement (BB
Push Jerk)
• BVPull= Bilateral Vertical Pull= Two-arm vertical pulling movement (Pull-Up)
• UVPull= Unilateral Vertical Pull= Single-arm vertical pulling movement
• BHPull= Bilateral Horizontal Pull= Two-arm horizontal pulling movement (BB
Bent Over Row)
• UHPull= Unilateral Horizontal Pull= Single-arm horizontal pulling movement (DB
Bent Over Row)
• Shoulder= Shoulder stability movement (DB Lateral Raises)
Lower Body
• BHD= Bilateral Hip Dominant= Bilateral Hamstring Dominant= Two-legged
movement in which the hip is the main hinge (BB Straight-leg Deadlift)
• UHD= Unilateral Hip Dominant= Unilateral Hamstring Dominant= Single-legged
movement in which the hip is the main hinge (Single Leg Hip Bridge)
• BKD= Bilateral Knee Dominant= Bilateral Quad Dominant= Bilateral
• UKD= Unilateral Knee dominant= Unilateral Quad Dominant= Single-legged
movement in which the knee is the main hinge
Other Movement Categories
• Expl= Explosive movement (Hang Clean)
• Plyo= Plyometric= Body weight explosive movement (Vertical Jump)
• Mobility= Mobility movement (Half Kneeling Hip Flexor Series)
• Core= Core stability movement (Plank Series)
Intensity
• RPE= Rate of Perceived Exertion= 1-10 scale= 5-6 is a warm-up, 8 means the
athlete had 2 more reps left in the tank, 9 means 1 more rep left in the tank, 10 is
max effort
Week One Orientation and Assessment
Workout one
Warm up- 5 minute on treadmill, elliptical or stationary bike.
Isometrics – Using proper form demonstrate mastery of the following exercises:

Squat-perform a body weight squat and hold in the bottom position for 30 seconds. Repeat 5
reps.

Reverse Lunge-perform a reverse lunge (with knee off the ground) hold for 30 seconds and
switch legs. Complete 5 reps per leg.

Hip bridge-Perform a hip bridge and hold in the top position for 30 seconds. Perform 5 reps.

Pushup-Perform a pushup with a 4 count down and a 4 count up. Do 5 reps. If proper form
can’t be maintained, do exercise from knees and use a 5 count up and down.

Plank- Perform a plank and hold for 30 seconds.
Bar Circuit – Using proper form and technique demonstrate mastery of the following lifts for 10
repetitions using a 313 tempo (Lifts will be done with the bar only):

Front Squat

Push Jerk

High Pull

Dead Lift

Bench Press
Cool down- 5 minutes of static stretches
Workout Two
Bodyweight circuit
Warm up- 5 minute on treadmill, elliptical or stationary bike.
Round one – Do as many repetitions of each exercise using proper form. Once form is broken stop
counting. You will have 1 minute of rest between each exercise. This is ideally done with a partner. Keep
track of your repetitions for each exercise.

Pushups

Lunges

Mountain Climbers

Star Jumps

Plank (on your elbows)

Hip Bridges hold for 2 seconds

Supermans-hold for 2 seconds

Prisoner Squats

Burpees (no pushup)

Wall sit (Legs at 90%)
Rest 3 minutes/water
Repeat circuit but this time for 30 seconds and 30 seconds of rest. Again the goal is as many GOOD
reps as possible in the time allocated. Stop when form is lost. Keep track of your repetitions. Your
goal is to do 60% of the number achieved in round one.
Record you reps for each round.
Exercise
Pushups
Lunges
Mountain Climbers
Star Jumps
Plank
Round 1
Round 2
Difference
Hip Bridge
Supermans
Prisoner Squats
Burbees
Wall Sit
Cool Down -5 Minutes static stretches.
Workout Three
This is an initial assessment workout.
After a 5 minute warm up, you will perform a series of exercises designed to determine your starting
strength and fitness level. You will need to work with a partner to spot you when necessary, give you
feedback on your form and record your results.
Lifts- Your goal here is to establish your 5 rep max. This the max weight that you can do five reps in good
form. Start each exercise by doing 1 or 2 warm up sets using a light weight and perfect form. Then add
weight for your working set. You shouldn’t do more than 3 working sets so adjust the weight
accordingly. Rest 90 second before you attempt another working set.
Lifts:

Bench Press

Dead Lift

Squat
Body weight exercises

Pushups – AMAP in 60 seconds

Crunches – AMAP in 60 seconds

Plank – As long as possible without breaking form

Pull ups- ASAP ( If athlete can’t perform a single rep, they will perform an isometric hold for as
long as possible. Partner must start timing once the athlete has chin at bar level.
Cool down- Perform 5 minutes of full body static stretches.
Weeks 2-5 Phase One
See workout sheets for each week. Refer to Video Library for instructions on each exercise.
Record weight, reps and notes on sheet.
Click Here to Download the ATF Exercise Video Library Phase 1
Weeks 6-9 Phase 2
Click Here to Download the ATF Exercise Video Library Phase 2
Weeks 10-13 Phase 3
Click Here to Download the ATF Exercise Video Library Phase 3