RAQ Training

The first article that I posted of the four part series, we looked at a new phenomena called the recreational professional athlete equivalent with the term weekend warrior. We defined who they were and why they participate. Now what we will look at is how a weekend warrior trains. What does a 52 week season entail for the recreational professional athlete? Also in parts three and four, we will look some of the tools that a weekend warrior must possess or obtain during their training both physically and mentally to put them in the best optimal shape to compete and prevent them from getting injured.

The Weekend Warrior series is designed to assist any athlete young and old who is serious about wanting to enhance not only their physical game but their mental game as well so that they are able to compete with confidence on and off the field. I put this program together after being on various teams and seeing that there was a need for athletes not just in the professional and collegiate arena to enhance their skill, but also for the professional recreational athlete like myself who hasn’t hung up the cleat and/or high top sneakers yet and has a few more seasons left in them. This article is broken down to explain the three seasons of periodization an athlete must go through during their training. Remember Rome wasn’t built in a day. “It’s a Process” don’t try to do exercise without first consulting with a physician to make sure that you are healthy enough to execute the exercise without hurting yourself. Remember nothing comes easy. So as Arseno Hall use to say “Let’s get busy!”.

You could argue that off season training is the most important phase of any sport-specific conditioning plan. Not only will it help the athlete to recover physically and psychologically, it can be used to address some of the physical imbalances that are inherent with playing competitive sport. Off-season Training is defined as the period between the last game and 6 weeks prior to the first contest of the next season. The off-season includes an active rest period from the last game to two weeks afterwards. The goal also in the off-season is to rehabilitate any injuries that may have occurred during the season. In addition, the strength goals during this time are to build endurance in the muscles as well as work on improving the cardiovascular system needed. However, more of the concentration is on going to the gym in the beginning and moves towards going outside the gym i.e. field and/or court at the tail end of this period to address any needs in the area of speed, agility, quickness and reaction that would be needed during the sport season.

The next period in the program is pre season.
The pre-season training period occurs from 6 weeks prior to the first contest and commonly concentrates on sports specific drills more so than resistance training exercises. More focus in the pre season usually is around the team coming together more to work on plays and scrimmaging to get the timing down before the season. The athletes are still in the weight room, and the strength goals should be focused on building endurance of the muscle groups. Likewise, due to the style of play of the game, conditioning drills should concentrate on building up the cardiovascular system through drills such as gassers or long to short distance running with minimal rest between repetitions depending on the sport played. An example would be in flag football, the concepts and rules are built around the traditional game of football; however, the style and speed of the game mimics that of soccer, lacrosse, and rugby in which athletes have to be able to sustain and build their cardiovascular endurance to be able to perform throughout the duration of the game. Plays last for a couple of seconds where the demand is for the athlete to sprint all out and then rest for a particular period of time. Training during this period should be as functional as when the athlete was training in the off season. Also emphasis should be placed on stretching the musculature to prevent any injuries that could occur during the season via dynamic and static stretching.

The next period in the program is the in-season.
In-season Training: As the name implies, is training that occurs in-season. In-season training is defined as the period when the athlete is in competition mode. This includes the playoffs and any championship games and/or tournaments. In this section the concentration is mainly on maintaining the gains that have been obtained during the off and pre-season. Also, the player wants to maximize their strength and conditioning gains at the appropriate times as to peak their performance during the most critical parts of the season and/or games i.e. play-offs and championship series if leagues are designed that way. Emphasis is still on stretching the musculatures needed to play the game. The drills and/or skills implemented at practices and games include a proper warm up. Conditioning will still be maintained; however, the majority of the conditioning drills will probably be implemented in the practices as opposed to a separate session like during the off and pre season due to time constraints of the athlete schedule and season demands. The majority of the conditioning drills should mimic game situation speeds so that practice is effective and efficient.

In part 3 of the four part series we visit dynamic vs static stretching, peformance training i.e speed, agility, and quickness drills vs plyometric exercises. In addition, we also will look at the importance of strength training.

I have taken a break from blogging for awhile. During the time off, I noticed how many individuals out there play recreational sports. Recreational sports leagues are popping up all around. It’s not as if they haven’t been in existence; however, it seems that more and more individuals want to stay in shape and participate in the sporting experience. Some individuals have different reasons for participating in the recreational league. For some it gives them the opportunity to meet new friends rather same or opposite sex. For others, it gives them the opportunity to stay in shape without having to consciously worry about working out. Yet some individuals participate to relive their glory years of playing the sport that they loved growing up. Or some play because it gives them the opportunity to make and land that big business deal that they have been working on for months. Whatever the reason for getting involved recreational sports have become mainstream more than ever which brings me to my point of writing this article.

To me, recreational sports involve not only seasonal play in which individuals and teams meet up during the week and compete but also include weekend and day long tournaments. Recreational sport has become America’s new past time in which ex- high school, collegiate, and professional athletes now want to continue playing their favorite game well after their athletic careers has been categorized as over. FlagMag.com quotes that over 12 million people play flag football at least once a year. And reportedly about 4 million participate four times a year. Weekend warriors are no longer classified as the old guy who comes to the gym or field with the tight shorts and brand new athletic gear in which everyone including himself knows that the game has passed him by. The weekend warrior is now a generation of athletes, young and old, who works 40 plus hours during the week and has two different lifestyles: one during the week as a professional and another after work or on the weekend as an athlete. They put in time, money, and effort to sharpen their skills on and off the court or field. They exercise and even train for their sports, and compete recreationally on the weekends in 10K, city and state wide leagues, or other events. They train competitively weekly and compete on the weekend. They invest their time during the week to prepare themselves for the competition as a professional or semi-professional athlete would, strategizing, scouting, and practicing- homing in on their and their teams’ skills. These individuals take time to research articles to better themselves as well as stay abreast of the latest supplements and workouts that could enhance their performance on the field/court sharing the current technologies with their peers. Likewise this athlete works out just as hard as the athlete that is featured on ESPN or Fox. If you were to ask them to define themselves some would even categorize themselves as having the same mind set as the Terrell Owens, LaDainian Tomlinson, or Tom Brady. Weekend warriors are 21st century gladiators. They are the Spartans of today’s recreational sport who go out and fight the battles against the Persian armies 52 weeks of the calendar year. The weekend warrior isn’t gender specific- males and females both are considered a weekend warrior.