Yesterday I ran a conditioning clinic for high school basketball players and much to the athletes surprise we didn’t pick up a basketball. It was a tough 60, dense minutes with every second accounted for. Towards the end I thought they weren’t going to make it, so I asked them, “we can stretch now, or we can do 1 more conditioning drill. It’s going to be 4 minutes of continuous work and you’re running suicides.” One kid was silent, meaning he didn’t want to do it, but the rest wanted the challenge. Majority rules.
It reminded me of my superstar clients. They tell me what they want, ask what to do and do it. Doesn’t matter how high the wall or how huge the obstacle. They run through it, hurdle it or jump it. They’ll lift heavy weights, run sprints, train “X” number of hours per week, or keep a nutrition log. Eyes on the prize all the way.
Back to basketball. Here’s the outline we followed. If you’re a client of mine, you’ll see similarities to what you do and maybe start to see a pattern.
- Jog Perimeter of Gym-4min
- Joint Mobes/Mobility Exercises-7min
- Movement Preparation/Light Agility Movements-11min
Core: 3min
- Planks
Plyometrics (elasticity)-9min
- Landing-3min
- Jumping-3min
- Quick Feet-3min
Agility cone Drills-6min
- Lateral movements-3min
- Cutting-3min
Conditioning (same formula for fat loss, can even be same exercises)-10min
- 4 station interval circuit-6min
- Finisher-suicides-4min
Regeneration/Stretching-10min
- Good ‘ol fashioned total body static stretching
*rest periods were built into each section and I occasionally added extra rest
Desire and determination. My superstar clients have it, these kids have it, I have it, do you have it?