Bear Crawls
Coaching Points
- begin in the plank position
- maintain a neutral spine with core tight throughout
- move in a slow and controlled manner
- move alternate hand and foot, aiming to get the largest range of motion with each step in both forward and backwards directions.
- perform this for time for conditioning/ warm up
- a great exercise for developing wrist, shoulder and elbow joint strength and as an assistance to push/pull exercises.
- also useful for warming up the hips and knees.
- see progressions below
Ball Slams
Coaching Points
- another great exercise for both warm-up and activation, this focuses largely on the lats, but will also help develop a good triple extension movement through the ankles, knees and hips if done correctly.
- raise the ball up overhead, moving into full extension, then slam the ball into the floor as hard as possible
- follow the motion through with the arms, squat down to retrieve the ball and repeat.
- in combination with ball throws, this can be a very good warm up before a chest or back workout.
Plate push (alternative to prowler sled push)
Coaching Points
Most decent gyms will have bumper plates…put one (or more) on the floor and push them around instead – this was a 25kg plate and you could stack them if you need more resistance.
The low body position requires, and the amount of friction the plate creates actually makes these surprisingly difficult.
If you were hoping to get away with the excuse of not having a prowler….sorry, NO EXCUSES HERE!
NB. make sure your upper or lower back doesn’t round, keep a neutral spine when pushing the plate to decrease the risk of injury.
great for warming up, but also for conditioning work
Broad Jumps
Coaching Points
- a great exercise for priming the muscles prior to sprinting/ exercises where you are trying to develop power such as olympic lifts
- start with feet roughly shoulder width apart (however you feel comfortable)
- aim is to jump as far forwards as possible using the whole body
- extend the arms up and fully extend at the hips to gain the most power as you jump
- land on the heels if possible
- these can also be used as a great conditioning drill (i include them in several sprint sessions)
Knee Banded Squat
Coaching Points
- Take a thera-band or light resistance band and loop it around the knees
- Perform 10-15 bodyweight squats at a controlled tempo focussing on keeping the knees out and tracking over the toes, this can be repeated for a couple if sets.
- the band will add resistance enabling you to activate the glutes better, in order to prevent the knees from caving inwards
- Move onto your squat session, you should notice that you find it easier to maintain good knee tracking as a result.
Banded Lateral Walk
Coaching Points
A great exercise for both warming up-pre squat/deadlift or can be used as a conditioning exercise for the glutes. There are a couple of variations to this one.
- Firstly you can hold the band with arms outstretched in-front of you and perform this exercise (better for squat preparation as it involves stabilising the core and upper/mid back much more as well, which are essential components of a good squat)
- Secondly, you can perform this exercise as shown in this video where the band is over the shoulders (better if performing conditioning as i find that my shoulders become the limiting factor if i have to hold the band)
When holding the band out in front:
- Hold the band with arms extended (not fully locked out) and grip the band hard to create tension through the arms and shoulders (putting the strain through the muscles rather than the joints)
- ensure that the scapula are retracted and depressed (pulled back and down) throughout the exercise
- the core must remain activated to ensure that you maintain a good, stable spinal position
- maintain a 1/4 -1/2 squat position throughout
- the knee and the foot should move together, and remain in line. ensure that the foot doesn’t overtake the knee in the movement.
- 8-10 steps on each side for a couple of sets is normally sufficient for warming up i have found in addition to other exercises that you perform- you should really be able to feel the glutes after this.
- When using the band-on-shoulder approach, steps 2-6 are still the same.
- If using this as an exercise to condition the glutes , i have found that performing a ladder of reps from 8->1 on each side (i.e. perform 8 reps one way, 8 the other. straight into 7, then 6 etc) is very effective and leaves the glutes burning!
