Sports teams at all grades are always looking for ways to get an edge on opponents and with standards in fitness and physicality increasing all the time, the search for excellence has become even more difficult. Hell, with all the luscious foods at our fingertips, the search for everything healthy has become even more difficult.
And here are are five crucial gym exercises for players to incorporate into their routine.
Push up – Regular And With Some Variations
This is normally top of the pile on any gym programme. Even contemplating a push-up can often leave a person in despair but the benefits of doing them regularly are endless. Press-ups improve overall functionality and allow you to engage with all the major muscles including the core, biceps and triceps. Push-ups with the feet elevated on a bench or with a medicine ball can heighten the benefits even more.
Key things to remember: Turn your hands slightly out, keep the elbows tucked in and don't leave your arse in the air.
Pull Up With TRX Variation
The pull-up exercise is probably one of the more difficult ones to master. The standard one involves suspending yourself from a bar with both hands and pulling yourself up and down in a controlled movement. Good execution is determined by good upper body strength so if you're lacking in that department the only way to improve is through practice.
The back, core and biceps all profit from this simple yet challenging motion.
Key thing to remember: Lower yourself as slowly as possible and then explode up.
For more great training tips visit Avonmore Protein Milk’s training hub here.
Goblet squat
Squats do for your legs what pull-ups do for the upper body. Consistently doing squat exercises will go a long way towards improving the power in your stride which will serve you well when trying to break a tackle at speed. Typically the calf muscles, quads and the core all gain from this exercise.
The different apsect of the goblet squat is the addition of a dumbell or kettlebell. You should consult with a gym instructor before doing this to avoid lifting weights that are too heavy.
Key thing to remember: No half-reps! Get those hips down to the knee or below.
Plank
The dreaded plank is loathed by many but all the complaints about the challenge involved will never outweigh the benefits. Once again, the core improves the more you commit to plank exercises. As well as toning the body, the plank can even be useful for recovering from back injury, and for challenging everyone else on the team to see who can do it the longest.
Key things to remember: keep elbows straight and in line with the shoulders to avoid putting pressure on the joints.
Glute Bridge
It's one of the more peculiar exercises and when you do it, you might wonder which body parts might are gaining from it. The concept of the exercise simply involves lying on your back with both feet propped up on the ground and knees bent. The main reason for bridging is to firm up the glutes as well as stabilise the core which in turn contributes to a reduction in back pain.
Key thing to remember: get your whole back touching the ground when you come down. Do this by rolling your hips.
Bonus advice:
Seeing as we're so sound, here a few other tips to point you in the right direction.
- Use a foam roller before the workout to warm up all the muscles.
- Avoid doing too many reps.
- Get something nutritious to eat within 20 minutes after completing the exercises. Chocolate milk is normally a good choice
- Keep It Simple - Push-up, Pull-Up, Leg work and core
For more great training tips visit Avonmore Protein Milk’s training hub here.
