Cycle Four of the mature athlete training incorporates a new training plan. There’s more emphasis on your favorite sport or activity, coupled with physical training to augment it. To accomplish this, four 3-week segments make up the 12-week cycle. Here’s what the first half of the cycle looks like:
The objective of this 12-week cycle is improvement in your favorite sport or activity along with the continued development of strength, cardiovascular conditioning, joint flexibility, and body fat reduction. Whatever your goal or challenge, adhering to this 12-week plan will assist you in becoming your best. You simply need to add your sport/activity specific training days according to the prescribed training plan. Use these strength training forms to record your progress.
Week 5, Day 1
A.
Sport/activity practice
B.
Conditioning #4: These workouts can be done on an elliptical, treadmill, rower, or climber. If you are an endurance athlete, follow the endurance conditioning workout. If your sport requires more short-term, quick-burst, high effort movements, use the interval workouts.
- Endurance Conditioning Workout #4: 35:00 continuous effort
- Interval Conditioning Workout #4: 30:00 @ 1:00 hard effort and :45 of easy effort
C.
Flexibility:
For each flexibility exercise, ease into a mild stretch and hold for a 10 count. Relax, then repeat the stretch, but aim to stretch a little further. Hold for another 10 count.
- Elbow up and pulled behind the head, R/L.
- Arm across the chest, elbow pulled to chest, R/L.
- Bar Hang – hang from a chin up bar.
- Stand with feet spread wide, reach both hands down to the right leg, then left, then down the middle.
- Lunge – Take a big step forward with the right leg, left knee resting on the floor. Reach out and down to the left. Repeat with the left leg forward.
- Toe Touch – Seated with your legs straight and feet together, reach for your toes.
- Cobra – Lying prone (face down) on the floor, press up to extend the arms while keeping the hips pushed down.
