All three words or phrases described here, are taken from/recorded within The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.
Dharnaa
Dharnaa, is a sankskript word meaning “focus” or “concentration”. It has different translations and different yogis tend to teach the concept slightly differently.
Some say it relates to the focus on what you want to attain, and what you want to be. Dharnaa practice, involves concentrating on the specific subject or matter you want to focus on and become. For example, a guru might give a student a specific mantra to use, that has a specific meaning.
You can also practice Dharnaa by focusing on a single object, like a candle’s flame. You can also focus on the breath, or eyebrow centre.
Dharnaa; the ability to focus, is thought to be a fundamental skill, so you can go on to attain higher levels of focus and personal development along the yogic path (well, most paths). It’s hard to meditate for example, if you are unable to focus. Dharnaa should be the first goal, or practice before any other form of meditation.
Dhyāna
Dhyāna means contemplation, or sometimes it is used to describe the practice of meditation. It is regarded as an important element of the “self-knowledge process”.
Vivekananda explains Dhyana in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras:
“When the mind has been trained to remain fixed on a certain internal or external location, there comes to it the power of flowing in an unbroken current, as it were, towards that point. This state is called Dhyana”
Dhyana is also said to be the seventh limb of Astanga Yoga. It is a continuation, or next level up from Dharnaa.
Samadhi
Samadhi, is ultimately the goal of meditation and yoga. Although, “desire is a trap”, so you can’t really yearn or aim for this goal as it will paradoxically impede your development.
In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali describes “samprajñata samadhi” / Samadhi with higher knowledge and “asamprajñata samadhi” / “beyond higher knowledge”. There’s a great article on YogaInternational.com here.
“The other kind of samadhi is asamprajñata samadhi, and has no object in which attention is absorbed, where only latent impressions [samskaras] remain; attainment of this state is preceded by the constant practice of allowing all of the gross and subtle fluctuations of mind [vrittis] to recede back back into the field from which they arose.”
The Wim Hof Method has been around for quite a few years now, but has gone pretty mainstream in 2022, with Fear The Freeze – basically a TV series all about Wim Hof and his method – airing on the BBC.
The method is said to be set on 3 pillars:
Breathing
Cold Exposure
Commitment
Wim Hof Breathing – Breath in as powerfully as you can 30 times & then hold your breath. Repeat 3 times. Then jump in a cold shower
There is a list of the specific scientific studies on Wim and his method on the official website here.
Cold exposure and ice baths certainly seems to have an impact on the immune system.
A quick search on PubMed for example, results in several studies linking cold exposure to reduced inflammation and to changes in immune function
In direct relation to Crohn’s, in Scott Carney’s book about the Wim Hof Method, he writes about a man with Crohn’s, who started with hundreds of lesions in his intestines and mouth, and his pooping blood – after using the wim hof Method, he goes back to the doctors for a check up and finds all the lesions are gone. He used cold exposure every day.
Other research, shows that Wim, is able to “influence” his autonomic nervous system – something that scientists didn’t think was possible.
With the autonomic nervous system, confirmed as a pivotal variable/issue in Chron’s, it seems feasible that the Wim Hof Method could have some impact on the condition:
“We conclude that autonomic nerve dysfunction is a feature of Crohn’s disease which may be relevant with regard to the frequent disturbance in bowel function in patients with this disorder.”
Another issue, or symptom related to Crohn’s disease is inflammation. There are numerous studies that conclude, the Wim Hof Method, can help to lower inflammation:
With Crohn’s causing inflammation of the digestive tract, which quite often has a knock on effect – causing systemic inflammation, anything that can lower it, without significant adverse side effects, is probably worth looking into.
Inflammation is also linked to depression and heart disease. Which might explain why cold exposure and Wim Hof is supposed to help so many ailments and conditions.
If you want to get fit for MMA – then you must “do” MMA*
Whilst sparring is necessary for fighters to get accumstomed with the intensity of a fight and the rush of adrenaline, hitting a punch bag is one of the best ways to build MMA specific cardiovascular fitness.
There are a few ways in which you can approach MMA punch bag workouts
Do the same combinations for 10 reps
Listen to audio that shouts out combinations
“Shadow Box” the bag, using various techniques and combinations
freestanding punch bag
MMA Punching Bag Workout 1
This workout involves do the same combination 10 times – without any rest in between.
After you’ve completed 10 reps, then rest for a minute before moving onto the next combination
You can do the first 3 or 4 combinations nice and light and then hit harder as you work up to the 10th rep.
Heavy Bag work should be the main way that you build up your shoulders as a boxer.
Here are my tips
Avoid heavy seated presses
Use bands and medicine balls
Train movements not muscles
Isometric punch -30 sec hold, and 1 sec pulses
Resistance Band Thrusters
Core Band Press
I personally like to do shoulder bridges and shoulder bridge presses, as I feel it stretches my core and hip flexors effectively, whilst building my triceps and deltoids.
Conor Should try Beta Alanine & Baking Soda for increased endurance
Shoulders are in my opinion, one of the hardest muscles to grow – in terms of bodybuilding aesthetics anyway.
They are also easily over-trained. Apparently, the shoulders/deltoids have a very high concentration of androgenic receptors, so respond well to certain supplements – but that’s another story I guess.
Here’s a sample workout, for those looking to train shoulders, without negatively affecting sports performance.
Always warm up – shoulders are a delicate area/joint, so be sure to use strict form and warm up
Exercise at your own risk – for informational purposes only.
Overhead presses and handstands are a bad idea if you have high blood pressure
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Military Press
3
8-12
Kettlebell Push Press
2
8-12
Medicine Ball overhead toss
3
6
Kettlebell overhead carry
2
40m
Resistance Band Thrusters
2
10-15
Machine Shoulder Press*
2
6-12
Lateral Raises*
2
12-15
*These exercises won’t help you with sports performance, and have limited functional benefits, but if you’re like me and want to have functional strength, and nice looking delts, then add these at the end to isolate them a little bit more. I often just do a single set of each. I’ve included the machine press, rather than a free weights, as your stabiliser and fixator muscles will probably be fried by the time you get round to this exercise.
If you have the equipment, you can also look to add in sandbag or barrel overhead carries and presses.
Shoulder Mobility Exercises
Mobility is essential if you want to avoid injury, poor posture and a negative impact on your sports performance – especially boxing which requires relaxed and mobile shoulders.
If you are training for sport, or just want to improve your training-longevity, you need to take really good care of your shoulders.
Have a daily routine of shoulder mobility exercises and rotator cuff exercises. Be careful not to overstretch and keep technique and form perfect (or as perfect as possible) to avoid injuries.
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Forward arm circles
2
10
Backward arm circles
2
10
Pass-throughs with band
2
12
Wall overhead reach
1
20
Dead hang*
1
1 minute
*Basically, a dead hang involves squeezing your shoulder blades together, as you hang from a bar
You should also look to include rotator cuff exercises, to strengthen the muscles surround the shoulder joints
Best calisthenics shoulder exercises
Depending on what your training goals are, you may wish to include some calisthenics shoulder exercises
-Pike Press Ups
-Hand Stands
-Hand Stand Press Ups
-Bridge Push Ups
exercise
Sets
reps
Band presses
2
12
hand stand press*
2
max
Bridge press
2
Max
sand bag push press
2
12
yoga crow pose*
2
30 secs
*do static hand stands if presses are too hard and hols downward dog for 1 min if crow pose is too hard.
If you want to punch like Mike Tyson or Rumble Johnson, then you’ll need amazing technique and fast twitch muscle fibres.
Fast twitch fibres are extremely powerful and contract at lightning fast speed. A training program to develop power using plyometrics and Olympic lifts, in an ideal world, would be used to build a foundation of speed and power.
If you want results fast however, these are my tips and favourite exercises…
General Principles:
– Train movements, not muscles
– Improve upper body mobility
– Develop core strength
– Go easy on heavy bench press*
– Develop fast twitch muscles with plyometrics
*there’s some evidence that heavy pressing exercises can hinder should mobility, which is bad for boxing.
Band Pulls
Band Pulls, help you to initiate and drive with the rotation of the hip on the opposite side of the punch.
Weighted Punches
Use a weight of around 1kg. Heavy dumbbells intefere with punching mechanics and relaxation before impact.
I usually do 2 rounds of “jab, cross, hook, cross”, x 10, in each stance per day. The first round I emphasise the movement of the opposite hip, and the second round, I emphasise punching through the target – i.e. staying relaxed and driving at the end of the punch.
Emphasise The opposite Hip
Like band Pulls, you will to emphasise the rotation of the hip on the opposite side of the punching hand
Punch from the Elbow
this time, throw jab, cross, hook, cross 10 times, but emphasises staying relaxed, then driving through from the elbow
Plyometric lateral press ups
BOSU Plyometric Press ups
You can use a medicine ball or a BOSU for these lateral plyometric push ups
Band Punches 👊
Bands are great for boxing. They provide progressive resistance, meaning the resistance gets greater as you extend the band. This force pattern is perfect for power exercises.
I like to do hooks and crosses with the bands
Medicine ball passes
Lateral passes to a partner, or into a wall. Great for rotational core power
Medicine ball Slams
Bring the ball above your head with both hands, and slam it into the floor. Make sure the floor is suitable. You can buy specific slam balls for this exercise.
Medicine ball Throw and press Up
A Bouncier Medicine Ball Works Better
Medicine Ball Shot Puts
Mobility Exercises
Remember to build a foundation of core strength, good posture and upper body mobility.
The World’s Greatest Stretch is great for all round mobility
There’s some good shoulder mobility drills and exercises on this video too:
Conor Should try Beta Alanine & Baking Soda for increased endurance
Remember:
Train movements not muscles
Doing triceps extensions and barbell bench press is likely to hinder not help your boxing.
Plyometrics and Olympic lifts like clean are great for developing fast twitch fibres and power.
6 weeks isn’t enough time to get to an elite level but let’s say you’ve signed up for a charity white collar boxing match and need to get as good as possible in 6 weeks, then you’ll need a plan and a program, or programme if you’re British.
You can download the .pdf near the bottom of this post.
Recommended Equipment
3-5kg medicine ball
Light resistance Band
Medium level resistance Band
1kg dumbbells
Punch bag
Sipping rope
Ideally you’d have access to cardio machines like a rower and air bike
SAID Principle
If you want to get fit for boxing, you should be boxing or replicating boxing techniques to build your fitness. Running and rowing is great for building a base of fitness but if you run a lot, you’ll get fit for running, not boxing.
This program assumes you’re sparring and doing pad work at least twice a week too. You can still use the 6 week progprogramget fit before going to a boxing class, but if you’re fighting you need to spar, even if its just with jabs to start with.
Tabata Intervals
If you want to get fit, quickly for boxing, I highly recommend using Tabata Intervals. You’ll need an app or a timer. Tabata intervals involve 20 seconds of high intensity work, with a rest of 10 seconds. This is repeated 8 times for a total of 4 minutes. You can use squats, sprints on a bike, burpees or bag work (plus lots more exercises!)
Bas Rutten Boxing Workouts
These workouts are great for getting fit and practising combinations. Press play on the video below:
You’ll want to quickly watch this video too – it explain what the numbers mean in the video:
1 means jab
2 means jab,cross
3 means jab,cross, hook
4 means jab, cross, hook, uppercut
Warm up with 5-10 minutes steady state cardio and dynamic stretching before each workout
Day 1
Squats Tabata interval
Bas Rutten 3 x 3 mins rounds Shadow boxing with 1kg weights*
Heavy Bag Tabata Interval
Incline or Hill Sprints – 10 second sprint with 20 secs rest x 5
Bag Combinations
Jab, cross, hook, cross x 10
Double Jab, cross x 10
Cross, hook, cross x 10
Parry, bosy jab x 10
Day 2
Circuit – 1 minute per station
Squats
Burpees
Press ups
Band bicep curls
straight punches with 1kg dumbbells
Jumping Lunges
Medicine Ball slams
rest for 5 minutes and repeat the circuit once
Day 3
Heavy Bag Tabata interval
Bas Rutten 3 x 3 min rounds
Skipping 5 x 1 min rounds
Vertical jumps x 10 x 2 sets
Day 4
Steady state Cardio
Go for a 1 hour run or hike
or
Complete 1 hour on a c
Technical practice:
Drill/practice jab counters – e.g. slipping you’re head to the outside and countering with a body jab You can learn more about jabs and jab counters in my article here.
Drill footwork – practice pivoting and bobbing and weaving.
Day 5
Tabata Interval squats
3 x 3 min shadow boxing with 1kg dumbbells
Press ups 3 sets of 10 reps*
Medicine balls slams 3 sets of 10 reps
Resistance band punches 3 sets of 10 reps per arm (use crosses and/or hooks)
Resistance band pull-punches**
Resistance band Thrusters 3 sets of 10 reps
Tabata Interval crunches
Dorsal raises 3 sets x 10 reps
Russian Twists 3 sets x 12 reps
Jumping Lunges 2 sets of 10 reps
Day 6
30 minutes of low impact steady state cardio – e.g. cycling, cross trainer, rowing machine.
Technical Practice – practice head movement and foot work.
Shadow boxing – 4 x 3 minute rounds of Bas Rutten workout
Day 7
Rest or steady state cardio
Research and practice these key techniques for boxing
Jab with head off centre line
The Sambo Casting Punch
Slip and counter the jab:
Parry and counter :
1 way to counter a jab is to parry it downwards & counter
If you have only 6 weeks to train, I would keep things simple and repeat the above program/programme weekly.
6 Week Boxing Training Program – Presented in Tables
Warm up for at least 10 minutes before the workout and perform at least 2 lighter sets before attempting a working set.
Warm up should be functional and boxing specific and include foam rolling, skipping, footwork, shadow boxing. Start off with steady state exercises such as light jogging and build up to skipping and burpees at the end of the warm up.
Warm down & finish each workout with a boxing specific exercise such as pads, shadow boxing etc
Standard Boxing Strength Programme
Day 1
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Bodyweight squats
Tabata
4 mins total
Shadow Boxing
3 rounds
3 mins each
Heavy Bag
Tabata
4 mins total
Band Punches (cross)
2
12
Band Punches (hooks)
2
12
Multidirectional lunges
2
6
Sprints
1
70m / 10 seconds x 5
Stability Ball Plank
1
60 secs
Day 2 – Circuit – 1 min per exercise
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Squats
1
1 min
Burpees
1
1 min
Press ups
1
1 min
Band curls
1
1 min
Punches with 1kg
1
1 min
Jumping Lunges
1
1 min
Medicine Ball Slams
1
1 min
Rest for 2-5 mins and repeat
Day 3
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Heavy Bag
Tabata
4 mins total
Shadow Box
3
3 rounds
Skipping
5
1 minute
Vertical Jumps
2
10
Sprints
4
20 secs
Depth Jumps
3
6
Day 4
Steady state cardio e.g. row for 30 mins or jog for an hour
Technical practice – Drill and practice jab counters
Technical Practice – Drill footwork
Technical Practice – Research and attempt the “Russian Hook”
Day 5
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Squats
Tabata
4 mins total
Shadow Box
3
3 rounds
Press ups
3
10
Resi Band Punches
3
10
Band Pill Punches
2
15
Band Thrusters
3
10
Russian Twists
3
12
Jumping Lunges
2
10
Day 6
30 minutes of low impact steady state cardio – e.g. cycling, cross trainer, rowing machine.
Technical Practice – practice head movement and foot work.
Shadow boxing – 4 x 3 minute rounds of Bas Rutten workout
Day 7
Rest or steady state cardio
Research and practice these key techniques for boxing
Land mines – the ones you find in the gym – are a highly versatile bit of equipment. Once they’ve had a barbell attached to them anyway. You can do all types of exercises with them including kneeling bicep curls, all types of core work and functional exercises for MMA & Boxing. You can also attach a light resistance band to them for progressive strength – which is great for punching related exercises.
In this guide, we will take a look at some of the best landmine attachments.
This Rogue landmine attachment, provides a base to secure the barbell to the floor.
It arrives completely assembled and is made from heavy duty steel.
You need two 45lb bumper plates if you don’t have a Rogue Rack.
You can swivel the barbell side to side as well as up and down.
If your home gym doesn’t have much room, you can use a 60 inch barbell, rather than a 70 inch one, as long as it has the circumference / thickness of an Olympic barbell.
Built to be used at the ‘handle-end’ of the barbell. This landmine attachment, is touted as an excellent choice for those looking to perform RDL (Romanian Deadlifts) and Overhead Presses.
Yes4All Amazon Landmine Attachment (Base)
Made from metal with no plastic parts or cheap, flimsy elements, you just need to secure the barbell in the sleeve and the screw in comes with to set everything up.
Like most landmine bases/sleeves, you’ll want to secure it in place with 2 x 45lbs weight plates (or 20kg plates if you live in Europe).
The attachment fits 1 and 2 inch Olympic bars, allows full 360 degrees swivel and is simple to setup.
The reviews on Amazon uk are really good too – at the time of writing an average of 5 stars from over 400 reviews. At the time of writing it costs £44.
On Amazon US it has over 2,000 reviews with an average of 5 stars.
This landmine attachment attaches to a rack/power cage.
It’s a relatively affordable landmine base attachment, costing around $40
Great for up and down vertical movements like squats and pressing exercises
The negative thing about this landmine attachment, is that you can’t swivel or do any lateral movements.
***It looks like this landmine attachment has been updated recently, but it’s not clear if you can now use it to swivel and rotate
Landmine Attachment Hacks
Hacks used at your own risk!
Tennis Ball Landmine Attachment
Simply cut a slice in one side of the ball and insert the end of the barbell. You can now jam the tennis ball end of the barbell into the corner of the room or corner of a rack:
Bag and a Kitchen Roll Holder Landmine Hack
these hacks for the base won’t work well for some exercises, especially with heavier weights. We really recommend you invest in a custom made ba.
Another tip or hack – at your own risk – you can use some cables machine handles and attachments on the barbell when using a landmine base.
For example, to do T-bar rows, some people use a V-Handle for a cables machine.
There’s a link to the sprint training .pdf near the bottom of the post
Sprint training isn’t just as easy as running 100m a few times. It can get really technical.
The type of training you should do, will depend on the equipment you have available.
Here’s some ideas to get you started
Disclaimer – Train at your own risk. Always warm up before performing speed and sprint related training.
To steal a phrase from Knees Over Toes Guy – “Strengthen and Lengthen” your muscles. Invest in a foam roller and stretch and massage the muscles your are looking to strengthen on your rest days and after your training session. Dynamic stretching is a good idea before your train, but get warm with some steady state cardio first.
Sprint Training for Field Sports – Football / Rugby / Soccer
Speed in terms of football etc is often more about changing direction quickly, than having an amazing top speed.
Look at Messi, Maradona etc – I doubt they’d be great at 100m sprint, but over short distances and moving and changing direction quickly, they’re obviously not too shabby (well, in their prime).
Tibilias Anterior & Deceleration for Agility
If you want to be fast for a field sport like soccer, you need to be able to decelerate quickly – basically you need to be able to stop and slow down quickly in one direction, to shoot off like a bullet or a Usian Bolt in the opposite direction.
The Tibilias Anterior is an often forgotten and neglected muscle placed at the front of the shin.
You can strengthen it directly with a resistance band, or by placing a bag or ankle weight on your foot and “dorsi flexing” your foot – so your toes point upwards.
You can also use a “monkey foot” to attach a dumbbell to your foot, or you can use a resistance band to strap the weight to your foot.
I like to place the bottom of my left foot, on top of my right foot, and provide resistance that way.
I’ll sometimes put my foot in the handle of a 6k plastic kettlebell and curl that. Although it’s not particularly safe to do so – so proceed with caution/at own risk
You can also use a resistance band, tied to an anchor point and to or around your waist so that you are pulled forward and your hamstrings, glutes and tibilias anterior have to work extra hard eccentrically to slow you down.
Hamstrings
The primary muscle (or muscle group) used in deceleration is the hamstrings.
A great way to strengthen the hamstrings is to do curls with a stability ball.
With caution, you can also work up to doing a Nordic Curl
Explosive Calf Muscles
It’s easy to injure your calf muscles (and hamstrings) so go easy, warm up – especially if you are doing any fast and explosive calf raises.
Single leg calf raises don’t require any equipment and are great for developing strong calf muscles.
Plyometric hops are also excellent for developing powerful calf muscles for acceleration.
Calf muscles can get very tight, so remember to foam roll and stretch them out every day if possible.
Powerful Hip Extension
A key ‘part’ or element of sprinting is hip extension. Basically, any exercise that takes you from a squatting position, to stand up straight, will develop hip-extension-strength. Done at speed, you should develop a powerful hip extension too.
Standing exercises include resistance band thrusters, resistance band squats, free weight squats and Olympic Lifts such as cleans and high pulls.
Plyometrics are also excellent for developing explosive hips.
Repeated vertical jumps for example, are great for developing powerful hips.
Bounding is another great exercise.
Approach plyometrics and Olympic lifts with care and with a structured training program – it’s easy to get injured if your technique is poor and you’re not warmed up properly. You can also overtrain easily, as plyometrics and Olympic lifts put a high demand and strain on the body.
You can also develop hip strength with lying exercises such as hip thrusts and weighted hip/glute extensions from a kneeling position.
Powerful Hip Flexion
Hip flexion is just as important as hip extension for sprinting, but often neglected or not given as much emphasis.
Hanging leg raises and stability ball knee tucks and pikes are also excellent.
You can also use a cable or resistance band with an ankle attachment.
OverSpeed Training
Arguably the quickest way to increase footspeed is overspeed training.
Running downhill (at your own risk!) is the easiest way to perform overspeed training. You are forced to run quicker thanks to gravity, this in turn forces you to move your feet quicker!
You can also use bungee devices and resistance bands for overspeed training – just don’t run into whatever the bands are anchored to!
Most overspeed research uses hills that are not very steep – around a 3% decline
Cadence and Fast Feet Drills
You don’t need fancy equipment to complete fast feet and foot speed drills. You can use a couple of cones, or just some rolled up socks as markers.
Plyometrics
Plyometrics work by developing a rapid and forceful stretch in the muscles. Plyometric exercises teach the muscles/condition the muscles to produce fast and powerful movement and contractions.
Put in sciencey terms – plyometrics engage the myotatic reflex, when muscles are stretched under force. In turn the myotatic reflex stimulates special nerve cells called “stretch sensory receptors”. This helps the muscles produce powerful contractions in a short amount of time.
A favourite drill of mine at home, is bounding up the stairs, fast feet down the stairs.
You can also do plyo jumps up the stairs. At your own risk like.
Olympic Lifts
Olympic lifts are still regarded by many as the key component for developing a foundation of power to build on. Basically, the more powerful/better you are at Olympic lifts, the more potential you have to develop speed. This isn’t always true however, although some of the best (and biggest) natural athletes I know all use Olympic Lifts – but there are many world class sprinters who don’t Olympic lift at all (but do use lots of plyometrics).
If you do add Olympic lifts, be aware that technique is crucial and Olympic lifts produce peak power at loads of 70-80%
Warm Up Properly
Warm muscles are crap for endurance, but great for power training:
“After warming the legs in a 44‡ C water bath there was an increase of ∼11% in maximal peak force and power “
If you find you performance detoireating because you get too hot, cooling the palms, soles of the feet or face is most effective – these areas of the body are called the “Glabrous Skin” and contain an array of blood vessels that allow heat to be lost rapidly. So to keep warm, cover these areas up, to cool down, apply ice or hold something cool!
100m Sprinter Training Program
Warm up – 5 minutes steady state cardio + dynamic stretches
3 sets of 3x20m Sprints
1 minute rest between sprints.
5 minutes rest between sets. – keep warm between sets with extra layers of clothes and walk about etc.
3 sets of 3x30m Sprints
1 minute rest between sprints.
5 minutes rest between sets. – keep warm between sets with extra layers of clothes and walk about etc.
2 sets of 8 vertical jumps with knee tuck
4 sets of bounds for 30m
60 seconds rest between bounds
Resistance band thrusters 2 sets of 8 reps
Jumping lunes 2 sets of 10 reps
Band resisted hip flexors – 3 sets of 10 reps on each leg Do these as fast as possible in terms of the upward motion Attach a band to an anchor point and your ankle and “throw knees” and simulate the sprint arm action too
Day 3
Warmup
3 x 100m sprints
2 minutes rest between sprints.
Diagonal/multi directional lunges x 2 sets of10 reps
Down hill or resistance Band assisted sprint x 5 sets of 30m
Fast arms drill – 1kg dumbbells x 3 sets for 20 seconds (sprinting arm action holding 1kg weights of wrist weights)
Resisted backward runs x 3 x 30m
Day 5
Warm up
Resisted backward runs x 3 x 30m
Nordic hamstring curl or ball hamstring curl x 2 x 10 reps
Bounds x 30m x 3
Tibialis strengthening – Tib raises 3 sets of 12 on each foot/leg
Weight jumps 2 sets of 8 reps
Barbell Hip Thrusts – 2 sets of 8 reps
100m Sprinter Training Program
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Day 1
Warm up – 5 minutes steady state cardio + dynamic stretches
20m Sprints (3 sets of 3x20m Sprints)
3
3
1 minute rest between sprints.
5 minutes rest between sets. – keep warm between sets with extra layers of clothes and walk about etc.
30m Sprints (3 sets of 3x30m Sprints)
3
3
3 sets of 3x30m Sprints
1 minute rest between sprints.
5 minutes rest between sets. – keep warm between sets with extra layers of clothes and walk about etc.
Vertical jumps with knee tuck
2
8
Bounds for 30m
3
30m distance
60 seconds rest between bounds
Resistance band thrusters
2
8
Jumping lunges
2
10
Band resisted hip flexors
3
10
Do these as fast as possible in terms of the upward motion
Attach band to an anchor point and your ankle and “throw knees” & simulate the sprint arm action
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Day 3
Warm up – 5 minutes steady state cardio + dynamic stretches
3 x 100m sprints
3
100m distance
2 minutes rest between sprints.
Diagonal/multi directional lunges
2
10
Down hill or resistance Band assisted sprint
5
30m distance
Fast arms drill – 1kg dumbbells
3
20 secs
sprinting arm action holding 1kg weights of wrist weights
Resisted backward runs
3
30m
Exercise
Sets
Reps
Day 5
Warm up – 5 minutes steady state cardio + dynamic stretches
Resisted backward runs
3
30m (distance)
Nordic hamstring curl or ball hamstring curl
2
10
Bounds
3
30m (distance)
Tibialis strengthening – Tib raises
3
12
Weighted jumps
2
8
Barbell Hip Thrusts
2
8
Football and Rugby sprint Training program
Warm up with 5 mins steady state cardio and dynamic stretches
Day 1
Box cone sprinting drill x 5 x 4 sets
Multi directional lunges – 3 sets of 12 reps
Explosive single leg calf raises- 2 sets each leg x 10 reps
Plyo hops for calves – 2 sets of 10 reps
Bounds
*Box cone sprint drill – lay out a box 15m sides
start on the cone in the bottom right. Sprint to cone ahead, turn left and sprint to top left cone, sprint backwards to bottom left cone, turn right and sprint to bottom right cone that your started at.
Rest 2 mins and repeat.
Day 3
Warm up
Cone sprint drill*
4x40m Weighted Straight Leg Bounds
1.5 minutes rest between bounds.
Fast feet drills with ladder or small looped resistance band
Fast arms drill – use 1kg dumbbells to mimic the sprinting arm action – 3 sets of 30 seconds
Resistance band sprints – attach the band to a pole or secure anchor so you can barely move when you sprint forwards – so you are sprinting on the spot – 4 sets of 10 seconds.
Plyometric hops – 3 sets of 10 reps
*Set up cones or poles 10m apart. Jog from the first cone, to the second, then sprint to the third cone, then job, then sprint etc. On the way back, run backwards from the first cone to the second, then sprint to the third cone, then turn and run backwards etc.
Day 5
Warm up
Olympic Barbell high pulls or weighted jumps (avoid if you have bad knees or back etc)
Stability ball hamstring curls or Nordic Curls – 3 sets of 10 reps (or max reps with Nordic Curls)
Backward Prowler/Sledge Pulls – 3 sets of 20m
Lunges with resistance bands pulling you forwards* – 2 sets of 10 reps on each leg
Lateral Lunges – 2 sets of 10 reps in total (Lunge left, then lunge right = 2 reps)
Standing calf raises – 2 sets of 10 reps
Tib Raises – 3 sets of 10 reps
Cool down, foam roll and stretch after each session.
*Anchor the resistance band a few metres in front of yourself. The band will pull you forwards and force you to decelerate effectively. Be careful not to collide with the anchor point.
hi so I bought the NO Xplode pre workout from amazon.
It’s pretty good, it contains adaptogens like ginseng and rhodiola rosea, choline for focus and beta alanine to buffer lactic acid.
I would say, it’s not like any old school pre workouts with ephedrine or dmaa – but you can still buy ephedra sineca online in the UK and add it in if you want- at your own risk obviously.