Training as if you were still playing a specific sport and training to look/feel good are two separate things.
Two things so far separated that they cannot be put in the same category.
No sport or excessive repetitive motion is “healthy” for the body. These things cause imbalances and overuse. These repetitive motions are one of the reasons why people who played sports in the past have some pain and injuries to show for it.
Now looking back at your training when you were an athlete, there will be some great takeaways. In most cases the training was methodical, specific, and cautious.
Methodical because things need to be thought out well in advance to get the most out of the athletes. Dealing with in season vs. off-season, game-days, off-days, recovery-days, is all part of the process.
The training is also specific to a certain goal. If the goal of a training block is to get faster then the training will be very specific to that one particular goal (and others at the same time).
Most athlete training programs are also cautious. They do not want to overwork the athlete and risk injury. This would sideline that athlete and all the hard work over months is now down the drain.
So let’s keep these topics in mind as we move forward because we will revisit them.
The issues arise when people take years off from training and when they come back the instinct is to jump back into the old training regimen. PLEASE DON’T DO THIS.
The high intensity, high skill, and high workload will be pretty damn dangerous after a few years, even a few months off. Most people don’t even have the same goals they used to.
BUT it is something that is familiar and enjoyable, so it seems like a good option. Most people will still play a sport of some kind throughout the years but it will look a bit different than the ones played in the past.
Be objective with yourself, what is your overall goal when you head back to the gym?
The goals I see the most are feel better, get stronger, lose weight, and be able to do the things they want to do. All of these goals are more than achievable on the right plan. It just won’t be your old off-season hockey program.
The road to that goal now is to work WITH your body and feel great in the process. If you are in a constant state of pain and recovery then the road to that goal is going to be a hell of a lot longer. BUT, let’s keep the positives from your old training programs to reach your new goals- Methodical, specific, and cautious.
Step 1: Create The Damn Goal
Create a goal that is tailored to what you really want. Maybe you were an athlete in the past but you still get out there and play some pickup basketball. Your goal could be to improve in that sport.
Many times what I see is the “feel good, look good” goal.
Neither one is right nor wrong, it’s what YOU want to see from your training. So find that goal, keep it in your head and let’s work with that.
Step 2: Layout a Base Plan
Find out how many days you can commit to.
Find out what those days will look like. (warm-up, workout, cool down, cardio etc..)
Find the areas you need the most work. Maybe you know your upper body is stronger than your lower body. You know your left arm is weaker than your right arm. Maybe you have some hip or low back pain. These will be target areas you need to focus on as you move forward.
Another big area to focus on is RECOVERY. With that, people who have played sports in the past have a tendency to push their limits more often than others, making the recovery that much more important.
This means you need to have a set plan on how you are going to recover so you don’t wind up spinning the wheel backwards.
A great way to find that balance is to add in recovery practices on your off days. Let’s say you workout Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On those recovery days (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday) run through a nice mobility routine and follow that up with a 30-45 minute walk.
A good rule of thumb would be to plan your hard/more intense sessions a day or two apart. The days in between, work on yourself and your recovery to go back at it in your next session. I got this little bit from Joe DeFranco who preaches those “intense” workouts being split up throughout the week. It’s a simple concept to follow and SO DAMN EFFECTIVE.
Step 3: Set Up Your RoutineThis is the fun part, the actual meat and potatoes of your workouts.
They WILL look different from what you did years ago, but that does not mean we won’t be working hard.
I think athletic components are a great addition to any program. Being able to move your body under control and with power is a skill that should be practiced. So yes, these types of movements will still play a big role in your program.
Athletic components meaning speed, explosiveness, sprinting, jumping, throwing etc. All are great expressions of strength and power so they need to be placed in a program in the correct (and safest) way.
The base of most pursuits in the gym will be strength. I say most because not everyone has the goal of being fit and strong. So this foundation will have to be set and worked on in just about most, if not every session.
Sports are not easy on the body, so bumps and bruises are just a result of that. There will be some lingering injuries, some joints that may not like certain movements, and areas that need to be regressed.
How we work with this:
- Long/effective warm-up
- Gear the warm-up to YOUR needs
- Joint-friendly exercises are your bread and butter
- Mobilize your body everyday
These are my main topics I focus on when working with anyone who was an athlete in the past.
The warm-up is key. Put in some SMR (foam rolling, smashing, pressure), mobility, activation, movement, and preparation work each workout. The warm-up can be anywhere from 8-20 minutes. I wouldn’t think of this as wasted time or tedious work, think of it more as a necessity to prepare you for each and every session.
Gearing that warm up to your needs will make it MUCH more effective. If your ankles and hips are locked up, make sure those areas get some attention. If your shoulders are junk make sure to get a lot of activation in that area so your workout doesn’t aggravate your shoulders.
Here is a lower body warm-up that I run for myself on a regular basis:
Foam roll adductors :20 each side
Foam roll glutes :20 each side
90-90 x8 each side
Tactical Frog 1:00 hold
Combat Stretch x5 each side
Hip airplanes x5 each side
Shoulder Internal Rotations x10 each side
Dislocates x10
Deep squat holds 2x:30
Air squats x10
10 yard sprints (ramping up speed each time) x8
-(or) underhand med ball toss x8
The focus for my lower body warm-ups is my hips and my ankles. Once I can unlock those areas I start moving into my activation work and then into my preparation work. This warm-up takes me anywhere from 8-12 minutes depending on how I feel going into that particular workout.
Joint friendly exercises will always be the key to training. This is good for everyone, not just ex-athletes. These types of movements will ensure the longevity of your joints through the years. This can also be geared toward your needs. If you can’t bench press without shoulder pain then movements that shorten the range of motion, or change your hand position will be a great addition to your program.
Mobilizing each and everyday is KEY. The more you do it, the better it is. It’s good to see people getting two quick mobility sessions in each day to keep that signal running through your body. They don’t have to be long, 5-10 minutes twice a day. You would be surprised how much this can help all aspects of your fitness.
The goal of this post is to show that there is a difference between how you used to train and how you may train now. Both can and will get results but they are not created equal.
If we want to do this for a lifetime then we have to switch the mindset from all or nothing to something and everything. Find things that work for you and start prioritizing your overall health compared to your intensity levels.
Don’t get me wrong, there will be a time and place where intensity will be on the high side and we start pushing some limits. We just have to do it in an appropriate way to keep things moving forward.
Jeffrey Nagle
