LADDER DRILLS:
(15” x 15” squares – 18 total squares)
Imagination is the only limitation – used a nylon ladder but most of us have it taped to the floor somewhere. We emphasize to our players that they need to imagine they’re jumping over a pencil. Feet hit and leave the ground as quickly as possible!
STANDARD DRILLS –
R/L Single Leg Hops – side/side
R/L Single Leg Hops – front/back
Both Feet in Each Hole – side/side – – front/back
Both Feet in Every Other Hole – side/side – – front/back
Bunny Hops – hit the hole, jump outside ladder, back in hole, jump opposite side of ladder
Hip Twister – same as grapevine runs
Zig-Zag – skip a hole to cover quick ground
W – jumping front/back in W shape
Slalom – just like snow skiing, quick 2 feet
FINISH – every trip w/ a 5 yd. burst
“Practice is for real”!
~Mike Vorkapich, MSU Strength Coach
WARM UP & COOL DOWN ACTIVITIES –
I was amazed how simple yet effective their work day was. Many times we over think these phases of our workouts but it’s vital to the success of your plan. Anything you can do to get your players heart rate up and core temp elevated. Don’t complicate warm ups or cool downs.
Bear Crawls – we’ve all done this one, great total body exercise
Jump Ropes – we do 10 sets of 15 – 25 reps (R/L, boxers feet, both feet)
Line Jumps – standard Foot Fire drills
Dots – any patterns you can imagine
Lunge Matrix – clock steps (12, 3, 6, 9 o’clock) – – step lunges at each # on the dial, 3 sets w/ each foot
Ab Work – if it works the core (abs/lower back) they do it !!
“Positive Peer Pressure”
~ Coach Vorkapich
(Eluding to coaching a TEAM Mate)
SAND BAGS –
This was the best part of the entire workout! The intensity it brought out in the TEAM was amazing to me. Mental, physical and TEAM toughness is a big focus and can be built when the bags come out. Rogers Company (football catalog) makes these and they would be well worth the investment. You can get them in 25, 35, 50, 75 or 100#. Ours are on the way!
EXERCISES:
Wall Sits – MSU would start w/ 300# sitting on the lap of each player. At 1 minute they would peel some weight off, then more weight as time went along.
Split Squats – hold the bag however you’d like, if you dropped it you had a consequence.
Farmer’s Walk – hold bags by handles and walk high on toes, great competition drill
Roman Dead Lift – for hamstrings
Lunge Matrix – w/ bags!
“Lifting is 100% Manual Labor.”
~ Coach Vorkapich
(Commented to Spartan Players)
WEIGHT LIFTING SESSIONS
I was able to catch an upper & lower body workout. Again, amazed at the few number of different lifts executed – it was the work put in by the coaches and players that was eye opening to me! Every TEAM session I attended seemed to be more spirited than the next. Here are a few of the exercises that caught my attention.
LIFTS/EXERCISES:
Rope or Towel Pull-Ups – great for hand strength and overall tuffness! 40 sec.
Single Leg Lifts – especially dumb bell lifts for shoulders/upper body, balance
Internal/External Rotation – w/ thera-bands or light dumb bells
Military Press – arms parallel vs. touch chest, especially for BIGS
Primary Lifts – 8/6/4 reps this time of year
Focused On – pushing & pulling muscles the same
Push Press – split stance or parallel stance
Shoulder Shrugs – exploded thru up onto toes!
Players Play – – T ough P layers W in!
PPTPW
~ MSU Spartans
“Getting a kid to do something they don’t want to do”, that’s they key to success in the weight room.
~ Coach Vorkapich, MSU Strength Coach
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