by Jen Heath
It's Olympics time once again. Time to turn on the TV and be impressed by the fantastic physiques sported by many of the competitors, particularly in track, field, and gymnastics.
I suppose it's no surprise that the best athletes in the world would look, well, athletic. These folks don't deliberately focus on sculpting shredded hamstrings, tight buns, and defined tummies, but they have them anyway.
Form naturally follows function.
Olympic gymnast Alicia Sacramone: figure follows function.
This got me thinking about our own sport. Certainly, figure competitors are Athletes with a capital A, but since we're judged by our look rather than the performance, sometimes the athletic part gets kind of lost.
The great thing about athletics is that what works right also tends to look right. If you're a good athlete, or if you improve your athletic ability, the "look" tends to follow right along, even without any deliberate efforts on your part.
Ever seen a good female sprinter with a flabby-looking lower body? Me neither.
So, in honor of the Olympic games, I decided to come up with a workout designed to increase athleticism in the lower body. Don't worry, this won't require the dedication of an Olympian, but it should supplement your regular training nicely. What we're going to do is choose a couple of athletic-based measures and dedicate a couple of sessions per week towards improving them.
It'll be challenging fun, and best of all, it'll really help your shape. In addition to boosting your athleticism and performance in any sport, the following workout will give you calves, glutes, and hamstrings of steel.
The events of choice will be a simple vertical jump and 40 yard sprint. The reason I selected these is because they're commonly used to assess lower body power and explosiveness. They actually involve every muscle in the body, but particularly the glutes, quads, hams, and calves.
To get started, you'll want to test yourself.
Take a piece of tape on the end of your fingers and reach up on a wall and place it at the point of your highest reach. Take another piece of tape and jump up as high as you can and place it on the wall. The difference between the 2 marks is your vertical jump.
Average for female athletes is around 15 inches. Anything over 20 inches is pretty good. Anything over 25 inches can be considered elite.
Mark off 40 yards at the track, or any grassy area. Get in a comfortable stance and take off, having someone start the clock on your first movement and stop the clock when you cross the finish line. Average is around 6 seconds. Anything 5.5 seconds or less is pretty good. 5.0 seconds and below is absolute flight!
Absolute flight.
It doesn't matter where you start from. The only thing that matters is how much you improve. To improve these measurables, we'll use a combination of sprints and plyometrics.
Both provide a wide range of benefits to athletes including improved speed, power, and metabolic conditioning. They're also effective in our quest to develop shapely legs, due to the muscle recruitment demanded. Additionally, a workout consisting of sprints and plyos can and will effectively stoke your fat burning furnace.
Plyometrics consist of a variety of hops, bounds and jumps that train the stretch shortening cycle, or the efficiency in which your muscles shift from a lengthening contraction to a shortening contraction.
Sprints are self-explanatory. Just get on your mark, get set, and go, letting your natural instincts take care of the rest!
You can do these workouts in place of your regular cardio workouts 2 days per week.
Start each workout by getting good and loose with a dynamic warm-up such as this one:
Body squats: 10 reps
Jumping jacks: 15 reps
Front skips: 20 yards down & back
Stationary side lunge: 8 reps each leg
Stationary leg swings (front & back): 10 reps each leg
Stationary leg swings (side to side):10 reps each leg
Lunge walk: 10 steps down and back
75% build-up sprint: 40 yards down and back, focusing on knee drive
20 yard sprints from a stand: 4 reps
Full recovery: rest around 2 minutes between attempts.
40 yard buildups: 2 reps
Gradually accelerate to 90% of top speed over 40 yards.
Toe pops: 3 x 10
In a rhythmic fashion try to jump as high as you can with minimal knee bend using only your calves.
Jump to box: 3 x 5
From still position, a double leg jump up onto a box or step. Pause momentarily on the box, step off, and repeat. Use complete rest intervals.
Lateral jump to box: 3 x 10
From the side of the box, explode up onto the box, then to the other side, and repeat going back and forth. Pause momentarily to gather yourself each time you hit the ground.
Each ground contact equals 1 rep. Use complete rest intervals.
(Outdoor sprint conditioning option):
Sprint at 70% max speed for 100 yards, walk for 50 yards. Repeat 8 times.
For reference, 50 yards is about the width of a football field so if you have access to one you can sprint the length and walk the width.
(Indoor sprint conditioning option):
Interval sprints on treadmill
Sprint at about 75% max effort 30 seconds, walk for 1 minute. Repeat 8 times.
Jump rope
3 rounds x 3 minutes with 1 minute breaks.
40 yard sprints x 5 reps (take a full rest between reps)
Tuck jumps: 3 x 8
A high jump that tucks the knees up and into the chest on the explosive portion of the movement. Perform rhythmically. Use complete rest intervals.
Lateral barrier jumps: 3 x 10
Use a real or imaginary string or cone set mid-shin height. Hop back and forth over it. Use complete rest intervals.
Lateral rhythmic jump to box: 3 x 8
Find a box or step 12-18 inches high. From the side of the box, explode up onto a box, to the other side, and without pausing on the ground repeat going back the other way.
Use complete rest intervals.
(outdoor sprint conditioning option):
Sprint at 70% max speed for 100 yards, walk for 50 yards. Repeat 10 times.
For reference, 50 yards is about the width of a football field so if you have access to one you can sprint the length and walk the width.
(Indoor sprint conditioning option):
Interval sprints on treadmill
Sprint at about 75% max effort 30 seconds, walk for 1 minute. Repeat 10 times.
Jump rope
5 rounds x 3 minutes with 1 minute breaks.
These workouts will condition you and burn plenty of calories, but don't try to turn section A and B of each workout into nausea-inducing sessions. You need to perform those parts of the workout with full recoveries and 100% effort, so that you can fully activate your fast twitch muscle fibers.
Look to actually improve each time you repeat a particular workout.
Supplement the workouts with your normal lower body lifting workouts, and try to emphasize increasing your strength. At the end of 6 weeks, re-test yourself. You can expect to shave a half a second off your 40 time, and add 5 inches to your vertical jump.
Not only that, but you'll be putting the athlete into Figure Athlete for yourself.
Have fun!
Jen Heath is an ACSM certified personal trainer, professional natural bodybuilder, and mother of four children. She runs a successful online coaching business, through which she helps women alter the course of their lives, and achieve the lean, muscular physiques they desire. You can also find her here.
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