Train Like A Champion!

So, you want to train like a champion? Read this article about a true champion!

No training tips article would be complete without talking about the work ethic of legendary football player Jerry Rice! When you are the best, what else is there to do? If you're Jerry Rice, you just work even harder! That's almost not fair! Even his peers admit that Jerry worked harder than every one else. Here is an excerpt from a Men's Fitness interview:



MF: Your off-season training routine was the stuff of legend. What was the hardest thing about your workouts?

Rice: The hill sprints were about two-and-a-half miles up, and the last 800 meters were completely uphill. We ran it for time, and if you could get around that 15, 16 mark, that was excellent. A lot of guys came to train with me over the course of my career, and a lot of guys fell by the wayside.

You know your body is going to be sore, and you know there's going to be some days where you don't want to get out of bed, but still, you're obligated to do that, and that was my approach to the game. I enjoyed every second of it. A lot of guys dreaded going to training camp. I looked forward to it, because I had already prepared myself.

I was in top shape. Whenever I stepped into that stadium, I felt like I owed the people something. I wanted them to walk away with something special on that given day.

MF: How important was your weight while you played in the league?

Rice: One year I might come in weighing 189 or 190 pounds, so I really had to focus in on what I was putting in my body. Then, if I wanted to get a little bit heavier, I would start eating a little bit more protein to put me up in the 200-pound range.

A lot of my teammates thought I was crazy because during the season, if I didn't weigh 188, 189 pounds—under that 190-pound range—right before the game, I would go to the stadium early and do the stairclimber for 45 minutes or an hour or ride the bike.

I had to be at the weight that I felt comfortable at, and I think that was very important because when I stepped on the football field, I felt good. I was ready to go, I was at the weight that I wanted to be at, and then I just had to go out there and perform.

MF: What kind of supplements do you take?

Rice: I think the thing that really helped me is that I started using Elations during the off-season, and it really took me to the next level. It's a product that's good for your joints. If I wanted to play football all over again, I think I could do that. You can check out elations.com for more info.

MF: What do you remember about setting the all-time TD record against the Oakland Raiders on MNF?

Rice: Yeah, you know, they threw it up, and we just went up and fought for it. You know, it's funny, Bill Walsh taught me that. He would always say, "Look, you always want to attack the football at its highest peak."

So when the ball's up in the air, everything slows down. It was unbelievable. The ball slowed down, and I started thinking about what Bill Walsh said, to go up and attack the football at its highest peak, and I was able to catch it. I came down with it, and I had guys trying to wrestle me for it, but I was able to hold onto it.

MF: As someone who's been highly motivated for his whole career, what kind of tips can you offer our readers as to how they can stay motivated?

Rice: You just have to want to do it because you know it's going to benefit you. I feel so much better when I go to the gym. Even those days where I feel like I don't want to go, I still push myself to go and I feel so much better after. It puts a very positive spin on your day. That's going to help you in the long run.

Get your FREE 2 week sports fitness training membership!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Speed And Power Kills!

Powerful athletes make more plays! Teams with speed and power usually equals winning teams---AT ANY AGE GROUP!



Getting stronger and stronger won't help you much if your power (how fast your muscles can produce force) doesn't improve......power improvement also improves your running speed.....

Here are 2 tips to improve your sports power:

1. Do your exercises in a standing position because most athletic movements are done standing and moving....you will also work all the trunk and hip stabilizer muscles and not just the abdominals.

Your core muscles are crucial for power movements like throwing, jumping and hitting. Many players lose power because of weak cores. For example, when throwing, power must transfer from the legs through the core to the arm. When your body is adequately strengthened and stabilized, do exercises full speed to develop maximum power!

2. Your training program needs to include exercises in all 3 planes of motion since sports movements happen in all 3 planes. This would include your sport specific training.

Get your FREE 2 week sports fitness training membership!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!

Metabolic Training Improves Speed Endurance

Use metabolic training to improve your speed endurance.

Interval training for speed endurance is different than regular speed training. Speed endurance sprint intervals last from 30 seconds to 3 minutes. Also, recovery time is reduced to prevent complete recovery by the athlete. Here is an example of speed endurance training:

Shuttles - Place cones at 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 yards. You would sprint to the 5 yard cone and sprint back to the start. You would then sprint to the 10 yard cone and sprint back to the start. The same would be done at the 15, 20 and 30 yard cones. That is one set. Rest for 2 minutes between sets. Do 5-6 sets.

Metabolic training can also be used to improve speed endurance. Metabolic training simulates actual game time activity. An example would be for an offense in football to simulate the entire game in practice (i.e., huddle, run a play, huddle, run a play).

Many sports such as football, basketball and soccer require different levels of strength, speed and power. For example, soccer requires constant running---jogging, half-effort sprints and maximum effort sprints. Football requires short bursts of power, sprints, jogs back to the huddle and endurance. Football also requires relative strength, which is the strength level per unit of bodyweight. Basketball requires repeated sprints, jumps and sub-maximal effort runs and cuts during the game.

No matter the sport, metabolic training can get you in peak condition for your sport.

Metabolic training means that you are being conditioned at the cellular level. You can make improvements in resting heart rate, cardiac output and blood volume. Your body fat will also decrease.

Metabolic training will make you a better conditioned athlete and will allow you to use your skills more efficiently for a longer period of time (speed endurance). The strongest and fittest players and teams at the end of the game usually end up as the winners.

Get your FREE 2 week sports fitness training membership!

"Other things being equal, a muscular, powerful athlete will outperform a fat, slower athlete. Sports Fitness Hut's Fat Blaster Athletic Power Training System will give you your "lean and mean" athletic machine!"

Check out my other great blogs:

Her Fitness Hut Blog

My Fitness Hut Blog has been recognized by Stanford University Wellsphere as a Top Health Blogger! Quite an honor coming from that institution!