Gillies: Goals and Plan

I feel like I’ve tried many different approaches to training for Ultimate. There have been times I’ve just played Ultimate, other times I’ve really worked on cardio and other times I’ve really worked on strength training. I’m now on a modified crossfit kind of kick. I’m working on both my cardio and my strength by doing more reps and having less rest time between sets. I work out every part of the body every time I go to the gym. I played defense last year and felt like I played well on defense but after the turn wasn’t quite fit enough to make a big impact. I’m hoping to change that by increasing endurance without losing strength – ie crossfit.

Everyone trains differently and you need to do what works for you but you also have to make sure not to get complacent and constantly push yourself.

Currently I’m just going the gym four times a week but soon I’ll scale back on that in favor of the weekly track workout, weekly field workout (mainly disc drills) at Prospect and practice. I’ll probably only be going to the gym twice a week and will continue my current approach. If you wanna see the stuff I’ve been doing you can check out the worksheet that was apparently WAY too difficult for people to fill out…

Faust: Goals

I have spent the last 4 years trying to figure out what workouts produce the best ultimate player and in order to save you from the perils of my brain I'll keep it short. The workout world is your toolbox. As long as you pick a diverse set of tools and work hard at it, you will be in good ultimate shape. Nobody has the silver bullet of conditioning and training. Pick and choose from smart people, do the workouts at 100% and you will be in great shape. That being said I have a pretty good handle on what is going to work for me.

The last couple years my ideal in season workout week was:
Mon - Heavy Lower body/single leg exercises
Tue - off (throwing)
Wed - track/field workout
Thur - boxing/circuits/crossfit
Fri - Speed, Agility, Quickness (very light)
Sat - Practice
Sun - practice

This worked well, but I always feel like my cardio is lagging behind my strength and speed gains. My main focus this year is to be in the best cardio shape I have ever been in. I will most likely be subbing an extra cardio day for my Friday Speed Agility and Quickness days or my Thursday 2nd gym day. As far as cardio goes I am going old school to start; 400's, tabatas, intervals, jog, run, sprint, walk, etc. This will probably be evident in early season team track workouts as well.

I love lifting and I love lifting heavy. The 400 lb deadlift is my mortal enemy. Someday I will conquer her, but I am not sure if this is my year to do it. My inclination to lift heavy does not merely quench my caveman like demeanor. I like being strong as a downfield cutter. When a defender tries to get in my way, I want to make sure he won't do it again. When I am on defense I want hold my ground against a cutters first option and then pursue him in his second. I feel like being strong helps with that.

My next couple weeks break down like this if everything goes right:
April:
Mon - basketball/crossfit
Tue - Lift Heavy along with single leg supplemental exercises
Wed - Off/Throwing at Prospect Park
Thurs - Cardio
Fri - cross fit
Sat - goaltimate
Sun - off

Marsh: Goals and Plan

My plans and schedule will be somewhat different than most other people. I've spent the last couple of months recovering from a herniated disk (lower back), and did not have the doctor's ok to do any exercise aside from physical therapy until last Monday. I am just starting back up in the gym with good core strength and flexibility, but I am weak elsewhere (particularly upper body) and have lousy overall fitness. With that in mind, here is what I am looking at:

Goals (Time period is roughly through the end of tryouts):
-Avoid reinjury -- listen to my body at all times and stay in my lower-back comfort zone.
-Improve my front squat. This exercise will be my bread and butter since it puts less pressure on the lower back. I'll come up with a numerical goal soon.
-Stretch every day.
-Be exhausted at least 3x/week from running (frisbee, basketball, or track) or crossfit-style metabolic conditioning stuff.

Weekly Goals:
Hard to pin down a weekly schedule due to inconsistent work demands, but this is what I hope to do in a week:
-Stretch and foam roll, 7x/week
-Physical therapist mandated core strengthening, 3x/week
-Heavier weights (full body), 2x/week
-Metabolic Conditioning, 2x/week
-Sports to exhaustion, 2x/week

With those in mind, this is what an ideal week would look like for me:
Monday - Stretch, PT core, weights
Tuesday - Stretch, basketball, metabolic conditioning
Wednesday - Stretch, PT core
Thursday - Stretch, weights
Friday - Stretch, PT core, metabolic conditioning
Saturday - Stretch, frisbee (spring league and/or goaltimate and/or tryouts)
And Sunday comes afterwards.