17th-23rd March

Another great week last week, but it was tough. Especially the start.

Monday – Gym

Tuesday – Gym

Wednesday - Track

Thursday - Rest

Friday – Yoga

Saturday – Bear Cav

Sunday – Ka-Pow!

Monday Gym:

Warm up:

Medium pace short run

Internal/External Shoulder Rotations (1*15 @ 10kg)

SMR (Foam Rolling and Hockey Balling)

Strength band exercises

4 way hip stretching

Main Session

A

1. Dumbell Snatch (3 * 5 / arm @ 15kg)

2. Yoga Bridge (3 * 10 deep breaths)

3.  Swiss Ball Plank (3 * 10 deep breaths)

B

1. Single Leg Deadlifts (3 * 10 / leg @ 16kg)

2. Dumbell Row (3 * 10 / arm @ 15kg)

3. Dead bug series (3 * 10 / leg / movement)

C

1. Rear foot elevated Split squats (3 * 10 / leg @ 30kg)

2. Single Leg Plate Hop + Stick (3 * 6 / leg)

3. Single Arm Kettlebell Curl to Overhead Press (3 * 5 / arm @ 12kg)

Warm Down

4 way hip stretching

Hamstring stretching

SMR

Tuesday Gym

Warm up

Medium pace short run

Internal/External Shoulder Rotations (1*15 @ 10kg)

SMR (Foam Rolling and Hockey Balling)

Strength band exercises

4 way hip stretching

Main Session

A

1. Single arm Kettlebell swings (3 * 10 / arm @ 18kg)

2. Yoga Table (3 * 10 deep breaths)

3. Front Plank + Side Plank both sides (3 * 10 deep breaths / front and each side)

B

1. Single Leg Deadlifts (3 * 10 / leg @ 16kg)

2. Chin Ups (3 * 5)

3. Wide Leg Push up taps (3 * 10)

C

1. Skater squats (3 * 10 / leg @ 4kg)

2. Lateral Bound + Stick (3 * 6)

3. Single Arm Overhead Dumbell Press (3 * 8 / arm @ 8kg *new*)

Warm Down

4 way hip stretching

Hamstring stretching

SMR

Wednesday Track

Followed the same Ka-Pow! routine for the second week in a row, was very tired by the end of it with my third hard day in a row, but managed to complete it in full, running the shuttles/T-Drill on the grass (which was less slippery than the gravel track).

Warmup

400m run

LaX ball and Strength band exercises

4 way hip stretching

Main session

3 * 20 seconds seated sprinters arms (with 20 seconds rest between each rep)

5 * 20 yard shuttles

5 * T-drill

<3 minute break>

6 minutes of 30-second runs (run hard 30 seconds, stand 60 seconds, repeat)

<4 minute break>

300M, 90 sec rest

400M, 150 sec rest

400M, 120 sec rest

300M

<1 minute break>

3 * (30 crunches, 15 vertical scissor kicks, 15 horizontal scissor kicks, 2 minutes rest)

Warm down run and stretching

Friday Yoga

Same instructor as the first session in the new gym, and maybe it’s because I’m getting used to yoga again but it felt the easiest of the three sessions, whilst still being more challenging than any of the yoga sessions at my previous gym. Plenty of tough poses including warrior three and lots of balance/twisting poses with a general focus on balance and legs.

Saturday Bear Cav session

This was my final session with Bear Cav before the start of the season proper and we were running a zone defence practice. It seems like a very effective zone with proper execution and I could see how it was working during the practice. I was placed as the primary deep cover which, whilst it was one of the more straightforward positions to play, meant I was responsible for communicating the positions of other defenders whilst learning the zone myself which I found pretty challenging at times. I’m really looking forward to Mixed tour next weekend as the first competitive outing (aside from Winter League) on the road to worlds!

Sunday Ka-Pow! Session

The week finished with a Ka-Pow! session, in which we were trying to build on the principles set out in the first session. We ran drills focussing on cutting patterns and dump movements on the sideline. It was a great session despite the wind and, like at the first session, there was definite improvement to the cutting patterns and team cohesion throughout the session. The quality fell during the game at the end of the session, but after a quick timeout the quality picked up again and the session finished strongly.