The In-Season Lacrosse Workout You Need to Do

You've busted your butt all off-season to prepare for the lacrosse season. Now that your preseason is here, you can't afford to stop working out. If you want to have a successful lacrosse campaign this year, you need an in-season workout that will keep you strong and fast.

When I was a strength coach, one of the harder things I had to do was convince lacrosse coaches that in-season workouts were necessary. Most of the teams would lift three months prior to the season, then stop lifting once practice began. The coaches wanted to spend all their free time practicing, knowing they only had so much time with their athletes.

But once you stop lifting, you slowly start to lose strength. After a month, you're noticeably weaker than when you last lifted. Last I checked, most seasons last longer than a month. Do you really want to enter your tournament and compete for a championship physically weaker than you were at the start of the season? I don't think so.

But this article isn't about convincing coaches to buy in to in-season lifting—it's about putting together a great lacrosse workout for yourself.

My goal is to make this in-season workout quick but effective. If you can get it in twice a week, that would be great. Try the day after a game or, if you play games on weekends, a Monday/Wednesday routine will work. Regardless of the day, you need at least one strength workout per week, which should maintain appropriate strength levels throughout the season.

Your in-season lacrosse workout is a circuit. You're not going for reps, but time. Perform each movement for 30 seconds, then take 15 seconds to prepare for the next exercise. Your muscles will feel like they've been worked, and the circuit will give you an aerobic effect (it'll feel like you ran some Suicides).

In-Season Lacrosse Workout

Walking Lunge With Med Ball Twist

• Holding med ball, step forward with left foot and lower into lunge position
• Hold position, then rotate upper body and ball to left
• Bring right foot forward so it’s even with left foot
• Perform to right side
• Repeat in continuous fashion for specified distance

Watch Brandon Roy perform this exercise with a resistance band.

Reverse Hyper

• Start with upper body facing down on physioball and legs hanging down to floor
• Hold onto bench with hands for balance
• Raise legs until parallel to floor; pause, then lower with control
• Return to start position

Push-Ups

• Assume Push-Up position with flat back, tight abs, feet close together and hands slightly wider than shoulder width
• Keeping elbows to sides and head slightly up, slowly descend until chest is two inches above ground
• Forcefully push up to start position
• Repeat for specified reps

Planks

• Lie on stomach with arms bent underneath upper body
• Keeping body in straight line, raise onto forearms and toes; hold position for 30 seconds

Make this more difficult by holding one leg in the air or by using a BOSU Balance Trainer (see Brandon Jennings do a BOSU Plank).

Weighted Bridge

• Place shoulder blades on side of bench with feet on ground or another bench
• Keeping butt low, place dumbbell or weighted bar across lap
• Raise hips as high as possible
• Lower with control; repeat

Pull-Ups

• Grab pull-up bar with overhand grip and hands shoulder-width apart
• Without rocking or kicking, pull up until chin is above bar
• Lower with control until arms are fully extended; repeat for specified reps

Squat Jump With Med Ball Explosion

• Hold med ball at chest height
• Squat, then jump as high as possible and throw med ball up
• Let ball fall on the ground
• Reset and repeat

This exercise is your explosive movement to keep your fast twitch muscle fibers sharp.

This workout has everything: lower/upper body, push/pull movements, core, posterior lower body and explosiveness. Perform the circuit three times. It should take about 15 minutes. You can increase the rest time if needed, or lengthen the work time.

Don't let your off-season training go for naught. Get this workout in to stay strong and sharp and to give yourself the best chance to compete for your season-ending championship.

Photo:  fcusd.org

Adam Kessler is a speed coach. He has worked with state championship teams, as well as athletes in different sports, many of whom have competed in the NBA, NFL and overseas. His company, Fitness Planning Consultants, is based in Columbus, Ohio. He is also the founder of howtorunfasternow.com, a website that covers current trends in speed development, plus what professional athletes are doing to make themselves stronger and faster. Visit his site at facebook.com/adamkesslerfanpage.