Whether you’re somewhere where ultimate has returned to action or you’re eagerly awaiting its restart in the coming months, you’ll need to make sure that you are physically prepared to get back on the field.
To that end, Breakside Strength and Conditioning’s coaches have been hard at work to develop revamped programs that get players ready to compete.
Here’s what’s new in 2021. Continue reading “New in 2021: Return to Lifting, New Speed Development, Olympic Lifting”
The coronavirus pandemic has kept us away from the gym for almost three months. Many of us have also had our seasons truncated or outright cancelled. With an extended period of detraining behind us and a potentially long training timeline in front of us, there are many questions about how to best return to the gym both effectively and safely.
Below, we address how to safely return to the gym — or playing ultimate, for those able to do so! Continue reading “How to Safely Return to Training in the Gym or on the Field”
If you’re like me, you are really sick of not being able to go to the gym.
I’ve always been a gym workout person. I prefer a gym session to most other workout options except maybe playing ultimate (or disc golf, if that counts as a workout). So being blocked from the gym has been a real bummer.
Even though I have plenty of training implements at home to get workouts in, at some point, I just want to do some squats and deadlifts with a barbell.
But we have to face the fact that we may not have gym access for a few more weeks or even months. So let’s push beyond the basics and talk about some ways to optimize workouts without getting bored. Continue reading “Getting Creative with Your Workouts During Quarantine”
If you’re on a Breakside Strength and Conditioning program, you know that having access to at least a moderately well-equipped gym is strongly encouraged. There are simply no good long-term substitutes for barbells.
But you won’t always be able to get to the gym. That’s true right now, as the coronavirus pandemic closes down college and university gyms and even going to available, open gyms may be too risky given the proximity to other people at a time when social distancing is a must.
It’s worth noting that you cannot contract coronavirus from sweat, only through respiratory droplets or by touching your eyes, nose, or mouth after contact with a contaminated surface. Of course, there are many potentially contaminated surfaces in a gym — like barbells, dumbbells, and benches — so, if you do go to a gym, be sure to wipe down equipment with disinfecting wipes before and after use, and wash your hands regularly while avoiding contact with your face.
But if you can’t or don’t want to go the gym, here are some ideas for at-home or outdoor workouts you can do to keep yourself in ultimate shape. Continue reading “Can’t Get to the Gym because of Coronavirus? Here are some Workout Ideas”
Warmups. Some players hate them, most – at best – tolerate them, and many teams do them suboptimally, if not outright incorrectly.
If you’ve been playing for a few years and have been on multiple teams, you’ve undoubtedly noticed that variability between warmup protocols across (and even within) teams is enormous. What explains this variety? As a sport, shouldn’t we have nailed down exactly which are the best activities to perform before playing? Who’s in charge here?
Perhaps warmups are inherently frustrating because they are so misunderstood and misapplied. This article is here to shed some light on the topic and provide a framework for priority, order of operations, and desired result. Continue reading “The Right Way To Warm Up Before Games”
Welcome to Breakside Strength & Conditioning's 'Research Review' series. We look at the latest scientific research on human performance and offer practical advice for training, competition, nutrition, and more.
One of the biggest challenges facing most ultimate frisbee athletes is the grueling nature of tournament play. The most important games are played in the most fatigued conditions.
As a result, optimizing recovery after each day of competition is vital to maximizing performance later in the tournament.
Ultimate players employ a variety of techniques to recover -- cooldown activity, stretching, and cold water immersion (commonly 'ice baths') are especially popular -- but what is actually the best way to enhance recovery, especially with the knowledge that exercise will begin again in less than 18 hours?
Recent research provides some potential answers.
Club sports fairs, first tryouts, fresh-faced freshmen: the pillars of fall college ultimate have already started to get built for the 2019-2020 season.
Many teams are just beginning to think about teaching the basics of throwing a forehand or setting a vertical stack. But it’s also time to start thinking about your plan for strength and conditioning training for the season.
Letting everyone do their own thing often means that some people slack off and others train ineffectively. It can be hard to keep everyone on the same page and maximize the effectiveness of their time in the gym, at the track, or on the field.
Here are some reasons to get a team-wide strength and conditioning plan. Continue reading “Why College Ultimate Teams Should Follow A Strength & Conditioning Plan”
As the athleticism in ultimate has continued to expand, more players than ever are adding off-field training to their repertoire. That’s a great development for the sport: a proper strength and conditioning program will develop speed, explosiveness, power, and resistance to injury. However, there are still some stubborn misconceptions about optimal training for ultimate. Let’s break them down.
1. Lifting weights will make me bulky and slow.
I’m glad to say that this myth is a lot less prevalent now than it was a few years ago, but there are still a lot of players who avoid the weight room because of this idea. It couldn’t be further from the truth.
While it is possible for a poorly designed weight training protocol (like a bodybuilding program designed to build mass) to hurt on-field performance, any program that focuses on developing strength, speed, and power is going to have huge benefits for expressing athleticism.
Most ultimate players (including many elite ones!) are leaving a lot on the table by not developing the engines (muscles) that drive performance. Improving the ability to put force into the ground — which is what sport-focused resistance and speed training is designed to do — is how you get faster, more agile, and more explosive.
Don’t fear the barbell! Starting on a program at Breakside Strength & Conditioning will give you a protocol for workouts no matter your level of experience. Continue reading “The Top Three Ultimate Training Myths”