Lacrosse Performance Tips for Athletes & Coaches
Unraveling a Myth on Aerobic Training
Sean Holmes, CSCS
BA (Honours) Kinesiology and Health Sciences
www.prolaxtraining.com
Sean Holmes, CSCS
BA (Honours) Kinesiology and Health Sciences
www.prolaxtraining.com
Conditioning for lacrosse should be extremely specific to the sport. Many people like to prepare for a season by completing long distance running to get them in shape to play. However, this may almost be more detrimental to their play than beneficial. There is a saying in the strength and conditioning industry that all running long and slow does is make your muscles long and slow. Never in a game are you required to maintain a steady pace for any length of time, let alone for a distance of 2 miles. Constantly you are required to accelerate, decelerate, change directions, and all within a 30 second span on average. Long distance running is a purely aerobic activity, whereas lacrosse is an anaerobic sport. Thinking that being able to run 5 miles will make you play better lacrosse is like practicing swinging a baseball bat thinking it will improve your shot. They are two completely different skills, just like aerobic vs. anaerobic training.
There is a myth that you need to develop an aerobic base first to help with your recovery during anaerobic training. Science tells us that there is no anaerobic improvements gained by aerobic training, yet we improve our aerobic capacity through anaerobic training. This means we do not need to create the so-called aerobic base as our aerobic capacity will improve during interval training.
Interval training is bursts of high intensity work alternated with periods of rest. You should begin with shorter durations of work and gradually build up to longer time periods, while simultaneously decreasing the work-to-rest ratio. A beginner should start with a work-to-rest ratio of 1:3 (10 seconds of work, 30 seconds of rest) and gradual build up to a 1:1 right before the season starts, with the work period being up to a minute in length combining different movement skills (shuffles, backpedals, stops and starts) to specifically mimic movements that you will perform during a game.
There is a myth that you need to develop an aerobic base first to help with your recovery during anaerobic training. Science tells us that there is no anaerobic improvements gained by aerobic training, yet we improve our aerobic capacity through anaerobic training. This means we do not need to create the so-called aerobic base as our aerobic capacity will improve during interval training.
Interval training is bursts of high intensity work alternated with periods of rest. You should begin with shorter durations of work and gradually build up to longer time periods, while simultaneously decreasing the work-to-rest ratio. A beginner should start with a work-to-rest ratio of 1:3 (10 seconds of work, 30 seconds of rest) and gradual build up to a 1:1 right before the season starts, with the work period being up to a minute in length combining different movement skills (shuffles, backpedals, stops and starts) to specifically mimic movements that you will perform during a game.
