Fitness program during the summer and summer break

Posted by Jean Baptiste on

Fitness program during the summer and summer break

Even if each team sport and each individual have their own specificities, there are basic rules on which we can rely to properly manage the summer break . We are all waiting for the summer season, synonymous with heat, swimming, barbecues...but it is also a period during which the season of team sports, such as football, ends, with no more matches for the players for weeks. Without considering a training schedule, because in summer we are more likely to be outside and therefore more open to carrying out physical exercises, it can nevertheless be useful to plan sessions of a few tens of minutes, in the morning, for muscle strengthening (yoga or pilates before breakfast on an empty stomach), or during the day, depending on your schedule, for body maintenance, more than for performance research. It is based on this common base that we have built a universal fitness program, intended for amateur athletes with 6 to 8 weeks off.

Summer break in team sports: the basic rules

First basic rule for managing the summer break: rest . Then comes a resumption of effort with work that will increase in difficulty. The other important point is to vary the pleasures while not neglecting the basic aspect or muscle strengthening (core, abs, pumps, posture work, etc.), which will be refined later in the company of a physical trainer. , during thephysical preparation phase itself. It is only then that we will attempt to significantly improve endurance, power, explosiveness and mobility, among others, in order to be ready for the recovery. For a professional athlete, the intensity of the work carried out during the summer break is obviously greater than for a simple amateur, while the rest time will be reduced (7 to 10 days maximum instead of 3 weeks).

As a reminder, we are talking here about the management of this truce for amateur (but conscientious) athletes over a period of 7 weeks.

Week 1 - Total rest

The basic idea is to do nothing at all in order to heal your little wounds, clear your mind completely, allow yourself a few restorative naps. We are lucky in France to have our 5 weeks of leave, we should therefore not hesitate to use the first week to really recover (if we only had 2 weeks like in China, the situation could actually be different!) The athlete is often not the most reasonable person, whereas knowing how to stop is one of the qualities absolutely necessary to regenerate your body. In our modern pace of life, especially for city dwellers, it may seem difficult to imagine cutting everything off, even though it may be this cutting that will help you improve your performance in a few weeks. This total rest, difficult to imagine for some, is nevertheless essential; during this period, you must exchange your pair of sneakers...for a book!

Week 2 - Almost total rest

The body having had time to rest for a week, the amateur athlete must continue on this path even if he begins to feel the desire or the need to return to sports (the famous sports virus). He can possibly allow himself one or other alternative sporting practice at low intensity , without a spirit of competition: 1 hour of leisurely walking on flat ground, a game of pétanque, a little table tennis, beach volleyball or swimming…

Week 3 - Partial rest

Left to rest for two weeks, the body has undoubtedly rested perfectly and its need to gradually get back into action grows naturally, whatever your level. The rest period is not over but it is now combined with a very gradual recovery. We can thus slightly increase the intensity of the efforts made during complementary fun activities, preferably different from the sport practiced all year round. This can be done via a fitness walk or an active mountain bike session, on uneven terrain. You can also schedule a few sports sessions requiring more cardio (badminton, more active swimming, tennis, football with friends, etc.)

Week 4 - Resumption of racing

Now rested, the athlete is ready to endure one or another more active work session. Be careful, however, not to resume too quickly. For example, consider three weekly running sessions , to be distributed evenly according to your schedule and the desired objectives. During this 4th week, you can therefore plan a first running session of around twenty minutes at a moderate pace, at 60 to 70% of your maximum aerobic speed (VMA, an easy index to calculate). The 2nd session may be a little longer (30-35 minutes) but at the same intensity, with ease of breathing. As for the third, it will be identical to the first (25' at 60-70% of the VMA). You should regain your vivacity fairly quickly, for example, from this 4th week onwards.

Week 5 – Increased running duration

You got used to running calmly again, not for too long. During this 5th week, and as long as you have not suffered too much the previous week, you can slightly increase the duration of the race during 3 new series with ease of breathing (60-70% of your VMA): two of 30 minutes and another, interspersed between these two sessions, of 40 minutes. Ideally, add core work at the end of each session.

Week 6 – Increase in Intensity

While continuing to get closer to the duration of a half of your favorite sport (45 minutes for football for example), you begin to increase the intensity of your efforts , to reach 75 to 80% of its VMA . Over these three weekly sessions, you can either increase your running pace or the elevation of your route. We can consider two sessions of 35 minutes and another of 45-50 minutes of running in a natural environment, ideally on soft ground. At the end of each session, plan core training, push-ups and proprioception work in order to anticipate any risk of muscle injury.

Week 7 - Interval work

Even if we must not yet reach the thresholds sought for the start of the season, interval work can be integrated during the three sessions of this last week of break, which will again be punctuated by various muscle strengthening exercises. . For example, we can imagine a first running session of 20 minutes of jogging at a moderate pace (60% VMA), which will be followed by a session of 10 repetitions of 100 meters at VMA, interspersed each time with 50 meters of recovery. at jogging pace or slightly lower (50-60% VMA). We will finish again with 5 minutes at a leisurely pace. In the middle of the week, we will place a session of 40-45 minutes of running at 70% of our VMA then, at the end of the week, we will work on the interval again in a different way by shortening the distances for example: 20' jogging, 7 x 18 meters almost flat out with progressive acceleration, 1 minute recovery at 50% VMA then another 5-10 minutes of jogging to recover. We won't forget the 10-15 minute core workout at the end of each session.

By following the guidelines of this universal fitness program, you should come out of the summer break in optimal condition while having taken care of your health. You are now ready forpre-season physical preparation , an essential period of work to achieve your collective goals!

During this summer break, it is also possibly the time to test some products from the Stimium range, the effects of which you will be able to see very quickly if you practice, for example, an endurance sport:

  • Stimium GABA , which will notably allow an increase in cardiac output,
  • Stimium GINGKO , which in addition to improving circulatory functions, stimulates sports performance, via an increase in blood flow allowing an increase in nitric oxide (NO) concentrations,
  • Stimium KG , which in addition to its properties on the protection of the immune system, will increase the production of nitrogen monoxide (nitric oxide - NO)
  • Stimium Pwr Creatine and Power Creatine Tabs , which increase the production of ATP (adenosine triphosphate).
  • Stimium® Pro-Nrj Caps , which increases oxygen transport to the muscles
  • Stimium® Mc3 or Stimium® Mc3 powder for the production of NO and ATP allowing increased oxygenation of the muscles to gain recovery points.

Take advantage of the summer to take your mind off things, to get out of your sporting routine, to try new sports (do 45 minutes of squash for example, even a beginner, you will have fun and the next day you will possibly discover gluteal muscles that you don't have didn't even suspect it existed!). The adage remains quite true - in summer, ventilate both your body and your mind!

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