Player Conditioning Program
Developed For East Bay Lacrosse
This conditioning plan has been designed so that you can assess your team’s weaknesses and
pick the exercises that address those weaknesses. The majority of the moves are simple to
understand and perform and should be pain-free. It is important for the players to have good
form on all moves.
As with any exercise, it is important to monitor players for breathing issues and joint problems.
None of the exercises should hurt, they should be challenging but pain free. If a player is
experiencing pain please have them stop and notify a parent. A player who is having
uncomfortable shortness of breath or other breathing issues should stop exercising and rest
until their breathing has returned to normal.
Another note, if your players have been standing still for any period of time they should warm
up again before sprinting so they can avoid pulling a muscle.
Cardio Conditioning
Relay races - By breaking the kids into many small teams of about 3 players, each child can do a
lot of running while still having time to recover before their next turn. It is up to the coach to
decide the difficulty level of the actual relay. The players may just be running down the field,
around a cone and back while cradling. Progressions might include evading a defender,
shooting, scooping or trying to beat another player to the ball. Throughout the season the
players should be able to progress to longer sprints and more repetitions.
Sprints – A basic sprint pattern is a cross-field sprint followed by a walk or slow jog back to the
start. Repeat a few times and add more repetitions as they improve their fitness level.
Shuttle runs – Players sprint a short distance, usually to a cone or line on the field, turn, return
to start, then sprint to the next cone or line. Shuttle runs can be done as ladders where the
player starts by sprinting to the closest cone or line and ends at the one furthest away. They
can also be done as a pyramid, starting with the closest, progressing to the furthest and then
working back down to the closest.
180°s – The players run forward toward a mark (line or cone) and halfway they turn and run
backward. Using a whistle or voice command as a cue to change directions, the coach can have
the players transition from running backwards to running forward.
360°s - The players run forward and at the coaches cue they turn all the way around and
continue running. The coach can cue more turns as the players get used to this drill.
Reverse runs - Running backwards to a mark.
Body Weight Cardio Moves
Squat Jumps – The player stands with feet hips width apart and bends their knees as they sit
back. They then jump up and land with bent knees and repeat.
Jumping Jacks – Players stand with feet together and arms by their sides. They then jump up as
they move their feet out wide and their arms come up overhead. They return to the starting
position and repeat.
Jumping Lunges – Starting with their right foot in front and the left leg back the player stands
with their feet wide enough apart so that they can bend both knees. The player then drops
their hips toward the ground, jumps up and switches the position of their feet landing softly
with bent knees. The players should use their arms for extra help in the jump.
Burpees (Squat Thrusts) – Players bend at the waist to put their hands on the ground, jump
their feet back into a plank position, jump feet back to hands, stand up and go into a squat
jump and land with soft knees. That is one rep. You can also have your players do a pushup
while they are in the plank position to make it more challenging.
Lateral Hops – The player stands on one foot and hops from side to side over a line on the field.
After a certain number of reps or an amount of time they switch legs and hop with their other
foot. If this is painful for the player’s knees they can try to hop with both feet together. The
player should have soft knees for each landing.
Front Hops – The player jump with both feet to the front. They can then hop back to start and
continue hopping to a mark. The player should land with bent knees and land quietly.
Mountain Climbers – Begin down on the ground in pushup position. The player then lifts on leg
and bends the knee into the chest. Next the player quickly switches legs by hopping off the foot
on the ground and bringing the other knee into their chest. This should look a little like running.
Skiing Mountain Climber - From the plank position the player jumps both feet toward their left
hand, then back to plank, then jumps both feet toward the right hand.
Strength
Jumps – see jumps above. These moves strengthen the legs but also work balance and raise the
heart rate.
Squats – The player stands with feet hips width apart, bends their knees and drops their hips
back until their thighs are about parallel to the ground. The knees should be close to 90°. Some
players will have difficulty getting their thighs parallel to the ground due to flexibility. The
biggest mistake that players make on this move is to have their knees too far forward. Their
hips should be way back as if they are reaching for a chair.
Pulse Lunge – The player stands with one foot in front and the other back. They bend both
knees to get the knees close to 90° degrees. It is important that they drop their hips straight
down and keep their front knee at 90° to protect their knees. The player does 10 – 20 reps and
switches legs.
Lateral Lunge – The player stands with feet at hips width and keeping toes, knees and hips
facing forward they step out the right and bend their right knee while sitting their hips back.
The player then pushes up to bring the right foot back to start. Do the reps on one leg and then
switch legs. This should be pain-free.
Pushups - If they are unable to do a full pushup they can modify the move by having their knees
on the ground and their knees, hips and shoulders in a straight line. This takes some of the body
weight out of the exercise and makes it easier.
Diamond pushups – The player starts in pushup position with their hands on the ground, their
thumbs and index fingers of both hands touching and making the shape of a diamond. The
player then bends their elbows and does a pushup. This should be felt in the triceps of both
arms.
Side plank pushups (a little more advanced than the diamond pushup) – The player starts on
the ground on their side with feet stacked on top of each other or placed next to each other.
They then place their back hand (if they are on the right side it will be their right hand) on the
ground with the fingers pointing to the front. The top hand makes an “L” with the fingers
almost touching the fingers of the right hand. The player pushes up to the start position and
then bends both elbows to lower their body to the ground. The player then pushes up to the
start position. This should be felt mostly in the triceps of the back arm.
Plank - The player starts in pushup position. Their knees, hips and shoulders are in a straight
line. They hold this position for 20 – 60 seconds depending on their fitness level. They should
not drop their hips lower than their shoulder and knees because that puts pressure on their low
back. Another option for the plank is to have the player on their forearms (below right).
Up Down Planks – The player starts in plank position on their forearms. The player pushes up to
a straight right arm and repeats with the left and then brings the right forearm to the ground,
followed by the left, to return to start. That is one rep. The pattern is up-up-down-down.
Halfway through the reps have the player switch their lead arm.
Plank Step-outs – From plank the player steps one foot out wide (about 6” to 12”) and then
repeats with the other. Then the player brings the first leg back in and then the second. So the
pattern is out-out-in-in. The hips should remain as still as possible.
Plank knee-ins – From plank position the player lifts one leg, bends the knee and brings the
knee to the chest and then returns the leg to start and repeats with the other leg.
Plank knee-outs – The player starts in plank position and brings their right knee as close to their
right elbow as possible. The player then repeats with the left.
Side planks – The player is on the ground on their right side with their feet either stacked or
staggered and resting on their right hand or right forearm. They hold their hips off the ground
and keep their body in a straight line. They hold this for 20-60 seconds.
Superman and Flying X’s – The player begins face down on the ground with arms extended in
front of them and legs extended straight back. They then lift their arms and legs off the ground
and hold for up to 10 seconds. They then lower to the ground and repeat. For the Flying X the
player lifts both arms and legs off the ground but widens them to form an X with their body.
After these exercises it is good to have the players sit back into child’s pose to release the low
back muscles. For child’s pose the player lifts to an all fours position from the ground and then
sits their hips back so that their butt is resting on their heels.
Bird dogs – The player starts either on all fours or in a plank position (more advanced version)
with wide feet. The player lifts their right arm and left leg in the air and holds for a count of
three and then slowly lowers to start. Repeat on the left side. If the player is doing the
advanced version a 1 second hold is sufficient.
Bridges – The player starts on their back with knees bent and feet flat on the ground. Then they
push through their heels to lift their hips off the ground. Next they lower their hips until almost
touching the ground and push back up. Repeat 10-20 times. A more advanced version is the 1leg bridge. The player starts in the same position but lifts one leg in the air and lets the other
leg push their hips up. They then pulse their hips up and down without touching the ground.
Repeat 10-20 per leg.
Combinations
As you know, when playing lacrosse you never move just one body part and you never rely on
just strength or just speed or endurance. To mimic game play it is beneficial to combine both
muscle and cardio strength training into the fitness plan for your team. Here are some ideas on
how to combine these elements.
Strength into speed – Line your team up on a line or use cones. Have them do a set of strength
moves and as soon as they are done go into a running move. Do as many sets as they can
tolerate. Some suggestions are below.
15 pushups into a sprint – slow jog back
30 second side plank into shuffles – jog back and repeat on other side
20 squats into carioca – jog back
15 pulse lunges on each leg into a reverse run – jog back
10 1-leg bridges per leg into sprint – jog back
20 plank knee-ins into a 180° run – jog back
Cardio bursts during drills – These are great to have your players do when they are finished
with their part in a drill and may have to wait a few minutes until their turn comes up again.
They can do 1 or more sets.
10/20/10’s – (one of my all time favorites)
10 – Jumping jacks
20 – Mountain climbers
10 – Burpees
Use any other body weight cardio exercises in place of these to switch it up.
Age Levels and Appropriate Exercises
Sharks – This age group will just need some relay races or other fun running added to their
practices.
1/2 - This group should stick to one set of no more than 15 reps for strength moves. Jumps
should also be limited to 1 set of 15 or less reps. Total strength work should be no more than 5
minutes per session and this includes the body weight cardio work. This group will need to
acclimate to the cardio conditioning so add it slowly.
3/4 – This group can work their way up to 8-10 minutes of strength and jumping. Their cardio
work can be more challenging than the 1/2s. If doing a lot of the body weight cardio, reduce
the time of the other strength and jumps. Start adding turns (180°s and 360°s) to their cardio to
get their bodies ready for those moves in a game.
5/6 – This group may begin to have more joint issues due to growing so watch for signs of knee
pain with jumps, squats and lunges. You may have to ask your players if these moves are painfree because some of them will not tell you. If pain-free this group can do up to 2 sets of
strength and jumps and more challenging cardio work. Their total strength time should not
exceed 10 minutes. At this point it is important to add the lateral hops and bridges to
strengthen the hamstrings and to work on balance.
7/8 – This oldest group can work their way up to three sets of strength work and jumps. They
may still have growing issues and experience knee pain so make sure they are working painfree. Their total strength time can be 15 minutes, can be up to 3 sets of exercises, and their
sprinting and other cardio work can be done more frequently and at a more intense level. At
this point they should be doing lots of bridges, lateral hops, squat jumps, sprints and turns.
A Note About Repetitions and Sets
At the beginning of a season the players may be challenged by doing only one set of these
exercises. As they get stronger and faster you can do more sets per practice. For strength
moves the players can do 10 – 20 repetitions of exercises. You may have players for whom 10
reps is a challenge and some who can do 20 easily. You can also time their exercises such as
doing pushups for 30 seconds. This allows players of different fitness levels to match up. If you
have two practices a week it is best to do some exercises each practice session. That could look
like this;
Practice #1
Pushups
Plank work
Bridges
Jumping jacks
Relay race
Practice #2
Squats
Squat jumps
Pulse lunges
Jumping Lunges
Burpees
Shuttle runs
This is just to give you an idea of how to split up the exercises. You can also have your players
do bodyweight cardio sets between drills to help them get their energy out so they can focus on
what you are teaching that day.
Cool Down and Stretch
It is very important that you incorporate some kind of cool down into practices. A slow jog
across the field, and even a walk, is a good idea. Your players can then stretch while you give
them a recap of practice or talk about the next game.
Hamstring Stretch – The player sits on the ground with their legs out in front of them. Bending
from the waist and keeping their backs flat with no rounding, they lean forward and try to
touch their toes. The toes should be held straight up and not pointed. They hold for about 30
seconds. Sit up and repeat. The player should be stretching just to the point of feeling the
stretch.
Quad Stretch – The player lies on their side and reaches back with their top arm and grabs the
top of the foot of their top leg. They pull their foot toward their butt and hold that stretch for
30 seconds. Switch sides.
Figure Four - The player sits on the ground with knees bent and feet flat on the ground. They
lift their right leg and cross the right ankle over the left knee. Next they position their torso
close the legs until they feel the stretch in their outer hip. Switch sides.
Developed by:
Trish MacGillivray
ACE Certified Personal Trainer
401-626-6306
[email protected]
3/27/12