In this article I want to cover a couple of training sessions that we do with our team during the general preparation phase of training. These workouts are great for athletes to work up and get back into shape. They come from various sources and are always evolving, feel free to take them and put your own spin on them.

A couple of years ago, Romona Pagel gave a great presentation at the NTCA Convention. She really has some great training ideas. One of the workouts I took from that session with her, I now call the Pagel Circuit. The Pagel Circuit consists of all bodyweight exercises, so there’s no need for specialized equipment or a lot of space. Athletes complete 10 repetitions of each exercise with no rest between exercises. We complete the exercises in this order:

-Burping

-V-ups

-Jump squats

-Lizards

-Split jump squat

-Side Jump

After completing all 6 exercises, we walk or jog 200 meters to recover and then repeat the circuit for three cycles. I keep track of the time it takes to complete each cycle and use that as one of my data points to verify that our training methods are effective.

Another good early season drill is the medicine ball relay. This exercise was introduced to me by a former athlete in our system, Dan Hytinen. It’s a pretty quick but brutal workout that athletes really get into. We use heavy non-bounce medicine balls and athletes are paired up in groups of two. The men use a 25-pound ball and the women use a 16-pound ball. Working around the 200-meter indoor court, the first partner picks up the ball and passes it chest-first in front of him, then runs to it and continues one full lap around the court. After crossing the line, partner does a breastflip around the track while partner 1 rests. On lap two, athletes throw the ball forward through their legs, dropping their hips down and then driving them up. In the final leg of the relay, the athletes run while holding the ball above their heads. With this training, you must be careful not to have too many athletes throwing balls at the same time. I limit it to only 3 athletes on the track at any given time to reduce the risk of medicine balls hitting them.

Each of these workouts can be completed in a relatively short amount of time. They are great for getting athletes back into shape and improving work capacity with minimal chance of injury. I have found them to be a good combination of volume and intensity for early season training.