THE GAME Training: Herschel Walker’s Advanced Workout, Week Three

ESPN-Body-Issue-2010-Herschel-Walker
Photo courtesy of ESPN Magazine Body Issue 2010
Here is week three of Herschel Walker’s recommended advanced workout from his book, Herschel Walker’s Basic Training.

Week One | Week Two

THE ADVANCED PROGRAM

WEEK THREE: Monday, Friday—Morning Session

Warm-ups: 30 jumping jacks. Run in place for 4 minutes.

Stretching: Hold each stretch twice for 30 seconds.

Jogging: 10 minutes.

Karate:
Straight punch—30 per arm
Groin strike—30 per arm
Open-hand strike to face—30 per arm
Roundhouse kick—30 per leg
Front snap kick to the midsection—30 per leg
Front snap kick to the head—30 per leg
Sliding back kick—30 per leg
Agility:
Squat thrust—35
Sideways box hop—45
Backward and forward box hop—45
Half-turn—45

Push-ups: 100 total. Do as many as possible, rest, then continue until all 100 have been done. If these are easy, elevate your feet at least 8 inches.

Sit-ups: 120 total. Try to do these as 2 sets. If you can do these easily, hold a small weight behind your head to increase the resistance.

Stretching: Hold each stretch twice for 30 seconds.

Monday, Friday—Afternoon Session

Warm-ups: 30 jumping jacks. Run in place for 4 minutes.

Stretching: Hold each stretch twice for 30 seconds.

Jogging: 4 minutes.

Weight training:
Power pull—1 x10 warm-up, 3 x 10 target weight
Squat—1 x 10 warm-up, 3 x 10 target weight
Bench press—1 x 10 warm-up, 3 x 10 target weight
Close-grip bench press—1 x 10 warm-up, 3 x 10 target weight
Bent-forward row—1 x 10 warm-up, 3 x 10 target weight
Crunch—85 (break into sets if necessary)
Twisting sit-up—70 (break into sets if necessary)
Basketball: 30 minutes

Stretching: Hold each stretch twice for 30 seconds.

Wednesday

Wednesday’s workouts should be identical to those of Monday and Friday except for the weight work in the afternoon. Follow this program on Wednesday for your lifting:

Weight training:
Lunge—1 x 10 warm-up, 3 x 10 target weight
Chin—3 x 10, 1 set to failure
Curl—1 x 10 warm-up, 3 x 10 target weight
Triceps press—1 x 10 warm-up, 3 x 10 target weight
Weighted sit-up—3 x 20
Leg raise—70
Tuesday, Saturday—Morning Session

Warm-ups: 30 jumping jacks. Run in place for 4 minutes.

Stretching: Hold each stretch twice for 30 seconds.

Jogging: 5 minutes.

Sprinting: 3 x 880-yard strides (quarter to half speed). 2 x 440-yard strides (half speed). 1 x 300-yard stride (three-quarter speed)

Hill running: 5 x 40-yard strides (half speed).

Dumbbell runs: 4 x 30-yard strides. Make sure to use light dumbbells for this and concentrate on arm position as you run.

Rope skipping: 12 minutes.

Stretching: Hold each stretch twice for 30 seconds.

Tuesday, Saturday—Afternoon Session

Warm-ups: 30 jumping jacks. Run in place for 4 minutes.

Stretching: Hold each stretch twice for 30 seconds.

Karate:
Straight punch—30 per arm
Groin strike—30 per arm
Open-hand strike to face—30 per arm
Roundhouse kick—30 per leg
Front snap kick to the midsection—30 per leg
Front snap kick to the head—30 per leg
Sliding back kick—30 per leg
Basketball: 40 minutes.

Water work:
Run in water—10 minutes
Water karate (kicks and punches)—10 minutes
Modified breast stroke—10 minutes
Power clap and other shoulder and arm work—10 minutes
Stretching: Hold each stretch twice for 30 seconds.

Thursday

Morning and afternoon workouts should be identical to those of Tuesday and Saturday except for the sprinting portion of the morning session. On Thursday mornings substitute the tire pull for hill running. On this third week run 5 x 50-yard strides at half speed, pulling a tire with 12 to 15 pounds inside it. Then, rather than dumbbell sprints, wear a weighted vest and run 4 x 200-yard strides at half to three-quarter speed.

THE GAME Training: A Compilation of Jerry Rice’s Workout Routines

Legendary NFL wide receiver Jerry Rice is known for his arduous offseason training regimen as much as his stellar Hall of Fame career on the field. But, surprisingly there is very little detailed information on the internet outlining his complete strength and conditioning program. Much of what we know is general information that does not get into specific numbers of sets or repetitions (like this video of Jerry Rice’s legendary Hill runs).

In order to create a reliable and accessible resource, the following links to Jerry Rice’s offseason strength and conditioning programs have been compiled listing specific routines, exercises, sets or repetitions. If there is anything that can be added to this list please leave a link in the comments section below and we will add them to this list.

From Outside Magazine:

Rice's six-day-a-week workout is divided into two parts: two hours of cardiovascular work in the morning and three hours of strength training each afternoon. Early in the off-season, the a.m. segment consists of a five-mile trail run near San Carlos on a torturous course called, simply, The Hill. But since five vertical miles can hardly be considered a workout, he pauses on the steepest section to do a series of ten 40-meter uphill sprints. As the season approaches, however, Rice knows it's time to start conserving energy — so he forgoes The Hill and instead merely does a couple of sprints: six 100-yarders, six 80s, six 60s, six 40s, six 20s, and 16 tens, with no rest between sprints and just two and a half minutes between sets.

For the p.m. sessions he alternates between upper-body and lower-body days. But no matter which half of his body he's working on, the volume is always the same: three sets of ten reps of 21 different exercises. Yes, your calculator's right: That's 630 repetitions a day.

From The New York Times:

Tiny puddles begin to form on the track at Menlo College in Atherton, about 20 miles south of San Francisco, and the participants in Rice's workout -- one of them a reporter -- step through them while doing 20 minutes of stretching and warm-ups. Leading the workout is Rice's trainer, Raymond Farris, who has worked with Rice for nine years and helped him become the hardest working player in the league and arguably the best receiver ever in the National Football League…

After the warm-ups, the workout shifts to the football field, where Farris has set up a series of cones for the running exercises. The sprints are called "accelerators." One cone is set up 20 yards downfield and the runners build up steam until they reach the cone. The group then sprints full speed for 60 yards until the next cone, which is the signal to downshift for 20 yards. Rice eventually does 14 of these, each one in perfect form, each one at 100 percent, with no rest in between…

Usually the group will run for another hour or so, scampering up hills, sprinting through agility drills. They also do "pyramids," which are full-speed sprints for 100 yards, then 90 yards, then 80, all the way down to 20…

From JerryRiceFootball.com

STRENGTH TRAINING

LEG EXERCISES

  • ANGLED LEG PRESS
  • BARBELL LUNGES
  • CALF PRESSES
  • DUMBBELL LUNGES
  • DUMBBELL SQUATS
  • FRONT SQUATS
  • HACK SQUATS
  • LEG EXTENSIONS
  • LYING LEG CURLS
  • SEATED CALF RAISES
  • SMITH MACHINE SQUATS
  • SQUATS
  • STANDING DUMBBELL CALF RAISES
  • STIFF-LEGGED DEADLIFTS

EXAMPLE LEG ROUTINES

ROUTINE 1

  • SQUATS (your choice)
  • LEG EXTENSIONS
  • LYING LEG CURLS
  • CALF RAISES (seated or standing)

ROUTINE 2

  • HACK SQUATS
  • ANGLED LEG PRESS
  • STIFF-LEGGED DEAD LIFTS
  • CALF RAISES (seated or standing)

ROUTINE 3

  • ANGLED LEG PRESS
  • CALF PRESSES
  • LEG EXTENSIONS
  • LYING LEG CURLS

ROUTINE 4

  • SQUATS (your chioce)
  • LUNGES (your choice)
  • LYING LEG CURLS (your choice)
  • CALF RAISES (seated or standing)

ROUTINE 5

  • SMITH MACHINE SQUATS
  • ANGLED LEG PRESS
  • HACK SQUAT
  • LEG EXTENSIONS

BACK EXERCISES

  • BENT-OVER BARBELL ROWS
  • CLOSE-GRIP PULL DOWNS
  • DEAD LIFTS
  • HYPEREXTENSIONS
  • ONE-ARM DUMBBELL BENT-OVER ROWS
  • REVERSE-GRIP BENT-OVER BARBELL ROWS
  • SEATED CABLE ROWS
  • T-BAR ROWS
  • WIDE-GRIP BEHIND-THE-NECK PULL DOWNS
  • WIDE-GRIP FRONT CHINS

EXAMPLE BACK ROUTINES

ROUTINE 1

  • WIDE-GRIP FRONT CHINS
  • CLOSE-GRIP PULL DOWNS
  • ONE-ARM DUMBBELL BENT-OVER ROWS

ROUTINE 2

  • CLOSE-GRIP PULL DOWNS
  • SEATED CABLE ROWS
  • ONE-ARM DUMBBELL BENT-OVER ROWS
  • HYPEREXTENSIONS

ROUTINE 3

  • WIDE-GRIP BEHIND-THE-NECK PULL DOWNS
  • CLOSE-GRIP PULL DOWNS
  • T-BAR ROWS
  • HYPEREXTENSIONS

CHEST EXERCISES

  • BARBELL BENCH PRESS
  • CABLE CROSSOVERS
  • DECLINE BARBELL PRESS
  • DUMBBELL BENCH PRESS
  • DUMBBELL FLYES
  • FLAT BENCH DUMBBELL FLYES
  • INCLINE BENCH PRESS
  • INCLINE DUMBBELL FLYES
  • INCLINE DUMBBELL PRESS
  • PARALLEL-BAR DIPS
  • PEC DECK FLYES

EXAMPLE CHEST ROUTINES

ROUTINE 1

  • INCLINE BENCH PRESS(dumbbell or barbell)
  • BENCH PRESS (dumbbell or barbell)
  • DECLINE PRESS (dumbbell or barbell)
  • PARALLEL-BAR DIPS
  • FLAT BENCH DUMBBELL FLYES

ROUTINE 2

  • FLAT BENCH PRESS
  • INCLINE BENCH PRESS
  • PARALLEL-BAR DIPS
  • PEC DECK FLYES

ROUTINE 3

  • INCLINE BARBELL PRESS
  • DUMBBELL BENCH PRESS
  • INCLINE DUMBBELL FLYES

BICEPS EXERCISES

  • BARBELL PREACHER CURL
  • CABLE CURLS
  • CONCENTRATION CURLS
  • INCLINE DUMBBELL CURLS
  • MACHINE PREACHER CURLS
  • SEATED HAMMER CURLS
  • STANDING ALTERNATE DUMBBELL CURLS
  • STANDING BARBELL CURLS

EXAMPLE BICEP ROUTINES

ROUTINE 1

  • INCLINE DUMBBELL CURL
  • CONCENTRATION CURL
  • CABLE CURL

ROUTINE 2

  • STANDING BARBELL CURLS
  • MACHINE PREACHER CURLS
  • HAMMER CURLS

ROUTINE 3

  • STANDING ALTERNATE DUMBBELL CURLS
  • MACHINE PREACHER CURLS
  • SEATED HAMMER CURLS

TRICEPS EXERCISES

  • CABLE PUSHDOWNS
  • CLOSE-GRIP BENCH PRESS
  • LYING TRICEPS EXTENSIONS
  • MACHINE TRICEPS EXTENSIONS
  • ONE-ARM DUMBBELL EXTENSIONS
  • ONE-ARM DUMBBELL KICKBACKS
  • ONE-DUMBBELL TRICEPS EXTENSIONS
  • TRICEPS BENCH DIPS
  • TRICEPS PARALLEL-BAR DIPS

EXAMPLE TRICEPS ROUTINES

ROUTINE 1

  • CABLE PUSHDOWNS
  • LYING TRICEPS EXTENSIONS
  • ONE-ARM DUMBBELL EXTENSIONS

ROUTINE 2

  • CLOSE-GRIP BENCH PRESS
  • LYING TRICEPS EXTENSIONS
  • ONE-ARM DUMBBELL KICKBACKS

ROUTINE 3

  • ONE-ARM DUMBBELL KICKBACKS
  • ONE-ARM DUMBBELL EXTENSIONS
  • ONE-DUMBBELL TRICEPS EXTENSIONS

SHOULDER EXERCISES

  • BARBELL SHRUGS
  • BARBELL UPRIGHT ROWS
  • DUMBBELL SHRUGS
  • DUMBBELL UPRIGHT ROWS
  • FRONT DUMBBELL RAISES
  • LATERAL DUMBBELL RAISES
  • REAR DUMBBELL RAISES
  • SEATED BARBELL FRONT PRESS
  • SMITH MACHINE BEHIND-THE-NECK PRESS
  • SMITH MACHINE FRONT PRESS

EXAMPLE SHOULDER ROUTINES

ROUTINE 1

  • SMITH MACHINE BEHIND-THE NECK PRESS
  • LATERAL DUMBBELL RAISES
  • FRONT DUMBBELL RAISES
  • DUMBBELL SHRUGS

ROUTINE 2

  • SMITH MACHINE FRONT PRESS
  • LATERAL DUMBBELL RAISES
  • BARBELL UPRIGHT ROWS
  • REAR DUMBBELL RAISES

ROUTINE 3

  • LATERAL DUMBBELL RAISES
  • BARBELL UPRIGHT ROWS
  • FRONT DUMBBELL RAISES
  • SMITH MACHINE FRONT PRESS

ROUTINE 4

  • LATERAL DUMBBELL RAISES
  • SMITH MACHINE
  • BEHIND-THE-NECK PRESS
  • FRONT DUMBBELL RAISES

 

Jerry Rice on running routes:

Internodal Intermediate Sprint Distance Training: Applying Clyde Hart’s Sprint Program

michael_johnson

Clyde Hart, currently the Director of Track and Field at Baylor University, is best known as the coach who guided Michael Johnson and Jeremy Wariner to the top of the sprinting world. Arguably the greatest 400 meter coach of all time, Hart’s sprint training programs can be an essential component of any speed development program; particularly those athletic endeavors that demand sprinting intermediate distances. Since internodal transitions in G.3 may often require athletes to speed across intermediate distances, Hart’s sprint programs can be very useful in developing intermediate distance speed.

I remember seeing this Clyde Hart program several years back in a running publication and recently came across it again while I was researching training methods for G.3. In the article, Hart stated that the following program was a base program for a junior high or high school sprinter; to be modified at the athletes’ coachs’ discretion:

 

Offseason (off the track, grassy area recommended)

Monday: 10 minutes of easy running.

Tuesday: 6 x 100 meters. Concentrate on good form. Rest: walk back to starting line.

Wednesday: Long hills runs (100 to 300 yards). Drive hard up hills.

Thursday: 10 minutes of easy running. 

Friday: 6 x 100 meters. Concentrate on good form. Rest: walk back to starting line.

Weekend: Rest.

 

Preseason (run on the track)

Monday: 8 x 200 at a slow speed (running that you feel comfortable with); 2 to 3 minutes rest between.

Tuesday: 2 x 600 at slow speed ; 15 minutes rest between.

Wednesday: 3 x 350 at a slow speed; 10 minutes rest between.

Thursday: 6 x 100 at 90 percent effort; 100-meter walk back to start serves as rest.

Friday: 5 x long hills (100 to 300 yards) or stadium steps

Weekend: Rest.

 

In Season (run on the track)

Monday: 6 x 200 at 80 percent effort; 2 to 3 minutes rest.

Tuesday: 2 x 450 at 75 percent effort; 10 minutes rest.

Wednesday: 3 x 350 at 90 percent effort; 5 minutes rest.

Thursday: 6-8 x 100 at 90 percent effort; 100-meter walk back to start serves as rest.

Friday: Loosen up for upcoming competition.

Saturday: Compete.

Sunday: Rest.