The rocker board side reach is good for developing core strength and balance. If you don’t have a partner to throw the ball to you, you can throw the ball to yourself by bouncing it off a wall. The real key to this exercise is not to fall off of the rocker board. This exercise is good for basketball, football and other exercises that involve catching a ball and maintaining your balance.
The push up test is a way to test chest, shoulder, arm and core strength. To start, balance on your hands and knees with your body straight. The goal is to do as many as you can in one minute. Tests like this are a good way to see how fit you are now. When you do it again in the future it will show you how much progress you have made.
The rocker board high side reach is good for developing core strength and balance. If you don’t have a partner to throw the ball to you, you can throw the ball to yourself by bouncing it off a wall. The real key to this exercise is not to fall off of the rocker board. This exercise is good for basketball, football and other exercises that involve catching a ball and maintaining your balance.
The hang clean develops speed, power and balance in the entire body. Hang cleans are a ground-based, full-body exercise that train the abdominals, obliques, erectors of lower back, glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, hip flexors, and groin area. The benefits of the hang clean transfer directly to the athletic arena and provide many benefits for regular exercisers such as; improved balance, quickness, strength, power, and body awareness.
The A-Bound exercise can be used as a dynamic warm-up or plyometric, lower-body exercise. No equipment is needed so it can be done by almost anyone, anywhere. You might find this exercise in strength and conditioning program for basketball, track and filed, soccer and football. A good base level of lower body strength and conditioning is desired before attempting the A-Bound.
The barbell complex is a “hybrid” exercise combining the hang clean, back squat and shoulder press. There are many variation of this exercise, but most often it is performed with an Olympic lift, squat, push and pull. It’s very demanding on your short-term energy systems and is effective for conditioning for sports. You can use a PVC pipe, wood dowel or empty barbell to begin. Once you feel comfortable with the movements you can slowly add weight.
The Kneeling High To Low Wood Chop w/FSSB Bar strengthens the torso, back, shoulders and arms. This is a great upper body and core exercise.
The Dumbbell Shrug is a great exercise for strengthening the upper back and neck muscles. You can incorporate the dumbbell shrug into your back workout, shoulder workout or upper-body workout.
The PowerBlock Pullover is an often overlooked exercise. It is great for strengthening the upper body. This exercise is especially useful for swimming and racket sports.
The wobble board side reach develops balance, hand-eye coordination, and stability. This is a fun exercise to perform with a partner and can be part of your warm-up or cool-down. The unstable surface creates balance demands on the body and challenges the ankles, hips, and torso.
Doing a push up with your feet on a ball adds an extra element of challenge. It forces you to activate more of your core muscles to keep your body stable. If you get bored with push ups try this variation with your feet on a ball.
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