For Week 3 of your program at Come On Refs Academy, we're continuing to build on your cardiovascular, strength, and agility foundations while gradually increasing the intensity of your workouts. This week, we aim to further challenge your endurance, strength, and agility, preparing you for more advanced phases of your fitness journey.
Cardiovascular Fitness (Monday, Wednesday, Friday)
- Warm-up: Start with 10 minutes of dynamic activities such as brisk walking or light jogging, incorporating high knees and butt kicks towards the end to fully activate your muscles.
- Main Activity: 30 minutes of interval training, adjusting the intervals to 3 minutes of jogging with 1 minute of walking for recovery. This progression aims to increase your cardiovascular endurance and stamina.
- Cool Down: Spend 5-10 minutes walking at a slow pace to lower your heart rate, followed by comprehensive stretching to enhance flexibility and prevent stiffness.
Strength Training (Tuesday and Thursday)
- Warm-up: 5-10 minutes of dynamic stretching, focusing on movements that mimic the exercises you'll be performing.
- Circuit Training: Add a third set to your circuit, aiming for 10-15 reps per exercise, to increase muscle endurance and strength:
- Introduce weighted squats (with dumbbells or a kettlebell) if you haven't already, to further challenge your lower body.
- Incorporate incline push-ups or increase the difficulty of your push-ups to intensify upper body strength work.
- Extend the plank hold to 1.5-2 minutes, or try side planks to engage different core muscles.
- For lunges, add dynamic movements like jumping lunges for added power and agility.
- Upgrade to bench dips with added weight on your lap for an extra challenge.
- Cool Down: Focus on deep stretching, targeting both the muscles you've worked and those that are typically tight from daily activities.
Agility and Flexibility (Saturday)
- Warm-up: A comprehensive 15-minute warm-up combining jogging, dynamic stretches, and agility-specific movements like lateral shuffles and carioca drills.
- Agility Drills: Implement new drills or increase the complexity of the ladder drills, focusing on patterns that challenge your coordination and speed. Aim for 25 minutes, pushing for sharper turns and quicker footwork.
- Speed Work: Replace full-court sprints with interval sprints of varying distances (e.g., 50m, 100m, 200m) to work on both speed and recovery. Perform 6-10 sprints, depending on your recovery needs.
- Flexibility: Spend 20 minutes focusing on dynamic and static stretches, emphasizing areas of tightness and aiming for a greater range of motion.
Rest and Active Recovery (Sunday)
- Active Recovery: Opt for activities that are low impact and different from your weekly routine, such as swimming, cycling, or a gentle yoga session, to help your muscles recover while staying active.
- Deep Stretching or Foam Rolling: Allocate time for a thorough stretching session or foam rolling to address any tightness or muscle soreness, facilitating recovery and preparing you for the week ahead.
Nutrition
- Adjust Based on Activity: As your activity level increases, ensure your diet supports your energy needs. You may need to slightly increase your calorie intake, focusing on nutrient-dense foods that provide energy and support recovery.
- Stay Hydrated: Continue emphasizing hydration, especially on workout days, to replace fluids lost through sweat and support overall health.
Progress Monitoring
- Evaluate and Adjust: Continuously monitor your progress and how your body responds to the increased demands. If necessary, adjust the intensity or duration of workouts to align with your recovery needs and fitness goals.
This week is about pushing beyond your comfort zone while maintaining focus on recovery and nutrition to support your increased activity levels. Keep tracking your progress and stay committed to your journey toward achieving your fitness and weight loss goals.
In Week 4 of your fitness journey at Come On Refs Academy, the focus is on consolidation and progression. This week is designed to reinforce the gains made in endurance, strength, and agility, while also introducing new challenges to prevent plateaus and maintain motivation.
Here's how you can structure Week 4:
Cardiovascular Fitness (Monday, Wednesday, Friday)
- Warm-up: Initiate each session with 10-15 minutes of a mix of light jogging, dynamic stretching, and mobility exercises to prepare your body for the increased intensity.
- Main Activity: Transition to 35 minutes of continuous cardiovascular work. This could be a mix of running at a moderate pace with occasional bursts of speed (fartlek training) to push your endurance further. The aim is to maintain a steady but challenging pace throughout.
- Cool Down: Dedicate 5-10 minutes to gradually reducing your heart rate with a slow jog or walk, followed by thorough stretching to aid in recovery and flexibility.
Strength Training (Tuesday and Thursday)
- Warm-up: Spend 5-10 minutes on dynamic stretching, focusing more on full-body mobility exercises to enhance fluidity in movements.
- Circuit Training: Intensify your strength training by incorporating additional weight or resistance where possible and adding one new exercise to each circuit to challenge different muscle groups. Perform three sets of each exercise, aiming for 10-15 reps:
- Add overhead presses or dumbbell rows to engage the upper body and core differently.
- Include deadlifts (bodyweight to start, adding weight as comfortable) to target the posterior chain.
- Experiment with variations in planking, such as spider planks or plank jacks, to challenge stability and endurance.
- Cool Down: Prioritize stretching and include mobility work focusing on areas of tightness, particularly in the shoulders, back, and hips.
Agility and Flexibility (Saturday)
- Warm-up: Engage in an extended warm-up of 15-20 minutes, incorporating jogging, dynamic stretches, and specific agility movements like quick feet drills and zig-zag runs.
- Agility Drills: Elevate the intensity and complexity of agility drills by incorporating equipment like cones and hurdles if available, focusing on drills that enhance multi-directional speed and reaction time for 25-30 minutes.
- Speed and Endurance: Introduce pyramid sprints (e.g., 50m, 100m, 150m, 100m, 50m) with short recovery periods in between to boost both speed and cardiovascular endurance.
- Flexibility: Close the session with 20-25 minutes of deep stretching, paying special attention to the lower body and incorporating yoga poses for balance and core strength.
Rest and Active Recovery (Sunday)
- Active Recovery: Consider activities that are relaxing yet physically engaging, such as pilates or a moderate hike, which can help maintain mobility without overexertion.
- Self-Care: Focus on recovery techniques like foam rolling, massage, or a warm bath to alleviate muscle soreness and promote relaxation.
Nutrition
- Nutritional Fine-Tuning: Reassess your dietary needs based on the past weeks' experiences. Ensure you're consuming a balanced diet that fuels your workouts and recovery, possibly increasing your intake of complex carbohydrates and proteins slightly to match your energy expenditure.
- Hydration: Continue to prioritize hydration, especially as workouts intensify, to ensure optimal performance and recovery.
Progress Monitoring and Reflection
- Reflect on Progress: At the end of Week 4, take time to reflect on the progress made over the past month. Evaluate changes in your fitness levels, body measurements, and overall well-being.
- Adjustments Moving Forward: Based on your reflection, consider adjustments to continue challenging yourself and preventing plateaus. This might mean increasing the intensity of workouts, incorporating new activities, or adjusting your nutritional plan.
Week 4 is a pivotal time to solidify the habits you've developed and prepare for the next phase of your fitness journey. Keep pushing your limits while also listening to your body and making necessary adjustments to ensure sustainable progress.
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