Summer Conditioning

I’m currently training a high-school senior who is headed to college next fall to play Field Hockey for a Division 1 school.  I’ve been training her since February, and in that time we’ve been working on numerous speed, strength, agility, quickness, balance and core skills, while also trying to mentally prepare her for the huge jump she is about to take in athletic competition, something that I can only dream of because I was never even close to being at her level.  Our workouts are pretty intense and, at least for me, a lot of fun, because I can be super creative and really push her beyond what I would normally push my regular clients because I know that she can handle it, and I know she needs to do it.  Up until about a month ago our sessions were restricted to the basement of her house, but when the weather got warm, I’ve started meeting her at a field near me to take the next step.  Jumping, sprinting, running, push-ups, you name it, we’ve been doing it outdoors, and we are going to continue training throughout the summer before she heads to school in early August to start her pre-season conditioning.

Last week, however, I was informed that she needed to be tested in a specific drill and the results needed to be sent in to her head coach.  So she came to the field with one of her teammates on a 90-degree day, not a cloud in the sky, and we did a conditioning test called the Beep Test, which I had never heard of before, but which seemed pretty harmless, at least at first.  The test consists of two cones that are 20 meters (65.6 feet) apart, and the two of them had to jog between the two cones while listening for a beep (played on an MP3 player).  If, at any point in the test, they couldn’t keep up with two consecutive beeps (which get closer and closer together as the test moves along) then they are done, and whatever stage they are at when they miss those two beeps is their score.  It’s one of those tests that gets incrementally harder every few minutes, and it just brutal.  The two of them did a great job, especially in the heat, but the level of conditioning that they are used to vs. where they are expected to be when they get to school is almost mind-boggling.  Needless to say, it was eye opening for all of us, and we (myself included) have a lot of work to do.

So I wanted to do a little research and find some more “fun” conditioning tests that college athletes have to complete before they are even allowed to be on a team.  Some of these are from my client’s pre-season booklet and others are ones that I have found online.  If you are interested in seeing on how you really measure up to a big-time athlete, try a few of these tests, or even give them a shot just to see if you can keep up with some of the numbers.  They also just make great workouts on their own even if you don’t want to go through the hassle (or annoyance) of trying to time yourself.  The only caveat is that these need to be done outdoors, battling the elements, or else it just isn’t as much fun …

• Beep Test — All you need for this one is a couple of cones, a tape measure, and an MP3 of the recorded beeps.  This is the first one I’m going to try (at some point), and I think if I can survive to about stage 10, I’m doing pretty well.  Just get ready to do some dead sprints when you hit about stage 5-6, and you’ll do them nonstop until you can’t keep up anymore.  
• 300-yard Shuttle Test – This is an NFL type test that they use at the combines, but I also did them last week with my Field Hockey girls as well.  The video link above uses 25-yards between the cones but I did them with 50-yards in between.  The goal is to do the entire 300-yards under one-minute, at least for one full sprint.  With my players, what we did is 3 sets of 300 yards, and the goal is to complete each one of them under a minute, with a one-minute break in between each set.  In my eyes, this test is much more doable then the Beep Test, at least for speed, but it’s still pretty fun to try.
• 40 Jumping Jacks, 40 Push-Ups, 40 Sit-Ups, 40 Burpee’s, 40 Squats … and repeat three times. Try to do all those sets, without stopping, under four-minutes.  Tough, but doable.
• 100-yard Sprint Test — Find a football field or set up two cones 100 yards apart.  You are going to do a set of 10 sprints, with the goal to complete each sprint under 18 seconds.  After each sprint you have to jog back to the starting cone to start again.  Not terrible, but the jog back in between sprints 5-10 won’t be fun at all.
• 200-yard Sprint Test — Do the same as the above, but complete a 200-yard sprint in under 35-seconds, also doing a set of 10.  This one is pretty awful, really no way around that.
• Timed Mile — Run four laps around a track at your fastest pace.  You should be able to run the mile between 5:55 – 6:30.  Your goal is 6:18 or below.  I pretty much have no doubt that I wouldn’t be able to do this one.
• 2 Mile Test — Run 8 laps around a track at your fastest pace.  Your goal is to run 2 miles in 14:00 or less.
• Gauntlet — On a track, run 1 mile in under 6:30 with equal rest, an 800 meter sprint in 3:15 or under with equal rest, a 400 meter sprint in 1:38 or under with equal rest, a 200 meter sprint in 0:45 or under with equal rest and 10 100 meter sprints in 0:20 or under with equal rest.  Very hard, but doable … I think.

If you can keep up with some of that stuff up above, maybe there’s a spot for you on a college team somewhere.  As for me, I’ll try the tests, but I’m gonna stick with Thanksgiving football for my once a year sport.