Wednesday, June 30

Warm-up

Full court basketball (20 minutes)

Metcon WOD

200 push-ups

Go to failure. When you can't do another push-up, run a down-and-back and do 10 situps. Resume push-ups. Continue until you complete 200. For time.

(It took between 14 and 20 minutes.)

Soccer

Futsal

Tuesday, June 29th

Warm-up

Futsal (20 minutes)

Metcon WOD

21 Shoulder presses (45 to 65 lb. bar)

400 m run

21 Push presses

400 m run

21 Push jerks

400 m run

8 - 10 minutes

Strength Exercise

Front squat (5 x 5)

Soccer

Partner juggling, diamond extraordinaire (with 2 target players), 5 v 5, and lightening

Monday, June 28th

Warm-up

20 minutes full-court basketball

Metcon WOD

"Partner Plate Run"

Partners take turns carrying a 45 lb plate overhead for 800 meters. A team that drops their plate or sets it on the ground, has to do 10 pushups. Upon completion, they grab hold of a jumprope (so they will stay together) and run an additional 800 meters. For time. (Times ranged from 8 to 10 minutes.)

We also did a stair run on the bleachers.

Strength Exercise

Max rep pull-ups

Soccer

Short-short-long, diamond extraordinaire (crossing/shooting sequence), lightening

Friday, June 25th

Warm-up

15 minutes of basketball

4 corner warm-up (3 rounds of jumping jacks, squats, push-ups, mountain climbers - sets of 10)

Samson stretch

Metcon WOD

3 rounds of:

15 thrusters (45 lb bar -- Luke and Dan used 95 lbs)

30 v-ups

Strength Exercise

Weighted pull-ups (max weight) -- ranged from 20 to 35 lbs.

Soccer

Diamond drill, juggling, shooting (turns and volleys), 3 v 3

Thursday, June 24th

Warm-up

15 minutes of basketball

Samson stretch -- Some have questioned why we do the Samson stretch and not other static stretches. There is a good discussion of that here:

http://board.crossfit.com/showthread.php?t=2985

Metcon WOD

"Death by Suicide"

Full suicides

Slide

Karaoke

Skip

Exercise out, run back:

Broad jump
Bear crawl
Hop (one leg)
Crabcrawl

Exercise to FTL, run remainder

Inchworm

End with regular suicide

Strength Exercise

Power hang cleans (5 x 5)

Soccer

Futsal

Wednesday, June 23

Took it easy today because of 7 v 7. We "warmed up" by pushing the lawn mower from the practice football field to the storage shed. I had killed it the night before while aerating it (after aerating the practice soccer field). For some reason, diesel fuel doesn't work in regular unleaded engines. We then played futsal for about 30 minutes.

Then it was game time. The United States versus Algeria. After 91 minutes of nail-biting, gut-wrenching action, one of the most important goals in US history was scored. The reaction of the boys wasn't caught on film, but the pure elation seen in this video fairly captures our response:

What an incredible moment to have shared with the boys. When I was their age, I was the only one in my school to have even the slightest interest in the World Cup (we didn't have a soccer team). So, I watched the 1986 World Cup final alone in my parent's basement, with only the barest understanding of the sport's history and global importance. (The final was Argentina vs. W. Germany and featured Diego "The Hand of God" Maradonna. Argentina won 3-2.) Things have certainly changed since then. ESPN has (finally) fully embraced the World Cup and with the strong performance of the American team, Americans have taken notice. As the video above shows, the U.S. has truly become a "footballing" nation. It's nice to have company. Now, it's on to the Round of 16 and Ghana on Saturday.

Tuesday, June 22

Warm-up

3 rounds of:

10 push-ups

max pull-ups (up to 10)

10 squats

10 mountain climber

Samson stretch

Metcon WOD

"Griff" (a Crossfit Hero workout)

800 m forward

400 m backward

800 m forward

400 m backward

Strength Exercise

Shoulder press/push press/push jerk (5 x 3/3/3)

Soccer

Group juggling and futsal (4 v 4)

Monday, June 21st

Warm-up

3 rounds of:

10 push-ups

max pull-ups (no more than 10)

10 sit-ups

10 mountain climbers

Samson stretch

Metcon WOD

60 seconds at each station with 60 seconds rest between each one.

Squats

Box jumps

Kettlebell swings (25 - 35 lbs.)

Walking lunges

Knees to elbows

Push press (45 lb bar)

Back extension (may sub Good Mornings)

Wall balls

Burpees

Tuck jumps

Count total number of reps.

Strength Exercise

Front squats 5 x 5

Soccer

4 v 4 with full size goals

Friday, June 18th

Friday was the day of the big US-Slovenia match. Understandably, the players wanted to watch the game, but after a light day on Thursday, I wanted them to get a bit of workout in before the weekend. We met at the high school and then ran (about 1.8 miles) to the Pierces, who had invited us to come watch the game.

And what a game it was. It was a great game, made even better by watching it as a group. I doubt any of us present will ever forget the moment when the US capped its comeback with its 3rd goal, only to see it disallowed. The emotions in the room ran the gamut: elation, disbelief, disappointment, anger. Still, in the end, a good result for the US and more importantly, a good time for the boys.

After the game, we, of course, ran back to the high school (and talked about the game the whole way).

Thanks to the Pierces for hosting the group.

Thursday, June 17th

We had a fairly easy day as many of the boys were banged up a bit from 7 v 7 and a hard week of workouts.

We played some Hoover ball, which involves a medicine ball and a volleyball net. Players catch the ball and through it back over the net as seen in this video:

As the boys quickly learned, it is a total body workout as you can't just use your arms to catch the ball. You have to get your whole body behind/underneath the ball.

We then used the volleyball net to play a little soccer tennis. It is a fun way to work on ball control.

We finished up with some futsal.

Wednesday, June 16

Warm-up

3 rounds of

10 dips (regular or bench)

10 mountain climbers

10 sit-ups

10 jumping jacks

Samson stretch

Metcon WOD

AMRAP (As many rounds as possible) in 20 minutes of

5 pullups

10 pushups

15 squats

Strength Exercise

Hang power clean (5 x 5)

Soccer

Diamond drill extraordinaire (crossing sequence with shot on goal), 4 v 4 with full goals

Tuesday, June 15th: Injury Prevention

Everyone was a little tired from Monday evening's camp as well as sore from Monday's workout, so we had a fairly easy day. Our focus was on some exercises that will help prevent ankle and knees injuries.

Warm-up

Basketball with 2 lb. medicine ball (10 minutes), then switched to regular basketball (10 min.).

Single toe raises (to strengthen ankles).

Ball catches on one leg

Crunches

Metcon WOD

5 rounds of:

walking lunges (across basketball court and back)

10 push-ups

20 sit-ups

Strength Exercises

Leg presses (light weight) with toes pointing in and out to strengthen the muscles around the knee.

Soccer

1, 2, 3 . . . juggling sequence (1 touch right foot, 1 touch left foot, 2 touches right foot, 2 touches left foot, and so on)

Futsal

Monday, June 14th

Warm-up

3 rounds of:

max pull-ups (no more than 10)

10 push-ups

10 squats

10 sit-ups

Samson stretch

Metcon WOD

Every 2 minutes for 20 minutes:

8 snatches right arm

8 snatches left arm

suicide run

followed up with 2 minute plank

Strength Exercise

5 sets of 3 shoulder presses/3 push press/3 push jerk

Soccer

keep-a-away, juggling, and futsal

June 11th: Day 5

Warm-up

3 x

10 push-ups

10 sit-ups

10 squats

10 push presses

Samson stretch

Workout

20 minute run (about 2.1 miles)

Strength Exercise

max rep pull-ups (already seeing some improvement here from Monday's marks)

Soccer

pace passing, sharks & minnows (yep, you're never too old for sharks & minnows), diamond drill -> shot, lightning

June 10th: World Cup Eve

We had a light turnout today, as we had several gone to state cup and various appointments/vacations. Best of luck to those playing on teams in the state cup.

Warmup

Gaelic basketball (10 minutes)

pull-ups (regular grip)

10 push presses

10 squats

10 pushups

Samson stretch

Metcon Workout

Tabata plate workout with 8 sets of 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds rest (4 min. total) of each of the following exercises:

- Halo (arms elevated and weight revolves around the head)

- Side to side (weight is fully extended to the side and then lifted overhead to

the other side. Lather. Rinse. Repeat)

- Squats (plate is held close to body for regular squats)

- Overhead press (weight is lifted from chest to above the head)

Strength Exercise

Front squat 5 x 5

Soccer

Fast footwork, juggling, futsal. We started recording the juggling scores today, which we will do throughout the remainder of June. The scores were very respectable with seven with over 50 juggles, but a special "shout out" goes to D. (332), J. (290), and C. (116). Well done.

June 9th: 7 v 7 Opens Tonight

Today we concentrated mostly on arms and core in an effort to save the legs for 7 v 7 in Jefferson City tonight. We apparently succeeded as the boys won both games. Good job, guys.

Warmup

10 (or max) pull-ups (reverse grip)

10 mountain climbers

10 squats

10 push presses (bar)

Samson stretch

Metcon WOD

Partners take turns completing:

10 Turkish get-ups

10 push-ups

10 jumping jacks

AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) 20 minutes

Strength Exercise

Hang Cleans 5 x 5

Soccer

Fast footwork, juggling, keep-away, and futsal.

June 8: Cheating is bad form

Before we started today, we talked about the importance of good form. A gazillion reps of an exercise done incompletely cheats the athlete out of the benefits of the full range of motion. For example, squats should break the plane of the knee, while in pull-ups the arms should be fully extended. Do the exercises correctly in order to get the full benefit -- as well as to be fair to your teammates.

Warmup

3 rounds of:

max pullups (no more than 10)

10 squats

10 mountain climbers

10 shoulder presses

Samson stretch

Metcon WOD

50 squats

800 meter run

40 pushups

800 meter run

30 squats

800 meter run

20 pushups

800 meter run

10 squats

Strength Exercise

3/3/3 (shoulder press/push press/push jerk) x 5

Start with bar and add weight with each successive round

Soccer

We worked on our touch by passing in an aerobic condition with both instep passes and volleys. We finished with a game of lightning.

June 7th: Testing Day

Today's "workout" was a series of tests to establish individual and team benchmarks. To measure our speed over a variety of distances, we ran:

100 m

200 m

400 m.

We also ran a little agility test called the 2-run (because the course looks a sideways 2), which calls for the players to run forwards, sideways, and backwards in 10 yd segments (50 yds total).

Our strength measurements were:

sit-ups (1 min.)

push-ups (1min.)

max pull-ups

max deadlift

max shoulder press

At the end of the four weeks, we will re-rest to see what kind of improvements have been made. As for the results today, a couple of things jumped out at me. First, we need to work on our upper body strength. (For example, we only averaged 5 pull-ups.) We will be doing lots of pull-ups and other upper-body exercises. Second, we need to work on our explosive power, which comes from the legs. We will be doing lots of leg exercises (squats, lunges, and box jumps).

All in all, I was pleased with the effort today. If they can keep up a good work ethic over the next four weeks, we will see good results.

World Cup Television Schedule

In the previous post about soccer intelligence, I suggested that you watch soccer games with the tactics from the NSCAA quizzes in mind. The perfect opportunity presents itself next week with the upcoming World Cup.

Every match of the 2010 World Cup will be broadcast by the ESPN family of networks: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3 (formerly ESPN360), and ABC. The tournament opens on June 11th with the hosts South Africa playing Mexico at 8:30 a.m. Central Time on ESPN and concludes with the finale one month later on July 11th @ 12:30 on ABC. One month of soccer -- 64 games in all -- for you to see some of the best soccer players in the world.

ABC will broadcast 10 of the games (included the much-anticipated U.S. vs England match on June 12th). Every other game will be either ESPN or ESPN2. In addition, every game on those two networks will be broadcast on ESPN3 (www.espn360.com). The complete schedule can be found here. Tune in and turn up your game a notch.