Skyrocket Your Sports Performance With This 3-Week Workout Plan

I'm 5'5, I have asthma, and I… am an athlete.

Put me in the game and I'll flat-back receivers, pick pockets on the dribble, reject rocket shots in goal, pass people on the run, serve aces, win face-offs, and spike volleyballs in the faces over the net.

How does the short, scrappy guy with a puffer do the above? I train. I train specifically for maximum sports performance. It's not about gender or genetics; it's about conditioning. If you want to hit harder, cut quicker, jump higher, race faster and run longer, then I've got the program for you.

Fire Up Your Four Cores

It's designed to improve the key areas required for holistic and consistent performance: speed, agility, strength, and endurance. I call these areas the Four Cores. The goal of this program is to turn you into an ath-elite. By training the Four Cores, you can perform quickly, powerfully, and continuously.

In this program, you'll perform a variety of workouts using multiple training techniques to promote total body performance. As such, the program is dynamic enough to help you train for any sport. This is physical training, not skills training, so it's not sport-specific.

Eyes on the prize — a body that functions as well as it looks. And it'll look damn good.

Twisted Techniques

To train the Four Cores and ensure maximum response, you'll utilize the following training combinations:

• High AND Low Reps
• High Intensity AND Low Intensity Training
• Heavy AND Light Weight
• Individual AND Compound Muscle Movement
• Explosiveness AND Endurance Training

Think of each combo as a spectrum - training both sides of each spectrum produces a body that can fulfill the requirements of multiple sport environments.

Before I take a puff off the ol' inhaler and we get to work, remember to follow these ground rules:

1. Don't talk about fight club (duh).
2. Always increase weight between sets and try to reach failure on the last 1-2 reps of every set.
3. Do dynamic stretches and light warm-ups before training to prevent injury.
4. Focus on proper technique for every exercise.
5. Eat healthy: this means lean protein, complex carbs, and plenty of vegetables.
6. Drink up: water, and plenty of it.
7. No cheating! This is a full 3-week workout cycle, and every exercise has a purpose.
8. Write everything down. Stats, weights, reps: record it all and then try to crush those numbers.
9. Use codenames:
   • Week 1: "CHEETAH"
   • Week 2: "KOMODO DRAGON"
   • Week 3: "HERCULES BEETLE"

We warned you about talking about fight club.

Animal Instinct

Based on the names, it's easy to see that each week is its own beast - the exercises are different and so is the primary focus per week. However, all 3 weeks include:

• Dynamic stretching and warm-up for flexibility and injury prevention
• Complete body circuits for speed and agility
• Swimming, cycling, and running for cardiovascular and muscular endurance
• Full-body weight training for power and explosiveness

If you're short on time and a game is afoot, you can definitely benefit from performing one 3-week routine. However, if you're looking for maximum off-season performance improvement, I'd recommend completing the 3-week routine 4 times to make a mind-blowing 12-week workout.

Your newly fit body will work as well in the water as it does on land.

Puff, puff, pass: let's hit the gym!

The cheetah is one quick kitty. As the fastest land mammal, it's been clocked at over 70mph. It has responsive muscles trained to bring down prey fast, and we're shooting to steal some of that sweet speed.

Your weight training this week will consist of lighter weight combined with fast, controlled repetitions. If you want to perform fast, you have to train fast. For each resistance exercise, perform the concentric (positive) portion of the rep with explosive, controlled speed, and then slowly perform the eccentric (negative) move to keep the muscle tense for at least 2 seconds.

In addition, you have agility drills this week to work complete body quickness. You've also got running and swimming for cardiovascular endurance.

Day 1: Upper Body

• Front-Front, Back-Back Lateral Crawl:

  Move sideways while facing a line on all-fours, planting your hands in front of the line, then behind the line, in an alternating fashion.

  Only one hand should move at a time - the pattern should be FRONT-FRONT-BACK-BACK - while moving your body down the line.

• Bear Crawls:

  Move as fast as you can on all fours.

  Keep your legs wide and your hands close together.

• Ickey Shuffle with Hands:

  Straddle a line or rope on all fours.

  Use a wide leg stance and do the ickey shuffle drill with your hands.

  The pattern should be Left IN/Right IN/Left OUT, followed by Right IN/Left IN/Right OUT. Repeat. Move forward while doing this for 10 yards.

Check out this great hand agility video to get a visual feel for how these agility drills work!

• Plyometric Push-ups: 4 sets of 12-20 reps
• Pull-Ups: 4 sets of 12 reps
• Kettlebell Thrusters: 4 sets of 12 reps
• Face Pulls: 4 sets of 12 reps
• Bench Dip: 4 sets of 12 reps
• Barbell Curl 21's: 3 sets of 7 reps
• Running (sprint pace): 15 minutes

Day 2: Core and Lower Body

• Sprint and Backpedal Ladders:

  Perform the ladder exercise while facing the same direction the entire time. Sprint to the line, plant your feet, then backpedal to the baseline.

  Proceed to the next line, sprinting forward again.

  Continue until ladder is finished.

• Sprint Ladders:

  Sprint to the first line. Plant your right foot on the line and touch the line with your right hand. Turn and sprint back to the baseline. Plant your left foot and touch your left hand to the baseline.

  Continue to each successive line, sprinting back and forth.

  Continue until ladder is finished.

• X Drill: Place markers at the corners of a 10, 15, or 20 yard square. The larger your square, the longer your drill.

• Pendlay Rows: 4 sets of 12 reps
• Back Extensions: 4 sets of 12 reps
• Flat Bench Lying Leg Raise: 4 sets of 12 reps
• Reverse Incline Dumbbell Flyes: 4 sets of 12 reps
• Plate Twists: 4 sets of 20 reps, each side
• Exercise Bike (moderate pace): 30 minutes

Day 3: Lower Body

• Carioca: 2 sets of 20 yds
• Karaoke: 2 sets of 20 yds
• Ickey Shuffle Drill: 2 sets of 20 yds
• 90-degree jumps: 2 sets of 20 yds

• Front-Front, Back-Back Toe Drill:

  Pump your arms and run in place, stepping twice in front of the line, then twice behind the line.

  (You will basically run back-and-forth over the line, facing forward the entire time.)

• Double-Leg Front and Back Line Jumps:

  Jump in front of a line, then behind, with your feet together.

• Double Leg Side-to-Side Line Jumps:

  Look down the line. Jump to the left side, then over to the right side, with your feet together.

• Squats: 4 sets of 12 reps
• Smith Machine Calf Raises: 4 sets of 20 reps
• Alternating Barbell Lunges: 4 set of 12 reps, both legs
• Standing Hamstring Curls: 4 sets of 12 reps
• Floor Bridge: 4 sets of 12 reps, both legs

Day 4: Full Body

• Dumbbell Split Squats: 4 sets of 12 reps, each leg
• Turkish Get-Ups: 4 sets of 12 reps, both arms
• Push Press: 4 sets of 3-5 reps
• Hang Cleans: 4 sets of 3-5 reps
• Form Running with Dumbbells (in place): 4 sets of 60 sec continuous reps

• Box Jumps:

  Small Box: 3 sets of 20 reps
  Medium Box: 3 sets of 15 reps
  Big Box: 3 sets of 10 reps

Day 5: Swimming

• Slow freestyle warm-up: 200 meters
• Freestyle stroke (arms only) with flotation device between knees: 150 meters
• Flutter Kick (legs only) using kickboard: 150 meters
• Complete Freestyle stroke: 300 meters
• Breast stroke (arms only) with flotation device between knees: 150 meters
• Frog/Butterfly Kick (legs only) using kickboard: 150 meters
• Complete Breast Stroke: 300 meters
• Back stroke cool-down: 200 meters

Day 6: Endurance Cardio

• Hill Running: 45 minutes

Day 7: Rest Day

The devastating Komodo dragon [shiver] - one of the most versatile beasts around. These lizards can run, climb, and swim like Olympic death-machines. Komodo dragons are big and strong, but also fast and agile. That's this week's theme - versatility and diversity.

You'll be doing low reps and high reps in your weight training to encourage complete strength performance. Your running will require different intensities for complete cardiovascular performance, while swimming will work the body in multiple ways. You've also got plenty of agility training to take you from draggin' to DRAGON.

Day 1: Lower Body

• Carioca: 2 sets of 20 yds
• Karaoke: 2 sets of 20 yds
• Ickey Shuffle Drill: 2 sets of 20 yds
• 90-degree jumps: 2 sets of 20 yds

• Front-Front, Back-Back Toe Drill:

  Pump your arms and run in place, stepping twice in front of the line, then twice behind the line.

  (You will basically run back-and-forth over the line, facing forward the entire time.)

• Double-Leg Front and Back Line Jumps:

  Jump in front of a line, then behind, with your feet together.

• Double Leg Side-to-Side Line Jumps:

  Look down the line. Jump to the left side, then over to the right side, with your feet together.

• One-Legged Barbell Squat: 5 sets of 12, 10, 8, 6, 4 reps
• Romanian Deadlift: 4 sets of 12, 10, 8, 6 reps
• Barbell Hip Thrust: 3 sets of 8 reps
• Single Leg Calf Press: 20, 15, 12, 10
• X-Band Walk: 3 x 10 each leg
• Plate or Sled Push: 3 x 10 yards

Day 2: Middle Body

• Sprint and Backpedal Ladders:

  Perform the ladder exercise while facing the same direction the entire time. Sprint to the line, plant your feet, then backpedal to the baseline.

  Proceed to the next line, sprinting forward again.

  Continue until ladder is finished.

• Sprint Ladders:

  Sprint to the first line. Plant your right foot on the line and touch the line with your right hand. Turn and sprint back to the baseline. Plant your left foot and touch your left hand to the baseline.

  Continue to each successive line, sprinting back and forth.

  Continue until ladder is finished.

• X Drill: Place markers at the corners of a 10, 15, or 20 yard square. The larger your square, the longer your drill.

• Rack Pull: 5 sets of 12, 10, 8, 6, 4 reps
• Renegade Row: 3 sets of 10 reps, each side
• High Pull: 4 sets of 8, 6, 4, 4 reps
• One-arm farmer's carry: 3 sets of 30 seconds, each arm
• Decline Crunch: 30, 25, 20, 15
• Toe Touches: 4 sets of 30, 25, 20, 15 reps
• Treadmill: 40 minutes (moderate pace)

>Day 3: Upper Body

• Front-Front, Back-Back Lateral Crawl:

  Move sideways while facing a line on all-fours, planting your hands in front of the line, then behind the line, in an alternating fashion.

  Only one hand should move at a time - the pattern should be FRONT-FRONT-BACK-BACK - while moving your body down the line.

• Bear Crawls:

  Move as fast as you can on all fours.

  Keep your legs wide and your hands close together.

• Ickey Shuffle with Hands:

  Straddle a line or rope on all fours.

  Use a wide leg stance and do the ickey shuffle drill with your hands.

  The pattern should be Left IN/Right IN/Left OUT, followed by Right IN/Left IN/Right OUT. Repeat. Move forward while doing this for 10 yards.

• Bench Press: 5 sets of 20, 12, 8, 6, 4 reps
• Incline Dumbbell Press: 4 sets of 20, 15, 12, 8 reps
• Face Pull: 3 sets of 20, 15, 10 reps
• Lat Pull-down: 4 sets of 20, 15, 12, 8 reps
• Triceps Push-downs: 3 sets of 15, 12, 8 reps
• Alternating Dumbbell Curl: 3 sets of 15, 12, 8 reps
• Exercise bike: 20 minutes (fast pace)

Day 4: Full Body

• Dumbbell Split Squats: 12, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4 reps, each leg
• Power Cleans: 4 sets of 6, 5, 4, 2 reps
• Push Press: 4 sets of 8, 6, 4, 2 reps
• Hang Cleans: 4 sets of 8, 6, 4, 2 reps
• Turkish Get-Ups: 4 x 12 reps, both arms

• Box Jumps:

  Small Box: 4 sets of 25, 20, 15, 10 reps
  Medium Box: 4 sets of 25, 20, 15, 10 reps
  Big Box: 4 sets of 25, 20, 15, 10 reps

Day 5: Swimming

• Slow freestyle warm-up: 300 meters
• Complete Breast Stroke: 250 meters
• Complete Freestyle stroke: 250 meters
• Complete Breast Stroke: 250 meters
• Complete Freestyle stroke: 250 meters
• Backstroke cool down: 300 meters

Day 6: Endurance Cardio

• Slow jog for warm-up: 1 mile

• Slow jog with heels off the ground for 30 seconds
• Sprint for 30 seconds
• Slow jog with heels off the ground for 30 seconds
• Sprint for 60 seconds
• Slow jog with heels off the ground for 30 seconds
• Sprint for 90 seconds
• Slow jog with heels off the ground for 30 seconds
• Sprint for 60 seconds
• Slow jog with heels off the ground for 30 seconds
• Sprint for 30 seconds
• Slow jog with heels off the ground for 30 seconds

• 1 Gasser = running 50 yards and back 3 times (300 total yards)
• 1 Gasser circuit = performing 3 gassers with 30 seconds rest between gassers

• 1st gasser run lightly (75% of full-speed)
• 2nd gasser full sprint
• 3rd gasser try to beat the 2nd gasser's time

• Slow jog with heels off the ground for 30 seconds
• Sprint for 30 seconds
• Slow jog with heels off the ground for 30 seconds
• Sprint for 60 seconds
• Slow jog with heels off the ground for 30 seconds
• Sprint for 90 seconds
• Slow jog with heels off the ground for 30 seconds
• Sprint for 60 seconds
• Slow jog with heels off the ground for 30 seconds
• Sprint for 30 seconds
• Slow jog with heels off the ground for 30 seconds

• Slow jog for cool down: 1 mile

Day 7: Rest Day

"A flippin' beetle, are you serious?" Yes, I am. Deadly. Pound-for-pound, this little beetle is the strongest beast around, able to lift 850 times its bodyweight.

This week, we're lifting big, mean, and ugly: low reps and heavy weight. Remember, this also means crucial attention to form, and I definitely suggest lifting with a partner. Of course, you've still got plenty of endurance running, swimming, and agility training to back up your resistance work.

Pushing yourself beyond what you normally think you can do. Keep a positive mindset and you'll surprise yourself.

Day 1: Middle Body

• Sprint and Backpedal Ladders:

  Perform the ladder exercise while facing the same direction the entire time. Sprint to the line, plant your feet, then backpedal to the baseline.

  Proceed to the next line, sprinting forward again.

  Continue until ladder is finished.

• Sprint Ladders:

  Sprint to the first line. Plant your right foot on the line and touch the line with your right hand. Turn and sprint back to the baseline. Plant your left foot and touch your left hand to the baseline.

  Continue to each successive line, sprinting back and forth.

  Continue until ladder is finished.

• X Drill: Place markers at the corners of a 10, 15, or 20 yard square. The larger your square, the longer your drill.

• Deadlift: 6 sets of 5,3,2,2,2,1 reps
• Barbell Row: 3 sets of 5 reps
• Dumbbell Row: 3 sets of 8 reps
• Lat Pull-down: 3 sets of 8 reps
• Air Bike: 3 sets of 40 reps
• Knee-Hip Raise: 3 sets of 20 reps

Day 2: Upper Body

• Front-Front, Back-Back Lateral Crawl:

  Move sideways while facing a line on all-fours, planting your hands in front of the line, then behind the line, in an alternating fashion.

  Only one hand should move at a time - the pattern should be FRONT-FRONT-BACK-BACK - while moving your body down the line.

• Bear Crawls:

  Move as fast as you can on all fours.

  Keep your legs wide and your hands close together.

• Ickey Shuffle with Hands:

  Straddle a line or rope on all fours.

  Use a wide leg stance and do the ickey shuffle drill with your hands.

  The pattern should be Left IN/Right IN/Left OUT, followed by Right IN/Left IN/Right OUT. Repeat. Move forward while doing this for 10 yards.

• Decline Bench Press: 6 sets of 5,3,2,2,2,1 reps
• Standing Military Press: 5 sets of 3 reps
• Close-Grip Barbell Bench: 3 sets of 8 reps
• Dumbbell Incline Fly: 3 sets of 8 reps
• Barbell Curl: 3 sets of 8 reps

Day 3: Lower Body

• Carioca: 2 sets of 20 yds
• Karaoke: 2 sets of 20 yds
• Ickey Shuffle Drill: 2 sets of 20 yds
• 90-degree jumps: 2 sets of 20 yds

• Front-Front, Back-Back Toe Drill:

  Pump your arms and run in place, stepping twice in front of the line, then twice behind the line.

  (You will basically run back-and-forth over the line, facing forward the entire time.)

• Double-Leg Front and Back Line Jumps:

  Jump in front of a line, then behind, with your feet together.

• Double Leg Side-to-Side Line Jumps:

  Look down the line. Jump to the left side, then over to the right side, with your feet together.

• Squats: 6 sets of 5,3,2,2,2,1 reps
• Overhead Squat: 3 sets of 5 reps
• Leg Press: 3 sets of 8 reps
• Standing Leg Curl: 3 sets of 8 reps
• Calf Press: 5 sets of 8 reps

Day 4: Full Body

• Dumbbell Split Squats: 4 sets of 8, 6, 5, 4 reps, each leg
• Power Cleans: 4 sets of 6, 4, 2, 1 reps
• Push Press: 3 sets of 6, 4, 2 reps
• Hang Cleans: 3 sets of 6, 4, 2 reps
• Turkish Get-Ups: 4 sets of 12 reps

• Box Jumps:

  Small Box: 4 sets of 10 reps
  Medium Box: 4 sets of 8 reps
  Big Box: 4 sets of 6 reps

Day 5: Swimming

• Slow freestyle warm-up: 200 meters
• Continuous swim (any style, feel free to switch styles while swimming): 1600 meters
• Backstroke cool-down: 200 meters

Day 6: Endurance Cardio

• Jogging: 1 hour, flat-land

Day 7: Rest Day