I play ultimate frisbee, and I have some questions on how to best train for the sport.
On one hand, the athletes that excel in the (non-contact) sport are those that have the most "explosive" athleticism; they are able to cover 5-50 yard distances faster than their opponents and jump higher than their opponents. These are traits associated with explosiveness.
On the other hand, all of our important games are played at weekend-long tournaments where each team plays 6-7 games over the weekend, generally 4 on Saturday and 3 on Sunday. The games are often played back to back with less than 30 minutes rest between games. If you don't have the endurance to last into the 2nd and 3rd games on Sunday (championship games), you'll never win a tournament.
So, you have to be able to have that "short-term" explosive athleticism because you're trying to outjump your opponents and accelerate/sprint distances from 5-50 yards. But you also have to be able to keep this up for 6-8 hours two days in a row.
So what, in your opinion, would be the best way to train for this sport? It seems like if you focus on only longer distances (200+ yards) to build endurance, you won't have the explosive athleticism needed. But it also seems like if you focus on only shorter distances and plyometric exercises, you'll be too tired after your 2nd or 3rd game of the weekend. And I've heard that you can't train for muscular/speed endurance while simultaneously training for top speed/agility/plyometrics.
My initial thought would be to focus on full-body lifting in the offseason to increase muscular strength and endurance. Then, in the preseason, start running longer distances going from 400 to 200 yard sprints down to 100 to 60 yard sprints. Then, immediately before the season starts and going into the season, focus on shorter distances (60 to 20 yards) and plyometric/agility training (ladders, shuttle runs, cone drills, and vertical jump training).
But this idea, I worry about three things: (1) that by the end of the speed/plyometric training I would have lost my endurance, (2) that I wouldn't be able to perform agility/plyometrics/top speed workouts during the season without injuring myself or burning out, and (3) how to incorporate weight lifting into the endurance sprinting as well as the agility/plyometric/speed training during the season.
What are your thoughts? How would you design a 9 month training program, with four months off season, two months preseason, and three months in-season, with your absolute peak coming at the beginning of the third in-season month and maintained throughout the month?
On one hand, the athletes that excel in the (non-contact) sport are those that have the most "explosive" athleticism; they are able to cover 5-50 yard distances faster than their opponents and jump higher than their opponents. These are traits associated with explosiveness.
On the other hand, all of our important games are played at weekend-long tournaments where each team plays 6-7 games over the weekend, generally 4 on Saturday and 3 on Sunday. The games are often played back to back with less than 30 minutes rest between games. If you don't have the endurance to last into the 2nd and 3rd games on Sunday (championship games), you'll never win a tournament.
So, you have to be able to have that "short-term" explosive athleticism because you're trying to outjump your opponents and accelerate/sprint distances from 5-50 yards. But you also have to be able to keep this up for 6-8 hours two days in a row.
So what, in your opinion, would be the best way to train for this sport? It seems like if you focus on only longer distances (200+ yards) to build endurance, you won't have the explosive athleticism needed. But it also seems like if you focus on only shorter distances and plyometric exercises, you'll be too tired after your 2nd or 3rd game of the weekend. And I've heard that you can't train for muscular/speed endurance while simultaneously training for top speed/agility/plyometrics.
My initial thought would be to focus on full-body lifting in the offseason to increase muscular strength and endurance. Then, in the preseason, start running longer distances going from 400 to 200 yard sprints down to 100 to 60 yard sprints. Then, immediately before the season starts and going into the season, focus on shorter distances (60 to 20 yards) and plyometric/agility training (ladders, shuttle runs, cone drills, and vertical jump training).
But this idea, I worry about three things: (1) that by the end of the speed/plyometric training I would have lost my endurance, (2) that I wouldn't be able to perform agility/plyometrics/top speed workouts during the season without injuring myself or burning out, and (3) how to incorporate weight lifting into the endurance sprinting as well as the agility/plyometric/speed training during the season.
What are your thoughts? How would you design a 9 month training program, with four months off season, two months preseason, and three months in-season, with your absolute peak coming at the beginning of the third in-season month and maintained throughout the month?