Name: Playbook - TrickStrong RX - W3/D1 Max Effort Day
Uploaded: 2023-11-08T15:55:23.403Z
Duration: 75 min
Description: W3/D1 Max Effort Day

Lars

Ryne

Get ready to push some weight! 

No two workouts will be the same. The goal for Max Effort Day each week is to train movements that develop unilateral strength and stability, reducing “holes” in our strength.

•	Step 1: Warmup
•	Step 2: Find 3 Rep Max for lift of the day
      - as many sets as needed (don’t exceed 5 sets)
      - 90 sec rest between
•	Step 3: Finisher Circuit A 
•	Step 4: Finisher Circuit B

Don't skip the finishers! They are comprised of accessory lifts to further plug up weak links, improving athleticism and resilience.

The reps are a guideline. The hallmark of a good warmup is that you feel prepared to move!

This mobility drill fits perfectly into a warmup as a line drill. You can also do this throughout the day to improve hamstring length and to reduce lower back tension. 

Lead with a straight leg and hinge from the hips while sitting your butt back. Arch your lower back when doing this. 

Another tip is to imagine that you are "scooping water" with your hands.

You should feel a stretch in your hamstring without feeling pain at the lower back, calf or feet.

Hamstring Walks

This mobility drill fits perfectly into a warmup as a line drill. You can also do this throughout the day to improve hip flexor and quad length.  

Grab your knee with the same side hand, and with core engagement, hinge forward. 

You should feel a stretch in the quad and hip flexors, without feeling compression at the lower back.

Dynamic Quad Pull

Piriformis walks are excellent for a dynamic warmup or mobility session. Support your ankle and knee joints as shown.

Piriformis Walks

Knee To Wall Taps are great for ankle mobility. They help us to create stability and control within our movement.

This is where flexibility and mobility differ. The former is just a position you can get to, while the latter is a movement you OWN. 

Notice the direction of the toes here. They are pointing forward, which encourages us to move through our ankle joint rather than our foot.

Shifting your weight to the front leg loads your foot and ankle more and enhances the benefits if you can tolerate it. If this is too much, you can start by shifting your weight more towards the back leg or by doing this same motion from a kneeling lunge position.

The wall gives us a goal to reach that can be measured over time and can guide us in going just far enough. We want to avoid letting the heel come up off of the ground.

Knee to Wall Taps

Lateral Band Walks are great for developing lower body strength - especially in the glutes! These are also awesome for building total body coordination, endurance and stability.

Lateral Band Walks

This drill is helpful in improving ankle joint mobility - especially in improving dorsiflexion ROM. 

The belt or band is placed at the ankle crease right at the top of your foot (not on your shin)! 

If your setup allows for it, try to have the band angle downwards by putting your foot on an elevated surface. If not, parallel to the floor will still have plenty of benefit.

The band helps mobilize the ankle joint by allowing your tibia (shin) to translate forward on your fixed talus (ankle bone). 

Notice the direction of the toes here. They are pointing forward, which encourages us to move through our ankle joint rather than our foot.

Shifting your weight to the front leg loads your foot and ankle more and enhances the benefits if you can tolerate it.

Be sure that your knee is tracking over your second toe and not going too far inwards or outwards. 

You should feel no pinching or pain during this!

Optional: Banded Ankle Mobilization

The goal of banded hip mobilizations is to improve joint mobility of the hip. 

In traditional stretching, although the hip is moving, the muscles are primarily targeted.

This drill is useful if: 

1)	there is pinch or block sensation (usually when you are in a squat or otherwise flexed and/or internally rotated hip position

2)	You are plateauing or unable to get more ROM no matter how much mobility work you do
3)	Pain relief

*If you have excessive hip mobility or instability, this exercise is not for you as it will likely make your issue worse. 

With banded hip mobilizations, we use the band to bring our hip into certain positions so the joint can be stretched. 

This banded child's pose drill helps improve hip flexion.

You should not go to the point where you feel your pinch or block sensation as we are running into a joint block. 

Sets, reps and frequency should be gradually increased as tolerated as you can get sore from these drills.

Optional: Banded Hip Mobilization - Child's Pose

A primer prepares your body for the work at hand! Go light (or bodyweight) so you don't fatigue yourself. 

The goblet squat is an awesome lower body exercise used to improve strength and power. The goblet hold creates a more vertical position which emphasizes the quads. Goblet squats are a great exercise to improve your vertical leap. 

It is also helpful in mobility training, as the weight helps push us into more ankle dorsiflexion and opens our hips.

Primer: Goblet Pause Squat (2x5)

Desert Eagle Warmup

Week 3 main lift! Find your 3 RM within 5 sets. Start with a warmup set at ~50-70% 1 RM. If you feel like you have maxed out before 5 sets, that is fine! Move on to the finisher circuits. 

To perform correctly: Start in a wide stance. You want to form 90 degree angle with the bent leg, while the straight leg assists by actively pushing it into the ground. 

Lateral lunges are also great for opening our chronically tight hip adductors.

The barbell should only be used after mastering this lift with a kettlebell or dumbbell of equivalent weight and building from there.

Remember, as long as we are training movement patterns to a degree where it is challenging (while good form is maintained) then we are golden! 

I use barbells during most of the lifts in order to show how to do the exercise in that way. If you don't have access to a barbell or it is simply too much weight, then just hold your weight in the form of dumbbells, kettlebells, etc.

Main Lift: Lateral Lunge (Find 3RM)

The finisher circuits are accessory lifts to further plug up weak links, improving athleticism and resilience. Pick a weight that is challenging but controlled. Each circuit will consist of 2 rounds, with 90-120 sec rest between rounds. Use minimal rest between individual exercises.

This exercise is one of the best exercises for lower extremity and core stability. It trains the posterior chain, most notably the hamstrings and glutes in an extremely functional way. 
It's important to work on the posterior chain as we are often quad dominant. This balances the body and can help prevent hyperextension injuries at the knee.

If you are someone with tight hamstrings, this will help tremendously, as the body responds to lengthening under load well and will allow the hamstrings to move more freely over time. 

Form Tips:
- Hinge at hips while maintaining neutral spine
- squeeze fists to create total body tension
- ground yourself by "grabbing the floor" with your feet

If you don't have weights, do this bodyweight for a rep range that challenges you

Single Leg Deadlift

If you haven't been doing single leg calf raises, you will feel the difference not only in your calf, but in your foot and hip muscles as well. This is excellent for functional carryover to athletics as we are often pushing off on one leg.

Stress the negative by lowering slowly and past neutral by using a step, stair or slant board. 

This is great for injury prevention because it begins to mimic controlling landings and decelerating from cuts and pivots. 

Research shows eccentric exercises are extremely beneficial for tendon issues. This can be a great exercise for those with achilles tendon pain provided it is progressed appropriately.

Early on, using the minimum necessary hand assistance is a good way to build up to doing it without support.

Single Leg Calf Raise

The Copenhagen plank is an incredible but underutilized side plank variation with emphasis on the adductors. 

These muscles are located in the inner thigh and are often undertrained even though they are necessary for efficient athletic movement. They aid in single leg stability and transfer of power from the upper to lower extremities via several anatomical slings (Lateral, Anterior Oblique, etc.)

To do it right: 

1) Get into a sidelying position with your elbow stacked directly under your shoulder

2) Tensing your core, rise to a side plank with the bottom leg bent. Push into the ground using only your top leg to rise. If this is too much, assist in holding the position using your bottom leg. 

3) Be sure that your ear, shoulder, hip, knee and ankle are in line. Maintain a neutral spinal position

4) Hold this position for 10 seconds before returning to the starting position

Copenhagen Plank Hold

Finisher Circuit A (ME)

Triple flexion is the combined motion of hip, knee and ankle flexion. This is an important pattern to develop knee drive in any athletic movement, including sprinting, kicking and of course many movements in tricking. 

We use triple flexion all the time in tricking to generate force in kicks or transitional skills. 
The muscles involved in triple flexion also help to absorb shock and decelerating us during takeoffs and landings.

On the stance leg, it improves stability massively not only through muscular endurance work, but improved coordination and proprioceptive input.

Modifications: Banded, kettlebell, ankle weight, bodyweight

Triple Flexion

The anterior tibialis muscle is important for foot and ankle stability. It has a massive role in decelerating us so we can convert our momentum from a horizontal run to a jump. We do this a lot in tricking during pivots. 

When contacting heel first, the anterior tibialis must slow the foot down so it can hit the floor with control. If its weak, we have "no brakes" and tend to get excess stress on the knees and hips to control that momentum.

For this exercise, try to raise your toes as high as possible and actively squeeze your shin muscles at the top of each rep. Lower with control.

If kettlebells aren't an option, do them standing against a wall. You can also try to (safely!) tie a dumbbell or plate to the bottom of your foot.

Anterior Tibialis Raises

Begin lying down in a hollow body (dish-shaped) position. Keep your head elevated with chin tucked. Keep the small of your low back against the ground by engaging your core and tilting your pelvis.  

Flutter your legs at a hover. The closer to the ground and the harder you kick, the more difficult the exercise. Maintain the hollow body position throughout.

W3/D1 Max Effort Day

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