• Want to avoid injury? Work on building muscular flexibility
• Want to produce more force? The same.
• Using eccentric contractions, you can work toward making progress in muscular flexibility in one week.

Increased Muscular Flexibility=More Force

Your body’s ability to stretch is directly related to its muscle utilization and muscular flexibility. The greater your range of motion in a muscle, the more you’re able to produce force in that muscle.

Your muscular flexibility is also related to your ability to avoid injury. When you take a hard spill, weather in sport or outdoor activities, your bending capabilities could mean the difference between your body breaking or bending.

This week, we are focusing on our muscular flexibility. We will train the body to gain strength while gaining new ranges of motion. This will occur predominantly through eccentric contractions.

During this week’s training, we will be working in circuits, allowing little rest between exercises, while working in a higher repetition scheme. Weights should feel challenging, but not unbearable.

Click on the exercise links for descriptions of how to perform each exercise with proper form.

Monday - Pushing

Today’s workout will work the anterior chain. Perform the following workout in sequential order one time through, rest, then repeat three more times.

Warm Up:

• 5-minute jog
• High Knees - 30 Seconds
• Butt Kicks - 30 Seconds
• High Kicks - 30 Seconds
• Lateral Shuffles - 30 Seconds (each side)
• Arm Bar - 30 Seconds

Main Set: 4 rounds

• 12 Goblet Squats
• 12 Push Ups
• 12 Handstand Cherry Pickers
• 12 Single Leg Box Get Ups - each leg (Stand up with one leg from a seated position)
• 12 Bear Crawls
• 12 Burpees

Cool Down:

Stretch

Tuesday - Downhill Strides

During today’s workout, you will be performing your first downhill run. Start the set at the top of a hill and accelerate as you run down for 30 seconds. After the 30 seconds, jog up to the top at a tempo pace.

Warm Up:

• 10 minute jog

Main Set: Repeat 8-10 times

• :30 slow acceleration downhill Jog uphill

Cool Down:

• 1-mile jog
• stretch

Wednesday - Pull

Our pulling workout today will be very similar to Monday’s push workout. You will perform 4 rounds of the following circuit. Focus on controlling each move through the elongation phase of the motion. This will train the eccentric contraction allowing for more strength through a greater range of motion.

Warm Up:

• 5-minute jog
• High Knees - 30 Seconds
• Butt Kicks - 30 Seconds
• High Kicks - 30 Seconds
• Lateral Shuffles - 30 Seconds (each side)
• Arm Bar - 30 Seconds

Main Set: Repeat 4 rounds

• 12 Deadlifts (Your choice)
• 12 Negative Pull Ups (Start in a pull up, slow controlled release until you reach the bottom of the motion)
• 12 Single Leg Reaches
• 12 Bent Over Rows
• 12 Bridge with Leg Lift
• 12 Leg Lowers

Cool Down:

Stretch

Thursday: Stretching

Find a yoga class. Just drop in. Hot yoga is a great experience.

Or, find a friend who knows more about yoga than you, and ask them to do it with you.

Friday - Power Eccentrics

Although flexibility workouts predominantly focus on controlling the elongating of the muscles, you can still gain power and athleticism through eccentric contractions.

With today’s workout, you will explode through the “up” phase while slowly controlling the “down” phase. Take approximately one second to move upward and 4 seconds to move downward.

This workout will be done in a circuit for four rounds.

Warm Up:

• 5-minute jog
• High Knees - 30 Seconds
• Butt Kicks - 30 Seconds
• High Kicks - 30 Seconds
• Lateral Shuffles - 30 Seconds (each side)
• Arm Bar - 30 Seconds

Main Set: 4 Rounds

• 12 Pancake Swings - Overspeed (Pull the pancake/ bell down from the top point and control through the abs as it comes back beneath you.
• 12 Sitting to Tuck or  Box Jumps
• 12 Power push-ups (Slowly lower yourself to the floor, pick up your hands, explode off the ground. Can be done to a bench/incline)
• 12 Eccentric Lunge Jumps
• 12 Jumping Pull Ups with a negative

Cool Down:

Stretch

Saturday - Hill Repeats

Today’s endurance run is focusing on powering through the uphill and maintaining a steady pace through the downhill. You will be working at a 5k pace (determine your goal 5k pace on flat ground) and a tempo pace (approximately 30 seconds slower than 5k).

Warm Up:

1 mile building up to a 10k pace

Main Set:

• ½ mile uphill at 5k pace
• ½ mile downhill at tempo pace X4
• ¼ mile uphill at 5k pace
• ¼ downhill at tempo pace X4

Cool Down:

• 1 mile at 10k pace
• stretch

Sunday - Meditation

Do a stretching meditation. Stretch for 10 minutes, very slowly, carefully being aware of the sensations you experience while stretching each muscle.

Awareness of your body, particularly in how it stretches, will help you prevent injuries and build muscular flexibility. Know thyself, stretch.