Conditioning

​2023 SEASON CONDITIONING PLAN >>>
Players should follow the plan independently until approved to participate in scheduled conditioning on campus.
 
Optional pre-season conditioning: November-December 2022
Tryout week:  January 2023
Practice begins January 17, 2023.
First game:  TBD February 2023
Last game: TBD April 2023
 
Here is what you can do now to get ready for the Spring Season:

1. Introduce yourself to Coach Joe or any of the lacrosse players.
2. Submit player registration and medical forms.
3. Join the team facebook group and follow our instagram (@lakeside.lax) for updates and announcements.
4. Be an athlete. This means practice, exercise, and eating healthy. You must have the agility and endurance of soccer, the toughness of football, and the hand/eye coordination of baseball. This is a varsity level sport and if you need to work to be the athlete that you know you can be. If you aren’t playing lacrosse leagues in the fall or another fall sport at LHS, you must find some regular form of exercise. In addition to that:
5. Daily: wall ball, catch/throw
6. Daily:  3 sets of 10 pushups (chest to ground), 15 situps, and 20 squats (hip below parallel)
7. Weekly: 100 meter sprint interval (6 times, 30 second rest between sets), followed by thirty minutes of running.  
8. Drink water and eat real food.   No more drinks with added sugar, and avoid processed food

SKILLS:
Your TOP priority during the fall is to improve your ball handling skills. You can do this alone by finding a solid wall somewhere and just throwing the ball against it and catching it. Try to be equally skilled using either hand.  You can also find a field/yard and practice running, throwing, catching, and picking up ground balls. Find a team member that you can practice with that may live close by.  

1. Wall Ball: 500 left arm, 500 right arm, every week split up however you want
2. Run/Scoop: In a variety of field conditions (mud, grass, lumpy grass, turf, ..)

DIETARY RECOMMENDATIONS
You are an athlete and it is time for you to eat like one! Healthy fresh food and lots of water. Avoid fast food, processed food (things with an ingredients label), sugars, and snacks. These things have little nutritional value, will make you sluggish, and will increase your body fat percentage. As a lacrosse player, you want to be lean, quick, and strong.  

1. Avoid added sugar.  Seriously.  This is not an energy source to make you a better athlete.  These items only spike your insulin levels and result in lethargy and fat.  Neither of those is good for lacrosse or life in general.  This includes fruit juice!  Scale way back or eliminate drinks with added sugar.
2. Hydrate in the 12-24 hours before exercise. Then drink water (with electrolytes if very hot) as needed during workouts. 
3. Eat all of the fresh vegetables, especially leafy greens, that you can stuff in your mouth.  You need nutrients and complex carbs.
4. Lean protein, especially after exercising.  Your muscles need protein to grow and that demand for lean protein is strongest within an hour of exercise.  

CONDITIONING
As lacrosse players, your primary focus should first be in ball handling skills. After that, you need physical conditioning with the following priorities:

1. Speed and quickness:  high intensity interval training and sprints.  Try to get something in every week.  
2. Power:  hill sprints, squats, sit-ups, pushups, and pull-ups.  These are things you can do without equipment or joining a fitness facility and should be completed 2-3 times per week.  
3. Endurance: running, swimming, biking, etc.  Anything that you can do at a moderate pace for 30 minutes or more, preferably an hour.  You do not need to do this too much, once per week is fine. Trail running is particularly good for lacrosse as you have to adjust your stride and move to avoid obstacles. Stone Mountain has a five mile trail around the mountain (Cherokee Trail) that is ideal, fun, and pretty close. The Mercer University campus has a one mile trail loop that also very good for training.  
4. Mobility:  Posture, shoulders, hips, and ankles.  Look up ways to keep these joints unrestricted.  Knee issues (ACL, MCL, runners knee, etc.) frequently start with limitations in the hip or ankles.

If you plan to work out in a gym or organized fitness facility that is fantastic.  Let them know that you are training for lacrosse and have the priorities above.  One cautionary note on strength training, building for bulk and max heavy Olympic lifting is not ideal for lacrosse.  These are fine athletic goals if that is what you want, just know that it has limited value for lacrosse and can result in injury if attempted in the absence of experienced coaching.