Early season general training

July-August is holiday and physiological recovery time.
Before beginning training for the new season, it is a good idea to follow a general physical training program (out of the water) in order to get your organism in just the right state to handle winter training loads.
As with every other sport, this “phase” should be tackled progressively and with great caution: we are swimmers, we are used to training in the water, and the impact on solid ground is a bit risky for our joints and tendons.

During this specific period, the main goals are to:
– Increase your aerobic endurance
– Recover the muscle tone (and efficiency) lost during the rest period
– Increase the flexibility of your joints
– Get your organism used to working hard in difficult conditions

You only need a few things to follow a three-week general training plan: good running shoes, a park with a picnic table and benches and a (low and high) bar for pull-ups. Nowadays almost all parks are equipped with a variety of fitness training aids, but we only need those mentioned above.
Let’s see how to make the best use of them for a 3-week plan of 3 sessions-a-week.

WEEK 1

Session 1
15’ easy run
3 x 30 crunches with 30’’ recovery
3 x 6/10 pullups with 1’15’ recovery’
12 bench jumps with 15’ recovery’
15’ easy recovery run
10’ static stretching

Session 2

15’ easy run
3 x 45’’ plank with 45’’ recovery
3 x 6 fast burpees with 1’ recovery
3 x 10/12 press-ups with 1’ recovery
3 x 10’’ fast skipping with 30’’ recovery
15’ easy recovery run
10’ stretching

Session 3
20’ easy run
3 x 8/12 pull-ups on low bar with 1’15’’ recovery
3 x 10/20 sit-ups with 30’ recovery’
3 x 10 jumps keeping legs with 45’’ recovery
15’ recovery run
10’ stretching

WEEK 2

Session 1

20’ easy run
3 x 35 crunches with 30’’ recovery
3 x 8/12 pullups with 1’15’ recovery’
15 bench jumps with 15’ recovery’
15’ easy recovery run
10’ stretching

Session 2

20’ easy run with a 20’’ acceleration after 10, 14 and 18 minutes
3 x (30’’ plank + 4 burpees + 6/10 press-ups + 20’’ bounds) with 2’30’’ recovery
20’ recovery run
10’ stretching

Session 3

5’ dynamic stretching as a warm-up
3 x 6/10 triceps extensions (hands on one bench and legs on another with your bottom in the air) with 1’ recovery
3 x max no. of sit-ups with 1’ recovery
40’ easy run
10’ static stretching

WEEK 3

Session 1

20’ easy run
10 x 30’’ sprint (1’30’’ recovery)
20’ recovery run
3 x max no. Of crunches with 1’ recovery
10 bench jumps with 15’’ recovery
10’ stretching to warm-down

Session 2

20’ easy run with a 20’’ acceleration after 10, 14 and 18 minutes
3 x (35’’ plank + 5 burpees + 8/12 press-ups + 20’’ bounds) with 20’’ recovery
25’ recovery run

Session 3

5’ dynamic stretching as a warm-up
3 x 8/12 triceps extensions (hands on one bench and legs on another) with 1’ recovery
3 x 20m prisoner walk (30’’ recovery after each walk)
45’ easy run
10’ dynamic stretching

Obviously anybody who has problems with their tendons or joints can replace running with bike riding increasing the training time by approximately 40% while doing all the other exercises.
Seeing as now is the right time to do these exercises, why not try them out?