Advanced Sport Fitness

Advancing athletes from exercises which focus on balance, such as the Single Leg Body Balance Toss, into more advanced exercise ball workouts, like the Kbands Elevated Pike Pushup, should be a natural progression in an athletes sport fitness training. As athletes develop greater balance and body control they need to continually utilize more advanced sport fitness training, including more difficult and challenging exercise ball workouts. Exercise ball workouts are some of the best training methods for athletes to increase balance and stability depending on what athletic skill the specific sport fitness exercise is targeting.

Use The Elevated Pike Pushup To Gain Upper Body Stability And Core Strength

There are lots of sport fitness drills, such as the RSC Stability Catches, which focus on balance in the lower extremities. However, exercise ball workouts like the Kbands Elevated Pike Pushup, and the Dynamic Plank Extensions, are two sport fitness drills which target stability and control in the core and upper extremities. Wrestlers, mixed martial artists, and football players are just some of the athletes who can benefit from adding additional stability in the upper body. Any athlete playing a sport which involves controlling the body through the upper body, or performing quick controlled movements with the upper extremities, can benefit from performing sport fitness drills targeted at increasing the fluidity of movements with the arms, shoulders, and chest.

Get The Arms, Shoulders, And Chest Moving With The Kbands Elevated Pike Pushup

To execute the Elevated Pike Pushup athletes will need a Kbands Training Stability Ball and enough clear space so the athlete can lie their entire body flat on the ground. Athletes will bring both feet on top of the Kbands Training Stability Ball so their toes are firmly planted in the sport fitness equipment. Athletes will bring their hand and upper body into an Elevated Pike Pushup Position with their hands located underneath their shoulders and in line with their chest. While in the pike pushup position athletes need to maintain a flat back which is a straight line that runs from their heel to the back of their head, keeping a slight elevation in the rear end. While performing the Elevated Pike Pushup athletes should refrain from sagging at the hips and low back, as well as keeping a pinch in the shoulders while keeping the shoulders elevated to avoid sagging in that area of the body as well.

To begin the Elevated Pike Pushup athletes will raise one of their legs by squeezing their glute on that leg and maintaining a straight leg throughout the Elevated Pike Pushup Drill. Athletes will first perform a “pike” in which the athlete maintains straight legs, straight arms, and raises their butt high into the air in a controlled manner. As the athletes raise their rear into the air they should be rolling the Kbands Training Stability Ball forward and bringing their thighs and legs toward their chest and upper body. Under control, athletes will return to their starting position and perform a pushup before moving back into the pike portion of the sport fitness drill.

Athletes will perform 6-10 pike pushups on one leg before switching to the opposite leg and performing 6-10 repetitions. Athletes should challenge themselves with the depth of the pushup and the height they can achieve on the piking portion of the Elevated Pike Pushup. Athletes will perform 2-5 rounds of the Elevated Pike Pushup Drill on each leg allowing 60-90 seconds of rest between rounds, 15 seconds of rest between each set with each individual leg.

Less advanced athletes can begin performing the Elevated Pike Pushup Drill with the toes of both feet on the Training Stability Ball but should advance into the single leg version of the sport fitness drill.

Sport Fitness Training Before And After The Elevated Pike Pushup

The Kbands Elevated Pike Pushup is an excellent starter sport fitness drill which can be performed at the beginning of a workout. Performing this and other sport fitness balance drills at the beginning of a training session allows athletes to warm up their bodies, more specifically the muscles in the core responsible for stabilizing and controlling the body during agility or strength training. However, before beginning the Elevated Pike Pushup athletes need to perform static and dynamic forms of stretching to avoid injuries and to prepare the body for sport fitness drills.

Athletes can perform static stretching routines before exercise ball workouts or any sport fitness training with the Kbands Stunt Strap. The Kbands Stunt Strap is a simple and effective piece of sport fitness equipment which attaches around the center of the athletes foot and allows the athlete to move the legs in different directions to increase the range of motion in the hip flexors, glutes, quads, hamstring, and IT band. Tightness or limited range of motion in any of these areas can severely limit the training potential and increase the injury risk for an athlete. Although the Elevated Pike Pushup targets the shoulders, chest, and core the body utilizes a muscle in the hip flexors called the Rectus Femoris to help shorten the angle at the hips as the rear end is raised into the air during a pike pushup. Without properly stretching and increasing the range of motion of this muscle athletes will see diminished athletic output and will not benefit as much as they could from the sport fitness drill. Athletes can find great stretching demonstrations with the Kbands Stunt Strap in the Recovery Section.

After training is complete athletes need to do all they can to help their bodies recover from an intense sport fitness training session. Athletes can utilize the stretches with the Recovery Foam Roller found in the Rejuvenating Stretching Sequence to help the body recover and bring down inflammation of the muscles quicker. Along with a great diet, this form of stretching rushes blood to the desired parts of the body to utilize nutrients stored in the blood to help with inflammation, muscle recovery, and cell turnover. Athletes can go to the Recovery Section to learn more about the benefits of using the Recovery Foam Roller.