Stair Workouts and Leg Exercises
Before doing Stair Workouts or any other kind of leg exercises athletes need to properly warm up the body. Performing a Dynamic Warmup with the Kbands Leg Resistance Bands will help athletes increase the intensity of the Stair Workouts while limiting the chance of injury and over soreness after the leg exercises are completed.
If needed athletes can also use the Recovery Foam Roller and Ballistic Bands in their pre-leg exercises preparation to relieve any additional soreness or stiffness in the upper and lower body.
Running Stairs As Leg Exercises
The first step to performing Stair Workouts is finding bleachers or a stadium that ideally have rows of around 20 stairs. Athletes will securely attach their Kbands Leg Resistance Bands around their knees and line up at the bottom of the stairs. Athletes will begin running stairs by driving their knees up and quickly working off the ball of the foot. Athletes will get a good drive with their arms as they tap both feet on each stair as they move up the stairs.
Stair Workouts are a great way to develop explosiveness and knee drive. For this reason athletes should not overextend themselves on the Stair Workouts and should only go about 20 steps up before returning to the start of the Stair Workouts. With the limited distance athletes need to focus on being as explosive as possible through every step of the leg workouts to maximize the effects of the Kbands Leg Resistance Bands on the Stair Workouts. Complete 5 sets of the double foot Stair Workouts with a short rest period in between. Athletes should take deep calm breaths as they return to the start of the leg exercises.
After athletes have completed the double foot portion of the Stair Workouts they will take a short rest to allow the legs to recover and then move into the single foot portion of the Stair Workouts.
For the single leg portion of the Stair Workouts athletes will keep the Kbands Leg Resistance Bands securely attached above the knees as they begin running stairs by driving their knees up. Unlike the first portion of the Stair Workouts athletes can extend the length of the leg exercises all the way to the top of the stairs as they will only be tapping one foot on each step. The pace of the second portion of the Stair Workouts should be quicker as athletes work off the balls of their feet and quickly drive to the top of the stairs. Athletes will complete 5 sets of the single foot leg exercises to finish the Stair Workouts.
Training After Stair Workouts And Leg Exercises
After completing 5 sets of both the double foot and single foot Stair Workouts athletes can remove the Kbands Leg Resistance Bands and perform 1-2 unresisted sets of each of the leg exercises. As athletes perform unresisted sets of the Stair Workouts they will feel lightness and quickness in the legs and thighs. This feeling is the result of the extra muscle activation induced by using the Kbands Leg Resistance Bands. This sensation shows how activating these extra muscle fibers means more force and speed can be produced by those targeted areas.
Just as athletes completed a pre Stair Workouts warm up routine athletes should cool down and perform some stretching and use the Recovery Foam Roller to roll the legs, back, shoulders, and arms. If athletes have additional leg exercises or training drills they are going to perform after the Stair Workouts then they should complete these leg exercises before cooling down with the Ballistic Bands and Recovery Foam Roller. Athletes can go to the Recovery Section to learn more about recovery exercises and flexibility stretches.
Additional Leg Exercises
Athletes need to adapt their training to match the skills they want to improve on. Ideally, athletes need a good amount of strength, top end speed, leg exercises, some level of cardiovascular endurance, and agility. All of these skills compliment each other and can work with each other to create a dynamic and successful athlete.
Athletes can use tools like the Ballistic Bands, KB Powerbands, or KB Duo to perform strength training for the upper body, leg exercises like squats, standing presses, and resisted sprints. This additional strength from the leg exercises will help to amplify skills like agility, balance, and power.
Athletes can use sports training equipment like the Top End Speed Running Parachute, Victory Ropes, or Reactive Stretch Cord to build great sprinting speed and quickness when changing directions. The strength from performing additional leg exercises will help to improve the success and effectiveness of performing the speed and agility training.
Additional training tools like the Speed and Agility Ladder or Speed and Agility Cones can be used in addition to tools like the Kbands Leg Resistance Bands, Top End Speed Running Parachute, or Reactive Stretch Cord to develop additional footwork and coordination. Athletes can also use the Speed and Agility Cones to create training drills which mimic game like distances and speeds.
Finally athletes can go to the Strength And Conditioning Section and find cardiovascular endurance drills which utilize tools like the Victory Ropes, Reactive Stretch Cord, Kbands Leg Resistance Bands, and bodyweight exercises. Conditioning Exercises like the Strength And Conditioning Burpees, Victory Ropes Climber Variations, and the Victory Ropes Spartan Crawls. Athletes can also perform these endurance leg exercises with a partner. This partner format works well for team and small group settings. Athletes will perform leg exercises and endurance drills like the Arm Burning Battle Rope Workout, Partner Bear Crawl Shuffles, or the Dueling Victory Rope Workout.
It takes a well-balanced training plan to develop any great athlete. Performing leg exercises, stair workouts, and strength training will take a toll on the body without proper recovery and stretching. An easy tool to use at any game or practice is the Recovery Foam Roller. Using the Recovery Foam Roller with the Rejuvenating Stretching Sequence will help athletes to stay healthy and effective during games.