June 16th, 2011
So...Just another squash blog you say? I know what you're thinking....why bother, do we really need another squash blog?
I plan on using this blog to organize my thoughts and get them out on paper. I am constantly thinking about my own training, what I am working on, and my game in general. Hopefully this helps me flush out those ideas, and better understand the game of squash and the training required of a professional athlete.
I do not profess to know the best way to play squash or the best way to train, these are simply the thoughts that are going through my head at any given time. I hope you can take something from them. Enjoy!
Summer training 2011
Summer training for me began on May 15th this year. I had taken a pretty extensive break of about 5 or 6 weeks almost completely off from squash, during which I had been on vacation, got married, and honeymooned. It was probably the longest break I have had in 5 or 6 years, and it was much needed.
By “off”, what I really mean is, I was going for a light run or going to the gym 2 or 3 times a week. That’s about as “off” as I get. It does amaze me that people can go days let alone weeks on end without doing something. I would go crazy!
So day one of summer training, I was expecting it to be pretty ugly. I had been strategizing a bit about how I wanted to structure my summer training this year, with my main goals obviously to get fit for squash, but more importantly to minimize the risk of injury. In summers past I have had problems with knee and achilles tendinitis, caused (I think) from running too much and getting especially tight in my quads. So instead of running I decided my main form of training this summer would be the bike.
The gym I work out at had recently purchased 7 or 8 new Keiser M3 spinning bikes, and they are awesome! I had done spinning classes before and thought were pretty fun and certainly a good workout, but I always had the issue that the instructor would say things like “OK bring it up to a 7 out of 10 resistance for the next minute” and I would be left to gauge what a 7 out of 10 was. That amounted to basically guesswork on your part, as you could never exactly replicate the same resistance. On the other hand, the standard stationary bikes do have easily quantifiable levels, but I hate everything else about them, the resistence feels weird, and I have never found them to be enjoyable in any way.
I plan on using this blog to organize my thoughts and get them out on paper. I am constantly thinking about my own training, what I am working on, and my game in general. Hopefully this helps me flush out those ideas, and better understand the game of squash and the training required of a professional athlete.
I do not profess to know the best way to play squash or the best way to train, these are simply the thoughts that are going through my head at any given time. I hope you can take something from them. Enjoy!
Summer training 2011
Summer training for me began on May 15th this year. I had taken a pretty extensive break of about 5 or 6 weeks almost completely off from squash, during which I had been on vacation, got married, and honeymooned. It was probably the longest break I have had in 5 or 6 years, and it was much needed.
By “off”, what I really mean is, I was going for a light run or going to the gym 2 or 3 times a week. That’s about as “off” as I get. It does amaze me that people can go days let alone weeks on end without doing something. I would go crazy!
So day one of summer training, I was expecting it to be pretty ugly. I had been strategizing a bit about how I wanted to structure my summer training this year, with my main goals obviously to get fit for squash, but more importantly to minimize the risk of injury. In summers past I have had problems with knee and achilles tendinitis, caused (I think) from running too much and getting especially tight in my quads. So instead of running I decided my main form of training this summer would be the bike.
The gym I work out at had recently purchased 7 or 8 new Keiser M3 spinning bikes, and they are awesome! I had done spinning classes before and thought were pretty fun and certainly a good workout, but I always had the issue that the instructor would say things like “OK bring it up to a 7 out of 10 resistance for the next minute” and I would be left to gauge what a 7 out of 10 was. That amounted to basically guesswork on your part, as you could never exactly replicate the same resistance. On the other hand, the standard stationary bikes do have easily quantifiable levels, but I hate everything else about them, the resistence feels weird, and I have never found them to be enjoyable in any way.
So when I first hopped on this fancy new spinning bike at the club, I quickly noticed they had a power meter that told you not only RPM’s and the level of resistance, but also the power in watts that you were generating. So on my first workout, I decided to do 2 x 20 minutes at a constant wattage. After starting at around 270w for the first 2 minutes, I realized wasn't happening, and so I settled in at at a more pedestrian 245w for the rest of the workout.
And that was all it took, I was hooked. My competitive juices were flowing, and now I had the ability to track my progress, and more importantly track my fitness levels objectively without having to run around a track all the time.
My summer training as a whole is planned out to look like this:
Start May 15th -- First tournament July 17th = 10 weeks summer training block
phase A) - 5-6 weeks - basic fitness and strength. Lots of biking, a few scattered runs and a few track sessions. Gym 2 to 3 times a week. Not explicitly squash specific. A few circuits as well. Main goal build a really good base of fitness and strength.
Phase B) - 2-3 weeks - interval training - A little more explosive and working in intervals, still quite long workout sessions. More on court work, gym getting more squash specific. On court 4-5 days a week now.
Phase C) - 2-3 weeks - More plyometric based. Very squash specific, and on court workouts, ghosting quite a bit. Try to get 2 serious matches a week minimum.
I am only 4 weeks in, so we shall see how the rest of the summer goes.
PS: My last Bike workout was 5 sets of ( 5 min on 3 min rest ) at 340 watts. Give it a try and see how it feels. Tough session!