I'm glad that you liked it. Gambetta's circuit is good for all athletes of all ages. My intent in posting it wasn't to be an "all-inclusive" rehab/prevention routine but just as another tool that can be used by athletes. In reading through the thread I realized that there is very little mentioned about injury prevention. I thought that this is a pretty big omission considering that young women and girls have such a high rate of injuries - particularly ACLs, meniscus tears, etc. Many clubs incorporate fitness into the training regimen and with club activities currently being put on hold, injury prevention may be being overlooked. Some high schoolers also work with private trainers or at a training facility in which they're not only working on soccer skill but on strength and injury prevention. These gyms are mostly all closed now as well. I also mentioned current collegiate athletes not having easy access to their trainers due to not being on campus. This can present a problem and programs that are needing to tri budgets may be furloughing some trainers. Bigger programs, P5s, some mid-majors, etc, are keeping in contact with teams remotely and are trying to assure that the athletes are keeping up with training routines. They have issued specific guidelines for the athletes. Smaller D1 programs and some of the D2, D3, and NAIA schools may not have as much attention to all of the details. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons are currently recommending two programs to decrease ACL injuries and improve neuromuscular movement in female athletes: 1. Prevent Injury and Enhance Performance Program (PEP) PEP has been around for a long time but is still widely used. https://www.russelllafrancemd.com/pdf/acl-prevention-program.pdf 2. Knee Injury Prevention Program (KIPP) http://www.elitesoccercommunity.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/KIIP-presentation.pdf
Thanks for the additional resources. Here is another link that adds to your #2 KIPP information http://www.sanfordpower.com/wp-cont...0-00428-BOOKLET-Skipp-Exercises-8_5x8_5-1.pdf
@PlaySimple The Leg Circuit would be even better with a hammy specific exercise. And some warm up exercises to make sure those glutes are actually turned on. Thanks @ping for posting the Stanford one.
I originally thought the same thing. I couldn't understand why there wasn't an exercise that isolated the hamstrings. Gambetta, though, favors functional training rather than just exercising a muscle for the sake of exercising it. I read an explanation a while back of why he doesn't isolate the hamstrings and if I can find it I will post a link to the article(s). Gambetta knows what he's doing. He has an extensive background training high-level athletes including soccer players. I have a fairly extensive background in physiology and his explanation makes a lot of sense. Briefly, from what I can remember about Gambetta's explanation for not isolating the hamstings: - The hamstrings are very important but do not work in isolation in athletic movements so why isolate them when training? Gambetta stresses functional training & athletic movements. - The hamstrings work with all of the muscles of the legs and hips in order to accomplish the main task of deceleration and extension of the hips and the entire muscle chain must be integrated in exercise together. - All of the movements in the circuit, particularly the squat, lunges, and step up, are also hitting the hamstrings but doing so in a functional manner. Anyway, that's the gist of it from what I can remember. I believe that I read two separate articles and, as I said, I'll post them if I can find them. While this is not totally analogous, my favored method for working on fitness and conditioning is playing the game itself. Playing soccer is the "epitome" of functional training. Unfortunately, due to the times we're currently in, playing the game is not easily done. Concerning warming up - warming up should be a given. This is all probably getting far off of the OP's question of "what advice do you give to your incoming freshman?" To that end, a few other things.... In any earlier post that I made I omitted mention of core work. Core strength and stability allow athletes to generate power, control body position, and transfer energy along the kinetic chain. By gaining core strength, core stability improved and that is needed to rotational movements. Improved core strength allows athletes to maximize strength in the arms and legs. Lastly, a strong core is vital for injury prevention. I, along with others here, have mentioned keeping a foot on the ball, working on cleanly striking the ball, receiving the ball, etc. I will again reiterate the importance of that. While not having club training has been a bad thing for development, a motivated player can still hone his of her skill. Players can still get together, while being safe, to knock the ball around. If there isn't someone available, almost everyone has access to a wall to hit the ball against. Also, most clubs have been good about getting routines out to the players. There are also a plethora of online resources available that are free to use. These are trying times for everyone but with imagination, diligence, and motivation, players can stay engaged.
As I mentioned above, I would post links to the articles that I read re: Gambetta's circuit and hamstring isolation: https://training-conditioning.com/article/why-do-it-if-we-know-better/ http://www.hmmrmedia.com/2014/03/the-posterior-chain-why/ While I was looking for the above articles, I came across the one below that I found interesting. It relates to the current isolation/lockdown period that we're in and how it might lead to an increase in injuries in the future. I mentioned this concern in another post when I touched on injury prevention routines. It's a good article and alludes to the theory that injuries can increase due to too little training caused by the lockout and subsequently too much training caused by trying to fit in work in a shortened amount of time. It's worth the read. http://www.hmmrmedia.com/2020/04/how-we-can-prevent-a-post-lockdown-injury-surge/ Not related to hamstrings and injuries, below is more training sources that can be accomplished on a solo basis to keep up with ball touch. Many have heard of Beast Mode Soccer. That is the source of the first two. https://www.soccercoach.eu/oefeneng3/Beast-Mode-2-week-plan-technical-foot-skillls-1a456kh.pdf Another one:
@PlaySimple Interesting idea about not isolating hamstrings. I only mentioned it because a lot of soccer girls are very quad dominant. I get the nordic curl not being really beneficial, but there are a few variations of the glute bridge that are pretty good for part of a warm up. Thanks for posting!