Take raw gym strength, add blazing speed and you get what every athlete bleeds, sweats and cries for in the off-season--and every coach expects when it counts on game day: Power. The ability to exert a force through a specified range of motion, within a short time period, is essential in both sport and life. Whether you’re on the beach throwing a football with your kids, playing in a softball league or hauling bags of mulch in your backyard, only the strongest, fastest man will resist injury and prevail in the long run.

Ryan Lee, M.S., C.S.C.S., exercise physiologist and founder of SportSpecific.com, recommends a simple plan for achieving optimal power: “High quality work with adequate rest. Power exercises, like explosive plyometrics (jump training) or Olympic lifts, should be performed as quickly as possible.” In order to reduce the chance of injury, use proper technique and take three to five minutes rest between sets of the power exercises, says Lee.

Frequency of training

• Beginner: If you’re new to the iron game (less than 12 months of consistent strength and conditioning experience) consider yourself a beginner. In addition, it’s a good idea to follow the beginner plan if you’ve been away from the gym for two or more months. You will make steady progress with just two sessions each week. Be sure to rest 48 to 72 hours between training days. Monday/Thursday, Tuesday/Friday or Wednesday/Saturday training splits work best. For example, perform Schedule A on Monday and Schedule B on Thursday.
• Intermediate/Advanced: If you have been involved in organized strength training and conditioning exercise for the previous year or more, you’re in the Intermediate/Advanced category. Perform three workouts per week, alternating between Schedule A and Schedule B.

Recording your workouts

Keep track of the forces used, as well as the number of repetitions completed for each set. We’ve provided a training log for the Intermediate/Advanced athlete; however, beginners can use the same template by eliminating the third workout in each week.

Phase 5 Schedules (Excel)

Dynamic warm-up

Warm up on the stationary cycle or treadmill for five minutes prior to beginning your workout. Your warm up session should increase body temperature and make you sweat, without causing fatigue.

Demonstrations for many of the exercises below can be seen here

RESISTANCE TRAINING EXERCISES
PHASE 5: POWER 1A

• Squat jumps
• Box jumps
• Single-leg stride jumps
• Barbell clean-grip deadlifts
• Barbell clean pulls from floor
• Barbell rack cleans
• Stability ball supine hip extensions knee flexions
• Dumbbell standing biceps curls
• Dumbbell flat triceps extensions
• Machine leg presses calf flexions

CORE EXERCISES
PHASE 5: POWER 1C

• Stability ball supine trunk rotations
• Stability ball trunk lateral flexions

RESISTANCE TRAINING EXERCISES
PHASE 5: POWER 1B

• Medicine ball chest passes
• Medicine ball rotational tosses
• Barbell high hang clean pulls
• Barbell standing push presses
• Barbell flat chest presses
• Barbell standing lat rows
• Dumbbell incline chest presses
• Body weight lat pull-ups
• Dumbbell seated calf dorsiflexions

CORE EXERCISES
PHASE 5: POWER 1D

• Stability ball supine reverse torso curls
• Stability ball supine hip extensions

CARDIOVASCULAR EXERCISES
PHASE 4: STRENGTH 2C/D

• Treadmill
• Stationary cycle

FLEXIBILITY EXERCISES
PHASE 4: STRENGTH 2C/D

• Seated spinal rotations
• Side lying quadriceps stretches
• Supine single-leg hamstring stretches
• Supine shoulder stretches with hands behind head