Calgary Kangaroos 2021 Summer Fitness - Adrian Nizzero

Calgary Kangaroos
2021 Summer Fitness
             Adrian Nizzero
    Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
   Functional Range Conditioning Mobility Specialist
        B.Sc. Kinesiology, M.HK Biomechanics

Welcome to the Program

On behalf of the Calgary Kangaroos executive
team, I want to personally welcome you to the
2021 ‘Roos Summer Training Program! My
name is Adrian, and I’ll be your remote
strength and conditioning coach here to guide
you through the next three months of fitness
programming.

The name of the game here is injury
prevention. While in future years we may be
able to attack things with a scope on
performance improvement, the global
pandemic has altered many aspects of daily
life, with sports taking a huge brunt of the
impact.

Of course, this is all technically optional, but I
can promise you that this program is designed
following the fundamental principles of sport
science to prepare your body as best as we can.

Progression

The Calgary Kangaroos executive team are
hopeful that we may be able to begin on-field
sessions towards the end of the summer,
which leaves us about three months to
prepare.

Phase 1 (May) will focus on building tensile
strength in your ligaments and tendons and
developing capacity of your muscles and
cardiovascular system.

Phase 2 (June) will focus on transitioning into
dynamic movements and developing speed
and agility.

Phase 3 (July) will focus on change of
direction, agility, and explosive power.

Things to Know

For most workouts you won’t need much
equipment. Always bring a stopwatch, a jug of
water, and maybe a towel or yoga mat for any
ground-based work if you don’t feel like
getting dirty.

I like to do my training at a park near my
house as it has benches and steps to use for
some of the moves, I would recommend
finding something like that.

Lastly, any prescription of distances will be in
meters, which can be estimated with one
LARGE stride of your legs. Use cones, rocks, or
just your best guess to mark off your sprint
distance or agility patterns.

Things to Know

These workouts are going to begin fairly simple,
but we will add complexity as we continue. Much
of the workouts will be time-based. If you’re one
of the fittest athletes on the planet, you can push
your limits within the prescribed time by way of
maximum reps or added weight. If your body
needs a bit of work, then the goal will be to do
what you can within that time prescription. Two
Roos, one stone.

If at any time you have any questions, you may
reach out to me personally at
anizzero@winsport.ca and I’ll do my best to
answer your questions as quickly as I can.

You can also find me on my sports science
Instagram page @AdrianCSCS for more tips and
tricks to improve your strength and fitness.

With that, let’s get to it!

Phase 1: MAY 17-June 4

This phase will consist of ONE workout per
week designed by Adrian, with some
additional work to be completed on your
own. I’ll give you the instructions over the
next couple of pages.

KEYS:
- Stay within your limits, we don’t need to
  break any records in the first three weeks
- Listen to your body!
- Push yourself, but be smart about it

ULTIMATE GOAL: Improve conditioning and
the capacity to do work at low-moderate
intensities for longer duration

THE WORKOUT:
PIECE 1: WARMUP

a. Side shuffle ~15 meters x 30 seconds
   | Rest 30 seconds
b. High knees on the spot x 30 seconds
   | Rest 30 seconds
c. Jumping Jacks x 30 seconds
   | Rest 30 seconds

       Repeat for a total of 2 sets

       We’ll be doing some sprints
       next, so take this time to get
       extra warm if you need to or do
       some of your favorite
       stretches/mobility drills.

THE WORKOUT:
      PIECE 2: SPEED EXPRESSION

      a.   20 meter sprint | Rest :30
      b.   40 meter sprint | Rest :40
      c.   60 meter sprint | Rest :50
      d.   80 meter sprint | Rest :60
      e.   60 meter sprint | Rest :50
      f.   40 meter sprint | Rest :40
      g.   20 meter sprint
Run through the above just one time, for a total of 7
sprints. If you haven’t sprinted in a few months, take some
extra time to WARM UP THOROUGHLY! There’s nothing
worse than pulling a hammy in the second week of
training, especially when injury prevention is the most
important key.

Use your judgement and increase speed accordingly as
you feel comfortable to do so. Even as an experienced
athlete, I still take the first sprint session of the year to
focus on technique at 80-90% speed instead of ripping
100% right out of the gate.

THE WORKOUT:
       PIECE 3: ISOMETRIC STRENGTH
a.   Split Squat                   30 sec per side
b.   Copenhagen Side Plank         45 sec per side
c.   Hamstring Bridge              30 sec per side
d.   Pushup Hold                   45 sec

Complete 3 or 4 total rounds
Add 5 or 10 seconds to all holds each week

 Perform one set of each exercise, resting as needed
 between holds, then go back to the top for your next
 round.

 If a hold is too easy, you can add weight via a heavy
 backpack or holding something heavy (dumbbells if you
 have them, buckets of rocks if you don’t). If you can’t hold
 the entire duration, pause, take a couple seconds, and
 then keep going until you’ve completed the time. You’ll
 get there!

 DEMONSTRATIONS ON NEXT PAGE

THE WORKOUT:
a. Split Squat
      Front knee at 90 degrees

       Back knee at 90 degrees

    “Stack”: shoulder, hip, knee

    Bottom knee only 1 inch up

b. Copenhagen Side Plank

  More leg on bench = easier

 Only foot on bench = harder

  Shoulders, hips squared up

    Bottom knee toward face

THE WORKOUT:
c. Hamstring Bridge
Drive heel into bench/step/rock

       Drive other knee to face

Press heel down to elevate hips

           SQUEEZE hamstring

d. Pushup Hold

  Chest hovers above surface

   Higher bench/step = easier

            On floor = harder

       Keep core super tight!

THE WORKOUT:
      PIECE 4: COVER GROUND
Put 15 minutes on your clock. Hop on a bike, lace up
your running shoes, do whatever you’d like to do to
get your heart rate up.

Your job is to cover as much ground in 15 minutes as
possible. If you have the technology, record your
distance/output and try to improve on it next week.

Map My Run by Under Armour is a great tool!

THE WORKOUT:
Here’s a layout all on one page. Screenshot and refer
back to it once you’re more familiar with the workout
PIECE 1: WARMUP                               PIECE 2: SPEED EXPRESSION

a. Side shuffle ~15 meters x 30 seconds       a.   20 meter sprint | Rest :30
   | Rest 30 seconds                          b.   40 meter sprint | Rest :40
b. High knees on the spot x 30 seconds        c.   60 meter sprint | Rest :50
   | Rest 30 seconds                          d.   80 meter sprint | Rest :60
c. Jumping Jacks x 30 seconds                 e.   60 meter sprint | Rest :50
   | Rest 30 seconds                          f.   40 meter sprint | Rest :40
                                              g.   20 meter sprint
          Repeat for a total of 2 sets

                  PIECE 3: ISOMETRIC STRENGTH
        a.    Split Squat                 30 sec per side
        b.    Copenhagen Side Plank       45 sec per side
        c.    Hamstring Bridge            30 sec per side
        d.    Pushup Hold                 45 sec

                  PIECE 4: COVER GROUND
              15-minute time trial, max distance

ADDITIONAL WORK:

Your additional work for these three weeks is to
engage in 90 minutes of movement throughout the
week. 3 sessions of 30 minutes, 2 sessions of 45
minutes, do what you’d like!

Bonus points if you keep your heart rate at 60% of
your maximum. Your max heart rate is 220-age; a 30-
year-old has a max HR of 190, thus 60% = heart rate of
114. If you don’t have a wearable, find your pulse and
count how many times it beats in 10 seconds, then
multiply by 6.
(19 beats in 10 sec) x 6 = 114 beats per minute.

The idea of this phase is to emphasize capacity, hence
the emphasis on cardio and not on lifting. That being
said, the program is only designed to be the minimum
dose for sports prep. Any extra work is more than
welcome, you know your bodies more than I do!

Final Comments
Again, you may always reach out to me with
questions, advice, for exercise substitutions, etc.

If you have any bumps, bruises, or nagging injuries,
my area of specialty is mobility and pain-free
movement. We can always find a way for you to
train around your pain, with the ultimate goal of
reducing or fixing it.

If you’d like to do more, I also have some programs
available for purchase on my website
www.adriannizzero.com such as my Ultimate
Bodyweight Training Program and my Ultimate
Mobility Program. Use code YYCROOS for 50% off!

Most importantly: have fun! The world is in a crazy
place right now, and fitness provides a great relief,
so long as it isn’t a chore. Do what works best for
you, anything is more than nothing.

SEE YOU NEXT MONTH FOR
YOUR NEXT ASSIGNMENT!