As a former collegiate athlete, I was always looking for an edge on my competition. In order to be the best, you have to train like the best. Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant didn’t rise to the top by doing some generic workouts a few times per week. No, they focused on workouts that would challenge them mentally and physically so they could be the best athlete in the world.
Take a look at all great athletes, they all have one thing in common:
They have a lean, strong, athletic build.
Athletes like Usain Bolt, Kobe Bryant, Maria Sharapova, Alex Morgan, Adrian Peterson, and Jessica Ennis have this build. They are incredibly lean and strong.
If you watched these individuals workout, you would notice how intense they are. The focus, drive, and determination are through the roof on every single workout. This is what it takes to be the best.
Not only that, but that is what it takes to look the best!
Athletes have it down: each workout they do not only gets them better at their particular sport, but it allows them to look superhuman.
The athletic build is something we all want. Lean, ripped, and defined.
But how do you get there?
The reason you don’t currently look like an athlete is because you do not train like an athlete, simple as that.
If you want to start looking like Jessica Ennis or Adrian Peterson, you have to start training like them!
This doesn’t mean training for hours on end, because not everyone can have working out and their sport as a job. What I mean is you must start training at the intensity they train at so you can allow your body to build lean muscle and burn fat.
So what exercises should you focus on?
Athletes train in three different areas: Speed, strength, agility and quickness.
Each are vitally important to being the best athlete they can be, plus they are the workouts that will burn the most fat while adding lean, ripped muscle.
Speed
The best way to increase your speed is to start working on it. This means stepping off the treadmill and elliptical, going out to a park or track and sprinting. As we have discussed in the past, sprinting is the best physique shaping workout on the planet.
The benefits it brings are endless. There are definitely some more advanced ways that you can increase speed, but stick with the basics. The more you sprint, the better you will become at it and the faster you will get, especially if you focus on the next two aspects of an athletes regimen.
Strength
Look at any great athlete and you will see that they have tons of strength. This is a result from the very intense weight training programs they are put through. Athletes must train for anything that is thrown at them, that is why they focus on doing tons of compound movements so they can strengthen their whole body.
For example, squats, deadlifts, and cleans are very popular because of the functional strength they help develop. The more prepared you are in the weight room, the better you will be able to handle the rigors of the game.
Never will you see an athlete focus on bicep curls for their workout because they know this is not what’s best for their body or strength.
Agility and Quickness
This can also be referred to ones ability to cut, jump, move, etc. The more agility and quickness you can develop the better. Take a look at Adrian Peterson for example. His ability to cut through defenders at the quickness he does is unreal.
Sure Adrian was born with some of these abilities, but he is constantly working on improving them so he can come back quicker game after game and season after season.
A few ways to do this would be focusing on plyometric work. Plyometrics helps your feet to spend less time on the ground, which translates into you being quicker.
The less time you spend on the ground, the faster you can cut, jump, and move.
Changing Your Routines
As athletes, the game is always going to be demanding more. That is why you should change up your workout routine every 1-2 weeks.
Sports will always keep your body guessing, so to prepare for this, always keep your body guessing in your workouts.
Beginners can stick to a workout routine for up to 8-12 weeks at a time because they need to spend the time building up their base.
But athletes have already developed a solid base over the years so they need to make sure they are constantly challenging themselves to get better both on and off the field.
An Athletes Workout Schedule (Modified)
As was stated earlier, we all don’t have the time to train like an athlete. Remember, it is their job to workout and practice. This doesn’t mean, however, that you can’t still train like an athlete. Below is a sample week that you can implement to start training and looking more like an athlete:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday: Strength Train, Plyometrics
Monday: Legs
Do three sets of each superset below, resting 30-60 seconds between full rounds. (complete all three sets of one superset before moving to the next)
1A. Squats: 10 reps
1B. Single Leg Squat Jump: 15 reps
2A. Deadlifts: 10 reps
2B. Squat Jumps: 20 reps
3A. Leg Press: 15 reps
3B. Sled Push: 30 yards
Plyometric Ladder Work (10 minutes)
(Sorry about the music in this video, but this shows some good options for ladder work that you can do)
Wednsday: Upper
Do three sets of each superset below, resting 30-60 seconds between full rounds. (complete all three sets of one superset before moving to the next)
1A. Bench Press: 10 reps
1B. Pull-Ups: Max reps
2A. Bent Over Row: 10 reps
2B. Explosive Push-Ups: Max
3A. Overhead Press: 10 rpes
3B. Burpee with Pull-Up: 10 reps
Jump work to build abs (See video below)
Friday: Full Body
Do three sets of each superset below, resting 30-60 seconds between full rounds. (complete all three sets of one superset before moving to the next)
1A. Squat To Press: 12 Reps
1B. Pull-Ups: Max reps
2A. Clean and Press: 12 reps
2B. Side to Side Explosive Push-Ups: 16 reps
3A. Sled Pulls: 30 yards
3B. Sled Push: 30 yards
Tuesday and Thursday: Sprints
Go out to a park, track, or field and complete the sprinting workout below:
7-10 full speed sprints at 40-80 yards each. Choose a distance that fits your fitness level. Rest 30-60 seconds in between sprints. This workout should take you no longer than 10-15 minutes!
There you have it, an example fat burning workout plan for athletes that will take you no longer than 30 minutes a day to complete!
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