Aesthetic Athletes

A certain a level of strength is needed to express force in jumping & sprinting…

This is what & Wales U15 come to me to wanting to improve, as well as upper-body strength

The priority is with developing the ability to move with intent and produce more force through the nervous system and muscles

Here’s some movements we’ve been using to develop these qualities

Things are coming together nicely 🤝🏼

Being springy in different directions

Here’s just 4 options out of many I use to develop stiffness in the ankle for cutting in different directions ⚽️

Each of the 4 options are quite different in nature and therefore develop this cutting ability in quite different ways

Gradually stepping things up with as he progresses with Everton U15s and Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Some highlights of recent work with Liverpool U9

There’s no way this boy is U9 🤯

I don’t usually take on clients this young but in some cases, physical age can exceed chronological age

4-months of consistent work together and we’re building rhythm, coordination and strength into his eagerness to move 💪🏼😂

Hops? 🐰

I love using plates for pogo variations as plates provide an object to aim for and you have a gauge for progress

I use a lot of variations to develop rhythm of movement and coordination of limbs

This coordination with this one is harder than it looks 👀. Lost it towards the end 😂

I best get some grass down in the gym 🤥😂

Not all of the exercises shown are ‘true plyometrics’, but I don’t think any were in the original post

Anyway, you’re definitely safe to jump, hop, bound and skip in the gym still lol

I best get grass lay down in the gym 🤥😂

Not all of these exercises are truly ‘plyometric’, but neither were the ones in the original post

Anyway, you’re definitely safe to do plyometrics on harder surfaces

Progressss

Side Planks are a go-to for developing the ability to ‘fight the fall’ sideways. They develop the transverse abs and obliques well

But really, no one wants to be holding them for minutes and then turn over to do it again

I personally don’t have my clients hold them for longer than 30-45s

Once they can, the first progression we use is adding load. Medicine ball, dumbbell, kettlebell, plate, it doesn’t really matter

But when we want to, it allows us to load up heavy for as low as 15s, which mentally is much easier, much more efficient and less boring