Behind the Scenes: Tide Women?s Basketball Day 3
4/26/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
In the third of a four-day series designed to get a glimpse behind the scenes of the Crimson Tide women's basketball program, RollTide.com takes a look at Thursday's weight-training session. Today the Tide players undergo a series of Olympic lifts designed to increase power and explosiveness.
Olympic lifts are so-named because they are the lifts that are completed in Olympic competition. The huge lifters on those teams use their bulk to demonstrate not only pure strength, but muscular power and explosion as well.
Strength and conditioning coach Michelle Diltz walks through today's workout below...
Thursday ?? April 26 (Power Day)
"This will be an Olympic workout day. We are going to start with these and focus on speed and not so much the weight on the bar. Starting with the hang snatch, this also makes them increase their core strength. The weight is going to be a little bit lighter, but we are working on speed here. We move to low-pin pulls which are similar to a dead lift, but these working on the hamstrings, glutes, lower back and that region and it really focuses on their posture as well. The reason we use this is because it is a heavier hamstring lift, which makes them go down and put the weight on pins. That decreases injury to the lower back, especially if their form is not as good as it should be or exactly correct. It's a safer exercise than some of the other lifts.
"For our upper body, we are going for an explosive, powerful, heavy upper-body day, so we use the bench press. We are going for a heavier bench press, to help them keep upright and standing up tall. Just like we talked about earlier with a strong back, this helps them transfer strength from their legs to help them go up for rebounds or a lay-up with power. It's also a major muscle used when passing, which is an emphasis for us.
"We then do some more work on our chests and some more reps on the shoulders. The dumbbell big five is designed to fatigue their shoulder muscles. We end with the reverse pull-up, which is a bodyweight exercise that makes them work with their body weight and work on controlling that. And again we finish with our core with some more Pilates."
The workout is detailed below. For more information and demonstrations of any of these lifts, go to www.exrx.com
THURSDAY WORKOUT
A. Hang Snatch ?? 3 sets, 2 times each (move from top of knee and lift over head, works entire body)
B. Low pin-pull ?? 4 sets of 6 repetitions (heavier work on hamstring, lift bar from shins and stand up)
C. Bench press ?? 4 sets of 6 repetitions, increased weight each set -- maximum lift of the day (lay on bench and push bar up, works chest)
D. Dumbell fly ?? 4 sets of 8 repetitions (lay on bench, hold arms above chest and let arms fall to side and pull back, works chest muscles)
E. Dumbell press ?? 4 sets of 8 repetitions (white standing, push weight above head, works shoulders and increases stability)
F. Dumbell Big 5 ?? 3 sets of 6 repetitions of each exercise (works shoulder muscles and upper back, lateral raise-front raise-upright row-reverse fly-shoulder press)
G. Reverse pull-up ?? body weight exercise (in a push-up position facing a bar, pulling toward bar, works back and abdominal muscles)
Diltz's comments on Thursday:
"The kids worked really hard on the hang snatch today. They looked good and had good technique. It was the heaviest they have done on this exercise so far and they looked better than they had in the prior weeks. We went down a little on the bench press, but that is normal because we didn't lift heavy on the bench throughout the season. There weren't any big losses and nothing we can't fix. Overall I was happy with the way we performed today."
Highlights:
"Nikki Davis went up five to 10 pounds on her bench press. Talisha Chandler was able to do her weight and stay stable while lifting heavier and with good technique on her hang snatch exercises. They are all taking ownership of this program and the exercises and are really working hard to improve over a year ago."
Tomorrow, Friday, is the final day of the Tide women's basketball spring workout program. The team will compete amongst each other and in teams to end the spring schedule. The fun-filled day might also see the players dressed a little unusually... stay tuned for those interesting sights...
