WPH Press
Each Wednesday the WPH features the WPH Wednesday Workout, designed to help you become a stronger, fitter, faster, and better handball player. From leg and shoulder strengthening exercises to HIT Training, biking, and rest, the WPH Wednesday Workouts focus on the areas that every handball player needs to reach their peak form.
On this WPH Wednesday Workout, we’ll discuss how to develop a sustainable workout routine to ensure you reach and maintain your fitness goals.
Ok, you want to get fit. You’ll need a routine. Making a workout resolution and spending the three hours in the gym and not working out again for two months will not help you reach your fitness goals. You will need a plan and a consistent schedule. If you have never worked out or you have not worked out in a long time, you’ll need to start slow and allocate time each day to your fitness.
Some of the top Race 4 Eight pros may go to the track twice a week, hit the weights three times a week, and play matches the other days. Others may run hills, ride their bike, play other sports, do Pilates, or do strength and conditioning workouts. Let’s figure out how you can get into a routine and stick to it.
In the Mayo Clinic’s Fitness Program: 5 Steps to Get Started HERE, the Mayo Clinic lists the five steps for you to start a fitness program:
- Assess your fitness level: what is your pulse rate after walking/running one mile, what is your waist circumference, what is your body mass index
- Design your fitness program: start slow, build activity into your daily routine, try HIT training (WPH HIT training HERE), allow time for recovery, put your plans on paper
- Assemble your equipment: consider a fitness app to track your heart rate and calories burned, purchase your WPH workout gear HERE
- Get started: start gradually, be creative, listen to your body, be flexible
- Monitor your progress
As your workouts and goals become more advanced and complex, How to Build a Workout Routine in Men’s Journal HERE states that you will need to challenge yourself from week-to-week and month-to-month with rep schemes by following these seven steps:
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Think specificity: workout for the goals you want to improve, ie speed, strength, endurance- Divide your days: determine which days you will exercise each of your goals
- Inventory your gym: what is available at your gym and what can you supplement outside of the gym, such as at home or the track
- Decide on a set-rep-rest scheme: what will be your set-rep-rest schedule. *note, less reps will need more weight/more exertion, more reps will be less reps/more pacing yourself
- Hit compound, then isolation moves: larger, more complex movements should take place earlier in the workout, isolation moves later in the workout
- Choose the best exercises: what works best for your goals
- Switch things up: your body will adapt to a routine after 12-14 weeks, making that routine less effective. Keep your body guessing by switching up your routine
Once you’ve developed your workout routine, you’ll need to stick to it. In 5 Ways To Stay Motivated To Exercise Regularly HERE, Julie Kailus recommends these five tactics to keep you motivated:
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Change your perspective: think of yourself as an athlete, make exercising a priority- Set a goal: enter a tournament that is three months away or set a target date to beat your nemesis
- Schedule a regular workout time: build at least an hour into each day to be active
- Think fun a variety: be active in ways that do not feel like exercise
- Reach out to others for support: join a workout community (either online or in person) and gain motivation from others also trying to accomplish their fitness goals
Now that you’ve set a workout routine and you know how to motivate yourself to stick to your plan, watch your handball game exponentially progress!
David Fink
WPH Fitness Director