Football Camp Help Please

We have two a days tomarrow starting and the testing. 40 time, etc. They are going to make us run gassers. You know the kind the coaches like to see you puke on. On top of that they fed us pizza like 10 minutes ago. I ate 3 slices and took 3 fish oil caps and 40 grams of Low-Carb Grow!. If someone would like to help me out for this event I would appreciate it. We are only going to be able to get 3 meals a day in the dining hall. That’s it my diet of 6 is cut to 3. Any help on helping with the endurance and recovery for the two a days I would appreciate it.

Thanks!

Take some ZMA in the evening(not that sleep should be all that hard for you,) hydrate properly, and basically suck it up. I remember two-a-days fondly, well not really cause they sucked…don’t fear the carbs, cause you’ll need the energy…try to eat the good carbs(ie whole grains, nuts, veggies, etc) The day before camp is a little late to be looking for a quick fix, I guess the best recommendation is to play hard and cry about it later.

Have you tried that contrasting showers approach yet? I heard about it from a friend and thought it was complete crap, but tried it anyway on a pretty brutal leg day, and, I don’t know if it was only psychological or something, but it seemed to help my recovery. I was definitely less sore afterwards.

Kinda late in the game to do anything specific, but you could try a caffeine-based stimulant to boost your performance for testing…200-400mg caffeine an hour before your test (depending on your tolerance to caffeine).

That plus food and fluids to keep you going during Camp.

Best Wishes.

My diet has been great up until now. I am more worried about the 3 meals a day. I am use to 6 meals a day. So do I eat more veggies and good carbs? More protein or more of both? Is Carb loading an option? Even though I have heard for endurance(or was it short burst) it’s not the best plan. I am talking more of a plan to accomadate the three meals as opposed to my 6.

My supplements I have to work with are Power Drive, Surge, creatine, Low Carb Grow!, fish oil. I am prepared physically and have been eating extremely well all summer and training hard. I want to make sure my 3 meals are endurance provoking and speed recovery.

3 scoops or Surge and gatorade and creatine after training maybe and during?

More thoughts if you guys can?

What’s the shower contrast thing?

Thanks T nation!

oh and when you are sore as all get out, walk down stairs backwards, and read the article about shin splints in the other subject line…

contrasting showers works, either that or its an amazing physcological trick you play on yourself…

take naps during the day, but no more then 2 naps for 30 minutes, and im serious, anymore then that and you’ll feel sluggish thruout the day and interrupt your sleep at night, make sure you set your alarm and dont sleep past the 30 minutes

get into a pool and stretch, you will not beleive the beniefits to your recovery that it will provide…

stay lifting,i know it sounds crazy between 2 a days and probably runs in the morning, but atleast get in an hour a day for 5 days, although chage your lifting style to that of maintenance (3x10, whole body, its ok to go easy on the lower body)

stay mentally focused man, you cant really increase your speed now, dont let a bad 40 yard time test fuck with your mind during camp, sophmore year i was running 4.7 all summer, i show up for camp on a hot day with a sore hamstring and run two 4.9s in a row, before i pushed myself too hard and pulled my hamstring on my last sprint, dont make that mistake

dont compare yourself to anybody else, you know what you are capable of, if your doing 5 reps at 225 and the all-state linebacker next to you is cranking out 20, dont let that discourage you

and finally, take everything the coaches say as advice, dont let them yelling at you discourage, cuz thats not what it is designed to do, and make sure that above all you really have fun

any questions, ask me! i’ve gone thru 4 camps worth of 3 a days and morining runs (im not kidding) and im going to be doing it D1 style next season, so im doing the whole getting ready thing

best of luck bro

I still don’t understand exacting what contrasting showers are… How do I do them?

I want to do a pr of 4.3 or 4.2 forty. Spring was 4.4 forty. Want to make sure my nutrition is in order so I can do it.

Great advice, it’s just that time again.

I can feel the testosterone pumping amongst all the guys. Wanting to perform my best. :slight_smile:

Heres the scedule for tomarrow:

Breakfest 7 -8 am
8:30-11:30 meetings (testing I think)
11:00-2:00 Rest
12:15-1:15 lunch
2:45-5:45 Practice
6-7 dinner
7:30-8:00 special teams meet
8-9:30 o and d meetings
10 lights out.

I can eat and take a nap from 11 to 2.

Any suggestions on meals and/or more info spill it. LOL

Here we go…

:slight_smile:

You guys basically have the same schedule that we used when i played college ball. For breakfast I would recomend that you keep things light, maybe some cereal, fruit and a low fat source of protein, along with some kind of a sports drink and bananna. For lunch, try some kind of pasta, another low fat source of protein, sports drink etc. For dinner eat everything in fucking site, this is your big chance and the key moment to get in enough calories to keep you from losing size and strength, so really pack it away here and dont worry about not looking good, you are burning so many damn calories every day that you can eat whatever you want right now and dont skimp on the ice cream. Other things to remember are to salt your food and eat plenty of banannas as well as drink a good sports drink to replenish electrolites. If you can, try to get in a few protein drinks, maybe right before you get taped before practice if you can hold it down. A PWO drink like Surge would not be a bad idea after each practice. Also try to get some more high calorie food after the meeting and before lights out. Finally always weight yourself before and after every practice so you know how much water you need to rehydrate yourself. Remember each lb. is 16oz water. I averaged 5-6lbs/practice and when i weighed 285, so monitor this closely as this will effect your performance more than just about anything. Finally i actually reccomend melatonin and ZMA everynight before bed, it will give you the concentrated sleep you need for recovery, and nap whenever you have a half hour or more of free time during the day. Hope this helps and good luck.

It is not gonna be that bad dude. Seriously, I’ve gone through 2 days too, everyone who plays football has, and they’ve all survived it. Yeah it sucks, but all it is is you cut out everything in your life except eating sleeping and fball for a couple days, then its over. Fuck, I have 2 a days for like 9 days in a row.

Right before you leave for testing, taking 1-2 servings of Power Drive. After you get done with the testing, binge, and don’t get caught up in trying to eat all that healthy. Your gonna be expending like 5000 calories a day, if not more. After you get done with the last team meet up, take some low carb grow. You’ll be fine.

Good luck.

Day One complete:

Took 3 Surges to practices with gatorade and creatine. It seemed to help. My muscles were not nearly as fatigued as they usually are, doing gassers and testing.

40 times “2 runs only”:

4.5
4.4

Happy about the times except I wanted to run a 4.3 or 4.2. A little upset about that. I am thankful I ran as fast as I did though.

Made all 4 gassers under 38 seconds with 60 rest in between.

Guys were puking and falling. I usually puke as well, but not this time and I was able to stand up afterwards and calm myself.

10 yard shuttle. First time doing it.

4.2 Don’t know what is good for that.

The rest of the tests will likely be done another day. jump test and lift, etc.

Practice was alright after all those tests. out of breath during practice though.

Are contrasting showers where you put it on cold for 10 minutes and than hot for 10 minutes ?

I have access to both hot and cold whirl pools. Any advice for recovery as far as ice or pools or the contrasting shows please let me know…

Thanks!

Good shit on those times dude. You play HS or college?

Do 3 minutes cold, then 2min hot, 2 cold, 3 hot. That will REALLY help, trust me. I just wish I had access to whirlpools and shit.

Good job man! Just wanted to remind you to stetch them hip flexors before you do your vert jump!!! I’m telling you you will add at least 4-5 inches. Also, don’t forget to spring yourself off the ground on your vert. Don’t lower yourself slowly, bend your legs as quickly as possible and leap up immediately. Doing so will maximize the effect of the elasticity.

I know what you’re going through man… My legs are aching right now. It sucks because after doing all this running you really don’t have much of an appetite. I’ve been forcing food down and I was only able to get down 3300 calories on Monday and an even worse 2950 on Tuesday. I was able to squeeze out 4200 on Wednesday thanks to good ole ice cream… Heavenly Hash… Yeah, some advice, don’t eat an entire half gallon… lol… I puked this morning…
Good luck brotha!
T-M@tt

Thanks for the explanation on the contrasting showers. I am going to do that right now 3 hours before practice to help me recover. I am sore and achy today. My appetite as well has been poor. With only the three meals and the crammed time it’s even wonder I can scarff as much food down as I do.

Breakfest: Bowl of oatmeal, banana, apple, 1.5 wheat bread slices and coffee as well as 40 grams of Low-Carb Grow! to get me out of this tired slump.

We had pictures which was horrible. Stand out in the sun for an hour and a half. I am going to take a 30 minute nap now and than do that contrasting showers.

Any recommendations on using the whirl pools after practice? I heard that sitting in ice and water helps recover extremely well? Maybe a hot whirl pool before practice to loosen things up. I want to take advantage of everything I can to make sure I am good to go every practice till the camp ends…

Thanks for the vert tips, I will use them and good luck as well. I want to recover as best I can to make sure I can keep going without pulling muscles or straining things.

I think I will take some Power Drive before practice to help me focus when tired and keep the cortisol from rising and shit. Well college practices are def longer and more intense.lol

Thanks a mil

As far as your appetite, this may just be armchair physiology from my standpoint, but I’d think that maybe just waddling around in the whirlpool before meals would help (maybe 10 minutes) because as far as I know, swimming always increases appetite because of its negative effects on body temp. Just something to think about.

Yeah I noticed that today(cold = appetite). Practice was intense. If you ask me it was not very smart. We had guy’s start busting ankles and pulling hamstrings. Hip flexers on guys were tight. one guy could not even sit in the whirl pool without his hip flexer tightning up he said. I even saw one of the coaches laughing at the guy’s walking out with a limp. Looks like some had got shot in the back of the leg with a sniper rifle. I am alright. My hip flexers are def. tight. and my knees are a bit sore along with my hamstrings. But not as bad for sure. I sat in the whirpool at 40 degrees for 10 minutes. I think this is probably why I didn’t seem to walk as bad as the rest of the guys that didn’t do it. So any advice for anyone else is it sucks to get in the cold whirlpool, but do it. And ask them to add the ice bigtime. Unless you want to pay the next day. The Surge, creatine, and gatorade I am sure has helped a bit during practices. AND my appetite did increase after getting out of the pool. I was extremely hungry. Oh and get your ankles taped before practice, especially if you do intense conditioning afterwards with a lot of cutting and turning.

I tried the contrasting showers before practice and it seemed to help the soreness a bit going into practice so thanks for that TIP!

We go shells tomarrow(shoulder pads) Anyway great advice it has helped. It’s a game of inches and things like that help!

I started doing 15 grams of creatine a day starting this morning. 5 before practice 5 during 5 after and 5 way after.

oh yeah the 2 30 minutes naps kick ass!

Thanks again.

Homes, you really do not need 15 grams of creatine. Seriously, you pissing out upwards of 10 grams. It is just wasting money, seriously. As far as you hipflexors, if you want to there is an incredibly easy stretch for them. Just sit in a chair, and put one of your legs on top of the other, so that the lifted-upleg’s ankle is touching the leg that is on the ground’s knee. Then just bend forward while pushing your knee down. Good luck.

Thanks owen for the hip flexor stretch. It is a really good one. Got half the skin on the back ankle ripped off. About fifty layers. Bad tape job and it pulled my skin right off. They put some iodine on it and pulled the ripped skin back over it and put some nesporin on it. Then will lift. I think I am going to do more stretching than lifting.

:slight_smile:

Contrast Showers:

30 freezing cold, 30 painfully hot x 3-4 cycles works just fine for me.

Notes:

  1. I believe that it’s a physiological, not a psychological, phenomenon: Increased cappilary efficiency?

  2. Don’t do it too often; if you do, it loses its ‘oomph.’ Siff advises planning, changing, and even periodizing recovery methods to the same extent as exercise methods.

Ross Hunt

Good news today… sorta…

The coaches decided to go a little bit easier on us at todays practice. Not much though. They decided this only after 3 offensive linemen seniors puked BEFORE practice. It is extremely hot which I am guessing is part of it. Plus they are overworking us, at least from my perspective.

They cut the slab of my skin off today after practice on my ankle cause it was dead and they couldn’t put it back over the raw flesh. Iodine again and some nuesporin. They are going to put some blue newskin on it before they tape my ankles tomarrow. That stuff is great! I can’t feel a thing with that on the spot.

Did whirlpool in ice again at 57 degrees for 10 minutes. I guess it helps even though I am still sore.

I lifted a little today.

Bench:
bar- warmup
135 X 8
225 X 3
275 X 1

Standing barbell back extensions (romanian deadlift? forget the name?):

Bar warmup 15 back extensions
25 pounds on each side for 8 (whatever they are called…)

Pullups:

  • X 8
  • X 8

Standing pulley single leg leg extenstions (holding a belt on the pullup bar)

unstacked for 12
unstacked for 12

military press:

25 warmup
45 X 8
60 X 3

rotator cuff exercises:

2 sets

If someone has a bit of time let me know if I am lifting right during this high intesity training on the field period.

275 for 1 felt weak… I am losing my strength I think. So any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Carbs. Eat plenty of carbs. You’ll burn them. They didn’t have ZMA when I was playing but I would have used it. I’d take the protien at the end of the day. A lot. Shale on top of my meals.

Mentally I used to pop a couple of tylenol or motrin right after dinner. Helps with the aches and pains. The other thing is to forget about the schedule. Just stay with your group. The reason: don’t focus on the practice. Focus on what you are doing. Doing a meat grinder. Stay focused on it. Not when the practice is over or what is coming next.

My morning meal by the way was a bagel smeared with honey and a big glass of OJ.