How to In-Season Train...

Summer is almost over and school will be here before you know it. That means more time on the practice field than in the weight room and less time to keep the muscle's you worked on all summer in top form. The shoulders and neck are two of the commonly most forgot about body parts in strength training. However they are used the most for football, volleyball, baseball, and softball. Here are some great exercises to do at home and keep your shoulders and neck free from injury during the fall. All you will need to have for these exercises is a small resistance band, a towel and a door knob.

Exercise 1
Hold the band with a shoulder width grip in front of you and simply pull the band apart. Repeat for a 100 reps.

Exercise 2
Tie the band around a door knob and stand with right side to door. Hold the band with your right hand, bending your elbow at a 90 degree angle with hand facing frontward and elbow close to body. You can place a towel between your elbow and body to help isolate your rotator cuff muscles. Slowly rotate hand toward middle of body and return to starting position. Repeat for 15 reps and then switch to other side.

Advanced: Increasing the distance you stand from the door increases the resistances.

Exercise 3
Use a medium sized towel and fold it length-wise. Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart and lean forward slightly. Wrap the towel around the back of your head and hold both ends of the towel with each hand. Simply move your head up and down providing your own constant resistance by pulling on the towel. Do 20 reps.
Repeat by moving the towel to the side of your head and pulling your head in the opposite direction. Make sure to get all four directions around your neck. (Forward, back, and side to side).

And remember you can always stop by Next Level Training and learn more about injury prevention!