Men’s Health featured a great article describing a workout that uses only a medicine ball. The workout is designed by UNC strength and conditioning coach Jonas Sahratian and is used by the college’s basketball team as part of their conditioning program. Considering how dominant their basketball team is, and the way Tyler Hansbrough (pictured) plays the game, this workout is definitely worth checking out.

Sahratian suggests doing this routine either at the end of a regular workout or as a standalone set of exercises 3 days a week. Start with 20 reps of each of the 10 exercises and then work your way up to 40 reps. The work is to be done in a circuit doing 1 set of each movement in succession and without resting. All you need is a 6, 8 or 10 pound medicine ball.

Link to full article.

The two pitchers have engaged in a six-day-per-week routine since November 1st. Here are the details:

• Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are devoted to specific muscle groups
• Tuesdays are for plyometrics, which refine the body’s fast-twitch muscles
• Thursdays are for yoga
• Saturdays are kickboxing days

Also, check out the article to find out more about their interesting games of catch.

The success that Wilson and Zito have this year will largely be determined by their dedication to this offseason workout.

It turns out that drinking sports drinks with a mix of carbohydrates and protein is better than a sports drink with carbs alone. That was the conclusion of John Berardi and a team of researchers when they studied the impact of different sports drinks on cyclists and their recovery times from workouts.

Berardi, founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Precision Nutrition, was recently interviewed by ScientistLive. During the interview, Berardi explains the study and its results as well as some of the mechanics that drive those results. The entire interview is a great read for Players who want to get a detailed understanding of what goes on in their bodies when they consume sports drinks.

Click here to take a look at the entire interview.

With Spring Training a little less than a month away, we thought we would show you a glimpse of the off-season training that an MLB athlete goes through. Courtesy of Stack TV, this video shows Philadelphia Phillies shortstop and 2007 NL MVP Jimmy Rollins doing some warm-ups and speed drills with his coach, Aaron Sistruck.

The point of the exercises on display is to improve body control, and based on the success Jimmy Rollins has had on the field, these exercises have to be pretty effective. So get out there and add these to your workout to get a speed and power boost!

The first month of 2009 is almost over, so for all you Players who had “get fit” in their New Year’s Resolutions List, there are 11 months left to go! We thought a couple of tips, ideas and refreshers might be a helpful way to kick off 2009.

If you are looking to burn the fat and don’t have a lot of time to dedicate at the gym, circuit training might be a great addition to your routine. Circuit training is great at getting a full body workout in a short period of time. The idea is to have a set of exercises that combine cardio and strength and to do these exercises in quick succession. To give you an idea of what circuit training entails, take a look at this great routine from about.com.

If you are in the business of building muscle, but time management is essential, then multi-joint exercises might help you accomplish your goal. Instead of focusing on exercises that work a specific area of the body, like bicep curls, dedicate more time to up-right rows, which work your biceps, forearms, shoulder, and upper back in the same motion.

Here is a good schedule from AskMen.com for multi-joint exercises:

Full-body “every third day” workouts might include leg presses, deadlifts, dips, pulldowns, and upright rows during one session. The next workout could comprise squats or lunges, bench presses or pushups, pullups or barbell rows, and overhead presses. For those favoring a four-day split program, do several sets of squats and lunges on lower-body days, and choose leg presses and stepups for the next workout.

Upper-body days would involve selecting bench presses, dips or pushups, pulldowns, pullups, or dumbbell rows or barbell rows, and either upright rows or overhead presses.

As John F. Kennedy once said, “Physical fitness is the basis for all other forms of excellence.” So get to it, Players!

So we have started The Official introPLAY Site Competition! The introLEAGUE is scheduled to start on December 1 and run for 30 days until December 30.

Joining the introLEAGUE is easy.

1. Register. Or if you are already a Player, log in.
2. Click on the following link:

   http://players.introplay.com/leagues/511/

3. Click “Join” and you’re done!

See you on the introLEAGUE Talk boards.

A lot of Players on introPLAY have talked about the One Hundred Pushups program. We wanted to show our love for this great program. Basically, they have set a program where you will be able to do 100 consecutive pushups without rest, regardless of your current condition, after just six weeks.

Just take their initial test and then start their program using their Week 1 instructions.

And remember, as you go through the 6 weeks of building up your strength, you can record your progress as Strength Training on introPLAY. And if you need some extra motivation, start a pushup introLEAGUE today!

Good luck!

The Department of Health and Human Services today put out its 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. The guidelines include a wealth of information and resources for individuals of all ages. They are meant for the public and are based on a committee report published earlier in the year, which we wrote about here.

What’s the bottom line? For adults, it is to get 2 1/2 hours of exercise per week.

Some of the information that came out today includes:

• The full guide
• A report for adults
• A toolkit for communities and organizations
• The original committee report

Of course, we would highly recommend individuals, organizations and communities all take advantage of introPLAY‘s full set of services for tracking workouts, forming communities, sharing with others and improving motivation! How can introPLAY help? (Registration required.)

1. Instead of using a paper journal to keep track of your workouts, use our workout tracker
2. Get more value from your workouts by viewing statistics and comparisons with other Players
3. See what other Players are doing in the Workout Ticker
4. Expand your physical activity presence to your Facebook account by taking advantage of our Workout Olympiad Application
5. Start an introLEAGUE to encourage your friends, family and colleagues to take part in your goal to increase your levels of physical activity

In fact, if you are a member of an organization or part of a wellness initiative for your organization and you would like to find out more about partnering with introPLAY, please contact us.

Warmups. “Place eight cones three feet apart in a line, and then do three sets of each of the following exercises: Weave through them at a sprint, weave through them while high stepping, jump over them with your feet together, and weave through them while facing sideways.”

Core. “Lie on your back on a decline bench, holding a weight plate against your chest with both hands. Then lift your upper body off the bench about 6 inches. Holding this position, press the weight plate straight up from your chest, as if you’re doing a bench press. Lower the weight (but not your torso) and repeat. Do 12 presses, rest 1 minute, and repeat once or twice.”

Dips. “In the ‘up’ position of the exercise, raise your thighs in front of you until they’re parallel to the floor, and bend your knees 90 degrees. Hold your legs that way for the entire movement — instead of crossing them behind you. This redistributes your weight so that your torso leans forward as you lower your body, placing more of the stress on your chest instead of your shoulders.”

Improving Balance. “The best way to bolster [balance] is with an overhead squat. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and grasp a length of PVC pipe with a grip that’s slightly wider than shoulder width. Hold it eight to 12 inches above your head, keeping your chest out, torso erect, and heels on the ground. Press the pipe upward as you squat down as far as you can go without arching your back, and then rise up. Do three sets of five to 10 reps. Start doing it with a barbell when the PVC pipe becomes easy.”

Hitting a wall. “When you hit a wall don’t train harder or attempt to force muscle growth by piling on more weight. Reduce your load by 10 to 20 pounds. In other words, if you want to bust out of a rut, undertrain for a week or two.”

Body weight exercises. “…most guys do body-weight exercises incorrectly. They focus on reps when they should really be concentrating on time. Rather than shoot for, say, three sets of 10 push-ups, do as many as you can in 30 seconds. Employ the same strategy with pull-ups, dips, and single-leg squats, resting for 30 seconds between each set.”

We will post some more tips for specific sports, from running and swimming to volleyball and basketball, so stay tuned.

Links to the MSNBC articles here and here.

Best of all, you receive an email from introPLAY when you receive a new message, so you know when someone is reaching out to you on introPLAY–this is great to encourage another Player to stay motivated when you see him or her dropping off a bit, especially in an introLEAGUE.

There are three kinds of talk on introPLAY. Let’s look at each kind.

• 1-on-1 Talk. 1-on-1 Talk is found in the Locker Room. These are messages from one Player to another. 1-on-1 Talk is perfect to reach out to a teammate in an introLEAGUE who has not posted a workout recently. It is also great to provide private motivation to Players.The most recent messages from other Players will appear in your 1-on-1 Talk area. To see the entire conversation, just click “Reply” next to the message. You can type a message to respond or click “Close” to return to the main 1-on-1 Talk Screen.You can also send a 1-on-1 Talk message from another Player’s Player Card or from your Partners listing.
• Public Talk. Public Talk is found on your Player Card. These are messages from other Players that everyone can see when they visit your Player Card. Send some public support to your workout Partners. Or let others know what you are up to by posting a Public Talk message on your own Player Card.To add a Public Talk message to another Player, visit his or her Player Card and enter a message in the Public Talk area.
• League Talk. Each introLEAGUE has a League Talk. Motivate teammates, brag about moving up in the standings and talk trash to other Players using League Talk. Everyone in your introLEAGUE will be able to see your messages.

As you can see, no matter who you want to Talk to and how public you want to make your message, there is a way to Talk to them now using introPLAY’s new Talk feature. Enjoy!