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The Ultimate All-Around Athlete Workout Program

With a combination of strength training, hardcore conditioning work, and "pre-hab" movements to keep you operation at 100%, this five-day program will hone your mind and body into an athletic marvel.

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Various athletes playing different sports for the ultimate all-around athlete workout program
masisyan
Various athletes playing different sports for the ultimate all-around athlete workout program
masisyan

For all the focus on performance training and functional movement over the last 15 years, many guys still head to the gym and follow the familiar bodybuilding-based blueprint established by Arnold Schwarzenegger and his contemporaries 40 years ago. But what about all those other famous athlete that excelled in multiple sports? what about the Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders, and yes even Michael Jordans. These guys were the ultimate all around athletes and surely thare should be an ultimate all-around athlete workout program for them.

These guys still hammer through “leg days” and “chest-and-back days,” as if the body were a collection of isolated parts rather than an integrated system of muscle, bone, and drive. Thankfully, that same dedication to lifting heavy iron can be applied to a more functional movement program that creates more power, endurance, mobility, and resistance to injury.

With this ultimate all-around athlete workout program designed for any sport, you’ll still end up with a lean physique—assuming you don’t out-eat your workout with a bunch of junk food. More importantly, you’ll become a better all-around athlete, able to thrive at weekend-warrior endeavors, whether that’s basketball, tennis, golf, cycling, backpacking, paddle sports, triathlon training, or obstacle course racing.

Elite athletes for years have tailored their conditioning to mimic the movements of their sports while reducing the risk of injury. By viewing your body as a collection of movements, rather than muscles and bones, you might come to think this way as well.

Here’s a five-day-a-week all-around athlete workout plan to best train to become the best no matter what sport.

The All-Around Athlete Workout Program

On Mondays, you’ll start each workout with a “pre-hab” routine that will help warm up your body and prevent injury. Then you’ll move into a circuit workout. Do 3 rounds of this circuit, resting 1 minute between rounds.

On Tuesdays, you’ll begin with a 5-minute warmup of your choosing. Do a 30-minute interval workout of your choosing—run, bike, burpees, you name it—and then finish with a 5-minute cool down. The idea here is to build up your overall endurance and stamina, so you stay sharp no matter how long the game goes.

On Wednesdays, you’ll start with a new “pre-hab” routine before doing another circuit workout. Just as on Monday, you’ll do 3 rounds of this circuit, resting 1 minute between rounds.

On Thursdays, you’ll begin with a pre-hab routine of your choice (Monday’s or Wednesday’s will work), then move into a circuit workout designed to improve elasticity, or your body’s ability to store and release energy. This translates into power and quickness, especially laterally, and translates well to sport. Do 3 rounds of this circuit, resting 1 minute between rounds.

On Fridays, you’ll start with a pre-hab routine of your choice (Monday’s or Wednesday’s will work), and then do another circuit workout. As before, do 3 rounds of the circuit, resting 1 minute between rounds.

Pete Williams is a NASM-certified personal trainer and the author or co-author of a number of books on performance and training.

Routine

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Monday: Warmup

Pre-hab 1

Exercise
Equipment
Sets
Reps
Rest
Exercise 1 of 27

Side Lunge

Equipment
Sets
1
Reps
10 (each side); hold for 2 sec.
Rest
--
Exercise 2 of 27

Leg Cradle

Equipment
No Equipment
Sets
1
Reps
10 (each side)
Rest
--
Exercise 3 of 27

Glute Bridge

Equipment
Sets
1
Reps
10
Rest
--
Exercise 4 of 27

Mini-Band External Knee Rotation

Equipment
Elastic Band
Sets
1
Reps
10 (each leg)
Rest
--

Monday: Workout

Total-body strength & conditioning circuit 1 (do 3 rounds)

Exercise
Equipment
Sets
Reps
Rest
Exercise 5 of 27

Alternating Dumbbell Bench Press

Equipment
Dumbbells
Sets
--
Reps
10
Rest
--
Exercise 6 of 27

Jump Squat

Equipment
No Equipment
Sets
--
Reps
10
Rest
--
Exercise 7 of 27

Half-Kneeling Cable Chop

Equipment
Cable Machine
Sets
--
Reps
10 (each side)
Rest
--
Exercise 8 of 27

Medicine Ball Rotational Throw

Equipment
Medicine Ball
Sets
--
Reps
10 (each side)
Rest
--
Exercise 9 of 27

Burpee

Equipment
No Equipment
Sets
--
Reps
10
Rest
1 min.

Wednesday: Warmup

Pre-hab 2

Exercise
Equipment
Sets
Reps
Rest
Exercise 10 of 27

Cow/Cat Yoga Pose

Equipment
Sets
1
Reps
10
Rest
--
Exercise 11 of 27

Swiss Ball Leg Curl

Equipment
Swiss Ball
Sets
1
Reps
10
Rest
--
Exercise 12 of 27

Side Plank

Equipment
Medicine Ball
Sets
1
Reps
10 (each side); hold for 3 sec. each side
Rest
--

Wednesday: Workout

Total-body strength & conditioning circuit 2 (do 3 rounds)

Exercise
Equipment
Sets
Reps
Rest
Exercise 13 of 27

Pullup

Equipment
Pullup Bar
Sets
--
Reps
10
Rest
--
Exercise 14 of 27

Goblet Squat

Equipment
Kettlebells
Sets
--
Reps
10
Rest
--
Exercise 15 of 27

Farmer’s Walk

Equipment
Dumbbells
Sets
--
Reps
3
Rest
--
Walk 10 yards out and 10 yards back.
Exercise 16 of 27

Pushup

Equipment
Sets
--
Reps
10
Rest
--
How to
Perform with a 6-ft dowel rod, balanced from your head down along your spine and then between your glutes, to maintain proper form.
Exercise 17 of 27

Mountain Climber

Equipment
Medicine Ball
Sets
--
Reps
20 (per side)
Rest
1 min.

Thursday: Workout

Power production circuit

Exercise
Equipment
Sets
Reps
Rest
Exercise 18 of 27

Sprint start

Equipment
Sets
--
Reps
5
Rest
--
Rest for 30 sec. between reps.
Exercise 19 of 27

3-Hurdle Drill

Equipment
2-4 Inch Board
Sets
--
Reps
30 sec.
Rest
--
Exercise 20 of 27

“Over the Line” Jump Drill

Equipment
Sets
--
Reps
10 reps for first part, 30 sec. for lateral jumps
Rest
--
Exercise 21 of 27

5-10-5 Drill

Equipment
Sets
--
Reps
10
Rest
--
Exercise 22 of 27

Lateral Bound

Equipment
No Equipment
Sets
--
Reps
10 (each side)
Rest
1 min.

Friday: Workout

Total-body strength & conditioning circuit 3 (do 3 rounds)

Exercise
Equipment
Sets
Reps
Rest
Exercise 23 of 27

Pushup

Equipment
Sets
--
Reps
30
Rest
--
How to
Do 10 pushups in each of three positions: hand facing straight ahead, hands pointing inside at a 45-degree angle, and hands facing out at a 45-degree angle. Keep your body straight from ear to ankle.
Exercise 24 of 27

High Box Jump

Equipment
Box
Sets
--
Reps
10
Rest
--
Exercise 25 of 27

One-Arm Dumbbell Row

Equipment
Dumbbells
Sets
--
Reps
10 (each arm)
Rest
--
Stand on one leg, grasping a stable surface in front of you such as a dumbbell rack. After 10 reps on one side, repeat with the opposite arm and leg.
Exercise 26 of 27

Weighted Burpee

Equipment
Dumbbells
Sets
--
Reps
10
Rest
--
At the end of the burpee, lift the dumbbells overhead.
Exercise 27 of 27

V-Up

Equipment
Sets
--
Reps
10
Rest
1 min.
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