Other than jamming, which I have found to be pretty demanding on this old bod, how do the pros prepare for the unique rigors of our sport?
I think it would be useful for many of us to learn about athletes’ stretching and strengthening routines, in particular.
I’m all for swelling the freestyling ranks and would like to remain in them for as long as possible.
Thanks in advance for your help!
3 Replies to “How do the pros stay fit?”
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As a fellow old guy I understand your concerns about the pounding the bod can take. I cross train with strengthing yoga and bike riding. That covers strength and endurance without pounding the bones. Of course, when the winds are right, I go jam and take the beating!
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General cardio and flexibility training like Paul suggests is good. It can give you
a base fitness that helps, but I’ve seen gym rats be totally exhausted by a jam.
Freestyle seems to require a specialized kind of fitness that is hard to train for
except through freestyle. The explosive movements in freestyle require an
endurance that I’ve found only really gets developed through long, intense jams.
Pro implies we get paid 🙂
Anyway, there’s no way I can rely on only jamming to stay fit – my body can’t take jamming 6 days a week any more for hours and hours.
So I used to play ultimate too but that’s hard on the body in a different way.
Now I Mtn. and Road ride here in Colorado so I can stay fit and race a bit, and since it’s a non-impact sport it’s a perfect balance with jamming. Also backcountry skiing in the winter so I get some climbing in there when riding is harder due to snow.
But as Arthur say, freestyle is an anaerobic sport, meaning your heart rate is very high, so whatever sport you do to complement freestyle, you need to go anaerobic (high heart rate) frequently vs. aerobic (lower heart rate but "in the zone"). Without going anaerobic, you won’t be ready for the once a week death jam.