TUTTO IL TRAINING DI ANDY MURRAY (in inglese) - PARTE 1

DAL SITO UFFICIALE DI ANDY MURRAY ABBIAMO PRESO DEL MATERIALE MOLTO INTERESSANTE SUI SUOI ALLENAMENTI.

www.andymurray.com

29 SETTEMBRE 2008

If Monday was all about hard running on a treadmill, then Tuesday was all about the 'core.' 

In performance sport circles, core stability is seen as key to peak performance and injury avoidance. In a nutshell, it's about the strength and conditioning of the deep, underlying muscle groups that ordinary folk often neglect.

Andy's core programme sits neatly, and somewhat painfully alongside the running work. Unlike the traditional 'hard fitness', core exercises demand a high level of concentration and attention to detail: to get the most of it, you need to nail the poses.

Imagine balancing on a Swiss ball like this for any length of time and you get a good idea of how hard it can be...

Andy's programme has developed considerably since it became a cornerstone of his physical regime. By his own admission, poses like this 'Superman' would have tested him a great deal a year ago, but they're no problem to him now.

Sadly, the same can't be said of other people, including his physio Andy Ireland...

'AI' had a few problems with that exercise, and he won't be the last.

Next on the agenda, a pose more of you might be familiar with - the 'plank.'

Great for strengthening the muscle groups around the midriff, these are held for a minute. Each set completed, there's a set recovery period before he does another repetition....

New for 2008/9: what we would broadly describe as the 'roll and hold.' Starting by lying on his back on the Swiss ball, Andy rocks onto one side, then holds the pose...

The balance required to hold the pose is making all those deep muscle groups do plenty of work.

Here's one not for the faint of heart: the Swiss ball press up...

Once again, it's an exercise that's asking far more of the body than a standard press up. All the way through each motion, the body has to make hundreds of tiny adjustments to keep it stable...

Resistance work is another mark of the core fitness sessions. That could be strengthening the wrists...

Or it might be working the shoulders. You'll see a lot of the players using this routine as part of their warm-ups.

As we mentioned, the form of each routine is key. Here's AI making sure Andy's working through the right plane of movement...

It's not the longest physical session in the world, but it takes a good hour or so. In between some of the more strenuous exercises, he might distract his mind for a moment or two...

And so that's your glimpse into one of his core sessions. Not sure what they have planned for tomorrow, but we'll let you know.

8 GIUGNO 2008

OK, so what is contrast training I hear you ask?

That was my reaction today having turned up to see Andy on a leash for the first time since he was a toddler (we hope).

According to the internet, contrast training is:

"Alternation of training using heavy work loads with that using light work loads. At least for athletes who are already strong, the power gained from strength-training programmes combining heavy and light resistance may be greater than with conventional programmes using either light or heavy resistance."

Today, that resistance was provided by a bungy leash attached to Andy's waist...

Jez Green, who looks after Andy's strength work alongside Matt Little simplifies it nicely. He describes it as a way of kidding the body into thinking it's stronger than it is; by working against resistance, your body then thinks it's stronger when you take that resistance away...

Here's Jez keeping a tight reign...

So how does it work in practice?

Typically, Andy will go through a series of set motions. For example: first step, then movement to an imaginary ball, the shot, and then the recovery step.

All that movement is performed with the bungy leash, similar to this...

Having done that a few times, the leash comes off and he'll perform the same series of movements once again. From his perspective, he'll feel sharper through the sequence, and stronger too...

Contrast training isn't unique to tennis: a large number of top atheletes will incorporate it into their strength work.

Variations on the bungy theme are weight vests, and parachute drags; baseball players will even warm-up with a heavy bat before they go out to swing properly.

Anyway, that took about half an hour, and then Andy and Dani hit together for a while.

If you've read our interview with Dani, you'll know that he's beginning to feel at home on the surface...

Mind you, against Andy you'll sometimes find yourself chasing down some impossible looking angles...

They hit for an hour or so in the heat before heading indoors for a quick bite of food, and then their transport to Queen's.

Andy's hitting at the moment, and I'll get him to update you on Twitter about that later...

26 GENNAIO 2008

Meanwhile, it’s core work for Andy. Nasty stuff - holding various ‘planks’ for a minute at a time. Front….

 

….and back…..

 

Seems like they’ve thrown a few newbies into the mix too. I’d never seen this one before. I would have died before I got to this one anyway….

 

 

So after one session of fitness, another. This time up to the weights room for some chin-ups. There’s plenty of debate amongst these guys as to what constitutes a chin-up (chin over the bar?), but they get it done all the same, including some hanging crunches…

 

 

Don’t fancy this after core work, two hours on court, more fitness drills and five-a-side footy….

 

 

Treacle loves it though, because the weights room is his natural habitat….

 

 

Got to look good when you’re heading into central London with mates. Which he was…

Watched some Dragons’ Den after training, as you do. Want to know what the guys would take into ‘the den’ to impress the Dragons? Carlos suggested his body. Not sure they’d be battling for a 25% stake in that…

Andy was a bit more pragmatic. Asked him the same question and the reply was pretty simple….tennis lessons!

22 NOVEMBRE 2007

1. More Yoga

Yoga seems to be quite big at the moment. Not in general, but with Andy and some of the players and staff. They do it as a series of stretches at the NTC, but they also head into London to do classes.

Bikram Yoga is done in a very warm room - you sweat buckets. Some of the guys who went yesterday got told off for giggling in the class. They seem to love it though. And Yoga hasn’t done the likes of Ryan Giggs or Roy Keane any harm over the years…

2. More weights

After the initial stretching comes some more light weight work with Matt Little. This thing is a kind of resistance band, and this exercise is useful for getting a bit more pop on the serve. All the work is very tennis specific. Which you’d kind of expect after all….