And Fit For Fun!
This is some of the off court training I have used over the year's. Some hard, some easy, certainly it has alway's kept me Fit For Fun. Try some if you can and enjoy the rewards.
Fitness !!
One of the hardest things to get and one of the easiest things to lose. You can only be as fit as your desire takes you. If you want to be a champion then you have to train like a champion and that takes time. For the majority of players though, playing Squash is your fitness.
This page as it develops or better still as I get around to it will tell and show you some of the things that I have used over the years to try and keep myself as fit as possible. My fitness routine has certainly changed over the years and I will emphasise the word Years because age definitely has an effect on your training.
So probably the best thing to do is to break my training regiment into decades.
Fitness Update, June 14, 2009
Yes I have just finished another one of my training sessions at Blue Lagoon. As you can see it is a little park that is about 30 yards to the ocean. Over the last couple of months in Scottsdale I have been struggling with a Quad injury and as you know nothing is more frustrating than trying to play when you have some sort of nagging injury.
Seeing I have a month in Australia I decided to have 9 or 10 days off the squash court and get rid of the injury but at the same time keep my fitness up. Only 3 months before the World Masters Games so this is pretty crucial. I always have the belief that is someone is going to beat me it won't be on fitness. So here is what I have been doing.
I wake up and ride my bike 5 minutes down to Blue Lagoon at sunrise. Loosen up, do about 40 pushups and then swim for about 15 minutes in the ocean. During that 15 minutes I also do a lot of wading about waist deep, forward, backward, sideways. All trying to work my quad and heal it at the same time. If you have an injury remember the ocean is nature's whirlpool. It works wonder's.
At about 11am I then rode 12 minute's to Long Jetty Squash Center where I had an easy hit by myself for 30 minute's. Then it was another 18 minute ride back down to Blue Lagoon where I ran for 30 minute's. During the run I would stop about every 5 minute's and do 30 pushup's and 30 situp's.(120 in total). Some hamstring exercises with the resistence rubber band's and some bicep curl's with the bands. That was all followed by another 20 minute swim in the ocean with more wading frontway's, sideway's,etc. Now if only I was a triathlete. But I am not. You Can Never Be Fit Enough that's for sure.
If you see the photo below all of this is done by climbing up and down The Stairway To Victory.
Not a bad workout. Let's see what I do tomorrow. Now back to the Early Years.
The Early Years
Like every other kid who grew up in Australia I was a sports nut. Nothing better than coming home from school and playing soccer, cricket, swimming, surfing and on certain day's playing squash. It wasn't until I was about 18 that I started to do anything that you would call Squash Training. Up until then playing soccer on a team with a coach where you would run a few laps of the soccer field, do a few situps and pushups and then play a game was about the extent of it..
My squash training was doing a few boasts and drives, more running and more pushups and situps. Life was relaxed and so was the training.
Things changed drastically when I left my teens behind.
My 20's
Having just turned pro at the age of 20 and having been brought up in the Geoff Hunt era. Physical Fitness was a huge part of your squash game. In Australia more so than a few of the other countries at the time a Merco Ball was used ( much faster than a Dunlop ) so the rallies tended to be longer, not always but probably the majority. My regiment for all of my 20's was to run in the morning either 4 miles or do 12 x 400 metre sprints. I then played squash for about 2 to 3 hours in the afternoon. I would do that for 4 days and then play in a tournament on the weekend.
I will tell you that if I did it again I would have had a coach and spent more time working on improving and developing more shots.After all I was a Squash Professional and not tying out for the Olympics in running.
However I must say all that training certainly gave me a huge base fitness which I have relied opon in many matches. And yes I kept up my love of the ocean and surfed as often as possible when I returned to Australia. For a good portion of my 20's I was based in Toronto so there was also lots of cold weather running. Nothing like a minus 25 degree day to get you mentally toughened up.
Yes you live and learn that's for sure
My 30's
What a great time the 30's were for me. I think I probably hit my peak both physically and mentally at 30 to 33 years old. I could push myself hard almost daily and still recover without the injury problems that tend to happen as you get older.
Again based in Australia for half the year I lived on the Central Coast of New South Wales very close to the beach. Which meant that a lot of my workout were done on the beach.
My favorite and one of my hardest workouts was running in the soft sand at Shelly Beach. The beach is about 1000 yards long. I would run about 300 yards then dive into the ocean and swim against the rip for a couple of minutes, hop out run another 300, swim for a couple of minutes again and do that for 10 times. Quite a workout for both your upper and lower body I will tell you.
Another of my workouts involved a little park again right next to the beach. To get to the park you have to go down about 80 stairs. This was perfect for doing 10 laps running around the park then doing 5 lots of the stairs. I would end up doing 10 lots of this in a training session. as well as pushup's, situp's and what was missing in my 20's Back Extensions. Very important for avoiding Back trouble. These exercises have helped me tremendously.Then of course finish with a swim in the ocean. Just great for the body.
The Stairway To Victory
My 40's
Well they say experience pay's off. When you reach your 40's you have a lot of experience some good,some bad. As far as your squash game goes it is probably a time where you want to train the way you did when you were in your 30's but little injuries start creeping in.
This is probably something that becomes part of your training routine.
For me it was a time where I started doing less running off court and a lot more practice on the court.
You can get a tremendous workout on the court by yourself if you have a series of routines that you can do. I would play more and practice by myself if I didn't have someone to play.
One hour will not only give you a great workout but will improve your ball control and help you develop more shot's. I would still run but probably once a week. In the one hour on the court I would be doing a lot of drive, drop, drop, drives. Crosscourt nick, drop, drives. Drive, boast, drop , drive. Lot's of moving. Then finish with some ghosting or court sprints, pushup's, situp's and Back Extensions. Definitely have to look after the back. Then of course some swimming. Gotta keep loose.
My 50's
Well I hate to say it but time does fly. One day you are 30 and then before you know it you are in your fifties. Believe me if you are not there yet it will happen. This is when the fitness challenge really begins. Not only do you have your body and reflexes slowing down but the injury factor becomes a daily battle. I have to say I have not changed my routine that much though but probably my mental approach seems a bit different. Any sort of twinge you seem to pay a little bit more attention to and that in itself affects the way you train.
So what do I do now. Ok I still hit a lot of balls on the court and having just been in Australia where you probably read my fitness routine I did a lot more running and swimming, more than I have for a long time. All very enjoyable I might add. I do a lot of things with the rubber fitness bands which I will be putting on the website shortly. I think that has helped my muscle strength.
Currently I am in training for The World Masters Games. That is a pretty serious goal of mine so I am trying to time it so I am hitting whatever maximum peak I can be phyisically be at. So at the moment my regiment is doing quite a lot of ghosting after playing or hitting by myself. Gotta be fast in this game. Yes probably a definite case for the hare beating the turtle. Anyway I will let you know if I hold that Gold Medal in a few months.
