5 Best Conditioning Exercises for Athletes

Conditioning exercises include intense cardio, strength, balancing, and plyometric moves, as well as core work. They're all intended to enhance performance in athletes by boosting their performance and daily activities.

Exercises for body conditioning use a variety of muscles to shape, tone, and strengthen the entire body. They might mix several forms of exercise, such as resistance, flexibility, and strength training.

Your health and level of fitness can benefit greatly from these workouts by doing them frequently to improve your speed, agility, and coordination. You can do these workouts to enhance your athletic performance and feel better during your daily activities too.

Conditioning Exercises for Athletes

The following five conditioing exercises can have your heart racing, blood rushing, and muscle tensing. Include a few of them in your regular routine for the best results, or perform a lengthier session twice or three times per week. Let's get started:

1) Burpee

Burpees are one of the best calorie-burning, high intensity conditioning exercises that can get your heart in the zone right away. Burpees are a full-body calisthenic exercise that puts emphasis on boosting lower and upper body muscle strength and endurance.

You can strengthen your legs, hips, buttocks, tummy, arms, chest, and shoulders by performing a standard burpee exercise.

Here's how this exercise is done:

• Place your feet shoulder-width apart as you stand straight. Lower yourself into a squat position gradually.
• Put your hands directly beneath your shoulders on the ground. To enter a high plank, walk or hop your feet back.
• As you return to a squat, walk, or leap your feet to the outside of your hands.
• Jump as high as you can while engaging your core, and raise your arms aloft.
• Perform two to three sets of 8 to 15 reps each.

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2) Split Jack

Split jacks are another one of the most basic lower body conditioning exercises that enhances hip mobility and core stability in athletes.

These are calisthenics, total-body, aerobic, plyometric, and warm-up exercises that primarily work the quadriceps and, to a lesser extent, the calves, glutes, groin, hamstrings, hip flexors, shoulders, and biceps.

Here's how to do this exercise:

• Put your left foot forward as you lunge forward. Put your left arm by your side and right arm out in front of you.
• Leap forward with your right foot, and switch the position of your feet.
• Reach your left arm overhead and right arm back at the same time, switching where your hands are placed.
• Proceed for 30 seconds. Repeat two to four times.

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3) Lateral Lunge

Lateral lunges are one of the best conditioning exercises that improve strength, stability, and balance. They tone the inner and outer thighs and can even aid in reducing cellulite.

Contrary to the body's typical forward- or twisting-movements, side lunges train it to go side to side. Side lunge exercises target many muscles in the lower body, including the quadriceps, glutes, adductors, and hamstrings.

Here's how to do this exercise:

• Place your feet shoulder-width apart as you stand upright.
• As you take a large step to the side with your left foot, press forcefully into your right foot.
• Bend your left leg while maintaining your right leg straight as you slowly drop your hips.
• Step your left foot back to the starting position as you stand up again. Repeat it on the opposite side.
• Perform two to three sets of 8 to 16 reps.

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4) Mountain Climber

Mountain climbers are among some of the most functional conditioning exercises that engage a variety of muscles.

While holding a plank position, the shoulder muscles, triceps, chest muscles, serratus anterior, and abdominal muscles primarily function to stabilize the body against gravity.

Here's how to do this conditioning exercise:

• Start off in a high plank position.
• Engage your core, and bring your right knee in towards your chest while maintaining a straight spine.
• Return to the starting position by extending your right leg. Repeat on the left side..
• Keep going for a minute. Repeat two to four times.

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5) Squat Jump

The quadriceps, glutes, and hamstrings, as well as the core and lower back muscles, get worked out during a jump squat.

Jump squats are one of the most potent conditioning exercises that help build powerful explosiveness. They involve intense movement, which means they fully work the muscles in a short amount of time.

Here's how to do this conditioning exercise:

• Your feet should be somewhat wider than shoulder width as you stand.
• Gradually lower yourself into a squat position.
• Jump explosively while raising your arms aloft. Engage your core and lower body.
• As soon as you land, squat back down to the starting position.
• Perform two to four sets of 10 to 15 reps each.

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Takeaway

The aforementioned conditioning exercises can help tone and strengthen the body. They're a crucial component of athletes' workout regimen because of the enormous benefits to physical health and general well-being they entail.