Compressed training

[Jon Zytnick]

Hi all. Long-time lurker, first-time poster. Please let me know if this is in the appropriate forum.

I was wondering how to get in the best shape possible for an event in three and a half weeks.

I play ultimate frisbee [which requires lots of sprinting and jumping with short recovery times] but got mono right in the middle of the season. My spleen was enlarged enough that I wasn't allowed to do any exercise at all for 5 weeks. I started exercising again this past Saturday, which gives me a total of 4 weeks before we play our season-ending tournament on May 8.

Obviously I won’t be in good shape for it, but since I’m going to be playing, I want to be in as good shape as possible. Are there any guidelines for how to train in such a short period of time? For instance, should I still bother with weight training, or should I just focus on cardio? What kind of recovery times should I allow? If it helps, I have a foam roller and lacrosse balls, gym access, and lots of willpower.

Bonus question: did I retain anything at all from my hard work before the 5 week layoff, or could I have sat around doing nothing and still been in the same shape right now?

[Grissim Connery]

it's easier to gain in aerobic capacity in a short amount of time. your metabolic enzymes are much more responsive to physiological changes. muscles take longer, and tendons take longer than muscles because they are not as metabolically active.

you'll probably need some days of moderate cardio just to get your body ready again. metcons may be hard if you just came off of sickness. they can seriously weaken your immune system for a temporary time, so if you're afraid of getting sick again, watch out.

if you need explosiveness you should probably stick to OL and sprints. powerlifts and strength gymnastic moves probably aren't going to give you real benefits that quickly.

it's hard to say how often to work out because i have no idea how much time you're playing frisbee.

if you gained significant amounts of strength before you got sick, it should come back. it's mostly about the CNS coordination in doing the actions. sometimes this is beneficial just cause it forces you to take a break.

[Gant Grimes]

You might circle that date in pencil. Mono recovery is tough.

The best thing you can do for for ultimate frisbee after a long layoff is play ultimate frisbee. Do that and add a day or two a week of moderate pace, low volume sprints, maybe 10x20m and 10x40m. Don't push it, and don't worry about any other exercise until after the event.

You're not going to be in ideal shape for this one, but you don't want to overdo it and screw yourself out of the next one.