I call all the little stuff after the core workout "The Fluff".  I don't know why, I do.

When I speak about training this is the stuff I refer to as, "the stuff that isn't important."  Now, it does have it's place.  It is, in fact, important.  But, if you don't do it and your program is sound, you don't need it.  This is the extra stuff to fine tune things and address problem areas.

In this section of my program I generally look at the common injury areas for each sport.  A lot of these overlap, regardless of sport.

  1. Every athlete needs strong abs/lower back
  2. Every athlete has twisted an ankle
  3. Every athlete needs to do some single-leg work for knees and hips, etc...
  4. Most every athlete should do some type of shoulder stability work (especially overhead athletes)

This would be the part of a workout program that I might refer to as "sport-specific".  Or better yet, "athlete-specific".

For instance, the overhead athletes we have (Softball, Baseball, Volleyball) will have some more specific shoulder stability exercises (I call it Shoulder Health on the workout sheet).  Football will have more neck and trap work than some other teams.

I keep this short and sweet and do it every workout.  This goal of this block never changes.  It's always touching on these "problem" areas.  In general, this stuff is done with DB's, bands or bodyweight for 2 sets of 10-20 reps.

This is an area that I like to keep simple - meaning, I don't do a ton of different exercises, but this area certainly has more variety than the core of the workout.  That's just how I handle it.

Here's a sample list of exercises for the different areas.  I'm sure I will miss some, but this should give you a good picture of what I use for this.

Lower

  • Overhead RFESS
  • Overhead Reverse Lunge
  • Lateral Squat w/punch
  • Cossack Squat w/punch
  • Hurdle-under Lunge
  • GHR
  • Partner Glute Ham
  • Stability Ball Leg Curl
  • Banded Good Mornings

Abs/Lower Back

  • Rollouts
  • Hanging Leg Raises
  • Weighted Sit-up
  • Plate Sides Bends
  • Plate V-Twist
  • Back Extension
  • Supermans

Shoulder Health/Stability

  • Neck Flexion/Extension
  • Front/Side/Rear Lateral Raises and variations
  • External Rotation  - variations
  • Chest-supported Lateral Raise (vary angles) - this is a go to
  • PVC/Band Dislocates
  • Pull-aparts
  • Face Pulls
  • PVC/Band Prone A's
  • Prone PVC Press
  • Shrugs/Kirk Rows

With a lot of this stuff I ask the athletes what they like/what feels best.  I'll write a particular exercise on the board, but I always tell them to see me if they have something else they prefer.  If their alternate is a similar kind of move I'm totally fine with it.  For instance, if my goal is scap retraction and they have a scap retraction alternative, I'm good with it.  If they want a rotator alternative for a scap movement, I'll give them some scap ideas.  I hope that makes sense?

This is certainly not gospel.  It just seems like it has been working for me.  As much as this stuff doesn't generally interest me, I do spend a lot of time looking into the fluff.  As I mentioned earlier, I refer to it a the stuff that isn't important, which I don't really mean.  I just mean it's not the end of the world if you miss this stuff for a few workouts.  Just don't abandon it all together.  And make sure this stuff isn't the meat of your workout.

I still have a request for my running program.  I'll try to get motivated to write about it.