Cardio for a college football athlete in a cutting phase

[Athlete127]

Looking for some good cardio for myself. I am a 21 year old college football athlete. I play receiver. It is off season, and we don't have to be back for a couple months so I haven't had to be pushed in the cardio part. I have the lifting down, just not the running. I know running on a treadmill probably isn't the answer, because that would mess up my "fast-twitch muscles"

I am in the cutting phase of my summer also.

21
195
6'1
BF 10%

[pebble]

Avg play in is under 6 seconds.

First off do your basic conditioning. It is good for the heart and will provide a better base for the second piece of information.
Secondly get specific. 6-10 second sprints followed by 1 min rest. To progress cut down your rest until it gets to 40 seconds. Mimic the game. Work from 6 of these up to 10.
Thirdly do some GPP. Sled pulling and pushing.

[Athlete127]

Nice. I like it. 4-5x a week? Before/after workout?

[pebble]

I don't know your off season workout schedule. Sorry I cant help with specifics.

Here is what could be done in general; I would do the Sprints and one or the other (so 2+1 or 2+3) on the same day. Do the sprints 2-3 times a week. Get 5 days in if you do not have off season practice (training). Try to get two days of 3 and three days of 1.

Example could be
Mon 2+3
Tues 1
Thurs 2+1
Wed
Fri 3
Sat2+1
Sun1



I would try to do the sprints pre workout, but in the morning and workout in the afternoon. And for base or GPP post workout is good.

But it really all depends on the training you have in place.

[bmacmx121]

I do sprints for motocross, the first few laps are when you haven't settled into a groove and your heart rate is peaked. My heart rate is right at 200 for about the first 4 minutes of a race, then settles down to 170-180. Our races are 30 minutes plus 2 laps long, so roughly 35 minutes. The way I look at it, if I can do sprints for 45 minutes, keeping my heart rate above 170 then when it comes to race day I'll be set. You say the plays last about 10 seconds, so I would do full out sprints for 40 seconds then rest for a minute, then sprint again. My sprint routine starts out with a 500 yard sprint to get my heart rate peaked, then up downs, another 100 yard sprint, and so on. I usually don't take but 10 or 15 second breaks in between things and sometimes just go straight into the next exercise. There should be no reason you can't get to doing 30 second sprints with a minute rest with a few weeks of work if you are already in decent shape.

[SlimmerMe]

Ride a bike like a kid and have fun doing it.

[lifter65]

you need to be pushing the prowler, doing strongman events, and doing sprints, dont overdo it tho

[bmacmx121]

Ride a bike like a kid and have fun doing it.

I race for a living so it's a job now lol. Riding is a ton of fun but fun doesn't pay the bills!