Conditioning

Question
Hello Mr. Anagnostou,
I need to know how to work on my conditioning without the use of any electronics, like treadmills or anything. I'm 13 years old. Thanks a lot
Bye

Answer
Dear friend,

It would be great to start at this age with lower body training. Legs, abs and lower back.

LEGS. So, 3 days a week, Monday - Wednesday - Friday do the following ones which will enhance your legs strength, speed and explosiveness. It's important to work your hamstrings(back of the leg) cause it's a muscle group that is very often week and needs strengthening especially in hockey players.
a)Step ups - Maybe the most significant workout. Use a chair (leaned against a wall to keep it stable). Begin with one thigh on the chair parallel to the ground. With all of your strength, push off of the elevated leg and leap off of the chair as high as you can. Crisscross or switch your legs in the air. Land with the opposite leg elevated in the chair as in step 1. Repeat the procedure until you are back to step 1. This completes 1 rep.(2 sets of 15 reps)
b)Ancle raises - step on a book or stair step one legged standing on toes, heel below the step, raise yourself up only with your calf (reps till you feel your leg burning, 3 sets),
c)Leap ups - bend down to a 1/4 squat position and jump back into the air to a minimum of 8 to 10 inches(4 sets of 25 reps),
d)Thrust ups - Begin with your legs straight, thrust (bounce) yourself up as high as you possibly can and when come back down you thrust at once back up trying not to bend your legs(3 sets of 30 reps).
e)Squat hops - Squat down into a sitting position while hugging a ball for balance.Make sure that you are looking straight ahead, with your back straight,  that you are elevated on the balls of your feet (half tiptoed) and most importantly that your thighs are parallel to the ground. Hop or bounce in the seated position between 3-5 inches per hop. (5 sets of 25 reps).
f)Sprints - Dash giving 100% for 30m, jog for 20m, and back from the start again. Try to start explosively each dash (8 sets of sprints and jogs).
These will help you with your speed and add extreme amounts of power. Rest between the sets for 60 or 90 secs. Massage and stretch the group of muscles working each time while resting time. Let your legs rest till the next workout day. 48 hours are needed for the muscle group to recover. Eat a couple of eggs per day and drink a lot of water. It is highly important that you warm up before and cool down after exercising, as well as  stretching your whole body a lot. That will help you with agility and will decrease the risk of getting injured plus improving explosiveness and flexibility. THE FIRST DAYS OF EXERCISING YOU MUST START EASIER. THE FIRST 2 WEEKS DO THE HALF OF WHAT IS PRESCRIBED. DO NOT EXCEED. WARM UP, STRETCH, WORK OUT, COOL DOWN, STRETCH.

ABS AND BACK.
Here are some simple begginers exersices for abs and back. For days Tuesday - Thursday. After the cardio session that follows up.
Lie on a towel or a mat to exercise comfortably.
a) Crunches - Lie on your back with your hands crossed across your chest or with your fingers on the sides of your head. Place your feet on the floor with legs bent. To begin the exercise, lift your torso, lifting shoulder blades off the floor and crunching your rib cage towards your lower belly. Hold for two counts, then lower slowly to the starting position. Repeat. (3 sets of 15 reps)
b) Reverse Crunches - Lie on your back with knees bent, feet a few inches off the floor. Slowly contract the abdominals, focusing on rotating the pelvis up and bringing your knees towards your rib cage. Concentrate on letting your abs do the work. Hold at the top then slowly lower your knees to the starting position. Repeat. (3 sets of 10 reps)
c) Back Extensions - Lie face down with hands either behind the back or lightly cradling the head. Lift upper body off the ground a few inches, keeping head and neck in alignment. For a challenge, then lift feet off the ground keeping legs straight (knees don't have to be together), hold for 2-3 counts and lower. (4 sets of 10 reps)

CARDIO
Running and jogging will help you. Here's a half hour program. Tuesday and Thursday will be the days, just before abs and back session. We will use the RPE(percived exertion scale) to determine how hard you will be working.
Level 1: I'm watching TV and eating bon bons
Level 2: I'm comfortable and could maintain this pace all day long
Level 3: I'm still comfortable, but am breathing a bit harder
Level 4: I'm sweating a little, but feel good and can carry on a conversation effortlessly
Level 5: I'm just above comfortable, am sweating more and can still talk easily
Level 6: I can still talk, but am slightly breathless
Level 7: I can still talk, but I don't really want to. I'm sweating like a pig
Level 8: I can grunt in response to your questions and can only keep this pace for a short time period
Level 9: I am probably going to die
Level 10: I am dead
You will probably keep off levels 9 and 10 ^^... OK now on to the program.
5 Minutes:  RPE 3-4: Warm Up with a jumping rope
2 minutes:  RPE of 5: Increase speed and/or incline from warm-up to slightly higher than comfortable pace
2 minutes:  RPE from 5-6:  Slightly increase the incline (try to find a place like a hill or sth).
2 minutes:  RPE from 6-5: Decrease incline but keep up on the current pace.
1 minute:   RPE: 8  Increase speed to fast walk or run
2 minutes: RPE: 5 Decrease speed to recover back to a medium intensity
2 minutes: RPE: 5-7:  Increase incline
2 minutes: RPE 7-5:  Decrease incline
1 minute:  RPE 8:  Increase incline to 5-10% or sprint on incline 0%, work as hard as you can (don't kill yourself!)
2 minutes: RPE 5:  Decrease incline to 0% and lower pace to recover back to medium intensity
5 minutes:  RPE 3:  Cool down by walking at a comfortable pace
Total Workout Time:  26  minutes
If it's hard for you to find a place with incline, just try to simply alternate speed walking, running for 1 minutes with 2 minutes of slow walking to recover. RPE will help you.

ARMS
It would be great if you could use a resistance band. Ask your parents to get you one. This address has 10 great drills for beginners. http://exercise.about.com/cs/exerciseworkouts/l/blresistanceban.htm
The days will be Tuesday - Thursday or Saturday - Sunday. You Choose. Try to work all of them out, but do not exceed in reps and sets. Give each one a shot of 10 reps x 1 to 2 sets.
If you want to use your dumbells weights, pick the one that you feel it's not to light, but not to heavy. I would prefer the 5 pound dumbell. Work one week band and one week dumbells if you can.
a)Tricep press - Lie face up on floor or bench and hold barbell (or whatever you've chosen) with hands shoulder-width apart, elbows bent to no lower than 90 degrees.  Without moving the elbows, straighten arms straight up over head, squeezing the triceps.  Control the weight as you lower back down (don't hit yourself in the head!) and keep your abs tight so your back doesn't arch
b)Kickbacks - Hold chosen resistance in hands and bend over until torso is parallel to the floor, abs in tight and legs bent to take the strain off the lower back.  If this hurts your back you can raise your torso or prop one foot on a step or platform and support your body while doing one arm at a time.
Bend elbows and pull them even with back.  Straighten arms behind you, squeezing the triceps and slowly lower back down.
c)Tricep extension - Sit on chair (or stand) and hold a dumbbell with both hands, elbows bent to no lower than 90 dgrees, weight directly behind your head and elbows close to ears.  Without moving the elbows, straighten arms straight up over head, squeezing the triceps.  Control the weight and keep your abs tight to support your back.
d)Bicep curls - Hold weights  in hands, palms facing out, elbow slightly bent.  Keeping abs tight, bend the elbows and bring the weights towards the shoulders (don't touch the shoulders), keeping elbows from moving back and forth.  Slowly lower back down, but don't straighten the arm entirely--keep tension on the muscle throughout the movement.  If you find you're swinging the weights to get them up, lower the weight and slow down.
Keep your elbows next to your torso but don't prop them on your waist to help you lift the weights.  That's called cheating.
e)Hammer Curls - Hold chosen resistance, palms facing each other, elbows slightly bent.  Keeping abs tight to steady the torso, bend the elbows and bring the weights towards the shoulders (don't touch the shoulders), taking care to keep the elbows from moving back and forth.  Slowly lower back down, but don't straighten the arm entirely--keep tension on the muscle throughout the movement.   
Changing your hand position adds difficulty as you target both the biceps and the forearms. (all of them 3 sets of 8 reps -- later sets will increase but reps will stay the same -- muscle building entails more sets, less reps while muscle endurance entails much more reps)

That's it! Woo... The complete program for you. It took me an hour and a half to design but i hope you will honour it!

Remember, DO NOT PUSH YOURSELF TO THE LIMITS FROM THIS AGE. YOU WILL SOME DAY BUT NOT YET. JUST FOLLOW THE PROGRAM, AND YOU WILL SEE THE DIFFERENCE IN A MONTH. DO NOT EXCEED WHAT IS PRESCRIBED. IF YOU HAVE A TIRING DAY IN YOUR TEAM TRAINING, YOU SHOULD REST AND ALTERNATE YOUR PROGRAM.

If you have any other query for specifications or more info, don't hesitate

Sincerely Yours,
Coach B.Anagnostou
Olympiacos Coaching stuff
(Euroleague, HEBA)