If you work out on a regular basis, you probably know what it feels like to not have enough time to work out. Maybe you don’t work out on a regular basis because you don’t think you have enough time.
So, if you only have a half hour or so, what can you do to maximize your benefit? Aerobic activity is fine whether it be brisk walking, running, swimming, etc, but remember that 30 minutes is looked at as a minimum time period for the beneficial effect.
How about strength training? The first thing I may do, if I only have a short amount of time, is to pick exercises which involve multiple muscle groups like squats, lunges, bench press, rows, olympic lifts. This enables me to train more muscles at once. Then, I will alternate upper and lower body – this requires less time for resting between exercises. For instance, instead of going from squats to lunges, I may go from squats to bench press to lunges, giving my legs a rest in between.
Another option when you only have a half hour is to do a core workout – believe me, you’ll feel it after a half hour. Yet another option is to do a dynamic workout of plyometrics and/or speed endurance training – the intensity of these types of workouts means a shorter time period. So you see, if you only have a half hour, you do not have an excuse.
School’s over and summer vacation is here. What are you going to do? After all, practice for that fall sport is a mere 8 weeks away. Time to sit back, relax, get a summer job, make some money, and train. That’s right, I said TRAIN. 
This is pre-season, and you have to get ready to go. If you don’t, long about August 15, you may be coming to see me with some kind of overuse injury. If I had a dime for every case of shin splints, hip flexor strains, hamstring pulls, and knee pain I see at the beginning of the fall season, I probably wouldn’t be writing this blog, because I would be independently wealthy.
So what do you need to do? If your coach has given you a summer program, follow it. If your coach has not given you a summer program, ask. From a strength and conditioning standpoint, you need to work on speed, agility, and speed endurance in the offseason, not to mention the strength training requirements. Everyone knows what speed and agility are, but what is speed endurance? Put simply, speed endurance is what gives you the ability to beat your opponent at the end of the game – it is the conditioning of the anaerobic energy system which gives you that extra “spurt” when everyone else on the field is sucking wind.
You will not get speed endurance by running 5 miles a day – all that does is train you to run 5 miles per day. You will get speed endurance by pushing yourself to the limit through careful interval training. Speed endurance should only be trained 1 – 2 days per week – it is very stressful on the system. Of all the things I train, my athletes universally say that speed endurance training is the hardest thing I make them do. However, the pain you go through now will payoff next fall – guarantee it. If you have questions, do your research or contact me. If you want to be the best conditioned athlete on the field this fall, you need to start now.