Training Pro Lacrosse player and Team Canada member, Ryan McClelland.

 

Professional Lacrosse (NLL - indoor box) is such an interesting and exciting league. Exciting, because it is fast paced, high-energy and features amazing athletes performing one of the most strenuous sports. Interesting, because these dedicated athletes have regular Mon-Fri jobs and then spend their weekends playing the sport they love all over North America.

I believe that of all professional leagues, lacrosse players are athletes in the purest form as they are playing for the love of the sport. They work their careers, family and personal lives around their commitment to their sport. Ryan McClelland is one of these athletes. As a rookie for the Philadelphia Wings, and an entry-level Management Consultant at Carpedia International, Ryan is on the road literally 7 days a week during season. Flying on Sunday to work in Connecticut from Mon-Fri, then taking the train to Philly for Friday practises and Saturday games, then back to Connecticut on Sunday to begin the work week again. The hectic schedule makes it difficult to fit in anything else during the week, especially any type of strength and conditioning.

 

Finally, once season ends Ryan is able to get training! Having spent the last 5 years playing lacrosse year-round (at the collegiate level for Colgate University, and for different summer leagues including Team Canada, winning the silver at the World Championships in Summer 2010), he has never seriously trained beyond the sport but this summer things are different!

 

Ryan has been using the gym at his hotels (and coming to see me when he is actually in town) to get in some foundational training, and is about to move into a program based upon hypertrophy. We have been focusing on building size, strength, power, speed, endurance and agility (a tall order but lacrosse players must be able to give and take hits, while manoeuvering a ball and a stick).

 

Basic of his current program include :

Agility Ladder

Medball throws

Hurdle Jumps

Cleans
Snatches

Front Squats
Walking Lunges
Interval training (conditioning)  

*this is especially important for box lacrosse due to the intermittent nature of their shifts. Players must sprint at full speed on and off the field in order to substitute offense and defense, as well as move quickly within the field of play.

Core exercises

Long runs 1x/week (30 mins).

 

This is just a brief overview of his program, and is not all performed in one training session. We begin all of his sessions with a warmup, do a significant amount of work with the foamroller (decrease muscle tension and increase flexibility). Ryan performs his strenght training program, and finishes with conditioning. Currently, he is working out 4x a week, using his "off" or recovery days to focus on Lacrosse specific training, or going for a long run. His summer league will be beginning shortly, and his program will be adjusted according to his game/practise schedule.

 

Learn more about Ryan here! http://www.wingslax.com/team/player/player/