Mark Schwarzer

Preparing Mark Schwarzer for the World Cup part 3

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Mark Schwarzer diet and training

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next 11 weeks consisted of progressively increasing the strength in key muscle groups such as the VMO, hamstrings and rotator cuff, correcting muscle imbalance and working to improve strength in key lifts such as the squat and incline press. A key concept that I employed was to periodise the upper body work with thick grip implements. A goalie needs to be strong with an open hand such as making saves, catching or throwing and rarely needs to be strong with a closed fist apart from punching. Therefore we used an array of 3-inch fat EZ bars, 3-inch fat Olympic bars and devices called Fat Gripz to be put on dumbbells and cable handles.

This dramatically increased the demand of the exercise and increased upper body strength. Here is an example 2-week upper body / lower body programme:

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Training Mark Schwarzer part 2

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The common misconceptions are that players should not lift weights for the fear of becoming too big which makes them slow or that they should not train too close to games because the muscle soreness will impair their performance on the pitch. Neither of these are true, however after the first few sessions the initial muscle soreness decreased and Mark could see that training four times a week did not impair his performance. To improve Mark’s body composition I employed a couple of Charles Poliquin’s favourite routines, the first 3 week phase consisted of a routine called 6, 12, 25’s. This is a brutal programme that creates serious lactate build up in the working muscles and gets you shredded. The theory is that the more lactate that is produced, the more the blood pH drops causing the body to produce growth hormone. The liver then turns the growth hormone in to IGF-1, which preferentially burns stored body fat as a fuel. Here is a sample day:

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Preparing Mark Schwarzer for the 2010 World Cup

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Steve training Mark on the 3 inch fat Olympic bar bench press

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Working with elite athletes is a passion of mine and when the opportunity to help Mark Schwarzer prepare for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa came up, I jumped at the chance. Little did I know how inspiring he would be for me; what a driven, top professional he is and how hard he would work in the gym. Although I had been advising Mark on nutrition and supplements for about 18 months, we started working together more seriously in January 2010.

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