FITNESS. for your K9 ATHLETE

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "FITNESS. for your K9 ATHLETE"

Bennett Jacobs
5 years ago
Views:

1 FITNESS for your K9 ATHLETE

2 FITNESS outline below shows where each measurement should be taken. MONTHLY PROGRESS TRACKER MEASUREMENT MONTH 1 MONTH 2 MONTH 3 MONTH 4 MONTH 5 MONTH 6 R THIGH L THIGH R FOREARM L FOREARM CHEST WAIST NECK CHEST WAIST NECK THIGH FOREARM 1

Canine fitness encompasses many different components that come together to create the elite canine athlete.

The fitness pyramid begins with the foundational building blocks: balance and stabilization, cardiorespiratory fitness, body awareness, and flexibility.

These are key to injury prevention and to providing strong anchor points for the body to use to build muscle.

Body Awareness, or proprioception, refers to the dog s awareness of its body relative to its environment and specifically each individual leg.

3 Canine fitness encompasses many different components that come together to create the elite canine athlete. The canine fitness pyramid shows us how the building blocks of fitness build on each other to create that top end athlete. The fitness pyramid begins with the foundational building blocks: balance and stabilization, cardiorespiratory fitness, body awareness, and flexibility. Balance and Stabilization refers to the ability to maintain balance on different surfaces as well as spinal stabilization and joint stabilization. These are key to injury prevention and to providing strong anchor points for the body to use to build muscle. Cardiorespiratory fitness refers to the dog s body being able to effectively utilize and metabolize energy and oxygen. Body Awareness, or proprioception, refers to the dog s awareness of its body relative to its environment and specifically each individual leg. Better body awareness means increased intentional and purposeful movement. Purposeful movement means fewer mistakes and the ability to use the body efficiently. Flexibility is the ability of the muscles to contract and elongate properly. This foundational level allows us to proceed to the functional level of primary strengthening. Primary Strengthening is the base level of strength that is needed to be functional in day to day life and to enjoy good quality of life. From there, advanced strengthening and endurance become possible. Advanced strengthening is necessary for dogs that participate in one or more of the many K9 sports and activities available today. This includes recreational athletes and weekend warriors as well as competitive athletes and working dogs. The upper levels include speed, quickness and finally power. Speed is the ability to go fast. Quickness is the dog s ability to accelerate or decelerate and change position rapidly and efficiently. Power is the ability to generate large amounts of force as fast as possible. 2

While each dog has its own unique genetic

tell us that we can enhance those natural

This is what we mean when we say maximize

We want to help you do well at your chosen

the levels identified in the diagram below

each type of ALL dogs should do exercises

from the primary strengthening category.

4 While each dog has its own unique genetic blueprint, fitness and exercise principles tell us that we can enhance those natural talents and gifts and improve weaknesses. This is what we mean when we say maximize your dog s physical potential. We want to help you do well at your chosen sport. Each K9 activity requires different elements of the fitness pyramid. While achieving higher levels on the pyramid is beneficial for peak performance, the levels identified in the diagram below indicate our recommended minimum level for each type of sport. ALL dogs should do exercises from the foundational level categories and from the primary strengthening category. Protection Sports Agility Dock Diving Flyball, Lure Coursing, Herding Conformation Carting, Weight Pulling Every Dog Every Dog 3

5 WEEKLY CARDIO EXERCISE TRACKER ACTIVITY TIME INTENSITY NOTES 4

6 FLEXIBILTY AND STRETCHING TRACKER STRETCH PRIMARY BODY PART PASSIVE/ ACTIVE HOLD DURATION STRETCH WHAT WENT WELL - WHAT NEEDS WORK 5

7 BALANCE AND STABILIZATION EXERCISE TRACKER EXERCISE EQUIPMENT HOLD/ DURATION SETS 6

8 BODY AWARENESS EXERCISE TRACKER EXERCISE EQUIPMENT HOLD/ DURATION SETS 7

9 STRENGTH TRAINING EXERCISE TRACKER EXERCISE EQUIPMENT BODY PART FOCUS SETS 8

10 ADVANCED TRAINING - SPEED AND QUICKNESS EXERCISE TRACKER EXERCISE EQUIPMENT HOLD/ DURATION SETS 9

11 ADVANCED TRAINING - POWER EXERCISE TRACKER EXERCISE EQUIPMENT BODY PART FOCUS SETS 10

Tathletes aged between years were selected from sports authority of India (SAI) Lucknow. The Motor

Tathletes aged between years were selected from sports authority of India (SAI) Lucknow. The Motor Review of Literature ISSN: 2347-2723 Impact Factor : 2.0260(UIF) Volume - 4 Issue - 12 July - 2017 RELATIONSHIP OF SELECTED MOTOR FITNESS COMPONENTS, ANTHROPOMETRIC MEASUREMENTS AND PHYSIOLOGICAL VARIABLES