Will Heikkinen Sports Trainer : How to Keep Fit for NFL Season

Professional athletes need to constantly work on their fitness, strength and speed. NFL players in particular need to work themselves up to be ready for game day. Preparing and getting fit for the season is not something that should be taken lightly. Not sure where to start, not to worry, I am Will Heikkinen from Brown University and I have put a few tips together to assist you in getting fit for your next NFL season.

Work on Upper and Lower Body Strength suggest Will from Brown University

As a football player and sports trainer I know when it comes to getting fit for NFL season you want to strengthen your upper and lower body. You need complete strength to ensure you can withstand the demands that a game can put on your body, taking it to the limit. In order to achieve this try planking. Planking is a fantastic way to strengthen the upper and lower body, along with swats and push ups. A fun way to keep your strength up is to take to the water, change your scenery and get on a paddle board.

Bench Press

Make use of the bench press in your local gym says Will Heikkinen. Focus on slowly bringing the bar down to your chest and then slowly pushing it up again. This will help strengthen the chest and shoulders. Shoulder strength is essential when it comes to power and accuracy during the football game.

Focus on your Core Strength

Core strength is fundamental for all football players and you are no different. If you are trying to keep fit for the NFL season then try planking for a full minute. Work up to the sixty second mark without allowing your back end to drop. Keep your plank perfectly aligned to work on your core strength and improve.

Nutrition is Vital Says Will Heikkinen the Sports Trainer

Keeping fit for the NFL season isn’t all about exercise, nutrition plays a vital role, as you probably already know. Focus on eliminating junk and fried foods from your diet and add protein and plenty of crabs. Enjoy breads, pastas, fruits and vegetables, soaking up all the essential vitamins and minerals that they provide.

Don’t forget to keep hydrated and this excludes the sodas. Ensure you drink plenty water before, during and after training and games.

Rest

While you need to train to keep fit for the NFL season, your body also needs rest. It’s important that you reduce your training in the few days leading up to game day and get a full eight hours of sleep, helping your body prepare for the game ahead.

Off season is as the name suggests, its your time to take a break from your sport and give your body, time to recover, suggests Will Heikkinen. All demanding sports have an off season, whether you’re a professional hockey player, NFL player or NBA player. The off season is a time to take a break, but at the same time, you don’t want to return to the game to find you have lost your fitness and struggle to get back on track.

There are some ways you can keep yourself trained during the off season and still enjoy some quality time to yourself.

Take a Break Says Will Heikkinen

Will Heikkinen says the first thing to do when it comes to training yourself in off season is to take the well-deserved break you and your body needs. Take a full two to three weeks off completely before focusing on returning to your training routine. Take some yoga classes, go mountain biking in the hills or go hiking says the Will Heikkinen Brown University. Get away from the routine of training for at least two weeks, giving yourself the break you desperately deserve.

How Often Should You Train

Off season training should be focused on flexibility, strength and speed, but how often should you be training in the off season? Will says certain things to remember for off season is to give your body a break, so focus on training four to five times a week for one to two hours at a time with at least two days off each week.

What to Focus On

It’s not uncommon for players to find themselves falling behind when they return to their game at the start of a new season. To avoid this and ensure you are game ready on return you are going to want to focus on a few elements. This can include ball control, fitness, strength training and speed.

A good tip is to keep yourself conditioned. Visit the gym, do weight training and focus on improving your jumps, lands, squats and strength. Spend time focusing on your speed from acceleration to deceleration. Will Heikkinen suggests the above things which you can do on the track, field or in your own back yard.

Some players enjoy their off time to do some cross training, if this isn’t already part of their training program. Cross training provides an all body workout, conditioning your strength and focusing on core strength.

Don’t overdo it during your off time, rather focus on keeping your fitness levels up without burning yourself out.

You may already use the checkout lanes in chain stores like Target, Walmart, and others. But did you know that you could soon skip the lines altogether?

Recently, retail juggernaut, Amazon, rolled out its completely cashier-less stores in Seattle. The pilot program is called Amazon Go.

Will Heikkinen in Providence RI Explores How it Works

Using an arsenal of sensors and cameras, the cashierless store that Amazon launched automatically detects when a product is removed from a shelf. When the customer exits the store, all products in the cart are tallied up, and the customer is charged the price of the goods.

That’s as simple as it gets.

Forbes Magazine reports that other store openings are in the works for San Francisco and Seattle.

Would Will Heikkinen Use a Cashierless Store?

Absolutely.

This method of shopping is the next best thing to online shopping. Plus, you get the physical product in hand without waiting days.

The best part?

Cashierless stores save the hassle of unpacking and repacking carts just to pay for goods.

Crazy for Kroger

To be fair, Amazon isn’t the first brand to go cashierless. In 2017, retail leader, Kroger, rolled out its own cashierless stores. However, Kroger’s technology calls for customers to physically scan product barcodes on a smartphone. Moreover, the speed and convenience that Amazon Go offers sidelines Kroger’s initiatives, given the Scan, Bag, and Go program requires that shoppers stop at the checkout lane to pay.

What About Walmart?

Amazon and Kroger aren’t the only retailers exploring cashierless transactions. Going head to head with the competition, Walmart rolled out its own version of Scan and Go in 2017. Business Insider, however, reported that the program was killed due to low participation rates.

Perhaps this failure to launch was just a case of bad marketing. Had William Heikkinen in known about this Rhode Island service, he would definitely use it.

What’s Your Take?

Are you in favor of cashierless stores?

Virtual classrooms are nothing new. However, digital tech firm, Vector, is taking virtual education one step further with a lifelike digital teacher.

Elementary schools students in New Zealand got first dibs on this new kind of digital teacher, according to Futurism. Will, as the digiteacher is called, appeared on screen to discuss sustainable energy.

William Heikkinen watched the debut video and was particularly intrigued by Will’s presentation of this seemingly challenging topic: how renewable energy works.

It’s no wonder students were fascinated. The digi-teacher even used very emotive facial movements to drive the message home.

Foresight: The Downsides of Digital Teachers

Vector believes that digital teachers, offered on a mass scale, would provide an economical way to provide education.

Will Heikkinen of Rhode Island disagrees with this point of view. Though Will, is surprisingly interactive, going as far as to ask and answer questions, robot teachers could never replace the real thing.

A large part of being a good teacher and driving academic success is getting to know each student on a personal level, including their personality and learning style.

As many teachers already know, there is no one size fits all learning plan. In addition, how would a brainstorming session work, exactly with this digital learning platform?

All Technologies Come with Pros and Cons: The Upsides

In addition to pointing out the cons of a digital teacher, Will Heikkinen acknowledges the advantages of using this technology.

According to the coach, it would be particularly useful in homeschooling settings.

Given the increasing incidences of bullying and mass shootings in public schools, homeschooling is becoming an attractive option for parents.

Will Heikkinen in Massachusetts Asks: What’s Your Take?

Do you think that digital teachers are going to be the norm?

Not a morning person?

Many of us struggle with getting out of bed in the mornings to face work, school, practice, or an assortment of tasks.

To motivate yourself and get it done, Will Heikkinen recommends these tips:

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