Extreme Frisbee :: Fitness :: Cardio Exercise

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Extreme Frisbee
by author Michael Carrera

Had enough of playing Frisbee with your dog? Want to toss that disc with people who, like you, love the exhilarating feeling of pushing their bodies and working as a team? Then, ultimate Frisbee may be the sport for you.

Since its inception in the United States in 1968, ultimate Frisbee has evolved into an organized sport that is played in men’s, women’s, and mixed leagues in more than
42 countries.

How to Play

The game is played with two teams of seven players, who throw the disc from teammate to teammate until a player catches it in the opposing team’s end zone to score a point. Games are played to 15 points and usually keep players moving for an hour and a half.

Players must stop running when they catch the disc and they can take a maximum of 10 seconds to decide which teammate can successfully catch the disc and carry the play toward the end zone.

Ultimate Frisbee combines the continuous play of soccer with the rapid direction changes of basketball and the aerial passes of football. The big difference is that ultimate Frisbee is a noncontact sport. Participating is easy and all you need is workout clothing, a pair of good running shoes or cross-trainers, and of course, a Frisbee.

Getting Started

To play ultimate, you’ll also need a reasonable level of muscular strength and endurance, as well as cardiovascular fitness. If you are active and follow a structured resistance and cardiovascular training program three to four times a week, then you are probably ready to jump right into a game. Learning the rules will come with a little practice.

Refine your fitness to match the physical requirements of the sport by following the cardiovascular and resistance circuit training program in the “Ultimate Training Plan” sidebar.

Final Words

Remember that your workouts are only as good as your recovery. Ultimate Frisbee competition is fatiguing, so you need to give your body 24 to 48 hours between games, depending on your intensity level.

Ultimate Frisbee is a fast-paced sport that is a wonderful way to maintain your level of
fitness. To enjoy all the benefits the sport has to offer, start slowly with one game a week and work on strengthening your body and improving your skills. Tossing a Frisbee will take on new meaning.

Ultimate Training Plan

Use this training plan to develop the speed, agility, leg power, strength, and aerobic capacity you’ll need to play ultimate Frisbee. Do these exercises two or three days each week, alternating step 1 and step 2, or combine step 1 and step 2 for a longer workout.

Step 1: Train your heart

While playing ultimate Frisbee, you run, jog, and sprint up and down a 70-metre field. Prime your cardiovascular system before the event by training 30 to 40 minutes two or three times a week as follows:

Jog lightly to warm up for 10 minutes.
Run or jog for 20 to 30 minutes. (Check that you are actively training at your target heart rate, which should be 70 to 85 percent of your age-predicted maximum heart rate. Find this rate by subtracting your age from 200 and multiplying it by 70 to 80 percent.)
During the last 5 to 10 minutes, alternate 15- to 30-second sprint intervals with 60 to 90 seconds of recovery.
Cool down for 5 minutes by walking slowly while swinging arms and stretching.

While running outdoors or on a treadmill is ideal, performing your workout on an elliptical machine can help decrease joint impact and stress.

Step 2: Train your muscles

If you want to be fast on the ultimate Frisbee field, then you need to be strong. Circuit train the main muscles used while playing to improve your strength, abdominal fitness, and power. All you need are dumbbells heavy enough that the last repetition is challenging. After jogging on the spot or skipping for 10 minutes to warm up, perform three to four sets of each of the following six exercises:

push-ups
dumbbell shoulder press
dumbbell squats
jump squats
abdominal crunches
prone opposite arm and opposite leg lifts

Complete 20 to 30 repetitions of the abdominal and lower back exercises and 8 to 10 repetitions of the other exercises.

Michael Carrera is a physical trainer and co-author of Periodization Training for Sports, 2nd ed. (Human Kinetics, 2005).

Source: alive #295, May 2007

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