Now that I have given you a few ideas on how to find a qualified person to assist you with your training and key concepts to remember when designing a training program [Part 1]; and provided a brief overview of how to design a strength training program [Part 2] I’ll now provide an overview of the final component of a complete training program specifically designed for racquetball.

The key component of any training program no matter the sport is a well designed conditioning program. As with strength training the same key concepts apply to a conditioning program. Conditioning can be done on your own, with a partner and/or under the guidance and supervision of a personal trainer or fitness consultant.

When designing a conditioning program specifically for racquetball (or any other sport) the two most important factors to keep in mind are: 1) not every individual is going to begin a conditioning program with the same basic level of fitness; thus, the program needs to take into consideration the general fitness of the specific individual and start at an appropriate level of intensity. And 2) every part of the conditioning program needs to be focused towards the specific demands of a racquetball match.

For example, I would not recommend that a racquetball player spend an hour running repeat miles, nor go run five miles every day as part of the conditioning program. This may sound contradictory to what most people have experienced in their past athletic careers; however, the vast majority of athletic coaches do not have a degree in exercise physiology and thus do not fully comprehend the concept of sport-specific training. Let’s use football as an example. If you break down the game of football, the offensive and defensive linemen very rarely ever run more than 10 yards on a given play. Thus, does it make sense to spend time in a conditioning program having these athletes run repeat 100 yard sprints? No! A more practical and beneficial conditioning program would focus on having these athletes running repeat 20 yard sprints and work on explosive, power type activities which more closely mimic their actual performance requirements during the game. The exact same principles hold true for the sport of racquetball as well.

It is generally known that most racquetball rallies last approximately 10 seconds (99% last less than 30 seconds). Thus a conditioning program should include activities designed to maximize the energy systems responsible for supplying energy during short term, highly explosive activities as well as activities designed to maximize lower body power output. Without going into great detail (which may very well either bore you to tears or cause you to want to inflict serious harm on others - both of which are common among students studying these concepts) the body mainly utilizes three metabolic systems to produce energy for the specific demands of various activities.

The first energy producing system is called the ATP-PC system (adenosine triphosphate-phosphocreatine system) and can only supply enough energy for activities very short in duration, typically less than 10 seconds (i.e. short sprints, jumping, bounding, throwing, etc.). The second energy producing system is called glycolysis which relies on glucose (sugar) as a fuel source and it can produce energy for moderately intense activities of about three minutes in duration; but for highly intense activities for only about 45 seconds. The third principle energy producing system of the body is called beta-oxidation and it utilizes fat as a fuel source and this energy system can theoretically supply energy for as long as there is fuel to burn.

It is important to remember that each of these systems "kick-in" as soon as any work is performed (i.e. standing up, walking, running, whatever…) but it is the intensity of the activity being performed which will dictate which energy system needs to supply the majority of energy for that activity. For example: an Olympic sprinter can run 100 meters in 10 seconds [or less] and will predominately use the ATP-PC system to supply the majority of the required energy. However within 10 seconds the ATP-PC system will be completely depleted of its energy stores and since the Olympic sprinter needs to be able to have adequate energy to allow him to walk over to the medal stand - another energy system needs to be working to supply that additional energy. If the ATP-PC system were capable of producing an endless supply of energy, Olympic runners would be able to run an Olympic mile in 2.5 minutes! Research has shown that it is almost impossible to train the actual energy systems to work faster. But research also indicates that, with training, several systems in the body will adapt and these adaptations account for many of the improvements observed following a training program. Thus, a conditioning program specifically designed for racquetball needs to include specific activities which require the various energy systems and physiological systems of the body to adapt to the stressors of the conditioning program.

Now the question is: How do you select activities which will stress the necessary systems without knowing exactly what is going on within the muscle fibers and various cells of the body? Well, with most things there are several choices. 1) Enroll in a local university and get a degree in exercise physiology and then go on for your master's degree and hopefully by this point you will be able to begin to understand what is actually occurring at the cellular level in response to various exercise stimuli; or 2) engage the assistance of a personal trainer or fitness consultant who has experience with designing sport specific conditioning programs; or 3) simply sit back and watch a racquetball match from a different perspective.

If you are serious about starting a well-designed, well thought-out conditioning program I would recommend observing two players of your similar ability play a competitive game. Use a stop watch and record the amount of time their rallies take and the amount of time in between the rallies (or you can trust me and believe that the answers are about 10 seconds and 30 seconds). Now you can select ANY piece of exercise equipment (stationary cycle, stair climber, elliptical machine, treadmill, jump rope, etc.) and after a 5-10 minute warm-up of low to moderate intensity, select two intensities or levels of resistance: one very high intensity at which you will only be able to work at for no more than 30 seconds and one at a relatively low intensity.

As an easy guideline start out with15 “cycles” and alternate exercising at the high intensity and the low intensity using a work to rest ratio of 1:3 (i.e. 10 seconds at the high intensity and 30 seconds at the low intensity). If you are just starting out you might need to adjust your work:rest ratio to 1:4 but with time you’ll be able to shorten your work:rest ratio to 1:2 as well as changing your intensities. (Ok, you might be asking why 15 cycles? Well, how many points do you need to score to win a game? However, if 15 cycles are too difficult to start with - choose less and work up to 15 work:rest cycles.)

I would suggest completing the first 15 cycles and then choosing a different piece of equipment (if you want) and repeating this two or three times. Oh - if you decide to use a treadmill - be careful ... (treadmills may not be the best choice as they take too much time to change the speed and the chance for injury is increased.) Based on personal preference, this type of training can also be done while running or cycling outside — simply alternate sprinting with slow cycling/jogging. The whole concept of this type of training is to simply mimic the on-court demands of the game through repetitive cycles of work and rest.

Additional types of training must all have a direct link to some aspect or basic requirement of the game of racquetball (foot quickness, speed, agility, power, etc.). Some basic training activities might include (based on your own level of fitness/capacity): running or sprinting up hills on bicycle, hill training on a stationary cycle or treadmill, or running stairs. Additionally, I would recommend a basic cardiovascular type of workout in conjunction with the sprint/speed work. Simply choose an exercise intensity which would elicit an increase in heart rate to about 70-80% of your maximum heart rate (see commonly posted signs in your gym or fitness center for your age-appropriate target heart rate range) and exercise for at least 20 minutes at a constant pace (this can get very complex but if you are training specifically for racquetball - just aim for the amount of time that an entire racquetball match lasts, plus a little more, and you will be okay).

If you want to get more involved and get into what can be some of the most intense and simply fun training that really works, I highly recommend incorporating plyometric training into your conditioning program. Plyometric training consists of various hopping, bounding, jumping and foot quickness drills all designed to increase the neuromuscular recruitment of muscle fibers (with plyometric training the actual number of muscle fibers recruited increases). Currently, the most creative and functionally sound collegiate and professional strength and conditioning coaches utilize plyometric training to increase both power and speed while decreasing reaction time of their athletes. A few simple plyometric drills would include hopping (1 foot) or jumping (2 feet) on and/or over a series of boxes and obstacles as quickly as possible. It is important to keep the amount of time that your feet are in contact with the floor or box to a minimum, thus altering the time it takes to change directions. Plyometric training does force you to become creative in your training. I have personally seen or have used various items such as racquets, bags, lines on the floor, milk crates, pylons, yard sticks, ladders and rope to lay out an obstacle course to maneuver through by either hopping and/or jumping. The most important thing to remember about plyometric training is to be creative with your drills, make sure that your drills are always mimicking foot actions of the sport including forward, backward, and lateral movements (this can be done by selecting a place where two or more lines cross and simply jumping over the lines as quickly as possible in random directions), and finally, all drills need to be performed with quick foot actions to maximize agility and the ability to change directions quickly.

A few final points to keep in mind when designing a comprehensive racquetball-specific training program are: 1) the program needs to include both a strength training program and a conditioning program; 2) if you have the time to strength train 2-3 days a week and condition 2-3 days a week, you should alternate strength training days with conditioning days; and 3) if you do not have the time to do separate workouts and are going to strength train and work on conditioning on the same day, you need to strength train before you condition (i.e. lift before you run).

And finally, I know I have said this before; but it is definitely worth repeating over and over again: No matter if you decide to engage in a conditioning program on your own, with a training partner or with a professional — above all else remember: training should be fun. Otherwise … why are you doing it?