When you’re on the lacrosse field, you consistently perform the same types of movements and skills. You run through plays over and over again, both go-to attacking and defensive moves. And that’s great. Consistency is key to success. But when it comes to your body, doing things repeatedly can be problematic. Muscles you frequently use will be strong, but those that go unused will be weak. The same can be said for your activity in the weight room. If you only do your favorite exercises because you’re good at them, you’ll leave some important muscle groups untrained.

If you allow a muscle weakness to develop and fail to address it, you won’t have the balanced strength needed to play at a high level. A weak muscle group will ultimately cause another to compensate, and may eventually result in an injury.

According to Carl Christensen, strength coach for Duke men’s lacrosse and Performance Advisor for BridgeLacrosse, lacrosse players are often weak in their lateral hip muscles and posterior chain (i.e., glutes, hamstrings and back).

“This can cause a number of different issues, particularly the potential for injury,” he says. “For example, when we have players who are underdeveloped in the hips, we are looking at hamstring, groin and soft-tissue injuries.”

Your workouts will also suffer. “Any exercise where we hinge at the hips can really be inhibited if you have weak glutes, hamstrings or other posterior chain muscles,” he adds.

At Duke, Christensen places special emphasis on working commonly weak muscle groups to keep his athletes healthy and to prevent weaknesses from impairing their on-field performance.

Below you’ll find a five-exercise routine you can perform two to three times per week at the end of a workout to develop complete strength. 

1. Ski Squat Jump-Lateral Leg Raise

This low-intensity Jump activates the muscles used to jump up and land, including your glutes, quads, calves, hamstrings and hip flexors. The Lateral Leg Raise strengthens your abductors, which play an important role in stability.

Sets/Reps: 2×10 each side

2. Single-Leg Bench Buck

An advanced variation of a Glute Bridge, this move strengthens your glutes and hamstrings one side at a time. It also teaches you to engage your glutes, not your lower back, to perform a hip hinge movement.

Sets/Reps: 2×10 each side

3. TRX Alligator

This exercise combines two moves into one to strengthen your back and shoulder muscles. It’s particularly beneficial for keeping your shoulders healthy, because it works the muscles that act on your shoulder blades, which are important for stability.  Making sure these muscles are strong also corrects poor posture.

Sets/Reps: 2×10 each side

4. Glute-Ham Raise

The Glute-Ham Raise is a great posterior chain exercise that focuses on, you guessed it, the glutes and hamstrings.

Compared to the Single-Leg Bench Buck, this is a knee-dominant move instead of hip dominant. It’s particularly brutal on your hamstrings because you have to move nearly your entire body weight by only bending your knee. If you have difficulty with this move, start by lowering slowly over four seconds, and have a partner help you up to the starting position.

Sets/Reps: 2×10

5. Lying Abduction/Adduction

The Lying Abduction/Adduction strengthens the lateral muscles in your hips. This improves stability when changing directions rapidly on the field, and can even improve your form on lower-body exercises like the Squat.

Sets/Reps: 2×10

To learn more about the program and get custom lacrosse workouts created by elite experts, go to BridgeAthletic.com.