Athlete Series: Understanding Athletic Training
As we embark on a new series devoted to developing athleticism, we need to understand how this training differs from other modalities. I want to use this entry to explain how we can be more efficient and effective during our sport specific workouts! Athletic training is based around simple principles that translate to any sport. Exercises and specific movement patterns may change, but the goal remains the same. Athletes want to be quick, powerful, and explosive while their endurance is tested. Let's talk about the basics.
Basics to Athletic Training
The principles discussed above can be broken down into three things. Athletes want to train STRENGTH in a way the translates directly to their sport. Strength workouts can range from a wide variety of exercises but the goal here is to add function strength that utilizes the movement patterns that correlates to the athlete's specific sport. I would recommend that athletes do multi-joint, compound exercises to build functional strength for any sport. Second, an athlete should train to develop power. Power and strength go hand in hand. Power development takes strength and makes it functional for the sport. Power training develops explosiveness that allows the athlete to move fast and efficiently without the loss of strength. This also works the other way around. The athletes functional strength will eventually plateau without the development of power. Lastly, an athlete should train endurance. Endurance training takes power and strength to failure and then some. Most sports have an aerobic aspect about them! Endurance workouts piece everything together to test how well your training translates to your specific purpose.
Planes of Motion
Athletes should train every plane of motion and movement pattern. Of all movements and planes, the transverse plane of motion is absolutely crucial to all athletes. This plane is worked by movements that required twisting while maintaining balance and stability. There are many movements and muscles worked here but just like other exercises and power in general, the movement starts with activating your core muscles. Aesthetic value of your core is not near as important to athletes as it is to have a strong and functional core. This is where athletes generate their power and explosiveness. Developing a tight, strong, and functional core is the foundation for all athletes.
Compound and Functional Lifts
As mentioned above, functionality is the most important thing to consider where training or performing athletic movements and workouts. Most sports require its athletes to activate numerous muscles at once in a quick, powerful, and controlled way. This is why I recommend my athletes to train compound, mult-joint movements that require functionality, stability, and mobility in a powerful and explosive manner. When performing these type of exercises, it is very easy to point out weaknesses which coaches can then correct. The weight here is near as important than to lay a perfect foundation for athletes to build upon. More often times than not, these type of exercises go by a simple creed; "If you are messed up, then it is messed up." (That is a mild tone from which I was once told).
Quick and Powerful
The idea to train power and explosiveness is to develop fast-twitch muscle fibers. These differ from Type-1 muscle fibers whose primary job is to just exert strength in a steady and consistent manner. Fast-twitch muscle fibers are what makes the muscles functional for athletes. Just as the name suggests, these muscle fibers react quickly and play a role in every explosive or powerful movement. You can develop these muscle fibers or "wake them up" by training plyometrics and speed. The first entry to the series deals with plyometrics so its worth a look if your goal is the get faster (which it should be).
Eating Needs
Every athletes diet differs by their specific sports performance needs. A swimmer who is in the pool for 4 hours a day will need more calories than a track 100m sprinter. Eating is everything to athletes. If you want to grow bigger, faster, and stronger, you have to eat like it. Depending on the end all goal here, you have to at least take in your maintenance calories to offset the amount you burn on a daily/weekly basis to keep good form on the field of competition and retain the gains you have made during your training. We will deal with this topic on an entry of its own!
Big Picture
Athletic training is very unique in its own way. The goal for athletic training is to translate your resistance and speed training to your specific sport. Do not waste your time build nonfunctional muscle that will not translate to your needs. Programming is everything here. You workouts should work hand in hand with your practices and organized sport activities. My recommendation for you is to find a coach that can critique you on everything from your program of workouts to daily eating routines. Trust me, it pays off!
Athletic Series Notes
- This is the second entry to the athletic series
- We will be addressing programming, sport dieting, increasing sport specific performance, and much more!
- If your goal in training is to become for functional for any sport, this series is for you!
- Tomorrow we will talk about SPORTS DIETING!
Stay tuned for more to come!
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