Building a Complete Athlete
The dictionary’s definition of an athlete: a person who is proficient in sports and other forms of physical exercise. Our definition of an athlete: a person who is working to become proficient in one or more sports and utilizes other forms of physical exercise to achieve their goals. In terms of a performance athlete, this would be a person that is working to become proficient in each component of fitness, enabling them to be more adept in not only more sports, but also life in general.
Imagine someone with the ability to run fast. We all know someone that’s a fast sprinter, right? But what if a person could be fast and strong? That’s still fairly common. What if a person could be fast, strong, powerful, and be able to run for longer distances or train for extended periods of time (endurance)? Is that even possible? Yes, it’s entirely possible and it’s awesome to witness someone put in the work and eventually achieve this level of fitness. Whether you participate in zero or one or more sports, performance training will give you an edge and boost your health. Here, we explore the meaning behind performance training and why it’s so important to include all aspects of fitness into any training program.
Fitness elements:
Anaerobic capacity
Agility <Coordination>
Balance
<Body Composition>
Endurance
Flexibility
Power
Speed <Reaction Time/Reflexes>
Strength
Generally, people tend to look at fitness with horse blinders. Huh? Well, here’s a couple examples from personal experience: Back in the day, playing slow pitch softball a couple times a week kept me “in shape,” or so I thought. Quick bursts of speed during fielding or base-running didn’t exactly increase my power, strength, or endurance. Later, we were consistent with strength training for years, and yet muscular strength wasn’t much help when it came to running Spartan Races or other OCR’s (Obstacle Course Races). We were strong. We trained for 1-2 hours at a time, so we should have had some level of endurance. WHY did that not translate to success in an endurance event? It comes down to training specificity. Muscular strength, while helpful during heavy lifts, drags, and pulls; does not necessarily translate to muscular and cardio endurance. Strength training requires short bursts of specified, controlled movements to complete the set, but there is a 30-second to 3 minute rest period to allow the muscles to recover. During an OCR, there generally IS NO REST and most of the movements required in OCR are functional and of a powerful variety. In short: to run well, you have to run. To be strong, you have to strength-train. To be powerful, you have to add explosive movements (plyometrics) into your training. And so on… To be a performance athlete, you must consistently train all aspects of fitness. It’s that simple.
Building the well-rounded, performance athlete that is capable of incorporating all areas of fitness into their routine is essential to elevated performance and injury prevention. Utilizing performance training is just as beneficial for fitness novices that just want to incorporate fitness into their lives and improve their overall health. While there are many powerful, explosive movements in performance training, most everything can be scaled for any fitness and skill level. One of the best reasons to take part in performance training is that it’s FUN. People generally adhere to their fitness program when they have fun with it. One of my favorite reasons to partake in performance training is to see how effective it is at any given stage. We train hard, we are disciplined with our diets, now it’s time to see what our bodies are capable of. A question to pose to yourself frequently: “What exactly is my body capable of?” It’s enlightening to know exactly what your body can accomplish on any given day, and it’s also a great way to set a baseline for your personal fitness level.
The answer to the question above can only be uncovered by putting your body to the test. The test is via performance training. Again, performance training will test all aspects of your fitness; not just a few. Think of it this way: How would you rate your skill within each of the fitness elements in the diagram? If you have substantial variances between any of these, then you should amp up your training in any lacking area. You may ask, “I know how to train to improve strength and speed, but how do I train elements such as agility, balance, or flexibility?” This is precisely where functional training, especially OCR training can help you. There are so many different challenges and different, functional movements that are incorporated that will quickly help you turn any weaknesses into strengths. In addition, unlike much traditional training, functional training incorporates a lot of unilateral movements (one side of the body/one arm or one leg at a time). Unilateral training is beneficial to reducing/eliminating muscular imbalances, which is also crucial to injury prevention.
There may be arguments on the positioning of some of the sports within this Venn Diagram, but there’s no denying that most sports do not require all elements of fitness. This is what is so awesome about performance training! It doesn’t matter which sport is your jam and it doesn’t matter if you don’t even play a sport-EVERYONE can benefit from performance training since it incorporates every single element of fitness and athleticism. Of course, there are also three other fitness elements that aren’t included within the diagram: body composition, coordination, and reaction time. In my opinion, body composition is more of a by-product of fitness. (i.e., train hard and eat right, and your body will be indicative of your work!). Coordination is a component of agility and balance, as reaction time is a segment of speed. It’s not just how fast you run, but how quickly your fast muscle fibers twitch and how quickly your nervous system can process stimuli and message your body to react!
To recap, the following are the many benefits of group functional training with a focus on performance:
Studies show higher rates in exercise adherence within individuals that workout in a group setting
Enhances teamwork and a sense of belonging
Generally, an individual will push harder through a workout while in a group setting
Creates conditioned, well-rounded athletes
Prepares you to perform even better in your chosen sport(s)
Reduces potential for injuries
Allows you to move naturally and prepares your body for activities of daily living
It’s flat-out FUN
