The Foundation of Sports Specific Training

Ever consider how the training in the gym applies to sport outside of it? We don’t necessarily promote a training program that prepares you for sport, but most of you have seen its benefits there. Let's dig in a bit on why and how sports specific training could be over rated for SOME of us.

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Things That Make You Go Hmm…

The fitness world buzzes with information (much of it click bait), and it can make us question things at times. For some, that may come in curiosity of sport specific training. How to prepare for skiing, golf, riding bikes, trail running, a fitness competition, etc. While there is merit to having sport specific training it’s easy to forget the value of building the foundation of strength and conditioning.

The movements that you see in our programming fall under some simple categories:

Squat

Hinge

Push

Pull

Lunge

Carry

MANY of these can be used for sport specific training but they also lay the foundation of it. What you won’t see in these core and fundamental movement patterns are things like:

Woodchops

T Balance Hold

Bird Dogs

Bosu Ball Core/Balance Movements

Renegade Rows or DB Pull Throughs

Some of these movements look familiar because we program them in our accessory work, but they don’t make up the core movements. Many of these may be used for more sport specific work though. Here’s the thing though. If I build up capacity at the fundamental movement patterns, it will only help my sport specific work. For example…

If I have a sound back squat where I can lift 1-1.5 times my bodyweight, that leg and midline strength is going to apply to the balance work on the bosu ball where you see some people doing squats.

If my deadlift goes up and I can lift 1.5-2 times my bwt those Woodchops and Bird Dogs will feel like a cake walk.

If I get my first strict pull up the renegade rows and pull throughs will be easier.

The list can go on and on and one of the common threads you are going to see between many of these foundational movement patterns in their application to sports specific movement is core strength. When we lift heavy with movements like back squats, deadlifts, push pressing, etc it creates quite a bit of demand on our midline in an isometric sense. You have to create a TON of stability to be able to lift that weight and your midline gets stronger. This foundational strength is necessary to maximize your midline strength as a whole and when you get to more specific movements for your midline.

What we don’t see happening is the opposite translation. If I do a bunch of woodchops and bosu ball squats alone, it’s not going to give me a heavy back squat or deadlift. It may help with some stability and fill in the gaps for some smaller muscle groups, but it can’t replace the value, benefits, and results we see from the core heavy lifting patterns.

Hear me out when I say that some of these more specific movements still have great value and they can serve a purpose in filling in gaps or weaknesses that we may have, and when done appropriately and along with the core lifting patterns, they may even improve things like your back squat and deadlift. But not in a stand alone fashion as mentioned above.

So what do we do with all this? The strength days we program every Monday take care of the core lifts and our accessory work (either on the strength day or throughout the week) often address some of the more sport specific or less common exercises that fill in the gaps. Additionally, we try to program a variety of movements throughout the week that show up in the regular workouts that address things like unilateral work (single leg/arm), explosive elements (Olympic or plyometric work) and a number of other things. It’s just that many of these things are happening within your workouts. Additionally, we work to provide varying time domains and intensity levels to work through a variety of energy pathways that could be applied to a variety of sports.

At the end of the day, even a professional athlete has to build up AND maintain the foundational movement patterns to maximize their potential. From there they can layer in more specific movement patterns, time domains, and exercises that bring value to their sports. What do you need to do? Chances are you aren’t a professional athlete, so you simply just need to show up consistently and regulate the workouts with information we provide at whiteboard briefs and the workout variations we provide. And if you have questions on how to address more specific work ask a trainer. Many of us have athletic backgrounds and know how to incorporate spots specific training in an effective manner without getting lost in the weeds.

Keep up the hard work!

Chris

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