Why Is Cross-Training Important for Athletes?
Tips to Help You Cross-Train Effectively Toward Your Goals
Cross-training for athletes (including aerobic exercise) is hugely important. Actually, cross-training is important for all of us. Equally crucial is to get the right balance of cross-training.
The good news for the athletes among us is that you are probably already cross-training. Not so good is that you probably don’t have the balance right, and that’s going to hinder your performance and make you more prone to injuries.
What is cross-cross training, and can the principles of cross-training for athletes improve your physical performance?
What exactly is cross-training?
Cross-training is mixed training. It’s doing a workout regime that includes distinct types of exercises, with these exercises targeting the different buckets of general physical preparedness (GPP).
Cross-training is about combining and pairing exercises that support total body fitness. It’s about ensuring that your body is fit to train for your athletic specialization.
The risk of not cross-training
Often, because they are so focused on their sport or athletic activity, an athlete will focus too heavily on exercises that should develop their performance in that specific activity. Their exercise regimen lacks variety, and they take short-term improvement in performance as confirmation that their workouts are paying off. Such overfocus results in:
Imbalances in strength and flexibility, putting greater stress on muscles and joints
Increased potential of injury, because of these imbalances
Reduced long-term performance
Shortened athletic careers
Each time you must do something that your body is not used to doing, whether that is an overtaking maneuver on the track, bending to pick up a child, or stretching to the top shelf in a store, you put yourself at risk of injury. And all because you focused too intensely on specific sports training instead of cross-training.
What are the specific GPP benefits of cross-training for athletes?
Most athletic injuries occur because of body physical imbalances, and these are caused by an imbalance in training.
If you are a runner and always running but neglect strength training, your cardiovascular system will improve faster than your muscular system. This will make it more difficult for your body to sustain the effort it needs to drive performance in the long term. This is when injury occurs.
When athletes cross-train, they benefit from:
An improvement in overall fitness ─ with other muscle groups involved in workouts, the athlete is preparing the whole body, helping to support their main athletic focus
Supplementing core training by working with other disciplines
Preventing injury from overuse
By varying your exercise routines and working on other core fundamentals of GPP, you give overworked muscles a break. You allow the primary focus of your training to rest, recover, and repair before returning to them. This process is crucial to help prevent injuries during sporting activity, as is the reduction of muscle and system imbalances in your body.
Precautions to take benefit from cross-training
A sustainable level of fitness. Injury-free and available to participate. A more balanced body, and a better, pain-free life. Yep, the benefits of cross-training are plentiful.
But there’s a catch.
You cannot simply rock up to a gym, add in a few different exercises, and expect to reap these benefits.
You’ll need to design an exercise regime specific to your fitness and performance goals. One in which all the elements of GPP are included (primarily strength, flexibility, endurance, and speed and coordination). You’ll need to do the right exercises in the right proportions to achieve your goals. As you do so, you’ll also need to:
Start slowly
The exercises are likely to be new to you, and you’ll be using different muscle groups. It’s crucial not to overstretch at the beginning and cause a preventable injury.
Warm-up
As with every workout, you should warm up the specific muscles on which you’ll be working.
Develop a proper technique
The technique is crucial. Get the technique wrong and you do not only risk injury, but you also risk poor outcomes.
Use the right equipment
Again, use the wrong equipment and you risk injury and poor outcomes. And it’s not only the equipment you use but also the weight and size.
Be careful and avoid overtraining
It’s easy to get carried away, but you need to rest. You must allow your muscles to recover between workouts.
Include flexibility in your routine
You should measure your progress, and be ready to adapt your exercise to stay on track. Sometimes this may mean slowing down, other times you may move forward faster.
How can Reload help you to cross-train effectively?
When we work with our clients, we do things a little differently. We consider every aspect that may affect a client’s performance and training requirements.
The first step is a fitness assessment. We learn about your current physical condition – including things like strength, flexibility, and mobility – and we discuss your athletic, fitness, and recovery goals with you. We’ll also discuss your lifestyle with you, the kind of work that you do, and what is important to you.
Once we have undertaken this assessment, we can then create a balanced GPP plan and cross-training program for you and with you. There are no cookie-cutter programs here; only programs that are personalized to your unique situation and circumstances.
Do you want to stay healthy and perform at your peak in the long term?
Then sign up for a complimentary fitness assessment with Reload PT.
