Become a Better Athlete

The question is starting to be asked, How do I properly train an athlete? The answer is complex yet simple at the same time. Complex because no athlete is the same. Athletes vary from sport to sport and position to position within each sport. Simple because the movements of most sports are closely similar and related so can be trained nearly the same. Well,first athletes are just that, athletes. They are not suppose to move slow in a fixed pattern rep after rep. They need to move quick in an unpredictable manner and pattern. If a game can be classified as organized chaos then the players need to trained to adapt and react to the chaos in the best manner possible. This happens through appropriate performance training exercises that are designed to enhance movement and athleticism, not muscle size and appearance. It is not the application of strength through strength training exercises that will win games. Sports are not a bench press contest, highest reps at 225 wins. No, sports are a full body integration of power, body control, coordination, agility, reactivity and mental toughness and focus. These are the skills that must be enhanced to improve athleticism. Do this through movement exercises, focusing mostly on the skills required for the sport and position of the athlete played in that sport. This is the principle if specificity. Roughly defined as, adaptation will be closely related to the stimuli presented during the workout. We need to present stimuli that will improve athleticism. That is the goal; being a better athlete. Train quick to be quick, train with movement to improve movement and apply power through full body integration in a closed kinetic chain. In short, stop wasting your time training like a bodybuilder, you are an athlete so train to get better at your sport.