Although most of us are well aware of the fact that being physically fit is crucial to sports performance, recent studies have shown that traditional training methods are not always the best way to enhance athletic skill. While strength, flexibility, muscular and cardiovascular endurance are certainly essential to our well being, when achieved within the bonds of traditionalism, these assets are “sport adjunctive," as opposed to “sport specific."
Bridging the Training Gap
Although most of us are well aware of the
fact that being physically fit is crucial to sports performance, recent studies
have shown that traditional training methods are not always the best way to
enhance athletic skill. While strength, flexibility, muscular and
cardiovascular endurance are certainly essential to our well being, when
achieved within the bonds of traditionalism, these assets are “sport
adjunctive," as opposed to “sport specific."
Does this mean that
conditioning methods such weight training and cardio vascular machines should
be avoided? Absolutely not! However, if you are attempting to create a fitness
program designed to optimize your athletic performance, it may be necessary to
“think outside the box”.
How many of you know
someone who is incredibly fit, a “gym rat” who spends hours every day lifting
weights and “doing cardio”, as they say? Are you surprised that sometimes, if
you were to take this person skiing, or try to have them play a sport such as
soccer, they may not always be as skillful as you thought they would be? Sports medicine expert Vern Gambetta
describes “Gaposis” as the gap between how we train and how we play. In the
past, if an athlete came to a trainer with an injury or some difficulty with a
particular skill, the trainer would identify which muscles are tight, and which
muscles are weak. The weak muscles would be strengthened, the tight ones,
stretched.