The most common mistakes I see with sports men and women when they train for their sports is over specifying and under specifying.
If we take rugby as an example: 1. Over-specifying – doing dumbbell rows from a bent over, split-leg position to mimic the action of stealing the ball in a ruck 2. Under-specifying – a long steady run
The intention with the first example is to build strength in a position where you often find yourself in rugby. However, the main issues are: • You won’t be able to handle much weight in this awkward position • You could easily injure yourself if you use a decent amount of weight
The intention with the second example (long steady run) is to build running fitness and is a much more common method for rugby (and a lot of sports) but I would argue it is more ridiculous than the over specifying example.
When have you ever seen a rugby player maintain a slow steady pace for 40mins without stopping, accelerating, changing direction and having a bit of a wrestle on the ground?
My answer for both 1. Build strength – focus on compound lifts (squat, deadlift, bench) at low reps (3-6) 2. Running fitness – interval training shifting the focus between 25sec, 45sec and 90sec+ bursts over 2-4 week blocks
A very famous Strength and Conditioning coach once shifted his focus to very sports specific training and away from the classic lifts. The result??? A huge drop in performance for his team over the season. He never used that method again and was lucky to keep his job!!
Take boxing as another example. Each round is a 3min high intensity burst followed by a minute of rest hopefully for a few rounds.
So if we use the Rocky films to demonstrate: • Rocky I – the main man huffing and puffing at a slow pace along the deserted Philly streets = WRONG • Rocky III – doing sprints on the beach with Apollo Creed = RIGHT
Whatever your sport, getting your gym training right and training smart will have a positive effect on your performance.
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