What are the main criteria of any athlete to be considered an athlete? Depending on the sport there are qualities that all athletes should poses. These qualities include agility, coordination, flexibility, power, speed, endurance, balance, awareness, and time sense.

Of course, when taking the athlete outside of their sporting environment one must aim to replicate their movement as much as possible

But let’s say for example you are dealing with a professional athlete whose body has been conditioned over years of performing a specific sport. The way they execute any movement is in direct relation to their bodies in space. The aerodynamics. This can be true for any athlete whether it be gymnastics, tennis, golf or even lawn bowls the athlete is conditioned to execute based on that specific athlete build.

When an external program is introduced that athlete’s body will change depending on the external extremities.

Not all training programs are equal and if the correct sequences, execution or rest periods are not taken into consideration one will be wasting your time. But if done correctly you will benefit, and it will compliment your sport. Most athletes are incorporating additional workouts and if you don’t do the same or better you will be always play behind the pack.

Benefits of a strength and conditioning program:

Strength and Power

Depending on the sport and exercise one becomes stronger without overcompensating.

This is usually related to fast twitch muscle fibres.*

It is quite easy to replicate movement for these muscle groups, but one has to be mindful that although great for building strength and power they also tend to stimulate muscle growth.

Mobility and Flexibility

Become more mobile and increase flexibility making movement more efficient and recovery a whole lot faster.

“the quality or state of being mobile or movable ability or capacity to move”

Depending on the sport one can devise a specific program geared to sport requirements.

Coordination and Precision

Body awareness in space. Proprioception.

When you are competing or practicing your individual sport you are constantly developing muscle memory and fine tuning your performance. When you are focussing on individual muscles as an addition to your game you develop an additional arsenal that will support you in your game.

What about slow and fast twitch muscle fibres?

Slow twitch muscle fibres

• Efficient in using oxygen
• Delayed muscle firing
• Do not fatigue easily
• Best suited for endurance sports

*Fast twitch muscle fibres

• Do not burn oxygen to create energy
• Fast to fire – explosive movement
• Tire out quickly
• Best suited for short bursts of activity

Although this is largely dependent on genetics an individual can develop enhanced slow or fast twitch muscle fibres depending on the type of training module.

Let’s take long distance cycling as an example.

Yes, they place their slow twitch muscle fibres to the test as they are at work for prolonged periods of time but also use fast bursts of fast twitch muscle fibres throughout their race.

When these stresses are taken into consideration and trained for the desired effect of improving those type 1 or type 2 fibres one will only strengthen. What type of program would you suggest for this type of athlete?

What about having a tennis player play with a heavier racquet than he or she is used to? Would this make the player stronger? Or will this confuse the athlete when he or she returns to play with their regular racquet?

Coordination, flexibility balance awareness and time sense can all be trained without compromising the athletes body shape although a definite unilateral training method should be applied.

If you are a competitive athlete your focus is to perform at your best possible capacity. By introducing an external program you will improve your performance. This is a scientific fact. This should be closely monitored by an exercise professional.