Strength Training for Sports

The stress placed on muscles, tendons and ligaments from repetitive sports playing over the course of a lifetime is strenuous on joints. It’s not a coincidence that many still active baby boomers, as well as professional athletes are having to go under the knife to replace worn out knees and hips.

One of the ways you can try to prevent the need for surgery is to incorporate a strength and resistance training program into your workouts, if you participate in a sport.

Sport-specific training is essential to improving your game, whether it’s basketball, baseball, running, tennis, golf or figure skating. Working out off-ice or off-court, depending on your sport, improves endurance, increases muscle strength and power, and increases flexibility, which can add height to a jump, shave time off a race or power one’s golf swing.

The key is to train to enhance your game, not exhaust your body. Unfortunately the “no pain, no gain” mentality of the past is still present in fitness classes and on gym floors. Working to exhaustion in hopes of speeding up results depletes vital energy needed to play your sport. It also increases the likelihood of injury both on and off of the court.

A well-designed sport specific fitness program will reduce and even prevent injury both short and long term.

A well-designed program should include strengthening the musculature around all of the joints, which will reduce strain on the joint capsule, and surrounding structures including ligaments, tendons and bursas. Repetitive training injuries are usually located in one or more of these structures.

A solid strength-training program designed specifically for the sport can greatly reduce the strain placed on the body. The program should include:

• Pre-game/race/competition warm-up techniques

• Proper body mechanics for the sport

• Exercises that enhance the game

• Avoiding exercises that are counterproductive

• Metabolic training for increased clearance of lactate build-up to enhance endurance

• Stretching techniques for a mandatory cool down, something very few athletes do after a game.

In addition, many sports including figure skating, tennis, golf, baseball and basketball have a dominant side. This means that one side of the body is trained and developed to a higher degree than the other. Figure skaters jump to one side, tennis players and golfers swing with one arm as do pitchers throw with one arm.

A comprehensive training program should favor the non-dominant side so that the body becomes more balanced and stable. Train the non-dominant side more than the dominant side until it catches up in strength and power.

Ideally you should strength train two or three days a week, leaving at least one day of rest between workouts but no more than two for optimal results.

The best plan of action for following a sport-specific training program is to work with a personal trainer familiar with your sport. This person will be able to create a regimen geared just for you. He/she will be able to watch your form and technique and be able to progress the program in a sound and structured way.

If a trainer is not in your budget, search the web for training programs. You can do a search by typing strength training plus the sport, i.e. “strength training for basketball.” Use sound judgment when sorting through the myriad websites available. A good program will offer different programs for different athletic levels. Make sure to be realistic about your level. Better to err on the easy side than overdo it and be sidelined by injury.

Deborah Brooks is an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer and a Certified Fitness Instructor through UCLA. She is the co-owner of edgeworX sport-fitness, a company founded on the belief that there is an athlete in all of us. Deborah is also an International Adult Figure Skating Gold Medalist.

Sustainable Fitness

The concept of sustainability is on most or our minds due to the dire need to keep our planet in balance. We can transfer this mindful concept to fitness regimens, as it is essential that we keep our bodies in balance for quality of life and longevity. Finding a program that takes into consideration the future not just the present moment of getting in shape fast is the key to exercise compliance, which leads to sustainability.

Despite all of the hype promoted by gyms, infomercials, celebrities, friends and family, if a fitness regimen is not for you, you won’t stick with it.

How do you find what you can sustain among the myriad of exercise programs and classes available out there? You’ve got to find what triggers joy and excitement in you. It will most likely suit your natural biorhythms and body type.

There is a saying in athletics; we don’t find our sport, our sport finds us.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself to help you start investigating who you are and who you are not.

Becoming conscious of what triggers passion in you will help lead you to your true fitness calling.

1- What sport did I like to do as a kid? What sport did I hate?

2- What sport did I fantasize and maybe still fantasize being a champion in?

3- What tempo do I live by? What tempo can’t I live by?

4- Am I a group person or more of a loner?

5- Do I like to sweat? Do I hate to sweat?

6- Do I love to dance at weddings? Do I hate to dance at weddings?

7- What music do I like? What music do I hate?

8-Am I self motivated? Do I need bit of prodding?

- If you’re a loner, love to sweat and like speed you might try running or cycling.

-If you hate loud booming music and hate to dance at weddings, you guessed it; you might not want to tag along with a friend to a Hip-Hop class.

-If you love to dance to the beat and love groups try Zumba, Hip-Hop or take a Salsa lesson.

-If you always wanted to be Mickey Mantle and love groups find yourself a softball league and join a team.

-If you need a little prodding, like the idea of cross training and like personalized attention you might hire a Personal Trainer.

You get the idea.

I was an armchair figure skater my entire life dreaming of twirling on the ice as I watched the sport on television. For a year I sat in the stands watching my son skate until I got the courage to ask his coach for a lesson. I was 50. I now skate 5 days a week and travel around the world to compete. I love groups, I love to dance, I’m very musical, I had been an actress and I am fulfilling a lifelong dream. Figure skating is the perfect sport for me.

Please note that this article is not written to pigeon hole you or stop you from trying something outside of your comfort zone. It’s written to make you aware that fitness is an extension of yourself and should reflect that. Your time is precious. Spend it doing something you LOVE to do, not something that you feel you HAVE to do! It will make the choice to exercise easy, effortless and sustainable for a lifetime.

Learn to train like the champion you are!

We are very excited to announce that Brandon is now teaching his “off-ice for skaters” class in Santa Monica. Figure skaters, come join us for an amazing hour of
fitness, dance and conditioning. Learn to master the proper technique for jumps (entrance, air and landing position), spins (entrance, spin and landing position), spirals and footwork in a fun, fast pace workout. Discover how fusing the elements of Pilates, cardio, plyometrics, resistance training, dance and yoga can enhance your skating.

Sport-specific fitness is the optimal way for athletes to train to improve performance. This workout will give you the stamina to get through your on-ice practice sessions and competitions with power and ease.

This fitness regimen is designed to:
-teach correct skating posture and alignment
-build cardiovascular strength and endurance.
-strengthen the core
-reshape the body by toning and elongating muscles
-increase flexibility
-teach injury prevention
-inspire confidence as an athlete

Brandon will challenge you beyond your expectations with his electrifying personality and individualized attention. Every class ends with a motivational message that will transform how you perceive yourself on and off of the ice.

The class is open to all adult figure skaters, all levels.

Date: Tuesdays (ongoing)
Time: 8:00pm - 9:00pm
Location: Doneva Ballet School
Street: 1334 Lincoln Blvd
City/Town: Santa Monica, CA

Questions?
Contact: Deborah Brooks
(213) 247-8823
db@edgeworxsportfitness.com