Strength & Conditioning - Why World Championship Athletes Need To Cross Train
About the Author
Ben Foodman is a licensed psychotherapist & performance specialist. He owns his private practice located in Charlotte North Carolina where he specializes in working with athletes to help them overcome mental blocks (the yips), PTSD, ADD / ADHD and achieve flow states through the techniques of Brainspotting & Neurofeedback. If you are interested in services, use the link here! Enjoy the article below!
Introduction: The Connection Between Cross Training & Peak Performance
Part of my work with my clients doesn’t just involve focusing on the psychological aspects of training. Often times I am going through a deep analysis of my client’s strength & conditioning protocols. One things that remains consistent yet always surprises me is how athletes rarely incorporate cross-training into their strength & conditioning. This is surprising because there is an overwhelming body of evidence that supports the need for athletes to ‘switch things up’ in their preparation.
Because this is such a common issue amongst athletes, I wanted to take this time to review the importance of cross-training in this issue of the Training Report. First we will explore the origins of cross-training and how it was developed. Then we will review the science behind cross-training and why it matters. Finally I will provide an example of cross-training followed by some amazing footage that HOOKGRIP captured of Georgian Olympians using cross-training after a training hall session.
Part I. The Origins Of Cross-Training
When examining the history of cross-training, you have to go all the way back to the era of the Soviet Union during the 1960’s when the ‘iron curtain’ and cold-war years were occurring. At the time the Soviet Union was a powerhouse in Olympic athletics, and a key part of their success was their use of this style of training. Cross-training is a type of training that involves participating in multiple different sports or activities. This type of training can help athletes to improve their overall fitness and performance, and it can also help to prevent injuries. When the Soviet Union began to use cross-training, the rest of the world was using traditional training methods focused on single-sport specialization.
While this type of training can be effective for improving performance in a specific sport, it can also lead to overuse injuries. The Soviet coaches realized that cross-training could help to prevent injuries and improve overall fitness because athletes would not become overly reliant on using their body in one specific way. The Soviet sports scientists and coaches figured out that the overuse of these movements created overuse of specific body parts as well as unilateral and bilateral deficiencies. Thus, they began to incorporate cross-training into their athletes' training programs. This included activities such as running, swimming, and cycling. So now that we have an understanding about the origins of this training methodology, let’s explore the benefits that can come from this.
Part II. The Benefits of Cross-Training
Regardless of your age as an athlete, it is critical that you implement cross-training into your regimen. However, this may be even more vital for youth athletes in terms of their long-term development and even more importantly their long-term health outcomes. There is some research that suggests that youth athletes who become specialists in their sport are at a significantly higher risk for injury compared to their peers who cross-train in multiple sports. But apart from reducing injury outcomes, there are many performance enhancement outcomes that coaches should know about when they implement cross-training into their athlete’s development. The following are examples of some of those benefits:
Improved overall fitness: Cross-training can help to improve an athlete's cardiovascular fitness, strength, and flexibility.
Reduced risk of injury: Cross-training can help to prevent overuse injuries by giving different muscle groups a chance to rest and recover.
Improved performance: Cross-training can help athletes to improve their performance in their chosen sport by increasing their speed, power, and endurance.
Improved central nervous system functioning: cross-training teaches athletes how to use their bodies in different ways which can enhance their overall athleticism
Part III. Additional Suggestions On Cross-Training Strategies
There are a variety of strategies and protocols that athletes and coaches can implement into their training approaches. One should consider the physiological demands of the sport they are involved in but here are some basic introductory tips that can be considered for Cross-Training:
Cross-training can be done in a variety of ways. Athletes can participate in different sports, or they can do different types of exercises within a single sport.
If an athlete is involved in a sport that has lots of compression (e.g. long-distance running) try to pick exercises or sports that offer the opposite modality (e.g. instead of back squats for long-distance runners, use hip thrusters)
The best way to cross-train depends on the individual athlete's needs and goals.
Always incorporate rest & recovery days, by being flexible in training, listen to the athlete’s body.
Cross-training should be done regularly, but it is important to give the body time to rest and recover.
Cross-training can be a fun and challenging way to stay in shape and improve athletic performance.
Note To Reader:
If you are an athlete reading this segment of the TRAINING REPORT, hopefully this content was helpful! I put the Training Report together because I felt like many of the discussions on issues such as the Yips/mental blocks, strength training & other subject matter on athlete performance concepts were really missing the mark on these ideas (e.g. how trauma is the direct cause of the Yips). If you are interested in learning more, make sure to subscribe below for when I put out new content on issues related to sport psychology & athlete performance! Also, if you are looking to work with a mental performance specialist, you are in the right place! USE THIS LINK to reach out to me to see if my services are the right fit for your goals!
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