How to Train to Improve sports performance: Workout like an athlete

Whether you play a team sport like volleyball, basketball, pickleball or baseball - or you focus on individual sports like swimming, skiing or running - the fundamentals that help you excel at any of these sports are the same.  These basics are also what make you stronger and more fit to better handle everyday life as well, so these tactics aren’t limited to athletes!  Everyone can benefit from a workout program that creates more power, agility, endurance, and mobility. 

Power 

Power training increases the amount of force you can generate with your body to move a mass with speed or to say it another way, to use strength quickly.  The mass you move can be anything from a dumbbell to your own bodyweight.  Power training can help you for participating in sports and in activities of daily living.  For example, balance is a part of power training.  Balance is a big part of what can keep you from falling in your day-to-day life and helps you excel at sport you are doing. 

Start slowly with power training and work on your form.  Keep the number of sets and repetitions low and take plenty of rest between sets.   Increase your speed as you become stronger and more familiar with the moves. 

A few examples of exercises that can increase power: 

Kettlebell Swing allows your body to move a heavy weight forward to the front of your body primarily using your glute muscles.  

How to Do a Kettlebell Swing: 

1. Keep weight in your heels standing in an athletic stance.  Grip the kettlebell with both hands with your arms hanging straight down in front of you. 
2. Hinge at your hips enough for the bell to swing back between your legs. 
3. Explode your hips forward, squeezing your glute muscles, propelling the kettlebell forward until it is at shoulder height, and you are standing tall with your body rigid. 

Box jumps are a plyometric exercise great for increasing your power and athletic ability. Box jumps primarily target your fast-twitch muscle fibers responsible for explosive movements. This improves jumping ability, sprint speed, and overall athletic performance.  They also work your lower body muscles that work together to propel you onto the box, increasing strength in these areas.  Box jumps improve your coordination and balance as well.   

How to Do a Box Jump: 

1. Start with a box height that is challenging but allows for proper form. As you progress, you can increase the height. 
2. Stand facing the box with your feet shoulder-width apart. 
3. Bend your knees and hips into a quarter-squat position, swing your arms back, and then explosively jump onto the box. 
4. Land softly on the box with both feet to absorb the impact by bending your knees slightly. 
5. Carefully step down from the box, one foot at a time. 
6. Perform 3-5 sets of 5-8 repetitions. 

Squat jumps are a plyometric exercise that increase your vertical power. Squat jumps primarily target your quads, glutes, and hamstrings, enhancing your ability to generate force and power in a vertical direction.  Like squats, squat jumps strengthen your quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves, contributing to overall leg strength.  Landing softly and maintaining control requires coordination and balance. 

How to Do a Squat Jump: 

1. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart. Keep your toes slightly turned out. 
2. Lower yourself by bending your knees and pushing your hips back into a squat position. Keep your back straight and chest up. 
3. Jump explosively upward, extending your hips and swinging your arms for momentum. 
4. Land softly on both feet with your knees slightly bent, absorbing the impact. 
5. Immediately lower back into a squat position and repeat for the desired number of repetitions. 

Agility 

Speed and/or agility drills improve foot speed, coordination, change of direction, and reaction time.  Quick changes in direction and rapid movements are essential in most sports as well as in life.  Being more agile can help if you start to fall or need to move out of the way fast in your everyday life.  Agility also comes in handy in almost any sport.  Pickleball and football are just two examples. 

A few effective ways to improve agility are: 

These ladder drills involve moving quickly and precisely through a flat ladder-like arrangement of rungs on the ground. The ladder rungs are typically spaced 12-18 inches apart.  Focus on maintaining a quick and controlled rhythm as you shuffle through the ladder.  Keep your knees slightly bent and your body low to the ground for optimal balance.  Increase the pace as you become more proficient. 

Ladder Drill 

Stand at the ladder’s start and lift your knees as high as possible while stepping into each box.  Alternate your legs as you move forward through the ladder.   

Lateral Ladder Drill 

Stand to the side of the ladder and move laterally, stepping your foot into the square followed by your outside foot.  Then, bring your inside foot out of the square followed by your outside foot.  Continue this shuffle pattern throughout the ladder. 

Med Ball Overhead Throw 

1. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, facing a wall or a partner.  Hold the medicine ball above your head with both hands with your arms fully extended.   
2. Throw the ball directly overhead toward the wall or your partner.   
3. After throwing the ball, quickly prepare to catch it as it rebounds off the wall or is returned by your partner.  As soon as you catch the ball, immediately go into the next throw. 

Endurance 

Improving endurance and stamina allows athletes to keep moving for a longer period.  Think of basketball players running back and forth down the court for an entire game, they must have cardiovascular (cardio) endurance to be able to do that!  Muscular endurance is how long your muscles can exert force repeatedly or for extended periods of time.  The more cardio endurance and muscular endurance you have, the better you can climb the stairs without getting winded, run around with your kids at a park, hike to a beautiful waterfall, or go for a bike ride with friends or family.  A consistent cardio routine, including activities like running, cycling, HIIT, or swimming can help increase endurance.  Incorporate cardio exercises into your training a few days a week, along with resistance training with more time under tension (think wall sits and holding a plank for example) a few other days of the week, to build your endurance.   

Mobility 

Better mobility and flexibility enhance your range of motion, coordination and recovery.  Mobility is a joint’s ability to actively move through its full range of motion.  For example, a mobile shoulder joint will allow you to raise your arm up over your head.  Flexibility on the other hand is the ability of the soft tissues (muscles, ligaments and tendons) to passively stretch.  For example, a person with more flexibility in their tissues can reach and touch their toes more easily.   

Athletes require flexible muscles and mobile joints with good range of motion to excel at their sport.  Everyday movements like walking and reaching require them too.  Everyone can benefit from more mobility and flexibility. 

Stretching after a workout or on its own, dynamic warm-ups and full range of motion strength training can all help improve your mobility and flexibility.  This will help to reduce the risk of injuries and improve overall performance.  I wrote a previous blog post about stretching with more information. 

Rest and Recovery  

Although it’s important that the workouts are progressively challenging and training is consistent, it is equally important that rest and regeneration are programmed and planned. Rest and recovery between sets, between exercises and between workouts should be planned to avoid burnout or injury. Keep rest periods between sets and exercises to approximately 30–60 seconds, depending on your goal and fitness level. For everyone, at least one day off per week is recommended. 

Not only should you rest from your workouts, just like an athlete active recovery should also be included in your training.  This could involve things like massage, foam rolling, stretching or hydrotherapy.   

Training specific to your sport, and to your body, can be helpful.  The above aspects are those that apply to most sports and activities.  If you require more tailored training for your sport, contact a personal trainer or coach for a specialized plan.   

You don’t have to play professional sports or be an Olympian to train like an athlete!  Use these ideas to take your workouts to the next level and increase your performance in sports and everyday life.  Talk to a LivRite trainer if you have questions!