Athletic training is not something every trainer is familiar with, but it is extremely important because it focuses on performance. We as humans perform a task every day: going for a walk, taking a shower etc. If you can think like an athletic trainer, you can help clients avoid issues like knee pain, carpel tunnel and plantar fasciitis. Why? Because athletic trainers don’t just make people sweat, they have a clear purpose: to perform a certain task at your highest potential.
1. BODYWEIGHT
Always start with the basics
The body finds the path of least resistance so it doesn’t quite matter if you are starting with a seasoned athlete or a newbie, everyone needs help finding the right path for their anatomy. So starting with the bodyweight basics: squats, lunges and planks and moving to: weighted back squat, deadlift and press. All of these are extremely beneficial for any athlete and regular person. These movements are compound and transferable to most things in life. They are push/pull movements that equally balance out the body.
2. CORE HAMMER and SYN RINGS
Unequally weighted tools create resistance alongside balance.
Athletes are great performers because they can control their neuromuscular movements. They can start and stop, transfer and generate power faster than the average person. So how to build on this? Use tools like the Core Hammer. Practice swinging with that rather than a regular racquet if you’re training a tennis player. Adding weight increases the load on their nervous system pushing them to have faster and more controlled reaction times.
3. TABATA training
Explosive power has to be practiced in tandem to muscle growth.
Fast movement, low volume, low reps and proper rest equals explosive athlete. Athletes need fast twitch muscles and to constantly push their threshold of fatigue so enter TABATA training. Short and fast intervals of 20 seconds work with a 10 second rest in between, repeat 8 rounds. A great exercise would be sprints, of course. Athletes crush their goals with this!
4. MEDICINE BALLS
Push, pull, carry, and throw.
Athletes perform best in big open spaces where they can throw things as far as they are capable. It’s even better when they have to use extra strength to push a ball that’s much heavier than what they would be playing with in a game. If they can control a weighted ball, they can control anything. Just be sure to couple movements like pushing with pulling. They need a balance. Shocking the nervous system allows it to grow strong faster.
All of the tools above transfer to normal people that are not exceptional athletes, but what normal people do in a gym doesn’t always transfer to an athlete. They are not created equally. As a trainer you’ll be more efficient and get results faster if you put purpose behind movement!