Improving performance vs. going to the gym
Do you run, play basketball or engage in any other activity you view as your main sport? Do you also go to the gym for supplementary training? Have you ever wondered how the things you do at the gym could actually benefit your performance in your main sport?
When examining the training plans of fitness enthusiasts and sometimes even professional athletes, you will naturally come across the term "supplementary training". Supplementary training refers to training done alongside the main sport or activity, and the idea is that through supplementary training, for example the following benefits can be achieved:
- • Improved performance in your sport
- • Better physical fitness (especially endurance)
- • Icreased strength levels
- • Increased mobility
- • Injury prevention
However, very often the desired benefits of supplementary training are not achieved in the main sport. For example, the vigorous bench pressing perceived as supplementary training has caused a nagging shoulder causing hindered performance. Barbell back squats are a great movement, but if they cause your lower back to be sore for days, I'd suggest to try out something else instead. "No pain, no gain" is not the best mentality for any training, let alone supplementary training for another sport. The worst outcome of supplementary training is, of course, injury and time off from your main acitivity.
Supplementary training should, as the name suggests, be supplementary and support performance in the main sport. Supplementary training should not reduce the number of good and productive training days, but rather the opposite. How do you know how to do supplementary training so that it is beneficial for the main sport?
Supplementary training should NOT cause the following:
- • Pain and injuries
- • Feeling tired when training the main sport
- • Impaired performance in the main sport
- • Overall overexertion
- • Stress (having to run 10 km in the morning to be able to work for 10 hours and train hard in the evening!)
How should you plan your supplementary training so that it benefits your main sport?
Below are some ideas that can be used as a starting point:
- • Analysis of your sport (what kind of movement is required in the sport?)
- • Current fitness level (which qualities are at a good level and where do you have the most room for improvement?)
- • Current and previous injuries (rehabilitation, injury prevention and taking them into account as a part of supplementary training)
- • How much time is available for supplementary training
- • What kind of supplementary training do you enjoy? (Bodyweight training at home, lifting weights at the gym, working alone or with a trainer, etc.)
Written by Motivus' head coach Joni Stenholm. Joni holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has over 10 years of experience in personal training.