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Sticking to one type of sport or training may actually be doing you harm, rather than good. Constant repetitive movements create stresses on the same muscles and joints whilst others remain unused.
I’m not saying that if you play one game of soccer you’ll throw out your entire body and cause problems, but if you were playing professionally and performing these movements day in and day out imbalances will start to occur. For example a long distance runner can develop poor posture, posterior chain dysfunction and also more commonly hip flexor tightness over time. This same principle can be used for weight training as well.
“some people think that training hard instead of training smart is the quick fix to getting fit”
Training in a certain style for instance will affect all other aspects of your overall health. Training purely for strength will be detrimental to other aspects. For instance, performing just the power lifting movements (bench press, deadlift, and squat) will help in increasing size and strength but other areas such as conditioning and mobility can suffer if additional time isn’t spent training these areas as well. As a result, degradation of connective tissues, muscles and joints as well as injuries can occur due to imbalances in areas trained.
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We all know of the current trend with Crossfit and unfortunately this highlights the problem we’ve been discussing. The main issue here is that some people think that training hard instead of training smart is the quick fix to getting fit. When you add timed work outs with complex heavy lifts, this will of course give you results, however it also increases the risk of injury greatly (especially when new to the movements). Is it worth the risk?
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I’m not saying that all Crossfit is bad – the core principles are fantastic. Getting people out there training for functional strength is excellent, however when you add this into a competitive environment where the focus is on speed, the risk of injury increases. The pursuit of health and fitness should be something which is commended and I’m not taking that away from anyone who takes part in Crossfit, as this is a good form of exercise and there are definitely benefits to doing it. However, careful consideration needs to be made with any form of exercise, to make sure that you are diverse and train all aspects, without neglecting others.
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A holistic approach to training should always be taken to ensure a safe and effective approach to overall fitness. The key to this approach is longevity. Activities and sports which place high impact pressure on muscles, joints and connective tissues will often lead to increases in the degradation rates of these structures. Therefore, the main focus should be on technique at all times to ensure you aren’t left at the end of the day with undue wear and tear or injuries.
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Keep the training varied, change styles often, and try out a lot of different types of sport and exercise to ensure all aspects of fitness are being trained and not just training the ‘show off’ muscles. Remember, it’s never a bad thing to try something different, especially when it comes to ensuring a holistic approach to overall fitness. Just ensure that no matter what you do, you train for longevity, train smart, and train safe. The quick fix is not always the best.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text][dt_gap height=”10″ /]
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