Weight Training for SportsWeight training for sports comes in many forms, depending upon the purpose and who you ask. Most say that training with weights can boost your fitness level to prepare you for the demands of competition in your sport.
A well-designed program not only considers which aspects of fitness weight training can develop for competition and in which muscle groups, but should also account for improving body coordination for sport skill development as well as injury prevention.
Weight training will not help you fine tune precise skilled movements in sports, give you a better "game sense", or help you choose the best game strategies.
But training with weights can improve most of the
components of fitness
that are essential to success in sports.
In addition to free weights and machines that develop strength, medicine balls, weighted bats, and other forms of resistance can speed up sport skill development. Remember, though, that these training tools do not pattern the precise timing nor do they teach finer motor movements used in sports competition, so they should not be practiced excessively at the neglect of perfecting the sport skills themselves. Practice has to be structured to build toward, and ultimately match, every aspect of competition--the emotional and mental apects, too. Being aggressive in the weight room and mentally rehearsing sport skills when training with resistances also prepare you for competition.
Tips on Weight Training for Sports1. Make sure that lifts are executed correctly. These include full body extensions, quick foot movements in the Olympic lifts, and good technique on the bench press (see arm exercises) and squat, 2. Attack the weights with the same level of aggressiveness that you would use in sport competition. 3. As you execute weight lifting exercises, imagine that you are executing similar movements large muscle group movements in your sport. 4. For sport skills involving throwing, batting, and related movements, integrate a variety of core strength exercises in rotation (twisting), lateral flexion (side bending), and the more common flexion/extension (situp) exercises. Occasionally integrate light weighted objects. You can have confidence that you will do your best if you have prepared well for competition. Your weight training for sports can and will prepare you to perform at new levels. A well designed weight training program can make the difference between winning and losing. Believe in your program and in yourself, and keep your goals in at the forefront. Other pages under Weight Training for include: Key Weightlifting Exercises Boost Women's Sport Skills Strength and Conditioning Programs for Women's Sports Weight Lifting Routines Used By Elite Female Athletes Basketball Weight Training Women's Softball Weight Training Volleyball Weight Training Program Tips Strength and Conditioning Programs
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Sources: Magill, R.A. (2001). Motor learning: Concepts and applications (6th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. McArdle, W.D., Katch, F.I., & Katch, V.L. (2000). Essentials of exercise physiology (2nd ed.). Baltimore: Lippincott, Williams, & Wilkins. Powers, S.K. & Howley, E.T. (1990). Exercise physiology: Theory and application to fitness and performance. Dubuque, IA: Wm. C. Brown. Schmidt, R.A. & Wrisberg, C.A. (2000). Motor learning and performance: A problem-based learning approach (2nd ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
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