Whether you’re hoping to make the team or you’re simply looking to use athletics to stay in shape as you get older, you stand to benefit from training like a professional athlete. Adapting a professionally structured training program to your individual goals can help you become a better athlete in whatever you pursue. With that in mind, we wanted to use today’s blog to share four ways that you can train like a professional athlete to improve your performance.
Get A Baseline
Before you chart a course for where you want to be, you need to understand where you’re at. Go for a run, lift some weights and record your efforts so that you have a baseline for your athletic ability. Determine your personal one-lift maximum or see how quickly you can run a couple miles. We can help you work towards your goals, but in order to set realistic goals and chart the right performance schedule, we need to determine a starting point.
Goal Setting With Structured Exercise
Next, set some short- and long-term goals for yourself. Are you hoping to bench press 225 pounds or run a 10K in under 45 minutes? Figure out your goals and then start a structured training program that helps you work towards them. Many athletes utilize a performance improvement program called periodization that you can apply to your own goals. It involves five stages of exercise:
- Prep Phase – The focus is on high-volume, low-intensity exercises. For example, lift smaller weights for more reps, or go for more light jogs.
- Hypertrophy Phase – Build muscle with moderate-intensity, high-volume training. Begin decreasing your reps or your distance but increase the weight or your speed.
- Strength Phase – High-intensity, low-volume phase. A couple reps at a heavier weight, or interval sprinting for example.
- Peaking Phase – Pushing for your new best with highest intensity, lowest volume. One rep at maximum weight, or pushing for your fastest mile time.
- Recovery Phase – Shifting back to low-volume, low-intensity exercise to ensure your body is fully recovered by the time your competition or goal date arrives.
Crosstraining
Many professional athletes don’t just do exercises that are specific to their sport. Most branch out to other sports or exercises that in turn help them with their main sport. It’s why you hear about football players taking ballet or yoga, as these pliability-focused activities will only help them become better athletes on the football field. Consider diving into some athletics or exercises that target muscle groups that aren’t heavily used during your sport, as this will serve to make you a more well-rounded athlete.
Connect With A Physical Therapist
Finally, most professional athletes don’t put in all this work on their own. Oftentimes they have trainers or physical therapists helping to guide their every step. In fact, we help a lot of athletes with the other three points on this list! Whether that’s baseline testing, goal setting, structured and individualized exercise or a crosstraining program, we’ll happily help you navigate these steps. We also have a number of advanced technologies on our side that can break down your athletic form or your running motion in ways imperceptible to the naked eye so that we can make the tweaks needed to make you a more efficient athlete on the move. Most pro athletes also work with professionals like physical therapists and athletic trainers to improve their performance.
So if you want to train like the pros, pick up the phone and call the team at OrthoRehab Specialists. For more information, or to book your first session, call us today at (612) 339-2041.
PT of Costa Rican National Soccer Team for 2007 World Cup in Victoria, CAN. Clinical Instructor for University of Minnesota Doctor of Physical Therapy Affiliations
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