Fill the "Buckets"
When looking to optimize training for performance, I like to think of my training as filling different buckets. These buckets represent our training towards developing or maintaining certain athletic traits. Some general buckets include plyometrics, Sprints, Strength, Tendon health, Cardio, and more.
When planning out training programs for athletes and myself I look at the overall training stimulus (Practice, Competitions, Weights and athletic training) and see which buckets could use more attention to fill. For example, in my own training if I know that my track practices involve a lot of plyometrics and sprints throughout the week, then I know that those buckets are filled and I can focus the rest of my time on filling those other buckets such as strength, mobility, cardio, and strengthening my joints and tendons. This approach ensures we are doing our best to cover all areas of athleticism that will help us achieve our goals. This helps to ensure there is minimal gaps in our training and is ideal for reducing injury risk.
Cross-Training
Putting this approach into proper practice in our regular routine is the next challenge to figure out.
One of the best answers to this challenge is cross-training. Cross-training is when you bring in other sports or exercise protocols into your training routine to improve the performance of your main sport. An example of this could be a basketball athlete taking up sprinting in the summer, this will provide the athlete with many different beneficial training stimuli that can benefit the athlete when they return to their sport. Personally, as a track and field jumper, I have benefited tremendously from the addition of other sports and training into my programming. In addition to my track training I have added in swimming sessions which have improved my cardio and greatly helped my ability to recover for the next training session, I have also added in basketball training sessions as I have found them to greatly improve and maintain my overall tendon health and “bounce”.
Benefits of Cross-Training
Recovery: When we continually repeat and overuse the same movements in training we can get overuse injuries and decreased performance. Cross-training can allow us to give our body a break from these movements and fully recover.
Performance: As mentioned, Cross-training is a great way to help fill all the athletic buckets in our training and ensure we're progressing every area of our athleticism towards our goals.
Mental: Cross-training can serve as a great mental break when the daily repetitions of our training becomes monotonous and loses drive. Trying something different and new can serve as a great mental rejuvenation to pick up our training motivation.
I hope this has helped to show the benefits and how you can fill your athletic training “buckets” to reach your athletic FullPotential.
