Ask yourself why you go to the gym or workout in general. I’m guessing the answers running through most of your heads is either to drop so bodyfat/weight and become stronger or to perform better by running faster and staying injury free during your beer league softball season or mens league hockey season. So if your goal is to be leaner and stronger why wouldn’t you train like an athlete? Last time I checked, athletes sport some of the strongest and leanest physiques around. If your goal is to perform better in certain athletic settings (or in general) and stay healthy while doing so, why wouldn’t you train like an athlete? Get where I’m going with this?

Maria Sharapova trains like an athlete

That begs the question, how exactly does an athlete train? Obviously it depends on the sport, but one thing I can guarantee you is that they don’t train like a bodybuilder and have a “shoulder day” or a “chest and triceps” day. Bodybuilders tend to perform single joint exercises that target a specific muscle like doing a leg extension to target the quads or a lying hamstring curl to target the hamstrings. Athletes on the other hand train the body as an entire unit, not single muscles. When we are out on the field, ice, court, or living our everyday life, our bodies function as an entire unit working together, so why on earth would you train your body in any other way?

For further evidence, step into any strength and conditioning center at a college or university and then go back to your normal gym. You’ll be quick to notice that the athletes in the strength and conditioning center will have more aesthetically pleasing, leaner, and more powerful looking bodies than the normal gym goers and this isn’t because it they work harder…they work smarter. Athletes train movement patterns, not specific muscles.

You won't catch UFC fighter Nate Marquardt doing leg extensions

It should also be noted that athletes train with heavy weights. When you stepped into that strength and conditioning center I’ll bet you didn’t see any of the athletes doing high reps on many exercises, if any. For example, if an athlete is performing the bench press, they’ll perform the movement in the 3-6 rep range on a typical training day, not the 10-15 rep sets that you’ll see at your local gym (I’m talking to you ladies). Moral of the story, TRAIN HEAVY!  

Furthermore, athletes are known to incorporate soft tissue work either before or after a training session. But before you get all worked up and claim that you can’t afford soft tissue work (massage) there is a very simple way of getting soft tissue work via a foam roller. Athletes will foam roll, working out any trigger points (areas of the muscle that are sore/tender) for 5-10 minutes on a daily basis. In my opinion, it probably doesn’t make much of a difference whether you foam roll prior to working out, after working out, or while watching your favorite television sitcom at night just as long as you allocate that 5-10 minutes of tissue work at some point during the day.

University of California Pole Vaulter Allison Stokke trains heavy

The final ingredient that athletes use is conditioning. However, an athletes conditioning program looks nothing like the typical gym goers cardio program. Chances are you won’t catch any athletes on an elliptical or treadmill for an extended period of time performing “traditional” cardio. What you will see is an athlete performing interval training, short bouts of high intensity exercise followed by bouts of lower intensity exercise, which only makes sense when you think about it. Lets look at a normal football game or tennis match. During both events the athlete goes all out for a short period of time (~6-8 seconds in football, ~10-12 seconds in tennis) followed by a longer period of rest (~45 seconds to a minute). With that, why would an athlete perform longer duration of “traditional” cardio, it doesn’t translate to the performance needs of their sports? They wouldn’t and they don’t. This form of conditioning trains the athlete from a cardiovascular perspective as well as producing a lean, muscular physique it a shorter period of time, making it ideal for everyone. For further information on this subject check out my previous post of LSD cardio.

Terrell Owens performs intervals

Putting it all Together

Here is a sample 4 day program that would be ideal for anyone looking to build a leaner, stronger, injury proof, athletic body.

Day One & Three

Foam Roll & Dynamic Warm Up (~15 minutes)

Strength Training (~45 minutes) performing:

• Hip dominant exercise ( 3 sets of 3-5 reps)
• Horizontal pressing exercise (3 sets of 3-5 reps)
• Horizontal pulling exercise ( 3 sets of 3-5 reps)
• Core exercise

Conditioning (~15 minutes)

Traditional Static Stretching (~10 minutes)

NBA star Dwight Howard trains to maximize athletic performance

 

Day Two & Four

Foam Roll & Dynamic Warm Up

Strength Training (~45 minutes) performing:

• Quad dominant exercise (3 sets of 3-5 reps)
• Vertical pressing exercise (3 sets of 3-5 reps)
• Vertical pulling exercise (3 sets of 3-5 reps)
• Core exercise

Conditioning (~15 minutes)

Traditional Static Stretching (~10 minutes)

Now get out there and train like an athlete!