I never really understood the idea of sport-specific training. Am I supposed to tell my athletes that I’m going to train them for one sport only? As a strength and conditioning coach at the University of Missouri, I work with athletes from many different sports. The fact of the matter is all of the programs I write for these athletes are relatively similar. In my mind, sport specificity should be left to the sport coaches themselves. Unless the athlete is a powerlifter or an Olympic weightlifter, we need to think of strength training as GPP for the athlete. Specific movements should be incorporated into movement training sessions, but strength training sessions should be largely geared toward building general, total body strength.
In this article, I’m going to discuss some training components that should be in every athlete’s program, regardless of sport. I’ve learned to embrace the term “sport general training.” This category includes the things all athletes should be able to do.
For the sake of time, can we all agree that almost all athletes should do some form of squats, pulls, presses, posterior chain work, and dynamic work? Those should be cornerstones in any athlete’s program. So let’s stick to the things that may get overlooked.
Train the athletic position
This may be the most overlooked aspect of training. The athletic position is the foundation of all athletic movement. If you can get into this position, you are already better on the court or field. The problem is I’ve seen so many athletes who can’t achieve a good athletic position. The next time you train your athletes pay attention to this because it’s very subtle.
In this position, stability is key. This means we have to have a wide base and low center of gravity. To ensure you have a wide base, cue the athletes to have their knees inside their feet and their hips inside their knees. Their chest should be over their knees with good posture (this will be harder for them than you think), and their weight should be on the balls of the feet. This doesn’t mean the heels are off the ground. The heels of their shoes should actually still be on the ground, but their weight is on the balls of their feet.
Getting your athlete into this position may be more difficult than you first think. Many athletes have a problem getting their back tight and knees bent. Instead, they get into a stiff-legged, forward leaning position. The key is repetition. Force them into this position and have them hold it. From there, work on one step at a time at different angles. The key is to push off for one step and quickly return to this position. When one step is mastered, go to two, three, and so on.
Once they’re able to achieve this position fairly easily, challenge their stability. To do this, use some sort of bungee cord. Have a partner pull them at different angles and see how they react.
If you can teach your athlete to be comfortable in this position, lateral movement will come much easier to them. After all, this position is the cornerstone of all movement, from the defensive position in basketball to a middle infielder in baseball. If your athletes learn this, they will certainly be able to carry it over to their sport.
True single leg squatting
When I first started training as an athlete, I couldn’t help but think that it only makes sense to squat on one leg. As it turns out, it was much more important than I ever thought. Forget stability of the ankle (which it does improve) or stability of the knee (which it also improves). Single leg training is the absolute best way to create balance within the hip. If you don’t know where your glute medius is and you’ve never done true single leg squats, kill two birds with one stone. Add them to your workout, and I promise you’ll know where your glute medius is the next day.
The reason is femoral control. Most athletes lack control of their femur, which is one of the leading causes of chronic knee pain. If you don’t believe me, test your athletes. Have them attempt a single leg squat using their problematic leg. Nine times out of ten, their knee will almost immediately fall in or shake back and forth due to lack of control. This is trainable, but it takes time. There have been several articles written on single leg squats, but this exercise is very difficult to do. Most athletes won’t be able to right away.
Here’s the progression we use at the University of Missouri:
- Band around the knees on to an 18-inch bench
- On to an 18-inch bench with no band
- On to a 15-inch bench (stand on plate)
- Standing on a box, no bench, down to parallel
- Add weight using vests
When we get to the more difficult ends of the spectrum, we prefer to stand on a box instead of doing regular piston squats on the ground. This is because we deal with many taller athletes. Having them hold both feet off the ground causes a lot of back trouble. As for the weight the athlete is holding in front of him, it’s there for counterbalance and allows the athlete to achieve a more upright posture. In my experience, athletes above 200 lbs need about 20 lbs out in front of them to make it a little easier while athletes under 200 lbs need only about 10 lbs.
Single leg landings
Once again, I come back to single leg training. The fact is when you get on one leg everything changes. The body responds differently. Again, this is something most athletes will have a harder time with than you think.
First, the athletes have to be able to get into a single leg athletic position:
From there, have them hop in place. How high they get isn’t important. The emphasis is the landing. The landing should be silent and smooth. Watch their knee as they sink back into the athletic position. Does it fall in or shake? Watch their hips. Do they stay square or do they spin as they land? Both of these are signs of a lack of pelvic and femoral control at the hip. This lack of control will leave your athletes predisposed to pathologies of the pelvis and knee.
Once the athletes master the single leg hop, take them to box hops on a six-inch box. Have them begin to hop three ways—linearly, medially, and laterally. All landing rules apply. Watch again how things change when you start moving from side to side.
Linear single leg box hop
Medial single leg box hop
Lateral single leg box hop
Finally do the same three-way hops over a small six-inch hurdle. When the athletes master this, they’re ready for single leg plyometric progressions.
Linear hurdle hops
Medial hurdle hops
Lateral hurdle hops
What will shock you about these exercises is what becomes sore after they’re done. Ask any athlete and he’ll tell you that his glutes are on fire. Much has been talked of recently about glute activation. Remember, the glutes not only create hip extension and abduction, but they also resist adduction (glute medius), internal rotation (glute maximus), external rotation (glute medius), and lateral hip tilt (glute medius once again). This is a sure fire way to fire up the glutes.
Ab bracing progressions
In the past, abdominal bracing progressions have been mainly used in physical therapy settings. Recently, however, strength coaches have found how useful these progressions could be. There is no doubt that core activation levels are highest when the axial skeleton is loaded as in squat and pull variations. However, abdominal bracing progressions are a great tool in reprogramming normal abdominal functions.
I’ve found that Shirley Sahrmann’s, Core Progression, is useful not only for patients with back pain but for all my athletes as part of a core activation warm up. I recently took some of my athletes through this progression and, though I didn’t put it together at the time, their knee pain subsided, their shoulder pain was relieved, and their movement patterns looked cleaner. I know that’s pretty subjective, but the point is by retraining the core and reestablishing some natural function, we were able to clean up a lot of very subtle movement issues. I couldn’t help but think why I don’t do this with everyone? While it may be elementary for some, it will challenge others and it definitely won’t hurt anyone. I encourage you to look up some form of abdominal bracing progressions. I prefer the use of Sahrmann’s Core Progression, but there are other similar styles out there.