Is your child an athlete playing sports at a recreational level or elite level but do not participate in any off sport training? Whatever sports your child is playing hockey, soccer, basketball, baseball, football, gymnastics, swimming, etc. it is important to cross train.
What does cross training mean? I’m going to dive into the world of cross training and the importance of dryland training in this blog.
We are all aware that when we sign our child up for a sport that they require the basic skill set to either know how to skate, swim, dribble a ball, but what if there was more you could do to make your child, faster, stronger, and more effective in their sport.
Well there is and it’s called dryland training!
Dryland training is one of the fasted growing training methods today for professional and amateur athletes. This type of training takes place usually in a fitness facility, school gym or outdoors, and it focuses on the fundamentals of fitness for the entire body. These areas include speed, core strength, agility, endurance, explosive power, strength training and overall conditioning. Right about now you’re probably saying well when my child plays his/her sport don’t they train there? The answer is……yes and no.
For example let’s take a long distance runner as an example, they focus on their cardio, stride patterns, endurance and speed, but by running you’re only working a select few muscle groups. Now imagine your child using all of their muscle groups, gaining strength, power, and agility, in their entire body. A full unit of muscles is more effective than 2 or 3 muscles doing all the work.
Now I want you to take another aspect into consideration, injuries. We all know that when you use one thing over and over eventually it breaks down, by training the entire body you are able to rely on other muscles to help the main ones that are working, making it a much more cohesive machine.
Now you’re probably thinking wow this sounds like it’s only for an elite athlete and it’s not it is for everyone and anyone. Dryland training can be fun and challenging, it offers your child a much different scenery then the one they see every week while participating there sport, and challenges their full body not just the ones they use in their sport. It can also be a great way for physical activity for those who are not active or playing a sport. Dryland training is an excellent way to get your overall fitness levels up and further enhance our overall health.
After all wouldn’t you rather drive your car with four wheels rather than two?
Remember folks exercise can and should be fun. Do your research check out the gyms and their trainers and certification. When dryland is used by athletes it is the quickest way for them to reach that next level!
Stay fit stay healthy! It’s that simple!
Sue Forberg-Director H2T Elite Dryland Training Inc. www.H2Tdryland.com