The Top 5 Reasons To Be STRONG
This is a HUGE deal, so pay attention! Especially if you don’t ‘believe’ in the benefits of resistance training.
SO many times I’ve been into gyms, and worked within clubs, and seen athletes training for their sport using the wrong methods!
I’d typically see bodybuilding style training…or training for ‘the pump’…which will NOT benefit sports performance as much as training for strength.
STRENGTH training is the basis of any good strength and conditioning program and will enable you to turn that strength into superior performance in competition.
Training to get stronger makes you a BADASS!
Here are my top 5 reasons to be strong:
1) Greater Endurance: If you need endurance in your sport you gotta be strong! (This means football and rugby players too!)
Gains in strength in the RELEVANT muscles for your sport will improve movement efficiency and therefore expend less energy. For example, lets say you have 80 units of strength in your body, and to go for a run this requires 40 units or 50% of your strength levels, imagine how much faster you would be if you increased strength to 100 units….now the 40 units required to go on a run would represent 60% of your strength. You’ll go faster, for longer…..but you still need to do endurance training too - just in case you started dreaming ;)
2) Increased Lean Muscle: There is a direct relation between a strong muscle and a big muscle. The stronger you are, the bigger your muscles will be. Useful for contact sports! So train for strength and the muscle and weight gains will come too. You can also work harder during fat loss circuits/complexes/sprints because during the same time period each week you can move MORE WEIGHT! Increasing the density of a workout (more work in the same or less time) is the key to fat loss.
3) Increased Speed: It has been said many, many times…but in sport, SPEED KILLS. If you’re fast as lightning you can dominate at sports!
Speed is related to strength DIRECTLY, in the earlier stages of strength training you don’t even have to train for speed to get faster! If your bodyweight remains the same and your muscles get stronger, you can move faster. It’s as simple as that!
4) Greater Confidence: If you can lift twice as much as your opponent, and you flip tyres, throw heavy sandbags about and drag sleds here, there and everywhere, AND you know that you’re stronger than 100% of people you face…YOU are going to have the upper hand in competition. Big, BIG advantage.
5) Injury Prevention: EVERY athlete needs to stay healthy throughout the season, you can’t win if you’re not competing! Getting stronger means that the usual wear and tear of your sport takes less of a toll on your body, and YOU will be better conditioned for any unexpected impact or collision. Throw in some stretching too and your strong and flexible muscles will be indestructible!
There you go, still think you can skip the weights?! Well you can’t! Winners get strong.
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Anthony Shaw
Raw Strength