How to Train For a Specific Sport
Introduction
So, you wanna condition yourself for a sport? You’ve come to the right place, I’ll give you a rundown of the most important things!
General Conditioning
Figuring out your starting point
To know in which direction you have to go for you to reach your goals, we first have to figure out where you are right now. This is essential for choosing/creating a training plan that suits our ability and allows us to set realistic goals for ourselves.
So, how do we determine where we stand? We try things out! We always start off with the easy things and then gradually work our way up until we find a level that challenges us well.
We’ll wanna do that for three aspects that our plan should then also include: Endurance, Strength, and Mobility
Something that also plays a role in our assessment but doesn’t really need a progressive approach to figure out is our Body Composition. If we find ourselves to be under or overweight, it can very much have a big impact on the things we can do and the way we need to adapt our activity and diet!
Before we start figuring out where we are, let’s talk about how to properly warm up and why it matters!
Warmup
To warm up for calisthenics, simply follow the tutorial on the FAQ page of the website https://www.hybridcalisthenics.com/faq
If we’re talking about weightlifting, the process is pretty much the same! We want to have a bit of a general warmup to get our body into an active state, raising our heart rate and preparing us for the exercise ahead.
After that, we do our specific warmup aka some warmup sets - in weightlifting terms this usually just means reducing the weight to about 50% of what you would usually do, and gradually increasing the weight until we get to our working weight, while at the same time reducing the amount of reps we do to ensure that we’re not exhausting ourselves.
As an example:
Warmup set 1: 50% load, 8 reps
Warmup set 2: 70% load, 5 reps
Warmup set 3: 80% load, 3 reps
Warmup set 4 aka potentiation set: 90-100% load, 1-2 reps (this really helps prepare us for the weight we’re about to move)
How many warmup sets you need depends on how great the overall weight is - judge by experience and try things out in a safe manner!
After this, you’re all ready to get into your exercise! In case you have similar exercises after the one you just warmed up for, there’s a good chance you don’t need quite as much of a specific warmup anymore - and the general warmup carries over to the whole workout session either way!
Now with that out of the way, let’s get into the things to test and later improve ourselves in!
Endurance
You can absolutely already take the specific sport that you’re training for in mind here and test based on that, but as a general example let’s take jogging as it’s easily accessible by most people.
If you know you can jog, see for how long and at what pace. If you’re unsure, start by walking and jogging in short intervals instead. If Jogging causes you pain altogether then you know you have to start with walking for now, which is all okay! This isn’t the sort of test that gets graded, it’s just to figure out for yourself where you stand so that you can progress safely and efficiently! :)
Strength
Here specificity is definitely key, but having good overall strength is going to be good in most sports! This can be calisthenics, it can be weightlifting, I just want you to test yourself in different movement patterns and find your level. The main movement patterns are:
Vertical Push: Such as a Pike Pushup or an Overhead Press
Horizontal Push: Such as a Pushup or a Bench Press
Vertical Pull: Such as a Pullup or a Lat Pulldown
Horizontal Pull: Such as an Inverted Row (Aka Horizontal Pullup) or a Cable Row
Squat: Such as a Lunge or a Squat
Hip Hinge: Such as a Glute Bridge or a Deadlift variation
Core: Such as a Leg Raise or a Pallof Press
Note that there are still other motions that are possible of course, and combinations too, but these seven make up a lot of the foundation! The core is often secondarily included in other movements already, but it’s a good call to build it up to be strong in separation too!
The Hybrid Routine will help guide you through some of these so that alone can give you a pretty good idea!
Mobility
Again, specificity will certainly be most important when considering which types of mobility you need to excel in your sport. A swimmer for example needs much better shoulder mobility than a runner or cycler would. But nevertheless, I’ll guide you through some major patterns to test yourself through!
Overhead Mobility: Such as Wall Angels or Deadhangs
Hip Rotation Mobility: Such as a 90-90 Stretch or a Pigeon Pose
Hip Flexor Mobility: Such as a Deep Lunge or Back Bridge
Pike Mobility: Such as a Jefferson Curl or a Seated Leg Raise
Spinal Extension Mobility: Such as a Back Bridge or a Cat-Cow
Spinal Rotation Mobility: Such as Twists or a Deep Squat with Reach
That yet again doesn’t cover everything that’s possible, but it does cover many important parts! The exercises listed aren’t to be seen as standards to reach (as really they’re very adaptable to your own level) but just as exercises to represent these movements and positions.
So - now that we’ve figured out where we stand, we basically already have the way ahead laid out for us.
In terms of all 3 aspects, there’s usually still much room left to grow - but we should consider what and how much of it we actually need since realistically we only have so much time and energy to productively train and recover. So setting priorities there is key and including something called Periodization can be very valuable.
What is Periodization?
Essentially it’s splitting up your training into different parts with differing focal points. We can be all technical and really split things up into:
Microcycles: This is essentially our weekly split, our short-term focus
Mesocycles: Phases of 1-3 months, focusing on our medium-term goals
Macrocycles: Keeping the long-term goals in mind, preparing you for the sport/event you’ll participate in, phases ranging anywhere from 4 months to 4 years
But let’s just focus on the main idea of it - focusing on some aspects more than others for a period of time, and then switching the focus to something else.
So let’s say cardio is really a weak point for you right now but you don’t have the time to do a lot of cardio, strength training, and mobility training all at once. What you’d then do is to focus on cardio - doing it more frequently; spending more time and energy on it, and cutting back on the other aspects of your training (strength and mobility) for the time being. Not so much that they deteriorate though - they should still be making progress or at the very least be maintained, just not at the fastest pace they could be!
That same principle can then also be applied to the other aspects of your fitness of course.
So, as you can see - periodisation can be a useful tool to work around a time or energy-limited environment but it also has further uses, which we’ll talk about in the Sport-Specific Conditioning aspect of this blog!
On the note of energy, our recovery of course also plays a huge role in this whole process - so let’s talk about that!
Diet and Recovery
Diet is the more complex aspect of this conversation, so let’s take care of sleep and lifestyle first!
Sleep: Aim to get around 7-9 hours of good quality sleep a night
Lifestyle: Having some overall activity in our lives is certainly very good and healthy, but being too active on a day-to-day basis would of course also cost a lot of energy and may require additional recovery, so keep that in mind. Additionally, living a relatively stress-free life is also very beneficial when it comes to performing and recovering, so adjusting your life to allow them when possible is certainly worthwhile!
In terms of diet, our body composition plays a big role in what direction to take things, but there are some factors that stay true for pretty much everyone, so let’s tackle those first:
Protein: To best build and maintain muscle and strength, we want to get above 0.7g of protein/lbs of bodyweight per day (or about 1.5g/kg). Splitting that protein up over 3-5 times a day is best, but the overall protein amount is most important
Food Choices: I highly recommend you to individualize your diet to suit you in terms of what’s financially and regionally available, as well as focusing on eating food that you actually enjoy, keeping your diet sustainable and easy to adhere to. Nevertheless, it’s a good bet to focus on eating mostly whole, not overly processed food, which provides you with all the necessary nutrients you need in your day. This will help your performance, keep you satiated, and is vital to your health! :)
Hydration: While how much you drink heavily depends on factors such as the climate you live in as well as your activity level, as a baseline we should aim to drink at least 30-35ml/kg of bodyweight a day (or about 14-16ml/lbs)
Now in regards to body composition, everything we’ve talked about before still applies, we want regular training, a good amount of protein, sleep, and to be well-hydrated, but we have to additionally differentiate between 3 different goals and address them accordingly:
Cutting: This is the process of losing weight, with the specific goal of losing fat in mind. To do this, we usually want to be in a caloric deficit of around 250-500 calories a day, losing weight at a rate of 0.25-0.5kg per week (or around 0.5-1lbs)
Maintaining/Recomping: This is the process of maintaining the same weight while lowering our body’s ratio of bodyfat to muscle tissue. To do this, we simply eat our maintenance calories each day
Bulking: This is the process of gaining weight, with the specific goal of building muscle as effectively as we can. To do this, we usually want to be in a caloric surplus of around 200-300 calories a day, gaining weight at a rate of 0.2-0.3kg per week (or around 0.4-0.6lbs)
Just like we go through different phases with different focal points of training with periodization, we do the same with these body composition modalities. To most quickly build muscle and strength while keeping our bodyfat percentage in check, we typically cycle between bulking and cutting phases. Though, a maintenance phase can be useful to act as a sort of break, or to simply maintain the weight you have and slightly improve your overall composition if you’re close to a sports event.
No matter if we’re thinking about training or diet, it’s always very important to do things consistently to see our best results - so, be sure to create or choose a plan that’s sustainable for you and won’t cause you to quit or get injured midway.
Recovery Training
If you’re looking to help your recovery along even more - this is a great way to go! Let’s cover some of the different methods you can use and talk about how they can help:
Low-Intensity Cardio: While cardio itself can certainly be exhausting when it’s done at a low enough intensity - a relaxed pace so to say, it encourages blood flow and thus helps our body get nutrients to our muscles, joints and connective tissues, helping them recover faster. Something like walking or light jogging can do the trick!
Light Stretching and Foam Rolling: This can help us loosen up our muscles a bit, encourage blood flow, and help us relax - that relaxation does yet again enhance our recovery too - on that same note, Active or Passive Meditation can benefit us too
Now that we’ve covered all the basic modalities, let’s dive a bit deeper into more sport-specific things!
Sport-Specific Conditioning
We've already covered some sport-specific things in terms of mobility and strength, but there is more to unpack to really unleash our full potential when it comes to performing in our sports! Speed, Power, and Agility training is best done at the beginning of a training session, whereas Muscular Endurance training can be done towards the end - as the loads are rather low and it’s okay if we’re a bit exhausted already!
Speed: Also known as how fast you can go from point A to point B, whether that’s running, swimming, or something like ice hockey! It’s often practised by doing sprints in the given discipline, with close attention to proper technique and best paired with specific technique work. Overall strength and power in the muscles required is of course also very valuable!
Power: Also known as explosive strength, whether that’s jumping, throwing, or lifting something! It’s often practised by doing exactly that; things like box jumps, medicine ball throws or Olympic lifts! Good technique is yet again key of course, and the focus is on making the movements as explosive as possible, so don’t do it until you’re too fatigued to do so!
Agility: Also known as your ability to quickly change direction, whether that’s dodging your opponents in a match, or quickly jumping to the side to catch a ball. This is often practiced by things such as ladder drills or cone drills, changing directions with varying movements!
Muscular Endurance: Also known as your muscle’s ability to produce force over a long period of time or for many repetitions, whether that’s in rowing, running, or swimming! This is practised simply by doing many repetitions, gradually increasing the amount or decreasing the rest time as you get better!
Something else that I further want to touch upon and have mentioned before when talking about periodization, was structuring your phases in a way that they build upon each other and lead to a peak of a specific performance for an upcoming sports event. As an example, let’s talk about powerlifting:
Hypertrophy Phase: In this phase, we focus on building up the muscles that are needed in our movements, without necessarily doing the movements themselves. Different versions such as a dumbbell bench press instead of a barbell bench press, or a stiff-legged deadlift instead of a Deadlift, sticking mostly in the range of 5-10 reps for our main movements
Strength Phase: In this phase we focus on getting the newly built muscle to be as strong as possible in our specific movements, sticking mostly in the range of 3-6 reps for our main movements
Peaking Phase: In this phase we focus on preparing ourselves for performing our peak attempts while also keeping our fatigue lower so that we’re in our best condition for the competition, sticking mostly in the range of 1-3 reps for our main movements
This concept can of course be applied to many other disciplines as well! By doing so, we can shift the focal point and bring diversity to the stresses we put on our bodies. Additionally, it is possible to add bits and pieces of other activities to keep us mentally engaged and a bit more diversified.
Cross-Training
As already teased above, cross-training simply means adding some other activities into your training plan that aren’t directly the training you would usually do to get better at your sport. This can be a functional replacement such as swimming or cycling at times to get better endurance to support your running without the same strain, or it can be something pretty much unrelated, simply to stay motivated and enjoy movement in a different way!
Now of course, how much of this we can add depends on how much our plan already encompasses, how close to a competition we are, and how serious we are about getting our best sports results! The more advanced you get, the more you tend to have to specialize.
This can also serve to be complementary to your usual sport - if for example, you pair cycling with something like yoga, you can more easily upkeep your mobility and strength, without needing to dedicate quite as much specific exercise to it. This tends to be a better option if you’re not quite as advanced yet, as the results you get are more vague than ones you can get with very targeted exercise for your situation!
Nevertheless, it can certainly be a mental benefit, which is a very important aspect to consider!
The Mental Aspect
Whether it’s our motivation to keep us consistent, or our focus during a sports performance, the mental aspect is a vital aspect in our training success.
Apart from everything that’s already been touched on in this blog, I’d like to give some attention to the importance of training feedback, managing and meeting goals, relaxation and visualisation techniques, as well as the importance of focus!
Goals and Performance Feedback: Setting realistic short-term and long-term goals can help us set the right expectations and help us see that we’re making progress when we then train well and achieve those milestones, this is motivating and builds confidence!
Relaxation Techniques: Staying relaxed is important both during and outside of events. Engaging in breathing and mindful practices outside of events not only aids our recovery and well-being but also helps us stay composed and attentive during an event!
Visualisation: Envisioning ourselves performing and succeeding in our event before the fact can help us feel more confident and prepared. If you’ve already gone through it in your mind, it’ll be easier to do it again once it comes down to it!
Focus: All of the above impact our ability to focus during training and during events, it can also be useful to simply consciously redirect our focus towards our practice if we ever notice it fleeting - this will make it much easier to do so in case we run into the same issue during a competition!
With all that covered, I want to emphasise that you really don’t have to do all of this on your own. As a matter of fact, having a coach to help you along can make a huge difference in how quickly you progress and how well you perform, both in sports and just in general fitness. Most professional athletes have multiple coaches with different specialities backing them up!
If you happen to be looking for a non-sport-specific coach, Chrys and I could maybe help you out! You can find us over at https://www.hybridcalisthenics.com/trainers
If you want general questions, feel free to ask us at https://support.hybridcalisthenics.com/
Conclusion
General conditioning lays the foundation for every athlete and should never be neglected, but specific conditioning is non-negotiable when it comes to refining our technique and becoming our best at our chosen sport.
And not just our training itself, but also everything we do outside of it affects our performance quite significantly - primarily our diet, sleep, and mental state, so be sure to take good care of those aspects if you want to stay healthy and perform at your highest level!
