‘Sport-Specific’ vs. Sport Physiology
The term ‘sport-specific’ is a common description used by personal trainers in an attempt to specify certain exercise-selections for athletes. The majority of these exercises, and the extent to which the programming actually improves athletic performance, attempt to mimic the movement(s) in the athlete’s given sport. This typically amounts to the trainers using the exact sport-movements with added weight (load) or some form of resistance. This practice doesn’t necessarily illicit negative effects for the athletes, but it will become negative if it is the only aspect of the trainer’s programming that makes it ‘sport-specific’. Many personal trainers attempt to train athletes without understanding (or correctly programming) Sport Physiology. Exercise Science, Anatomy, Bodybuilding, Fitness, etc. are all modes of certification and study for trainers, but none are specific and exclusive to athletic preparation.
A good physical preparation coach understands (and programs accordingly) Sport Physiology, which is the specific programming of preparation for an athlete, including two primary components of the given sport structure, Bio-Mechanics and Bio-Energetics. Bio-Mechanics: individual position-specific bio-mechanics/movements and the technical skill required to play the sport; Bio-Energetics: specific energy systems utilized (and which need to be trained) in each sport and position within that sport. Age, gender, training experience, playing experience, and body type (long levers, short levers, hip-width, shoulder-width, etc.) are all individually specific criteria that will determine the appropriate programming to prepare the athlete. Maturity, emotional and mental interest/seriousness, focus, and stress need to also be considered when programming, especially for younger athletes.
The primary function of physical preparation (and a physical preparation coach) is to aid in and accelerate the injury-prevention process. This is where the generic personal trainer’s approach to programming exercises that mimic the exact movement of the athletes’ sport skill can become a negative approach. Athletes spend the majority of the time in their sport executing these specific skill movements, so adding ‘x’
number of reps that mimic that skill in the gym can lead to serious imbalance, joint instability, and thus, injury. A good physical preparation coach will understand and recognize the movements that oppose the primary-movers involved in the sport-skill, as well as the
secondary-movers involved. The opposing musculature of joints can become injured or ‘shut-down’ as a result of under-trained weakness, or a result of the primary muscles being tight from overuse. A larger emphasis needs to be placed on the opposing muscles and movements, rather than simply mimicking the primary movements and training the muscles used to execute the sport-skill. This is very commonly
lacking in these ‘sport-specific’ training programs.
Personal Trainers offer ‘sport-specific’ training for multiple reasons. Some may have been athletes, they may see it as a high revenue-producing aspect of their business, or they may just be trying to offer everything to please all potential clients. Sport Physiology is a
very specific science that goes into preparing athletes for their selected sport, and thus it should be the ONLY method used as the basis for working with competitive athletes in the private training sector. Personal Trainers who use generic programs or use gimmick equipment/movements and call them ‘sport-specific’ just because they happen to be working with a competitive athlete are doing a great disservice to these young athletes that can lead to serious injury that may not be repairable.
-Bryan-
