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 One of the new buzz words in the fitness industry is cross training. I
hear everyone talk about it but few people actually do it.
Traditionally cross training is when an athlete trains in another sport
other than the one they specialize in for the purpose of developing
better skill, strength or improved conditioning. For example a boxer
may cross train by swimming in place of hitting the heavy bag, jumping
rope, working focus mitts, sparring or doing any of the activities
traditionally done in the sport of boxing.
Cross training is
useful because it breaks up the monotony of the current exercise
regiment. It can challenge the athlete with a different and new
activity bringing more excitement and interest to a long schedule of
regular training. Many sports rely on various muscle groups and very
specific types of strength or endurance for success. Swimming consists
of a lot of pulling exercise of the upper body. To maintain
muscular-skeletal balance and prevent ones body from become overly
developed in one direction cross training in a sport or activity that
involves a lot of pushing with the upper body would be a good idea.
Currently it has become popular to pick several exercises and
activities from numerous sports or disciplines and throw them all in
one workout. Designing a workout consisting of something
from Baseball, Gymnastics, Olympic Lifting, Football and Boxing could
be considered a type of cross training but understand this is
only one approach.
In reality just taking an exercise from yoga and
putting it into a workout isn't really "true" cross training. I knew
a Football coach who took a few yoga exercises and threw them into his
pre-season training sessions and called it cross training. Going some
place and actually learning and doing yoga would be a more correct
definition of cross training.
Trying to actually learn another
sport or activity and do it is cross training. Not just picking and choosing a few
exercises or movement techniques from something. For example take an athlete
who plays Football and teach them how to Box.
This athlete would not be using Boxing as the primary staple of their
conditioning but as a cross training activity they could do a few times
a week to stay in shape, maintain a blend of cardiovascular and
anaerobic conditioning and improve over all body coordination and
mechanical efficiency. While the goal is not to put this athlete in the ring as
a competitive boxer it is to use the entire sport, to go beyond just the limited scope of
picking a couple exercises from boxing.
What's
great about this type of cross training is it really breaks up
monotony and challenges the athlete with something fresh and new. One
of the best activities to use for cross training in this way is Martial Arts practice. The improvements that can be made in an athlete through
correct martial arts training are incredible. Improved coordination,
proprioception, balance and body awareness are just a few benefits on
top of many others including, endurance training and learning something
new and fun.
Martial Arts as a form of cross training is an area
wherein I am an expert. It is one of the only things that has kept me
physically active for so long and it is has become one of my favorite
things to do. Today I have earned a 3rd Degree Black Belt in Tang Soo
Do, a Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and I have been recognized as
an Advanced Trainer in the Crazy Monkey Defense Program.
The
most serious pit fall to this cross training approach is finding the
wrong coach. Having a coach who understands the fact that you are only
cross training and doesn't jeopardize your ability to perform in the
actual sport you specialize in is very important. Too often I've seen
athlete's seek out Boxing coaches only to get bruised and beaten from
their training because the coach thinks they are training another
boxer. It's very easy for a coach inexperienced in this type of
training to lose site of the fact that their purpose is to cross train
a high performance athlete who specializes in another sport entirely.
If you have any interest in using this style of cross training
correctly especially in a Martial Art like Boxing, Wrestling, Brazilian
Jiu-Jitsu and The Crazy Monkey Defense Program please consider our
Martial Arts Life Program in Carlsbad California.
Good Luck and Good Training,
Cross Training Confusion by Sam Kressin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.rotironsports.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://rotironsports.com/rot/component/option,com_contact/task,view/contact_id,1/Itemid,147/.
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