2522: Athletic Development - Beyond Strength and Endurance by Ross Enamait on How to Improve Overall Fitness

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[00:01:25] This is Optimal Health Daily Episode 2522, Athletic Development Beyond Strength and Endurance

[00:01:42] by Ross Enamite of rostraining.com and I'm Dr. Neil Malik your host and narrator.

[00:01:48] Hey there happy middle of the week Wednesday and welcome back to Optimal Health Daily

[00:01:52] where I simply read to you from the best health and fitness blogs for free.

[00:01:57] And on Fridays I answer your questions. You can send one in by going to oldpodcast.com

[00:02:04] slash ask or just send an email to health at oldpodcast.com. Now today is Wednesday and

[00:02:13] like I do every Wednesday, I like to share a little bit of inspiration with you. So with that

[00:02:18] here we go quote we often worry about the wrong things. David McCullough.

[00:02:26] All right with that let's get right into today's post and optimize your life.

[00:02:35] Athletic Development Beyond Strength and Endurance by Ross Enamite of rostraining.com

[00:02:42] In a recent entry I stated that we currently live in what I describe as the strength and conditioning

[00:02:47] era. Young athletes have never spent so much time working to develop strength, power and endurance.

[00:02:56] Unfortunately the extra time directed towards these attributes often comes at the expense of

[00:03:01] other physical qualities. Speaking as a coach of both kids and professionals it's clear to me

[00:03:07] that well-rounded multi-sport athletes have become a rarity. There just aren't as many kids playing

[00:03:13] a variety of sports throughout the year. As a result, many athletes aren't developing the

[00:03:18] coordination that they would have in previous generations. Times have changed. I'm sure I

[00:03:25] speak for most listeners who grew up in the 1970s or 1980s by saying that we played a different

[00:03:33] sport every season. We also spent less time sitting in front of a television. As a kid there was

[00:03:40] nothing I wanted to do more than go outside to play. We played outside every day until the sun

[00:03:46] went down. Neighborhood pickup games were the norm whether it was baseball, basketball, football,

[00:03:52] soccer or whatever there were always enough kids to get a game started. Looking back I never

[00:03:59] realized that all the time I spent playing would be so critical to my athletic development.

[00:04:04] Much of my coordination was developed by playing so many sports. Each sport improved a physical

[00:04:10] quality that otherwise wouldn't have been developed as effectively. For instance,

[00:04:15] soccer improved my footwork, baseball improved my hand-eye coordination and boxing improved

[00:04:22] the coordination of my left side. I could go on and on with examples but I'm sure you get the

[00:04:27] point. Relevance to training. By now you're probably wondering how my childhood experiences are relevant

[00:04:35] to your training. To put it bluntly there is much more to athletic development than simply

[00:04:41] improving your strength or endurance. Most mainstream sports rely heavily on coordination.

[00:04:47] In other words, it won't matter how strong or enduring you are if you lack the coordination

[00:04:52] to apply those attributes effectively. As a result, it's useful to challenge your coordination with

[00:04:59] different movements, games and activities. When working to improve coordination, variety is important.

[00:05:06] Strive to be well-rounded, not a one-trick pony. It's always useful to challenge the hands,

[00:05:13] eyes and feet in different ways. Application Plenty has changed since I was playing pickup

[00:05:20] games in the street over 30 years ago. I can't just walk outside and find myself in the middle

[00:05:25] of a fierce athletic competition among friends. The world has certainly changed so our training

[00:05:31] must change as well. One way to do so is by dedicating a small block of time each day

[00:05:37] towards challenging your coordination. For example, I often include a coordination

[00:05:43] challenge as part of my warm-up. Earlier today I juggled a soccer ball for 10 minutes

[00:05:48] before my lower body strength workout. Tomorrow I will do something entirely different.

[00:05:54] Perhaps I will juggle baseballs or dribble a basketball. I'm always looking for new and

[00:05:59] different ideas. The only constant is that I dedicate time each day towards challenging my

[00:06:04] coordination. I can always find an extra 10 or 15 minutes, and while that might not sound

[00:06:11] like much it definitely adds up. It's also useful to perform conditioning exercises that

[00:06:16] will challenge and develop coordination. A few examples include jumping rope, agility ladder drills,

[00:06:23] and punching a heavy bag. Don't limit yourself to monotonous activities that can be done with your

[00:06:28] eyes closed like riding a stationary bike. Instead, condition yourself with exercises or games

[00:06:35] that will also enhance other pertinent skills. Final Thoughts

[00:06:40] Throughout this blog's history I've made a point to regularly emphasize the importance of

[00:06:45] coordination. As a coach I've seen over and over again that playing one sport isn't enough for an

[00:06:51] athlete to develop the well-rounded qualities that they will need to succeed. With that in mind,

[00:06:57] it's important that all athletes take the time to improve their coordination

[00:07:01] and all around athleticism. We can't change the fact that early specialization is becoming

[00:07:07] the norm. What we can do however is continue to develop a wide range of athletic qualities

[00:07:13] through proper supplemental training. Such training should not be limited to traditional

[00:07:18] strength and conditioning. It's also important that athletes continue to challenge qualities such as

[00:07:24] hand-eye coordination, agility, balance, and footwork. You won't need a lot of time to

[00:07:30] improve these qualities, and the work itself provides a nice change of pace from the norm.

[00:07:35] Training to improve coordination is challenging, effective, and fun. Speaking for myself,

[00:07:41] it's one of the most enjoyable parts of my routine. Give it a try, and I'm sure that you

[00:07:46] will enjoy the benefits that follow. Athletic Development, Beyond Strength and Endurance

[00:07:52] You just listened to the post titled Athletic Development, Beyond Strength and Endurance

[00:07:57] by Ross Enamite of rosstraining.com and I'll be right back with my commentary.

[00:08:12] Dr. Neal here for my commentary. To expand on Ross's point, the word fitness is more than just

[00:08:34] cardiovascular fitness meaning it's more than just heart and lung health but that's what we often

[00:08:40] think about when we hear the term fitness. Being fit is so much more than that though. It actually

[00:08:47] incorporates cardiovascular health again heart and lung health so that is part of it but also

[00:08:53] muscular strength, muscular endurance, and flexibility too. So again going back to what

[00:08:59] Ross was discussing in today's article when it comes to our overall fitness balance is key.

[00:09:06] We don't want to hyper focus on just one aspect and ignore the others. So find new methods to

[00:09:13] challenge yourself in new and fun ways maybe just try incorporating one of the things that Ross talked

[00:09:19] about in today's post. Alright that'll do it for today I hope you have a great Wednesday

[00:09:24] thank you so much for listening and I'll be back here tomorrow as usual

[00:09:28] so I'll see you there where your optimal life awaits.