Dec 16, 2016Getting Specific
Strength and conditioning coaches often talk about sport-specific workouts. What do they actually mean by this term?
Mike Dewar, CSCS, USAW2, holds a Masters in Exercise Physiology from Columbia University and is currently an Assistant Coach of Strength and Conditioning at New York University. He explains that recognizing the movements involved in each sport is what drives work in the weight room. By designing workouts that strengthen the muscles and supporting muscle groups being used by an athlete during competition, coaches can do a lot to push athletes to the next level while helping them stay healthy.
“Movement is key to all athletes, especially in sports that require high amounts of tensile loading, mobility, and explosive movement,” Dewar writes. “Taking the time to address movement inadequacies and/or neglected joint actions can improve an athlete’s resilience to injury and overall movement in their sport specific exercises (squats, bench press, deadlift, clean, snatch, jerk, etc).”
One of the ways Dewar addresses the needs of different athletes is by having them do various dumbbell exercises. These are a way to build upon the core workouts that each athlete is doing for their sport.
“There are a gazillion dumbbell routines out there that coaches and athletes can design to suit the individual needs of their athletes and their goals,” he writes. “When designing a specific routine, I often opt for large compound movements with patterning not typical to the athletes main movements, to allow for greater diversity and injury resilience. Nonetheless, look to these workouts as supplementary to your core training exercises, and do not let these workouts derail the athletes core training sessions.”
