Imagine walking onto a playing field and knowing that no matter what sport you’re about to play, within 5 minutes of learning the basic skills, you are going to dominate the competition!
Building general strength, interconnectivity, mastering basic movements, learning to move well in all directions, strengthening your core, and developing your conditioning will make you good at any sport that you try.
Getting Strong
Let’s talk about developing general strength. Strength is a skill therefore, in order to get strong, we need to become skilled at the movements we want to get strong at.
For the purpose of general strength, there are 6 movement patterns to strengthen for athletes.
This work, “6 Best Exercises to Get Strong” is a derivative of “Dumbbell shoulder press 1” by Everkinetic used under CC BY-SA 3.0, “Barbell dead lifts 2” by Everkinetic used under CC BY-SA 3.0, “Pull ups 2” by Everkinetic used under CC BY-SA 3.0, “Squat-to-bench-2” by Everkinetic used under CC BY-SA 3.0, “Push ups 2” by Everkinetic used under CC BY-SA 3.0, “T-bar-row-2” by Everkinetic used under CC BY-SA 3.0.
So how strong do you need to get at each movement?
Well, there is no true answer to this question, but for general purposes, I like to aim for the goals of a 1.5x bodyweight on squats, 2x bodyweight on deadlifts, 1x bodyweight, 0.75 -1x bodyweight on horizontal pulls and vertical presses, and ≥ 10-20 repetitions on pullups and pushups.
Most people who train properly and consistently can achieve most of these goals within one year.
Achieving these goals is sure to lead to increased ability to produce force aka strength, increased muscle mass, and if done right, decreased risk of injury while playing sports.
Interconnectivity
Okay, now it’s time to work on the areas that traditional weightlifting doesn’t help with as much such as the muscles around the hips, ankles, and scapula.
To build these muscles and connect them to the rest of the body, daily movement practices such as Functional Range Conditioning (FRC) are the answer I have found.
FRC can make you mobile and strong in full ranges of motion, which can help to reduce your risk of injury and increase your ability to produce high amounts of force.
Start off by committing to a week of FRC-type training using videos from certified practitioners such as Ian Markow, like the one below and you won’t regret it!
Master The Basic Human Movements
Running, jumping, and throwing are three skills that unlike most other animals, a healthy human body is uniquely designed to do.
For the purposes of being good at any sport, a large focus should be put on getting good at running, jumping, and throwing. Here are my overly simplified recommendations for getting good at these movements.
- Running proficiency
- Develop textbook acceleration mechanics and top-end speed mechanics
- Jumping proficiency
- Develop the ability to jump off either foot equally well and be able to jump off both feet from a standstill and with a run up
- Throwing proficiency
- Building strong legs (1.5-2x bodyweight squat), thoracic rotation (FRC), and external rotation of shoulder (FRC) along with thousands of reps with proper technique
If you’re interested in learning more about developing proficiency, I would recommend that you check out one of my favorite YouTube channels: Performance Lab Of California.
They have some of the easiest to understand and knowledgeable technique breakdowns on the internet!
Learning from them will take your running, jumping, and throwing mechanics to another level. Here are three of my favorite videos for each movement.
Running:
If you want to learn to run, jump, and throw I will always recommend that you find a qualified coach because many of these movements are highly technical and difficult to learn on your own.
However, the Performance Lab of California is probably the best free alternative to help you learn movement mechanics on the internet.
Multiplanar Movements
While mastering running, jumping, and throwing will get you good at a lot of movements, it will take some specific effort to be completely well-rounded at all movements.
To fill in the gaps that those movements miss, you should spend some time working on multiplanar movements, such as lateral shuffling or spinning. These movements teach you how to move in all directions and scenarios.
The best answer on how to do this is to use multiplanar drills and plyometrics that force you to move in all directions. For some ideas on what that might look like, check out the video below by Paul Fabritz of PJF Performance.
Observe the different movements he does and how he works on his ability to change direction.
Core Strength
Developing core strength will make your body more efficient at using its energy and reducing your risk of injury. There are three types of basic core movement that you want to master.
- Anti extension
- Anti lateral flexion
- Anti rotation
Building a strong core is all about learning to resist force.
Anti extension exercises such as planks help you to resist forces from in front and behind you.
Anti lateral flexion exercises such as side planks help you resist forces from either side of you.
Anti rotation such as Pallof presses help you resist forces from all directions. Check out the videos above to learn these basic core movements and how to progress them.
Conditioning
The last principal that I want to discuss to make sure you are good at sports is conditioning.
There are countless athletes in the world who are strong and move well, but are poorly conditioned which leads to lackluster performances and injury.
The two main types of conditioning that are found in the sporting world are anaerobic and aerobic conditioning.
For the purposes of most team sports, anaerobic conditioning is the best method of conditioning.
This type of conditioning focuses on short and intense bouts of movement that last anywhere between 30 seconds and 2 minutes.
You can train to increase your anaerobic conditioning by using methods such as circuit training, sprinting, Tabata, and high intensity interval training (HIIT).
What Now?
You have learned the six principles that you need to be to be good at any sport.
Now this may seem like a lot of information, but what you need to know is that by simply increasing your abilities in any of these six principles, you can become a much better athlete.
Just because there is a lot you can do to become better at sports does not mean you have to do it all!
Remember that doing something is always better than doing nothing! Take these tips and use them to become a great athlete at any sport!
Make sure to comment on any questions that you have about getting good at sports down below and be sure to check out my upcoming social media posts , where I will go more in depth about what you can do!
Peace!
