No Sport Specific Training

 

All training should begin far from the sport itself, for many reasons.  If someone tells you something like, “We are going to mimic your sport in the gym, that’s how we’re going to train!” RUN, RUN FAST, RUN FAST AND FAR AWAY FROM THEM!!!

 

We should always use and start with general exercises, they build the body’s broad foundation—strength, tissue resilience, work capacity, coordination—through movements like trap bar deadlifts, split squats, squats, presses, the basics. These demand nothing of the competitive skill of your sport, yet they prepare the entire system to handle what’s coming with greater effect and lower risk and get your body stronger, which translates into specialized work / sports.

 

Only then do you narrow the focus and incorporate exercises that target the same muscles and energy systems as the sport, but without mimicking its exact mechanics or timing, because in the gym, that’s impossible; — things like explosive throws from a stance or specific plyometric activities. These activities bridge the gap and conditioning the body for higher demands.

 

From there, you rehearse the movement pattern under load or constraint: resisted runs, overspeed efforts, varied starts, bounding. The coordination and rhythm match the real thing, but intensity is altered to stress the neuromuscular system safely and progressively.

 

Finally, you arrive at the event itself—maximal, unresisted performance. No substitutes. This is the full expression of everything built before.

 

Rush to specificity without the foundation, and you invite breakdown, injury, and weak transfer. Build the base thoroughly, and when the specific work finally arrives, the gains are greater, safer, and more powerful.