Specializing in only one sport starting at a young age is becoming more and more popular throughout youth sports today. However, sport specialization makes athletes use the same muscle groups throughout the entire year. Through repetitive movements, sports injuries are more likely to occur, which puts great importance on proper strength and conditioning.
Strength training and conditioning programs help any athlete improve their functional strength and overall performance. It doesn’t matter which sport you play, or how many sports you play; strength and conditioning benefits athletes tremendously. Here are some of the main benefits that come with strength training and conditioning programs!
Reduces the risk of injuries
In sports, it’s almost certain that every athlete will suffer from some sort of injury throughout their career. Injury prevention is one of the best benefits of strength and conditioning programs. Athletes of many sports often have to use specific muscle groups over and over, which is usually why injuries arise. Strength and conditioning training helps athletes to strengthen supporting muscles, even out muscle imbalances, increase mobility, stabilize joints, correct posture, and enhance coordination; all of which decreases the likelihood of an injury to occur.
Improves flexibility
The movements involved in strength training also helps athletes increase their mobility and overall flexibility. Many lifts and exercises require multiple muscle groups to work together. When one muscle group is stretched, another contracts, which ultimately helps improve long-term flexibility. All athletes need to be flexible enough to perform the many movements their sport requires!
Promotes healthy bones
Another benefit of strength and conditioning training is that it can strengthen bones! A proper strength and conditioning program will put stress on your body, but this is good stress that in turn increases your bone density! Regular strength training will also help prevent athletes from developing osteoporosis, which is common in athletes as they grow older later on in life.
Increases metabolism
Research has shown that regular strength training also helps increase metabolism. Muscle is a very active tissue, and every new pound of muscle burns around 30 to 40 calories per day when your body is at rest. This increases your resting metabolic rate, which promotes lean muscle mass.
Increases overall fitness
Lastly, strength and conditioning training allows athletes to increase their overall fitness. These programs make athletes work hard, get stronger, improve their speed and acceleration, and much, much more. It also helps athletes strengthen their core, which is essential in transferring energy throughout every muscle. This helps athletes increase their stamina as well, which allows them to exercise longer without getting tired, and increase their overall performance in games and practices.
Strength and Conditioning training is essential for all athletes wanting to improve their overall sports performance. On top of that, strength and conditioning also promotes a healthy lifestyle by strengthening bones and increasing both metabolism and mental health.
At Warren Academy, we offer strength training and conditioning programs to youth athletes wanting to improve their athletic performance and reach their offseason goals. We push our athletes every single session to reach their full potential. Our next Strength and Conditioning session begins on Dec. 28! Don’t wait, register today!
