Recently I answered a few questions from my general fitness clientele taking notice of the similarities of their training programs compared to that of our collegiate and professional athletes. Of course the intensity and some of the exercise selections differ between the two groups, but for the most part the same movement patterns of the body are addressed in a similar manner between sport performance and general fitness clientele at our facility. I tell them this is because the only difference between human movement and athletic movement is intensity, and at the end of the day we may not all be elite athletes but we are all human.
It does not take an advanced biomechanical degree to know that the human body has a finite number of movements it can successfully execute. Disregarding semantics, most fitness professionals and strength and conditioning coaches agree that there are basic human movement patterns afforded to us by our musculoskeletal design. Our bodies also respond to the demands placed on us by activity levels and exposure to specific stimuli - hints the major separation of training between a competitive basketball player who can dunk and a weekend warrior who only dunks doughnuts. Whether you are an arm-chair quarterback or Peyton Manning, we must all abide by the laws of anatomy and physics. Before we can complete higher level movement skills we need to have a firm comprehension of basic patterning: crawl before you walk, walk before you run, run before you sprint, and finally sprint the 100 meter dash in 9.58 seconds.
Okay, so only one person has ever run 100 meters in 9.58 seconds, but you get the point - the key lies in the progression from mastering a previous step before moving on to the next level. As we mature from infancy into adolescence and finally into adulthood our bodies undergo many developmental checkpoints that provide the basis for the next step of our physical evolution. Since we all start at the same point (infancy) and mature in a very systematic way, at our facility we begin all of our exercise programs training basic human movement patterns to work on coordination, joint function (mobility/stability), and attaining base levels of strength and power. Once we reach a baseline standard of movement competency and strength/ power levels for all clients, it is there that our road forks into either sport performance training or general fitness, depending on the client.
Athletes must be prepared for the rigors of competition and their training programs reflect that focus towards world-class performance. Athletes, quite simply, log more miles on their engine than the general population. Think of the activity levels present in today’s sport culture of early specialization, year round competition and the accompanying practice schedule, and an increased focus on sport performance training... that involves a lot of running, jumping, colliding, hitting, throwing, swinging, weightlifting, and the many other ways athletes put their bodies through the ringer. Abe Lincoln said, “It is not the amount of years in your life, but the amount of life in your years” and in this regard, athletes put a LOT more life into their physically active years.
Just because 30% of my clientele will not compete at the highest levels of sport and live their physical life in the fast lane does not mean that they too should not be physically prepared for the challenges that arrive in their life. Dog food still needs to be lifted out of the trunk, the house and lawn require maintenance, the trash cans seem to move further down the driveway, a friend always seems to need help moving, the elevator never works in your building, and not to mention the joys of keeping up with children - these are challenging tasks and being out of shape only makes them harder.
Everyone operates on the same movement spectrum, we just operate at different points within that spectrum. Whether your activity demands you carry a pigskin ball and run as fast as you can away from defenders or you carry your kid and run as fast as you can towards the restroom, the task remains that you have to carry something and run. If you lack the ability to complete the task successfully the outcome will be messy (in both examples). If you happen to coach athletes remember they are, in fact, human and should be able to perform the basic human movements before progressing them to full-speed, complex athletic skills. There was once a time when the fastest man could not outrun the sun and there will be a time when the quickest thing about him will be his wit, but as long as he is capable to complete the task of running at any speed, his health and performance will benefit.
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