Weight training as a complement to other sports

Are you an endurance athlete? Really into combat sports? Adding weight training to your sport programme is a great way to gain stability and improve your performances in another sport. Read on to see tips from our coach.

It's a discipline that you can do alongside many other sports to boost your performance. Combat and endurance sports are two disciplines that go especially well with weight training. It can really make a difference.

Weight training as a complement to other sports

#1 Weight training and combat sports

It was long believed that weight training and combat sports were incompatible. Some believed that working with weights would reduce your speed and flexibility, which are both essential to combat sports. But today, many athletes see that weight training increases their power and strengthens the muscles they use most in their sport. Combining weight training and combat sports can help you:

- gain power (strength and speed)

- be more stable, which is key for this type of sport

- prevent injury by strengthening the muscles and joints

- stretch the muscles during recovery periods

- increase muscle mass, with obvious aesthetic results…

If you want to combine a combat sport and weight training, it's important to keep your goal in mind: to make weight training compatible with improving your abilities and continuing to do your favourite sport. You can alternate strength and power workouts as well as regularly do circuit training, which improves your endurance (e.g., starting your workout with about 10-15 minutes of running).

Don't lift too much weight and vary your training programme. Doing two to three workouts a week will prevent physical and mental overload, help you develop different abilities and change up your routine.

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#2 Weight training and endurance sports

Weight training is also a good practice for those who do endurance sports. It can make you stronger and more stable, as long as you strike a balance between the two disciplines. You shouldn't mix your workouts and should do them on separate days. It's also a good idea for those who do weight training to add cardio to their routines, as weight training alone can lower your endurance. Contrary to common thinking, cardio training isn't mutually exclusive to building muscle mass.

Generally speaking, weight training improves the performances of endurance athletes such as cyclists and runners. It won't cause runners to bulk up, but does improve their anaerobic capacity, stride efficiency and performance. In cycling, weight training makes the legs stronger for better sprint performance and increases cyclists' maximal effort times. It is also an excellent way to fight nervous fatigue.

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Have you taken up weight training?

Weight training not only develops your muscle potential (power, endurance, strength, explosiveness etc.) but also improves your blood circulation, bone density, proprioception and mental strength! (Not to mention the visual results!) But most importantly, it helps you achieve your goals and boost your performances and abilities, which works wonders for your confidence and morale. There are no more excuses to avoid adding strength training to your physical conditioning routine.

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