For athletes and individuals who want to engage in physical and sports activities, can focusing on health-related fitness components improve overall fitness and conditioning so that they can participate in various sports and other forms of exercise?
Table of Contents
Fitness Components For Improved Physical and Sports Performance
Improving cardiovascular fitness, muscular strength and endurance, and flexibility will enhance athletes’ abilities and the daily lives of individuals who exercise and play sports. When enhancing performance in a specific activity, skill-related fitness training that focuses on that activity will be most beneficial. For instance, cardiovascular endurance and flexibility are necessary to play sports that require a lot of running, jumping, and quick position changes, and to play for the entire time, along with skills in agility, power, speed, and hand-eye coordination that need to be practiced. Activity-related skills can differentiate between two areas of fitness.
Getting In Shape and Improving Performance
Health-related fitness components are important for everyone in all walks of life, regardless of whether they compete or perform physical activities at an optimal level. These are:
- Cardiovascular endurance
- Flexibility
- Muscle endurance
- Muscle strength
- Body composition
Improving cardiovascular endurance reduces the risk of heart disease. When improving flexibility, a healthy range of motion is maintained, enhancing the ability to perform activities of daily living, such as household chores. These fitness components are crucial for physical health and contribute to positive lifestyle outcomes. (Garber C. E. et al., and American College of Sports Medicine 2011) The American College of Sports Medicine recommends:
Moderate-intensity Cardio
- 30 minutes a day, five days a week, for a total of 150 minutes/week or
Vigorous-intensity Cardio
- For 20 minutes a day, three days a week, or
A Combination
- Moderate- and vigorous-intensity exercise, plus
Resistance Training
- Two to three days a week, along with
Flexibility Training
- Two days a week
Skill Related Components
Skill-related fitness components are:
- Agility
- Balance
- Coordination – hand-eye and/or foot-eye
- Power
- Reaction time
- Speed
The skill-related fitness components can help those who want to train more for a specific fitness goal. (Zemková E. and Hamar D. 2018) For example, while everyone can benefit from daily walks, weightlifters can focus most of their effort on power, balance, and strength.
Power
Power combines speed and strength, which is how fast maximal force can be generated. Athletes exert maximum strength in short, all-out efforts. Jumping requires leg power, while jumping and striking involve a combination of upper- and lower-body power. Power can be improved by combining resistance and speed with fast-paced strength-training exercises that include:
- Kettlebell swings
- Clean lifts
- Jerk lifts
- Plyometric box jumps
- Pushing a weighted sled
- Sprinting
Speed
Athletes train differently but with a similar goal: to become faster in their sport. Speed training will differ based on the sport being trained for. High-intensity interval training, or HIIT, is one of the best ways to improve speed. Training involves working at an all-out or near all-out effort for set periods, followed by set rest periods. (Alansare A. et al., 2018) It repeatedly challenges the aerobic and anaerobic systems, teaching the muscles, heart, and lungs to adapt to working at higher intensities. Depending on the sport, the length and intensity of the intervals will be longer or shorter, less challenging, or more difficult. Runners can try these example HIIT speed drills:
Marathon Training
- Mile repeats – a style of interval training where the runner goes all-out for a full mile before resting and doing it again.
Sprint Training
- Focuses on shorter, more intense intervals.
- Ranging from 40 to 400 meters, running all out and resting before repeating.
These same concepts apply to other sports as well.
Agility
Agility is the ability to move and change direction quickly and easily. For example, soccer, basketball, football, and tennis players are incredibly agile and have to move in every direction, jumping, sliding, twisting, and backpedaling in quick response to the ball’s movement and other players. Their bodies must be trained to respond and change course. Agility drills commonly involve exercises that develop foot speed and direction change, including:
Ladder Drills
- Using an agility ladder can help develop quick, precise footwork.
Cone Drills
- Set up cones in a T shape, then sprint, slide, backpedal, or change direction depending on the cone.
Coordination
Sports and physical activities require well-honed hand-eye and foot coordination. They require seeing an external object and responding precisely with the hands and/or feet. Think of hitting a ball, running and catching a ball, throwing a frisbee, or blocking a shot. To improve coordination, try skill-related fitness exercises like:
- Playing catch
- Jumping rope
- Dribbling a ball
- Throwing or hitting balls or specific sports objects at targets
Balance
Balance refers to the ability to adjust the body position to remain upright. It involves proprioception, or knowing where the body is in space and being able to adjust position as the center of gravity changes during movement. (Aman J. E. et al., 2015) Sports and daily physical activities require balance for performance and safety. Jumping on a trampoline or rebounder, for example, can help individuals better sense their body position as they move. To improve balance, try these exercises:
- Practice standing on one foot.
- Practice standing yoga poses.
- BOSU balance ball workouts.
- Use balance discs to perform squats, lunges, and push-ups.
Reaction Time
Reaction time refers to how quickly one responds to an external stimulus and is a focus of the mind-body connection. The eyes perceive a stimulus, the mind interprets it, and the body reacts to that interpretation. This mind-body reaction relates to knowledge of the sport or activity and enables individuals to respond more quickly and accurately to the stimulus. Reaction-time training tends to be sport-specific, but skill-related fitness activities can help, and include:
- Using tools like reaction balls
- Fielding a ball
- Protecting a goal as other players try to score
- Playing table tennis
- Playing hacky sack
Injury Medical Chiropractic and Functional Medicine Clinic
Ask a qualified fitness coach or personal trainer if you are unsure where to begin. Other athletes, local teams, gyms, athletic clubs, and healthcare organizations can direct individuals in the right direction. At Injury Medical Chiropractic and Functional Medicine Clinic, we focus on what works for you to relieve pain, restore function, and prevent injury. If other treatment is needed, individuals will be referred to a clinic or physician best suited to their injury, condition, and/or ailment.
Improving Athletic Performance Through Chiropractic
References
Garber, C. E., Blissmer, B., Deschenes, M. R., Franklin, B. A., Lamonte, M. J., Lee, I. M., Nieman, D. C., Swain, D. P., & American College of Sports Medicine (2011). American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Quantity and quality of exercise for developing and maintaining cardiorespiratory, musculoskeletal, and neuromotor fitness in apparently healthy adults: guidance for prescribing exercise. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 43(7), 1334–1359. doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0b013e318213fefb
Zemková, E., & Hamar, D. (2018). Sport-Specific Assessment of the Effectiveness of Neuromuscular Training in Young Athletes. Frontiers in physiology, 9, 264. doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2018.00264
Alansare, A., Alford, K., Lee, S., Church, T., & Jung, H. C. (2018). The Effects of High-Intensity Interval Training vs. Moderate-Intensity Continuous Training on Heart Rate Variability in Physically Inactive Adults. International journal of environmental research and public health, 15(7), 1508. doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15071508
Aman, J. E., Elangovan, N., Yeh, I. L., & Konczak, J. (2015). The effectiveness of proprioceptive training for improving motor function: a systematic review. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 8, 1075. doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2014.01075
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