Leaving the dog days of summer and entering the start of the NFL season, MLB playoffs, and the NHL in October, we are witnessing the best athletes in their individual sports competing. Professional athletic performance is a result of years of sports-specific training and sometimes more importantly off-season therapy and workouts. When it comes to athlete training and therapy, complacency could be fatal to their career. It is of utmost importance to a professional athlete that training and therapy should adapt to their needs and development as they progress through their career.

So what does it take to improve your athletic performance? Maybe you’re not a pro and never will be, but there are many different biomechanical motor abilities that need to be developed in training to reach your peak performance. These “biomotor” abilities of speed, agility, power, strength, flexibility, balance, coordination, and aerobic conditioning can be developed as individual blocks or concurrently. Implementing these biomotor abilities seamlessly within your training can benefit you as an athlete whether you’re a weekend warrior, amateur (high school or college) or professional athlete. Amateur athletes and weekend warriors can afford to combine multiple biomotor abilities in their training programs, such as training for speed and power while also adding aerobic conditioning, balance and coordination. Amateurs and weekend warriors often have multiple areas that they are looking to improve, so they will have a more broad-based training program. Often, the professional athlete has spent many years building their biomotor abilities and therefore they might focus specifically on one or two goals during their off-season in blocks. An example of goals for a professional hockey player might be to rehabilitate an unstable shoulder injury that occurred during the previous season for the first month of the off-season. Off season month two might be working on leg strength and power and then the last month of training could focus on aerobic conditioning via circuit exercises to get ready for the upcoming season.

Building an athlete training program and finding a baseline for that athlete provides vital information to be as specific as possible to that individual. At Back to Function, we have a unique functional test that we use to design a training program that will be geared to your specific goals and level of fitness. Whether you’re an up and coming amateur athlete; professional or weekend warrior, we will design a program that will improve your performance.

Our BTF doctors are here help you as an athlete evaluate and design an individual/sport specific training program in specific intervals over the course of the year to compliment your athletic schedule.  To schedule an appointment for an injury evaluation, nutrition consultation or fitness assessment, please call 310-534-1900 or email us at [email protected]. We want you to feel, recover and perform better!

References: Loren Landow: Ultimate Conditioning for Martial Arts 2016