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?

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 changing positions quickly and to be able to play for the entire time, along with various skills that need to be practiced for agility, power, speed, and hand-eye coordination. Activity-related skills can differentiate 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 competition in or performing physical activities at an optimum level. These are:

• Cardiovascular endurance
• Flexibility
• Muscle endurance
• Muscle strength
• Body composition

When improving cardiovascular endurance, the risk of heart disease is reduced. When improving flexibility, a healthy range of motion is maintained, enhancing the ability to perform activities of daily living, like household chores and tasks. 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 more training for a specific fitness-related 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 grow accustomed to working at higher intensity levels. 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, that include:

Ladder Drills

• Using an agility ladder can help develop quick and specific foot placement.

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 where their bodies are 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 focuses on the mind-body connection. The eyes see a stimulus, the mind interprets the stimulus, 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.

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Improving Athletic Performance Through Chiropractic

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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