Discover the benefits of cross-training for athletes, from improved cardiovascular endurance to enhanced muscle development. Learn how to select the best cross-training exercises and integrate them into your training regimen.
By Brad Nakase, Attorney
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Athletes typically devote all of their time and energy to honing their craft.
However, in order to improve their results in their primary sport, some athletes choose to practice using an array of various exercises.
Cross-training, as it is generally called, has a number of potential advantages for improving overall fitness and athletic performance.
The best exercises for runners, the definition and advantages of cross-training, and several sample routines are all covered in this article.
An exercise regimen that incorporates multiple training modalities beyond the athlete’s primary sport to enhance a particular fitness component is known as cross-training.
Cross-training has become popular among many athletes, including cyclists, runners, swimmers, and triathletes while having originated with runners.
When the amount of training specialized to their sport is lower in the off-season, athletes typically increase their cross-training efforts.
Seasonal variations in the climate are another common justification for doing cross-training. When conditions are unfavorable for outdoor activities, some athletes could opt for indoor alternatives.
Typical cross-training scenarios include the following:
Summary: Cross-training is a workout regimen that incorporates different training modalities from an athlete’s primary sport. Developing particular components of fitness is the aim.
There are several possible performance advantages that come from including cross-training in your conditioning program.
The primary advantages that a lot of athletes enjoy are listed below.
1. Might increase cardiovascular endurance
Apart from an athlete’s primary sport, training with an alternative workout regimen can stimulate cardiovascular function in a novel way.
To investigate the differences in cardiovascular function between land-based and aquatic athletes, a study evaluated the anatomy and physiology of the left ventricle in a sample of top runners and swimmers. Pumping blood that is oxygenated through the body is primarily the function of the left ventricle, one of the heart’s chambers.
It was discovered that the left ventricle of the runner worked a little bit differently from those of the swimmers; in particular, they became full of blood a little earlier. Nonetheless, the swimmers’ heart rate was higher, which means they circulated blood more quickly.
In a previous study, the left ventricular mechanics of bodybuilders (power athletes) and marathoners (endurance athletes) were examined. Likewise, variations in the left ventricle’s blood-pumping mechanism were discovered by the researchers.
These findings imply that various training regimens may result in various heart adaptations specific to sports, building a more comprehensive cardiovascular foundation for physical activity and athletics.
2. Develops muscular regions not utilized in the primary sport
Targeting muscle regions that are not frequently used in an athlete’s game of interest is another advantage of cross-training.
For instance, swimming would target rear muscles, which aren’t frequently engaged when running, allowing a runner to employ it as a cross-training exercise.
On the other hand, if a swimmer combined weightlifting with their training, they would work leg muscles which might not get utilized in swimming.
A more balanced physique could thus result from gradually incorporating several cross-training exercises, which can raise an athlete’s level of endurance overall.
When you resume your primary sport, you can discover that your motions have greater power as a result of changing up your motion patterns to use different muscle groups.
Greater motion in muscles that are antagonistic results in more strength for the agonist’s muscles, called the prime movers, according to research on the interaction between opposing sets of muscles.
3. Enables recuperation from the primary sport
Recovery is a training component that is frequently disregarded.
An in-season football player might decide to perform a rowing session to maintain their cardiovascular fitness in between matches.
Although it raises their beat and preserves their cardiac capacity, this enables the leg muscles to recuperate from heavy-impact activities.
Your training may be ineffective and you run the danger of overuse problems if you don’t get enough rest after it.
Athletes can benefit from cross-training as it assists them in recuperating from their primary sport and avoiding overuse issues.
Athletes may work and recuperate at the same time using this idea, which is applicable to a variety of sports.
4. Maintains mental focus
An athlete may experience burnout occasionally when practicing intensely for only one activity. I think this is understandable given that regular training sessions and success in a sport require a substantial investment of time, concentration, and willpower.
Through the provision of a novel exercise and a respite from routine, cross-training may help athletes maintain mental engagement.
So that they can prepare more effectively when they return to the primary sport, sportsmen can feel psychologically rejuvenated.
5. Might lessen the chance of injury
Injury from overuse can develop over time when one workout modality is used repeatedly to strengthen the same group of muscles.
Indeed, certain sports are linked to certain prevalent injuries. For instance, rotator cuff tears are common in players of baseball, and shin splints are common in runners.
One effective way to lessen the load on a participant’s most used muscles while maintaining strength or cardiovascular fitness is by cross-training.
This could eventually significantly lower the athlete’s likelihood of injury and enable them to participate more often in their preferred sport.
Summary: You may enhance your aerobic endurance, train muscle regions that aren’t used, give yourself time to recover, avoid boredom, and lower your chance of injury by incorporating cross-training into your conditioning and strength training program.
There are some crucial questions that athletes should consider asking before incorporating cross-training into their training:
1. Which experience level do you possess?
In order to increase their fitness, athletes with less experience might train with less diversity.
On the other hand, less seasoned athletes run the risk of overusing themselves and becoming overly enthusiastic or fixated on a sport too soon. For this reason, it’s best to include cross-training from the beginning in your training regimen.
2. Which training phase do you currently occupy?
Compared to their off-season counterparts, in-season athletes frequently select alternative cross-training regimens.
3. Which fitness-related aspect do you want to get better at?
If you were to improve your results in your sport, what part of conditioning would it be? For instance, if you want to gain muscle, you might choose to practice weights, or if you want to improve your endurance, you might choose to cycle.
4. Which pursuits pique your curiosity?
A lot of the time, this is forgotten. In the long run, it will be far simpler to stick to your actually enjoyable pursuits. So, concentrate on those.
Summary: A number of elements need to be taken into account while selecting a cross-training exercise. These involve the things you enjoy doing, the parts you want to improve on, your experience stage, and the current stage of your training.
You should first think about which exercises will translate best into increased running performance when adopting cross-training.
When choosing a workout, make sure it’s gentle and won’t impede your recovery after running training.
The following are the most popular cross-training exercises selected by runners:
Numerous more cross-training exercises may be suitable for enhancing recuperation and increasing performance, even if these remain among the more popular ones for runners.
Summary: Weight training, cycling, rowing, swimming, yoga, skiing, and Pilates are some of the most popular cross-training exercises for runners.
The number of cross-training sessions that should be done should also depend on age, level of training, type of primary sport, and any other activity that the participant should perform.
Perhaps, cross-training is not the best thing to do if you are performing more practice on your major sport in preparation for a game.
These routines should not be done very frequently especially when your off-season is approaching but including some cross-training exercises in your training regime could be of great help to you as you train to help with your healing process while at the same time keeping you in good physical form all the time.
A simple recommendation about the number of cross-training sessions per week in relation to the level of experience in a sport can be seen in the table below.
| On-season | Off-season | |
| Beginner | Minimum | One to two |
| Intermediate | One to two | Two to three |
| Advanced | One to three | Two to four |
Although the quantity of cross-training exercises you should perform each week is generally suggested by this chart, it’s crucial to take your expertise level and personal training objectives into account.
Summary: It’s essential to take into account your expertise level and training phase when determining the number of cross-training exercises you should perform each week in a particular sport.
These are some examples of cross-training workouts that will get you started, even though cross-training is highly customized.
For assistance on your specific programming, it is preferable to speak with a certified trainer.
1. Swim workout with intervals
Ideal for: cyclists, runners, sportsmen participating in team sports
Sets: Ten by fifty yards (one Olympic-sized pool’s worth of space)
2. Intense workout involving rowing
Ideal for athletes participating in team sports, cyclists, and runners
Sets: 10 at a high intensity for 30 seconds.
3. Beginner’s exercise using just bodyweight
Suitable for: the majority of athletes
Sets: Three entire circuits.
Summary: Selecting cross-training exercises that are most relevant to your primary sports pursuit is crucial, even when there are numerous options available. To help you get inspired and get going, these are the three possibilities.
A typical conditioning and strength training tactic used by athletes to improve particular aspects of their fitness is called “cross-training,” which involves using several types of exercise besides their primary sport.
A few of the main possible advantages of cross-training are increased cardiovascular endurance, strengthening underused muscle groups, facilitating rehabilitation from your primary sport, maintaining mental stimulation, and lowering your chance of injury.
Take into account your expertise level and development phase when deciding how much cross-training to perform. Selecting activities that are most applicable to your primary sport is a good idea.
Adding cross-training to your training regimen could provide you with the extra push you need to succeed if you’re finding it difficult to advance in your sport.
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