The athlete is a complicated animal needing to perform at their best at all times. Sports are very demanding activities that requires strength, power, balance, agility, flexibility, and endurance to perform at your best. The type of exercise to achieve the above attributes can be confusing. Many personal trainers often emphasize strength training and flexibility.

Others advocate “functional exercises” another confusing term, usually meaning exercises integrating multiple muscles and muscle groups. Most of the time functional exercises for the legs are performed during weight bearing. For example, can you improve your jump height by performing plyometric exercises, explosive weight training or just good old fashion strength training? We completed a pilot study where one group training using plyometrics (jumping exercises against resistance) and the other group strength trained all the muscles in the lower leg that are important to jumping. We found that both groups improved in strength and the ability to jump higher.

All exercises are functional if after exercising there is an improvement in performance. You cannot expect a specific muscle to increase in strength if the muscle is not isolated during an exercise program. This type of isolation is often thought of as non-functional. When muscles co-contract, ( firing at the same time) it is impossible to develop maximum strength of any one of the muscles working together. The ideal exercise program combines isolation and co-contractions of muscle to achieve the best results.

I have been rehabilitating and training athletes for the past 20 years. I use many kinds of exercises to rehabilitate and train my athletes. The most important part of designing a program to improve performance is to evaluate the musculoskeletal system to determine the deficits. Once the deficits are identified such as, muscle weakness, poor endurance, and/or lack of explosive power, exercises can be designed to improve those deficits. There are many types of exercises, as mentioned above, plyometrics, explosive weight training, perturbation training, strength training and isokinetic exercise. I use free weights, machines weights, pulleys balance devices, weighted vests, resistance cords and medicine balls to accomplish my goal of improving performance. This issue we will start with strength training.

Can strength training improve you game?

The answer is YES. It has been demonstrated with research that if we strengthen the appropriate muscle we can increase the velocity of a tennis serve, improve endurance, and help to prevent injuries. William K Kraemer published an article in the American Journal of Sports Medicine, on the influence of resistance training and periodization weight training to improve muscle strength and performance in collegiate women tennis players. They reported that a high-volume, variable repetitions, multiple –set resistance training program produced superior increases in muscular strength, power, lean body mass, tennis performance, and decrease in percent body fat over a 9 month training period. The exercises performed in this study included all the major muscle groups of the upper and lower extremity important to physical activity.

Weight training was thought to be a remote form of exercises that was designed to create big muscles that caused abnormal movements, which were appropriate for bodybuilders and strength athletes, not for the average person or athlete. Through a better understanding of muscle physiology and research those old ideas have changed dramatically. Weight training is viewed as a frontline type of exercise that improves bone density, reduces heart disease and improves performance. From the fifth to the eighth decade of life we lose 15% of our muscle mass. However, we can increase muscle strength and regain muscle mass at any age.

The amount of weight used in any exercise designed to improve strength is determined by the amount of repetitions. We have found that the safe strength training repetitions is between 8 and 12. In other words when starting a strength-training program the first session is finding your weights. Which means the athlete finds a weight, for a specific exercise that they can perform 8 times and only 8 times and 2 sets. When the athlete achieves twelve repetitions and 3 sets the weight needs to increase and return to 8 repetitions and 2 sets. This sequence needs to occur for 2 months, 3 times per week to achieve the best results. Strength training more than two months requires the athlete to mix up the exercises and vary the sets, repetitions, and resistance. This form of change is call periodization, which as been proven to be a superior way to gain strength and improve performance, as noted above.

I have found that many athletes waste their time exercising the wrong muscle groups, using very light weights with high repetitions, and perform too many exercises that require co-contractions of muscles thus limiting the able of any one muscle group to increase in strength.

As noted above, before starting a strength-training program it is very important to be evaluated by a health professional that specializes in the musculoskeletal system e.g. a medical doctor to make sure you have no medical limitations. The physical therapist can evaluate muscle strength deficits and/or muscle imbalances and flexibility. Recently, more and more physical therapists are offering sports specific rehabilitation and training to assist the athlete in returning to their sport pain free. Without the assessment of the musculoskeletal deficits or imbalances the exercise program may be less effective.

If you suspect that you have a sports injury, it is critical to seek the urgent consultation of a local sports injuries doctor for appropriate care. To locate a top doctor or physical therapist in your area, please visit our Find a Sports Medicine Doctor or Physical Therapist Near You section.