Functional Strengthening For Sports
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Simply Lifting Weights Is Not Functional Strengthening
Traditionally It is thought to be strong and perform sport specific activities optimally, while reducing risk of injury, one must regularly go to the gym and lift a lot of heavy weight. It is also believed one must continue to progress their strength through specific exercises such as bench pressing, or bicep curls, week after week. Some of the above statement is correct, such as the fact one must train on a regular basis, and lifting weight does strengthen one to an extent.
However, simply lifting heavy weights in the gym will not prepare an individual to perform optimally with sport specific activities or reduce risk of injury with a sport. This is because most gym exercises people perform, that they think are helping in these areas, are in a single plane of motion and also only typically require only two types of contractions.
The first type of contraction these gym exercises typically require is a concentric contraction which is activation of the muscle while it is shortening under load. The other type of contraction these gym exercises typically require is an eccentric contraction which is activation of the muscle while it is lengthening under load.
Functional Strengthening for Sports
Why Is Functional Strengthening More Beneficial For Sport?
The quick answer is simply lifting weights in a gym is not as beneficial for an individual to perform optimally, or reduce injury with sport specific activities. This is because most functional movement patterns with sport specific activities are multi-planar in nature. These functional movement patterns also require several muscles or muscle groups working together to perform the movement pattern of the activity. They require not only concentric and eccentric contractions simultaneously, but also a third type of contraction, isometric contractions as well.
An isometric contraction is activation of the muscle without shortening or lengthening under/not under load. This type of contraction is usually used for stabilization. Functional strengthening consists of exercises focused on all of these types of contractions occurring and working together simultaneously through multiple planes of motion with movement patterns. A good example of why functional strengthening is important is a pitcher with the sport of baseball.
When a baseball pitcher is pitching a baseball it requires stabilization of the pelvis and lower extremities through isometric contractions of the gluteus medius and gluteus maximus muscles during knee hike in the sagittal plane, concentric and eccentric contractions of the hip flexors, quadriceps, hip abductors, and hip extensors with knee hike to stride in the sagittal, transverse, and frontal plane, and concentric and eccentric contractions of the biceps, triceps, and rotator cuff muscles from stride throughout the follow through in the sagittal, transverse, and frontal planes.
These are only some of the examples of contractions occurring during this movement pattern or kinematic sequence of pitching.
Functional Training for Sports
As one can see, a lot of muscles work together at the same time, through different planes to perform one movement. Again, this is where functional strengthening comes in and why it is important. Since this sport specific activity requires all these different muscles to simultaneously work together through different planes and with different types of contractions, simply lifting weights with only two types of contractions in one plane will not result in optimal performance and injury risk reduction through this movement pattern. Therefore, it is important to train with functional strengthening exercises that require all these types of contractions through multiple planes in order to better prepare an athlete to perform optimally with their sport while reducing risk of injury.
The JOI Rehab Sports Center
Our state of the art facility, the JOI Rehab Sports Center, allows us to focus on improving sport performance, reduce injury risk, and get you back to your prior level of function with sport-specific or recreational activities. At the JOI Rehab Sports Center, our experienced Sports Medicine Team is are able to work with your physicians focusing on dynamic strength, plyometric strength, agility, and sport-specific functional strengthening exercises to bridge the gap between traditional physical therapy services and return to sport.
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Please call (904)JOI-2000 for an appointment with a JOI Doctor, or 904-858-7045 for an appointment with JOI Rehab.
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