Cross Training for Injury Prevention, By: Brad Walker

In keeping with a previous issue on circuit training, I wanted to talk about another great form of athletic preparation and injury prevention called cross training.

Cross training, although it has been used for years, is relatively new as a training concept. Athletes have been forced to use exercises outside their sport for conditioning for many reasons, including: weather; seasonal change; facility and equipment availability; and injuries. These athletes were cross training whether they knew it or not. The benefits of cross training are beginning to get more press and one of those is injury prevention.

What is Cross Training?
Cross training is the use of various activities to achieve overall conditioning. Cross training uses activities outside the normal drills and exercises commonly associated with a sport. The exercises provide a break from the normal impact of training in a particular sport, thereby giving the muscles, tendons, bones, joints and ligaments a brief break. These exercises target the muscles from a different angle or resistance and work to balance an athlete. Cross training is an effective way of resting the body from the normal sport-specific activities while maintaining conditioning.

Any exercise or activity can be used for cross training if it is not a skill associated with that particular sport. Weight training is a commonly used cross training tool. Swimming, cycling, running, and even skiing are activities used for cross training. Plyometrics are becoming popular again as cross training tools.

Critics of Cross Training
Cross training does help achieve balance in the muscles due to working them from various angles and in different positions. Cross training does not, however, develop skills specific to the sport or sport-specific conditioning. A football player who jogs three to five miles all summer and lifts weights will still not be in football shape when the preseason starts. Cross training cannot be used as the sole conditioning tool. Sport specific conditioning and skill training is still required.

High impact sports such as basketball, gymnastics, football or running cause a lot of jarring on the skeletal system. Cross training can help limit the jarring but some sport-specific impact is necessary to condition athletes for their activity. A runner who runs in water as their only conditioning routine may develop shin splints and other injuries when they are required to run on hard surfaces for races or training. Their body is not conditioned to the forces it is subjected to and will react accordingly.

Jumping into an intense cross training schedule without progressing into it properly can also lead to problems. It is important to progressively increase the intensity, duration and frequency in small increments.

Cross Training Examples
Cross training can take many forms. The key to a successful cross training program is that it must address the same energy systems used in the sport and must allow a break from sport specific activities. Training the same major muscle groups, but in a different way keeps the athlete conditioned but helps prevent overuse injuries.

• A cyclist may use swimming to build upper body strength and to maintain cardiovascular endurance. They may use cross-country skiing to maintain leg strength and endurance when snow and ice eliminate biking time.

• Swimmers may use free weight training to develop and maintain strength levels. They may incorporate rock climbing to keep