Suspension Training Applications to Football Training
Football demands a high level of strength, agility and power from its athletes, and football training programs have always reflected this. Heavy lifting combined with conditioning and agility drills help player’s bodies withstand powerful impacts practice after practice, game after game. Suspension training, which utilizes bodyweight only, is now being incorporated in to many football training programs and is extensively used by athletes like Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints.
Benefits of Suspension Training
The most visible product on the market, the TRX, will enhance athlete’s activity in the weight room in several ways. First, as a pre-cursor to compound exercises like the squat or snatch, the TRX can prime the body’s neuromuscular system through an exact range of motion. This reduces the chances of injury and improves the performance of the lift.
The suspension trainer adapts to the individual, while helping them correct instabilities in the motor pattern of the exercise. Players can use the TRX without fatiguing the muscles prior to heavy sets, and will benefit by enhanced performance of the movement, resulting in new personal bests.
Suspended exercises are scalable to the level of the athlete and the desired results. These exercises require specific strength and coordination from multiple muscle groups, and transfer well to performance on the field. The constant stabilization of the load (bodyweight) throughout suspended exercises improves total core musculature. In turn, the execution of primary lifts and complex movements (often against resistance) during a game are also improved.
Strength Specific
TRX movements that transfer directly to the game of football include single-leg exercises through all three planes of motion for enhanced explosiveness off the line. These moves also improve single leg reactivity by improving the ability to decelerate suddenly and accelerate in an opposite direction.
Suspension training conforms to individual training programs for specific positions. Conditioning the shoulder of a quarterback is the perfect example of this. The high stresses placed on the shoulder while throwing a ball with force for hours at a time, combined with the potential impact from other players, can be a recipe for injury.
A quarterback benefits from TRX exercises like “bilateral internal rotations” which strengthen the rotator cuff, and suspended scorpions which emphasize the motion of the hips during a throw. These motions incorporate the whole body, enhancing the mechanics of the throwing motion. At the same time, a suspension trainer can train the specific loading phase of the throw, strengthening the shoulder to withstand impact.
Suspension training improves core strength for all players to withstand impact through twisting movements and standing positions, and is beneficial for all body types. The training transfers directly to the field, where the players with the greater explosiveness, agility and “strength/power-to-weight ratios” are better prepared to achieve victory. Utilizing training to improve football specific movement patterns will ultimately result in an improvement of these attributes.
Keep Reading >>>
- FlexibleFunctionalStrength
- Treating Muscle Pain and Recognizing Muscle Injury
The grueling workout that flooded blood vessels, pumped up muscles and sent endorphins rushing throughout the body felt great while you were doing it, or at least after it was finished. But anyone who has... - Gymnastic Ring Workout Routines at Home
Gymnastic ring training is second only to suspension training in terms of location versatility, wide range of exercises (for a single piece of equipment,) and the effectiveness of those exercises. In terms of... - Buying a TRX fitness system online
The TRX suspension trainer. Born in the u.S. Navy Seals. Gym in a bag, anywhere you go. Suspension training can be defined as the performance of bodyweight bearing exercises while suspended. This may sound... - FM Dual Cable Cross vs. TRX vs. Resistance Bands
The FM Dual Cable Cross, the TRX Suspension Trainer and a complete resistance bands system are three great fitness products with extreme differences in price. All allow the user to simulate movements in life... - TRX Functional Training That Builds Muscle and Increases Performance
Suspension training can be a very effective method of building and strengthening muscles, burning fat, and enhancing sports performance and daily mobility. Although tools like the TRX Pro Trainer can be... - Reviews about high quality fitness products and equipment.
Flex and Flow features the best fitness equipment for muscle building, fat-burning, and overall functional fitness. - Flex and Flow