Combining sports disciplines. Is it good?

I have always been in favor of combining sports disciplines, but I must confess that I have not always done it in the best way. Now with more knowledge and under the supervision of my coaches I have been learning to detect which types of training can add to my main sport discipline and which could affect negatively my physical abilities or qualities.

Although you won’t believe it, combining disciplines should not be taken lightly, specially if your goal is to develop athletically and compete under the best performance. On the contrary, if you just want to exercise and enjoy, you should only pay attention to the training loads to avoid injuries and perhaps not worry too much about the evolution of physical qualities.

So, for all those who practice sports at a competitive level and like to combine disciplines, I have decided to bring along with my coach Javier Gómez from GoMind, THREE essential aspects that must be taken into account for this combination to be as EFFECTIVE as possible .

1. Find disciplines that show similar efforts

On many occasions I have seen that some Muay Thai, Boxing and Karate athletes decide to combine their training with athletics. The combination is not bad, the problem is how they apply it. Let me explain the example...

Full contact martial arts require explosive efforts where power development is encouraged, so if you decide to go running to "complement your training" with a 15-kilometer run at a constant speed, you could actually be improving your physical condition, but would not be contributing much to the type of preparation that would be best for your sport, since running at a constant speed for 1 hour is an effort that would very strangely use in a martial arts competition.

When combining disciplines you should analyze which metabolic pathways occur, what type of forces are applied and for how long, as well as the next two aspects I’m about to point.

2. Find disciplines with similar movement patterns

When you decide to start practicing another discipline, it is essential that you analyze if the movements that you are going to perform in fact combine well with those of your main sport. For example, it can be useless to perform exercises with linear movements (top to bottom) when your main sport demands many movements involving trunk twists (from left to right).

I recently saw someone "famous" in the world of fitness from Costa Rica selling physical conditioning for surfers with Crossfit. To those who know both disciplines, please take a few seconds to find at least three similar movements. If you find them please write to me. I’m pretty sure that they can become stronger and increase exponentially the cardiovascular capacity but, at the technical level, will it be the best? In my opinion, NO.

3. Look for disciplines that complement intensities

Talking about intensities it is important to take into account the exposure to fatigue injuries and the ability to bring my performance to the maximum in the main sport.

I can assure you that the old thought of "the harder you train, the better the results" is a completely obsolete practice that has thousands of studies against it.

The best advice you can take is: AVOID COMBINING HIGH INTENSITY DISCIPLINES. Hardly I will be able to perform at a 100% in a discipline of high intensity if on the other hand I am training another sport that demands me enormously. In addition, muscles become fatigued and contractures, tears, strains, and other injuries begin to appear.

If your sport is high intensity, a very good option is to look for disciplines of low intensities that help to work physical capacities such as flexibility and mobility, like Yoga or Pilates.

These three recommendations are basic in combining disciplines and I really hope you can take them into account.

Although Georges St Pierre (Martial Arts) does Gymnastics, although Michael Jordan (Basket Ball) also played baseball, although Bo Jackson (Football) also played Baseball and did Athletics or even though Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Soccer) practices Karate, the most important thing is to always ANALYZE the way you are training asking yourself: Will this extra exercise benefit or affect me negatively? And if you don’t know the answer, consult with someone who has more knowledge on the matter.

"Fool is the one who copies training patterns without knowing why"

#english