There are various differences in the physical demands of sports, based on factors such as the sport, itself, and positional differences among and between athletes. Different sports require athletes to move through unique movement patterns which, for training purposes, can be categorized into vertical, linear, and lateral. Exercises that focus on strength and power development, in these three areas, should be at the forefront of every athlete’s training program.
One of the goals of athletic performance training should be to increase the athletes’ work capacity while improving (reducing) their recovery time. Contrast training is a highly effective method for improving many physical attributes involved in athletic performance, including strength, power, speed and agility — if implemented properly. Contrast training involves performing a set of a heavy resistance exercise, immediately followed by a set of a biomechanically similar power exercise (for example, a barbell back squat, immediately followed by a squat jump). Complex training is a similar approach, which involves performing 3-4 sets of heavy resistance training followed by 3-4 sets of the biomechanically similar power exercise.
The benefits of contrast training include:
- Effective in producing results
- Highly efficient
- Allows for high work density
- Time effective
- Allows athletes to complete fewer training sessions in order to yield the same or greater results
- May have implications for injury prevention
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