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“Functional Training” is mostly BS in general, but especially in the context of sports.

Doing CrossFit is not going to make you better at any sport other than CrossFit. I used CF as an example, but this goes to any “functional training” modality. There is some nuance, of course, but the statement is true.

The only thing that translates to sports is strength and movement-specific improvements in endurance. The most effective and safe way to increase strength is rarely functional training. Athletes should develop the specific skills needed for their sports and get stronger safely and efficiently in the gym. Think MJ doing conventional weightlifting and not LeBron doing all the silly shit he does.

Do “functional training” if you enjoy it, but know it will only make you better at your sport to the extent it makes you stronger.

There are things to be said about injury prevention for injury-prone athletes and recovery from injuries, but even then the logic is kinda sus.

#sport

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Discussion

Deleted Account 11mo ago

Have you looked into ATG ever?

https://youtube.com/@atgexercise

Phil 11mo ago

Not sure I agree or maybe I’m missing the nuance to your argument. If CrossFit improves your core, leg and shoulder strength, and increases your cardiovascular capacity, you will be better at whatever sport you play. Of course you will still need to develop sport-specific skills

DRE 11mo ago

Yeah, I sort of covered this, but could have been more clear. CF will make you better at your sport to the extent it makes you stronger. Endurance is sport-specific, so this is not much of a factor. A soccer player probably won’t run more in a CF workout than he already does playing soccer, so the improvement is negligible if any.

That said, there are safer and more efficient ways to get stronger than doing CF. Especially for people that compete, you want the chance of getting hurt while exercising to be basically zero. The whole point of strength training in this context and in general is to make you more resilient so you don‘t get hurt playing your sport.

Doing CF as a recreational activity or sport in and of itself is out of the scope of my original post.

Phil 11mo ago

Thanks for clarifying. I totally agree. CF is a great way to stay in shape and will improve overall fitness and athleticism. But I would NEVER consistently train CF if I was an amateur or professional athlete in a sport (other than CF).

DRE 11mo ago

On hypertrophy and strength

Sets and reps are used as an easy way to communicate more or less what is needed to achieve the desired outcome. Your body doesn’t understand sets or reps as you can imagine. What we really are after is time under tension and load. You can adjust the time the muscle is working for and the load it’s under in a variety of ways (high duration low load or low duration high load) to create the stimulus in your muscle that will lead to the physiological adaptation (bigger and stronger muscles) you are after.

All these to say, don’t be too fixated on doing X number of sets or reps. Your body doesn’t know numbers, so as long as you create the stimulus needed, you’ll be good.