Cross-Training - A Great Way to Stay Fit and Stay Healthy
What is cross-training and why should I do it?
In my last blog I discussed common ways to avoid overtraining and overuse injuries. Along with adequate warm up and cool down, appropriate training equipment and specific progression parameters, I also highlighted the importance of cross-training for injury prevention, especially in athletes participating in high-impact sports such as running.
What is cross-training?
Cross-training is the term used when an athlete participes in one or more forms of exercise in addition to their primary sport, to improve overall performance (Brukner & Khan, 2012). An example of cross-training would be when a marathon runner chooses to increase her training load periodically leading up to her marathon with sessions of both running and cycling.
In contrast to cross training, some high-level athletes choose to participate in sports-specific training only, following the principle of specificity (Foster et al, 1995). If another marathon runner was to train for the same upcoming marathon by increasing his training load through running only, this would be an example of sport-specific training.
Cross-Training vs Sport-Specific Training - What do we know?
Scientific research has been used to compare the benefits of cross-training vs sports-specific training for athletic performance, injury prevention and overall health benefits. Foster et al (1995) describes the trends of these results as follows:
If you are a high level athlete needing to get the very best out of your body for competition, it appears that sport-specific training might provide marginally more superior results. These results do come with a higher risk of developing an overuse injury.
If you’re not looking to knock that last second off your marathon time however, cross-training can provide a more sustainable way of training with marginally lower performance results (Foster et al, 1995) and a lower risk of injury (Leppanen et al, 2014).
The gap in performance results between cross-training and sport-specific training appears to increase in higher level athletes (Foster et al, 1995).
So what does that mean for me?
If you choose to exercise for the enjoyment, health or social benefits of exercise, cross-training can provide more benefits than sport-specific training (Leppanen et al, 2014). In addition to having a reduced risk of overuse injuries, cross-training will also improve total fitness, enhance weight loss, improve exercise adherence and facilitate functional carry-over from exercise into day-to-day activity such as climbing stairs or lifting/pushing/pulling heavy objects around the house or at work (Brukner & Khan, 2012). Finally, if you are already recovering from an overuse injury, cross-training will provide a safer and faster rehab program than any one type of exercise alone (Brukner & Khan, 2012).
If you are stuck for ideas, here are just a few cross-training options:
Running + cycling
Swimming + water running
Weight lifting + Lagree West
Yoga + Pilates
Rock climbing + bouldering
Volleyball + ultimate frisbee
Kickboxing + LesMills Body Combat
Barre + Dancing
Canoeing as Ayla’s Cross-Training
References:
Brukner, P., & Khan, K. (2012). Clinical Sports Medicine 4th Edition. Australia: McGraw-Hill Education Pty Ltd
Foster, C., Hector, L.L., Welsh, R. Schrager, M., Green, M.A., & Snyder, A.C. (1995). Effects of specific versus cross-training on running performance. Europ. J. Appl. Physiol. 70, 367–372. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00865035
Image 1: Purple Nike Athletic Shoes [Online Image]. Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/q2q9l30rrcI
Leppanen, M., Aaltonen, S., Pakkari, J., Heinonen., & Kujala, U.M. (2014). Insoles, external joint support & training programs effectively prevent athletic injuries. Sports Med. 44(4), 473-486. http://doi:10.1007/s40279-013-0136-8