Fitness woman, athlete, doing jumping jacks on the beach sand. Healthy lifestyle.

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It’s not uncommon to see different methods of sport specific exercises in recent times which specialize in training for specific scenarios that would benefit the performance of the athlete. Here, we will be giving you some exercises that are more broad and contribute to athleticism as a whole. Whether you are competing in organized sports, trying to get better at something new, or just trying to improve yourself, these exercises will help build speed, strength, power, agility, and other characteristics associated with improved athletic performance. 

Plyometrics:

Plyometrics are exercises that involve short, twitchy movements that help to train the muscle fibers that are heavily involved in determining athleticism. Training plyometrics has been shown to improve your explosiveness as an athlete and tremendous improvements can be made by implementing such exercises. Common plyometrics exercises that are great for improving athleticism include:

  • jump rope
  • box jumps
  • squat jumps
  • clap push-ups
  • and more. 

Front and Back Squats:

It is no secret that our lower half generates a ton of power and contributes to the success of a lot of athletes. One of the best exercises for building strength in your lower half is squats as they target various muscles in your legs and have shown to improve athletic performance. Squats are also known to improve your explosiveness and increase the power your legs generate.

Agility Drills:

Simple footwork drills such as practicing various patterns or footwork with ladders or around cones are great exercises for improving agility. Agility drills are simple, easy to set up, and can be done almost anywhere making them a core piece of many athletes’ workouts. High end agility is a highly sought after trait in athletics now so working to improve it is usually a focal point. 

Dynamic and Static Stretching:

One of the most important habits an athlete can build is practicing dynamic stretching before training or competition and then static stretching afterwards.

  • Dynamic stretching helps prep the muscles and even is shown to increase muscle power when done before use.
  • Static stretching helps alleviate aches and pains and release any tension in the muscle.

Practicing these stretching techniques leads to increased longevity, health, and power in your muscles.

Written by GUADS intern Rob