Performance Training – What For?
By Dan Rohrbach, CEO at Southwest Health
Every time I watch a sports game I am reminded that the bigger, stronger, faster teams almost always win. Watching Christian McCaffrey carve up one of the top rated defensive teams in the country during the Rose Bowl, for example, was nothing short of amazing. Do you think that kid has spent some time in the gym? Yep. Do you think he has done football specific performance training? Absolutely!
From Farmhand to Force to be Reckoned With
I think back to the days when I was growing up on the family farm and somehow finding time in-between being a full time farm hand and student to play sports. I didn’t performance train – I was farm strong. Can many of you my age relate?
I was lucky enough to have enough talent to go on to play college football and run track but my full potential wasn’t reached until my junior year. The summer leading into my junior year of college, sports performance training was just evolving. Red River Sports Medicine in Fargo, North Dakota was looking for a group of athletes to serve as their test group for their new program. I and nine other of my teammates were chosen to go through a 12 week program.
Prior to that summer I was working out 4-5 days per week, 2-3 hours per day and thinking to myself how could I possibly get any stronger, faster or more explosive? How wrong I was! I experienced significant gains in every element of speed, agility and power.
What’s my point?
If athletes want to compete at the highest level regardless if it’s in middle school, high school or at the collegiate level, you have to train smarter. The main reason we decided to add sports performance at the “EDGE” as part of our addition in 2015 was to help student athletes reach this peak performance.
Spending time in the gym is good but supplementing with performance training is better! I wanted the athletes who I was coaching and the athletes of Southwest Wisconsin to have the same opportunity I had.
In my opinion, sport teaches many life lessons, and in a sense, they are one in the same. Whether in a job interview or in sports, winning is important or we wouldn’t keep score. Being second place in a job interview doesn’t pay the bills. Don’t get beat because you didn’t prepare. Don’t get beat because “the other guy” put the time and effort in. Don’t get beat period! There are no second chances in sports, and very few in life. Once you graduate from high school you can’t go back and do it again. Once you finish your college career, your eligibility is gone.
Don’t have regrets, train hard, play hard, live well!!
Learn more about the EDGE and sports performance programs at Southwest Health at orthopedic-institute.org/the-edge or by calling 342-4790.
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