CROSS TRAIN TO BE A BETTER ATHLETE

Going to the gym is great, but using your muscles in an active sport is even better. That's why the best athletes all do cross training.

Real cross training is taking part in a different sport than the one in which you usually compete. For example, a basketball player may spend some time playing volleyball; a ski racer may take part in some drop-in hockey games.

The key to cross training is using your body in action, in a sport that needs different, yet similar skills. For example, compare basketball and volleyball. Both sports require jumping. Both sports demand precise ball handling with the arms overhead. Because volleyball is more stationary than basketball, it teaches a higher level of agility and range of motion. The two sports compliment each other.

Now compare ski racing and hockey. A skier uses both the inside and outside edges of the skis. A skater uses the inside and outside edges of the skate blades. Both sports require quick and extreme weight shifts, so playing hockey improves balance for the ski racer. In hockey, the hands are busy with the stick and the eyes look for traffic and the puck, so the feet have to learn automatic foot skills. That's a great edge for a ski racer.

To choose the right activity for your own cross training, identify the elements of your sport. Is vertical movement important? For a football player, the answer is no. But a football player may benefit from the foot agility and balance required for the sport of bouldering. Running may not be that much help to a golfer, who must twist rather than move fast horizontally, but the precise throwing skills of bocce may be very helpful in teaching a golfer exactly how much force to use to get an object to an exact spot. Batting a baseball can help a golfer develop stronger and more flexible shoulders.

Another reason cross training will make you a better athlete is that it will subtly teach your muscle memory how to perform in ranges of motion and at speeds that are different from your sport. Those who train only within their own sport tend to get slightly physically lazy. They miss out on physically learning the extreme ranges of motion used in a sport to which their body is not accustomed. Every athlete, on any level, will benefit by learning additional movement skills.

But athletes also gain an incredible edge by learning more perceptual skills. Racquetball will train the eyes to be fast and accurate at close range, a great benefit to tennis players. Climbing a rope or climbing on playground equipment will help a rower, because the arms pulling the weight of the body through space is similar to using oars to pull a boat through water.

One of the best kinds of cross training for sprint sports, or sports where sprints are important, is BMX. Nearly every state now has a BMX track within driving distance. While it may be hard to go out of the gate if you ride a mountain bike, most tracks will let you go onto the track from the side after the gate drops. Learning to pedal hard while going up and down jumps and rhythm sections teaches balance and provides both an aerobic and anaerobic sprint workout. One of the best things BMX will teach an athlete is to breathe; many racers forget to breathe while sprinting and so they lose all 'oomph' before the finish. The angulation needed while going around the turns of a BMX track is also great training for ski racers and road cyclists.

Use another sport to cross train for quickness, balance and aim, among other athletic qualities. Playing a different sport will make you a better athlete in the sport that you love.