Athletic Strength vs Gym Strength: Why Both Matter

An interesting trend we’ve noticed over the years is many gym goers, including some of our RF community, are hesitant to call themselves athletes.  The definition of athlete is “a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, and stamina.”  So, while many athletes play team or individual sports, being part of a sport is not necessarily a requirement to be called an athlete.  However, while we believe there isn’t much of a difference in the title of “athlete” vs “consistent gym goer”, there is a big difference in athletic training and gym training.  So, while athletic training and gym training can sometimes overlap, they serve different goals and use different methods.  Let’s talk about the differences.

Athletic training aims to improve performance in a specific sport, such as football, basketball, swimming, and/or track. This type of training generally focuses on speed, agility, power, and coordination, including sport-specific skills.  For example, an basketball player may be working on lateral (side-to-side) cone drills to improve their movement on the court.  Football players may be doing sled pushes or agility ladder drills to improve their power and footwork, meanwhile sprinters may be practicing sled sprints to increase acceleration.  Athletic training, regardless of the sport, also includes building explosiveness in addition to strength. This type of training is beneficial for athletes because it can be tailored to their specific sport and position and helps prevent sport-specific injuries.  However, this type of training can be tricky because it sometimes requires more space and specialized equipment, and it may neglect overall aesthetics or general strength. 

Gym training, so to speak, is a little different in that in aims to improve general fitness, build muscle, and/or increase strength and aesthetics. This type of training generally focuses on muscle hypertrophy (growth), strength training, cardio, and endurance.  For example, a gym athlete may be following a regimented push-pull-legs split for hypertrophy.  Powerlifters may be training bench press, squats, and deadlifts multiple times per week for max strength while beginner gym athletes may be focusing on doing a full-body circuit to lose weight.  Generally speaking, gym training tends to be easier to start and more widely accessible than athletic training and can be tailored to any age or fitness level.  Additionally, structured programs are easier for most people to follow and ideal for building strength, size, or losing weight.  

However, one of the biggest drawbacks to gym training is that is tends to be less dynamic than sport-specific work and may not translate to real-world athletic movement.  So, by combining some aspects of athletic training to gym training, an athlete can really level up their gym game!  Gym training often focuses on linear movements (up and down, forwards and backwards) but that doesn’t always translate to real-world movement; we don’t just live our lives by moving in one plane of motion.  When we include athletic training, we are working on multi-directional movements that include agility, balance, and coordination.  Athletic training brings in jumping, twisting, cutting, sprinting, and landing– all the stuff your body actually does outside of the gym.  If you’re an athlete who can deadlift 500lbs but can’t sprint without pulling a hamstring, more athletic training could help!

In addition to improving real-world function, adding in types of athletic training can also reduce injury prevention by including dynamic (moving) warm ups and movement prep rather than just warming up with 5 minutes on the treadmill. It can also help improve muscle and joint stability by focusing on stabilization and proprioceptive movements.  By having stable joints and knowing where your body parts are in space at any given moment (proprioception), you will be able to perform movements like running, jumping, picking things up, and/or turning quickly in real life.  In other words, adding in athletic training enhances reactivity, coordination, and real-world strength. 

Does this mean we want you to go out and train like an NFL player?  Probably not.  However, adding in athletic training, which focuses primarily on movement and agility, to gym training, which generally focuses on strength and muscle building, can mean athletes who do both are getting both power, fitness, strength, and functionality.  At RF, we like to program athletic movements into our functional strength classes; plyometic push ups, broad jumps, mountain climbers, med-ball slams, and single-leg hops are just some examples of movements we use in classes.  Just by sprinkling in a few sessions a week of athletic-style work can improve how you move, feel, and perform.