The Importance of Incorporating CrossFit to Sport-Specific Training
It sure doesn’t look like it, but CrossFit and soccer have a lot in common. Aside from both being physical ventures, they fall under the same categories of aerobic and anaerobic exercises. These sort of workouts, as many of us should know by now, challenge various muscle groups in our bodies all at once. Ultimately, it’s safe to say that both CrossFit and soccer are physically and mentally demanding. However, powering through this fitness journey will get in good shape and provide you with the right conditioning.
According to the community’s main website, CrossFit is an ever-growing workout plan based on functional, everyday movements performed at a high pace and intensity. It’s scaled to meet the needs of an athlete, a person in general, making it accessible to everybody, regardless of gender, age, or ability. It’s easy to adapt and include certain CrossFit movements into soccer.
Soccer is the most famous sport in the world, according to Sporteology. It has approximately 3.5 billion fans globally, which is why various industries – gaming, for instance – have hopped on the bandwagon. From the standard FIFA franchise available on consoles, to mobile soccer simulators like Top Eleven, to even online games such as Football: Champions Cup on slots platform Slingo, the sport is covered across a plethora of mediums. So, it’s not surprising there’s a specific CrossFit training program that caters to soccer players.
A typical CrossFit plan for soccer should lean towards sport specific strength, conditioning, and agility so athletes can reach their full potential. Since players mainly use their lower limbs, the program will be heavy on various leg exercises that will develop power, agility, and stability. Note that injury prevention for soccer is a different training regimen altogether. Apart from these leg exercises, CrossFit for soccer players should also focus on improving core strength, as the sport requires its athletes to be physically strong.
All in all, CrossFit doesn’t exclusively cater to a specific kind of sport or endeavor. It’s programmed to improve our cardiovascular and respiratory endurance, strength, flexibility, and power, as well as agility, balance, and accuracy, says Brian Pyfferoen on The Barbell Spin. Moreover, CrossFit trains our minds to dig deep and conquer every challenge that comes our way – which is why it’s also good for us from a psychological standpoint. Combining this with soccer training will most likely put you head and shoulders above the competition in more ways than you could have ever imagined.
