Why Athletes Shouldn't Train Like Bodybuilders...

One of my favorite training quotes ever comes from famous bodybuilder Milos Savic regarding a time when he was asked whether or not bodybuilders were athletes and he replied, "We are not athletes, we are athletic mannequins." I was first exposed to this little gem when reading a book by renowned strenth coach Robert dos Remedios. To simply answer the question, "Why should athletes not train like bodybuilders?", you must look no further than Milos Savic's quote. Athletes are physically functional specimens: running, jumping, weaving, ducking, dodging, diving, cutting and the list of movements goes on. Bodybuilders are physical specimens in a visual sense. Underneath the rippling veins, perfectly sculpted muscular cuts and nearly zero body fat is a body that can't run fast, jump high, accelerate, decelerate or rotate in space. Bodybuilding is NOT FUNCTIONAL.

Athletes on the other hand are functional. A player's success in competition is determined by their ability to execute complex maneuvers with cunning precision in random, unpredictable and largely uncontrollable environments. Most sports require athletes to produce force and power in short amounts of time whether it be a running back breaking through a linebacker's tackle, getting the bat around on a 90 mph fastball or going up for an alley-oop slam. These tasks cannot be completed using isolated movements, seated exercises, exercise machines and working for "the pump". Pump, schmump - most bodybuilders couldn't run across the room to answer the phone let alone spike a volleyball, make a diving catch or snap off a wicked slap shot. Anything explosive or unpredictable about a set of 21's? I didn't think so either...

The moral of the story for all you young athletes, college athletes, pro athletes, recreational athletes - training like a bodybuilder is COUNTER PRODUCTIVE if you are an ATHLETE. You need to use closed chain movements (feet on the floor), explode, sprint, cut, plant, push, pull, rotate, anti-rotate, stabilize, squat and lunge your way to athletic superiority. If you goal is performance, injury prevention and function then stop doing seated workouts, stop breaking up your workout into "one muscle group a day" routines and for crying out loud - stop looking at yourself in the mirror so much and let your performance do the talking.