Fitness refers to your heart, and the harder you exercise, the more fit you become. But every time you exercise vigorously your muscles are injured, and the harder you exercise, the longer it takes for your muscles to heal. Muscle biopsies done the day after a person exercises vigorously show bleeding into the muscles and disruption of the Z-bands that hold muscle filaments together. You are not supposed to exercise vigorously again until the muscle soreness disappears.

Most competitive athletes set up training programs so they exercise vigorously enough on one day to make their muscles feel sore for the next day or two and then after the soreness disappears, they exercise vigorously again. You can use the same

principle in your exercise program to achieve a higher level of fitness. You can exercise vigorously on one day and easy on the next few days or until the soreness disappears, OR you can train in two or three sports. This is called cross-training, and it can make you very fit and help to prevent injuries.

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Today the buzz word in the gym is functional training. It has many meanings to many practitioners in the health and fitness industry. My understanding and implementation of functional training has come from a variety of sources including my own training and teaching in martial arts and numerous sports, combined with studying many of the leading experts in the field including Gary Gray (known as the father of function), Paul Chek (who is also known as the man who brought those big Swiss/stability balls to our gyms) and the National Academy of Sports Medicine to name but a few.

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Hamstring tears are very common soccer injuries. A study in Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports shows that preseason strength training helps to prevent injuries to these muscles in the back of the upper legs (Volume 13, Issue 4, 2003). Players from two of the best soccer teams in Sweden were divided into two groups. One group received specific hamstring training of 10 weeks of twice a week, using a special device to overload the hamstrings eccentrically. The trained group had less than one third the hamstring injuries of the untrained group, and also had greater improvement in hamstring strength and running speed.

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Getting in shape is much easier when you have the appropriate sports apparel to wear. With so many online resources, you can now find almost any type of clothing for fitness and exercise, running, playing sports games, etc.

Many of these items can be found online at a sports shopping mall in a variety of brand names such as NBA, NFL, NASCAR and NCAA, and at a reasonable price. Here’s a quick guide to sports apparel, and how to choose the clothing and accessories that are right for you.

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Strength training dominates most athletes’ fitness and conditioning programs through out the year. In particular, volleyball players are well-known to have one of the highest levels of strength training dedication. These elite athletes realize the benefits of a proper periodized strength training program.

Volleyball pushes players to the extreme. Each athlete is expected to excel in explosive movements, vertical jumps, power hitting and intense serves. The position rotation in volleyball signifies the definite need for comprehensive players. Being a great blocker is a huge plus, but volleyball thrives off of all-around spectacular athletes. Strength training is a massive component to any elite athlete.

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