A HYBRID ATHLETE TRAINING PROGRAM - GP WORKOUTS

 

Hybrid Athlete training is essentially training across multiple disciplines to improve all-round performance. Whilst a powerlifter might steer clear of steady-state cardio, and a marathon runner may flinch at the idea of a heavy bench session, hybrid athletes use a blend of training styles, with the aim of improving at all of them.

If you want to be able to take on a variety of challenges and improve overall fitness, inside and outside the gym, hybrid training could be for you.

5 ELEMENTS OF A HYBRID ATHLETE TRAINING PROGRAM

So where do you start? Part of the beauty of hybrid training is that it’s flexible – there’s no set rules or regulations. However, we’ve come up with our own list of elements that we believe most commonly make up a hybrid training program.

1. STRENGTH TRAINING

Strength training is an important element of a hybrid athlete training program, helping to build overall strength and muscle mass. We suggest including a mixture of compound exercises (think the big key lifts: squat, bench, deadlift, etc. that use several muscle groups simultaneously), and accessory movements that hone in on specific muscle groups to further develop strength and address weaknesses.

A key element here is progressive overload (increasing the intensity, load, or volume over time) and periodization (will go into that more later). This is especially important for athletes who have been training for a while, and who need to constantly challenge their muscles to prevent training plateaus. This means keeping track of your sets, reps, and weight each week, to ensure you are building week on week.

2. Running

It’s so secret that many hybrid athletes are very strong runners – and they do it looking jacked AF. Running is probably the most minimal equipment sport you can get, and it’s extremely versatile, allowing you to tap into different heart zones, and train for speed or endurance. Whilst the former centers around maximizing velocity over shorter distances (think: sprints, intervals, anaerobic work), the latter builds the capacity to maintain the pace for longer periods (think: long-distance runs and aerobic training).

3. FUNCTIONAL TRAINING

Functional training refers to exercises that improve muscle strength, balance, and mobility for the activities of daily life. This type of training does not focus specifically on training muscle groups, but rather on movements that mimic what we do in everyday life – e.g. kettlebell swings, box jumps, or farmer’s carries. Training these movements develops core stability, balance, coordination, speed, and power – all of which are extremely transferrable to other sports and will make you a more well-rounded athlete. 

4. Flexibility & Mobility

A well-rounded hybrid athlete training program will include some aspect of flexibility or mobility work, both of which are essential for improving form and preventing injury.

During the warm-up: Perform dynamic stretching to increase flexibility and reduce stiffness. These should be specific to the programmed exercise in the workout.

In between sets: Inter-set stretching further mobilizes the body and can enhance muscle thickness and strength. For example, you could perform leg swings in between sqauts, or during over head press sets, PVC pipe pass throughs, taking a wide grip on a PVC pie, locking our arms, and moving the pipe overhead, behind you and then back to the front to mobilise the shoulders.

> Post workout: Passive strectching (stretches that are held for 15-60 seconds) is used immediately following a workout to reduce muscle stiffness and increase ROM.

> Foam Rolling: This can be performed as part of the warm-up (to improve peroframce and flexibility) or post-workout, to reduce muscle pain sensation

Taking part in a focused mobility session e.g. yoga class, which has been shown to enhance strength and flexibility and reduce stress.

5. Rest & Recovery

Rest and recovery are essential for alleviating muscle pain and soreness, injury prevention, and repairing and building muscles.

Rest & Recovery falls into two categories:

> Short-term recovery (occurs in the hours following exercise e.g. cooling down properly, streching and getting enough sleep)

> Long-term recovery (Longer recovery periods build into an exercise program e.g a planned rest day, or a deload week - where the load, intensity and volume of training is lowered for a week, to allow for recovery).

3 steps of building a hybrid training programme:

So we know the key discipline of our hybrid training program athletic program but how do we go about training all of them advance let’s break it down here are the three steps to build a training programme number one set our goal. 

1) Set Goal

The best way to approach your hybrid program is to set one main goal. One of the best thing about hybrid training program is that it is flexible there or not any SET rules what do you enjoy the most? What do you want to improve on? 

if you love Running and want to improve your 10 K time, then prioritise that and structure your strength session around improving your Running.

2) Decide Training frequency. 

How often can you train being realistic from the start will help you stick to your plan. So don’t over here. Studies have found that for maximum muscle growth measure muscle group should be trying at least twice a week while aerobic exercise is recommended 4 to 5 days a week sounds like a lot high beat programs. Often from both disciplines within a single workout. 

Doing some heavy strength training followed by high intensity, functional fitness exercise others refer to split the Training into separate days. For example, you may do the translation on Monday and endurance training on Tuesday. The key here is to finding balance in your training and being realistic.

3) Periodization and Progressive Overload.

Enter Periodzation: structure training plan the device training into a specific cycles using progressive overload to challenge your muscles and avoid Training plates by manipulating variables. That is changing the load set and wraps over days or week.

Are you ready to become a hybrid athlete ?

You should now have the expertise and the tool to build your own hybrid athlete training programme well almost we know it may seems complicated at first, but just remember the most important rule. High training is a flexible that is the beauty of it. There is no real right or wrong but as long as you focus on progressively overloading your body each week, you will start see the result.