Why Athletes Should Avoid Bodybuilding Style Workouts

When I first started strength training during my freshman year of high school, I was as clueless as you could be about what to do or how to do it. The truth is, I didn't make the required 2.0 GPA during grade checks for freshman football and was kicked off the team for the last 2 or 3 games of the season. I was in as much trouble as I maybe had ever been in. I didn't really get grounded growing up, but this time, I was definitely grounded. I was only allowed to go to one place for a while, 24-Hour Fitness. And honestly, when I was at the gym, I didn't feel like I was grounded anymore. So I spent a lot of time there. I don't remember if my grades improved much, but I know this time had a huge impact on why I own a fitness & performance coaching business today.

Like many young athletes going to the gym for the first time, I found myself on a bench press underneath a bar I had no business being under. I worked my way up to something like 95 pounds until failure, ending up with the bar being lifted off my chest by my spotter. From there, I proceeded to complete a chest and triceps workout. The next day, it was a back and bicep workout. Then, shoulders and abs. Does this sound familiar to you? Maybe you had a similar start to your strength training career, or you have an athlete who is just starting to work out and has found themselves doing bodybuilding splits like I did.

The popularity of the sport of bodybuilding and the physiques that the athletes at the top of the sport have make it understandable that many athletes would gravitate to that style of strength training. Unfortunately, bodybuilding style workouts are not the most effective or time-efficient style of training for athletes who want to get stronger, faster, jump higher, and be more explosive.

The goals of bodybuilders and athletes are not the same. Bodybuilders are focused on getting bigger muscles regardless of strength, power, or improvements in function. The goals of an athlete are to increase functional strength and power that transfer to their sport, while attempting to decrease the likelihood of injury from practice/competition.

Some characteristics of bodybuilding style training are:

• Isolating muscle groups

  • Chest & Tri , Back & Bi, etc.

• Training frequency

  • 5-7 days/week

• Training to failure

  • Bodybuilders are focused on creating as much muscle breakdown and fatigue as possible each session.

• Speed of contraction is irrelevant

  • Ability to produce force rapidly (power) does not matter for bodybuilding.

• High volume lower intensity

  • Higher rep ranges (8-12+) with slow and controlled pace

• Short range of motion

• Single joint movements

Some characteristics of Athletic Performance Training:

• Total body training

  • Each day targets the entire body or upper / lower body split

• Training Frequency

  • 3-4 days/week

• Speed of contraction

  • Ability to produce force rapidly (power) is crucial for athletes.

• Rarely trains to failure

  • Neurological adaptations take a higher priority than muscle breakdown most of the time (speed of signal from brain to muscle).

• Low volume high intensity

  • Not always, but specifically on main lifts, athletes spend most of their time between 1-6 reps.

• Central Nervous System Fatigue

  • Improving the brains ability to send signals to the body faster to improve strength and power performance.

• Multi-Joint Movements

If you are an athlete, or are raising one, and find yourself working out at the gym 5-7 days/week doing bodybuilding splits like chest & tri, back & bi, shoulders & abs, and legs, now is the time for you to find a performance coach! A performance coach will help you organize your training, focus on the right things to help you reach your goals, and provide accountability and guidance along your athletic journey. A coach can help you become more efficient with your time. Most youth and high school athletes I know could use more time in their schedule to manage all the things they have on their plate. A coach can make your training plan more effective and take your performance to the next level!