FUNCTIONAL TRAINING - THE MISSING LINK

Today, many athletic programs use body building machines and protocol to condition athletes. Many athletes mistakenly attempt to pump, push and muscle their way to improved sports performance on fixed weight machines. Most machine based exercises require neuromuscular isolation, yet all sports require high levels of neuromuscular integration. An appropriate mix of strength, endurance and coordinated muscular effort is essential to achieving maximum athletic potential, however there is uncertainty as to what that balance is.

Superior athletes today have superior balance, power, flexibility and excellent neuromuscular / proprioceptive awareness. Balance and agility are high on the prerequisite list. Flexibility and endurance are proportional to the environment, or to the event you are participating in. How does that equate to winning performance on today�s athletic fields. A good athlete is hard to catch, while a big, bulky inefficient body builder is an easy catch. Athletes avoid this by understanding that exercise performed on fixed machines require no activation of postural muscles and minimal activation of stabilizer / neutralizer muscle functions. These machines do not require that you maintain your center of gravity over a base of support. Alternately, various balance training boards meet all the requirements for enhancing functional power, balance agility, flexibility and endurance. These products force you to maintain your center of gravity over a constantly changing base of support while your athletic skill develops in a true sports-like fashion. The speed and athletic prowess that you can develop with this type of product will assure that the winner�s podium is an achievable goal.