By: Dr. Mohammad Salman Murtuza, Asstt. Editor-ICN Sports
Conditioning is a form of training that enhances stamina and endurance, which are crucial for maintaining strong athletics performance throughout a practice, games and sports or training schedule.
There is no specific difference between conditioning and warming-up for novice person, whereas, there is a clearly difference. Warming-up is a short term activity but conditioning involves a long term and regular process. For e.g. when we perform any activity, we feel fatigue in the beginning but, if we can continue that activity regularly processing, we shall not feel fatigue.
In other appropriate wordings, it can be concluded that our body becomes conditioned or our body becomes modified according that activity. It means, if we do certain activities regularly in which our body various systems are totally involved, our systems become more efficient and conditioned.
Regular practice is the focal point of conditioning and practice makes man perfect. Conditioning is an important facet in the field of sports and games. Conditioning is a form of training that enhances stamina and endurance, which are crucial for maintaining strong athletics performance throughout a practice, games and sports or training schedule. Anaerobic activity uses stored energy to power short bursts of intense activity such as sprinting, jumping, and lifting weights-that last approximately 30-60 seconds.
Aerobic activity uses oxygen to provide sustained performance for longer periods of time, for sports like cross-country. Conditioning is a word that is used a lot in the fitness industry but what does it really mean to have conditioning? There are those that are ripped from strength conditioning, marathon runners have to go through a type of stamina conditioning and then there is the conditioning that is necessary for fighters and martial artists.
Conditioning can come off as this hard core concept of hard work and training to build your body up so it can perform or endure what the sport demands of it. And it’s true. However, that is not the whole picture of what it means to be a conditioned athlete. Building your body and its performance potentials is only the outcome associated to having “great conditioning”. The other half of the definition of conditioning is more about the discipline, the standard and the values that you adopt.
“Great conditioning” is the result of adopting and integrating habits, standards and values that slowly, over time changes and transforms the conditions of the body. Conditioning isn’t so much about building yourself up but rather more about adopting a specific way of being that will serve you in the long run which is beneficial for the performance and execution of the skills in a given sport or physical activity. So, how do you integrate a great conditioning ritual? One that will meet your athletic needs based on the sport or physical activity of your choice a good place to start is by looking at where your values are placed in your sport.
By looking at the components that you already have a natural inclination to favors and value, then you have a platform where you can design for yourself a discipline that you are more than likely to commit to. If for example you naturally favors cardio, then use that as a base to develop a discipline to condition, not only great cardio but also as a way to condition better form, more strength and greater endurance doing the activity that is the source of cardio. It’s also a great way to develop secondary attributes. If, for instance you typically rely on jogging for cardio but you would like to develop another physical skill or work on some upper body, than you might consider cardio boxing. Or you might want to develop better foot co-ordination and do some skip rope. By focusing on what you already prefer, you are much more likely to build on it and develop a discipline and from a place of discipline is where conditioning can flow from the best. Also, using discipline is a powerful way to predispose yourself to growth and improvement in a specific skill or attribute.
Once you have established a discipline on a particular practice, then it’s only a matter of pushing yourself and upping the ante in order to improve and refine that conditioning. Let me leave with one final thought, and that is, when thinking in terms of the type of conditioning you feel you may need for whatever fitness goal that you have, think about what habits you need to adopt and how you need to be in the process of the training rather than what you need to do to reach and achieve a goal to finally arrive at. Chances are that when you arrive at that goal, in order to maintain it, you will need to sustain the conditioning by maintaining the practice that got you there in the first place
COACHES RESPONSIBILITY IN PHYSICAL CONDITIONING:-
All coaches, no matter the sport, or the age group, are responsible for creating research-based drills. These conditioning techniques should be age and sport appropriate. Teaching techniques should support the athlete in his or her physical and sport development while respecting and allowing for safety. Coaches should encourage their athletes to make good decisions with their health and physical conditioning. Low risk training practices should be encouraged and upheld.
ADVANTAGES OF CONDITIONING:-
There are many mental and physical advantages of a quality physical conditioning program. These advantages can ring true for athletes in any discipline and include:
- Increased self-confidence on and off of the playing field;
- Players with more strength and resilience;
- Optimized cognitive skills;
- Increased technique and power;
- Promoting mental strength;
- Decreased number and severity of sports injuries;
- Delayed fatigue when playing;
- Better performance;
- Quicker and fuller recovery;
- Ensures quality practice;
- Makes the athlete better at their sport, and potentially other sports;
- Improved health and quality of life;
- Increased in blood circulation in proper way in human body organs;
- Avoids second wind;
- Improves Neuro-muscular co-ordination;
- Increase in weight;
- Storage capacity of Glycogen and Creatine increases;
- Less accumulation of waste products and Lactic acid;
- Avoids injuries;
- Betterment of sports performance;
- Increased in the body ability to meet the energy demands of various sports both aerobic and anaerobic.
OTHER BENEFITS OF CONDITIONING:-
To improve fitness and sports performance, physical conditioning is often included in athletic sports and exercise training. Physical conditioning usually has multiple components, including power, strength, speed, balance, agility, coordination, and endurance. The benefits of stronger, more flexible muscles boost your endurance and help prevent injury. It’s also important to maintain a good cardiovascular conditioning through regular aerobic workouts.
Cardio training helps you process oxygen and produce energy at a higher level. Conditioning improve fitness and sports performance, physical conditioning is often included in athletic sports and exercise training. Physical conditioning usually has multiple components, including power, strength, speed, balance, agility, coordination, and endurance.
TO BE CONTINUED…..
