What is cross training and how can it prevent sports Injury?

Learn how to use cross training to prevent sports injury. Includes cross training exercises and examples.

by Brad Walker | Updated January 10, 2024

What is Cross Training?

Cross training is the use of various activities to achieve overall conditioning. Cross training uses activities outside the normal drills and exercises commonly associated with a sport. The exercises provide a break from the normal impact of training in a particular sport, thereby giving the muscles, tendons, bones, joints and ligaments a brief break. These exercises target the muscles from a different angle or resistance and work to balance an athlete. Cross training is an effective way of resting the body from the normal sport-specific activities while maintaining conditioning.

Any exercise or activity can be used for cross training if it is not a skill associated with that particular sport. Weight training is a commonly used cross training tool. Swimming, cycling, running, and even skiing are activities used for cross training. Circuit training and plyometrics are becoming popular again as cross training tools.

How does Cross Training prevent injury?

Variety in your exercise program is one of the most important factors for preventing injury. If you don’t include variety, 2 things can happen:

Cross training is an important tool in the injury prevention program of athletes. Cross training allows coaches and athletes the opportunity to train hard all year round without running the risk of overtraining or overuse injuries. The simple process of changing the type of training changes the stress on the body.

The Downside of Cross Training

Cross training does help achieve balance in the muscles due to working them from various angles and in different positions. However, cross training does not develop skills specific to the sport or sport-specific conditioning. A football player who jogs three to five miles all summer and lifts weights will still not be in football shape when the preseason starts. Cross training cannot be used as the sole conditioning tool. Sport specific conditioning and skill training is still required.

High impact sports such as basketball, gymnastics, football or running cause a lot of jarring on the skeletal system. Cross training can help limit the jarring but some sport-specific impact is necessary to condition athletes for their activity. A runner who runs in water as their only conditioning routine may develop shin splints and other injuries when they are required to run on hard surfaces for races or training. Their body is not conditioned to the forces it is subjected to and will react accordingly.

An intense cross training schedule, without progressing into it gradually, can also lead to problems. It is important to progressively increase the intensity, duration and frequency in small increments.

Cross Training Precautions

Cross training is a smart addition to any exercise program, however, the most common problem associated with cross training is that people tend to get over excited, because the activity is different and new, and push themselves harder than they normally would. This tends to result in sore muscles and joints, and an increased likelihood of injury. Below are a few precautions you need to take into consideration.

Cross Training Examples

Cross training can take many forms. The key to a successful cross training program is that it must address the same energy systems used in the sport, while allowing a break from sport specific activities. Training the same major muscle groups, but in a different way keeps the athlete conditioned but helps prevent overuse injuries.