Guidelines for New Sports
- balancing muscle groups
- boosting cardiovascular fitness
- reducing chances of injury
- keeping boredom away
- giving injuries proper time to recover.
It is important to understand how to incorporate cross training into your routine and how to decide which sport or sports to incorporate. Reasons for picking a certain sport vary greatly, but could be:
- it's a sport you enjoy
- it's a sport you've always wanted to try
- it works muscle groups you want to work/strengthen
- it works muscle groups or is a cardiovascular workout that avoids/rests your recovering injury.
Injured runners can cross train as often as they want, as long as their doctors allow; cross training can be used as a replacement for running in this case, as well as for the travelling runner. Beginning and recovering runners should alternate days of cross training, rest, and running to gain the most benefit. Experienced runners (those who run almost daily and/or those who have run for many years) can use blocks (run and then cross train on the same day) or substitute cross training for one or two of their runs to prevent boredom and injury.
Quick Guidelines for New Sports
- Start slow. Don't assume you can jump right into a new sport on your first day.
- Find a group or class.
- Learn about the sport; do your research.
- Find out what the common injuries are for that sport and how to avoid them.
- Do something fun. Enjoy yourself!
