You Want to get Fit, Don't Play a Sport, Get Your Ass in the Gym

"In contrast to the conventional gymnastics training philosophy prevailing in the US at the time, I started to allocate 1/3 of my athletes' training time to physical preparation, at the expense of our technical training time. Now what is especially interesting here is that, as soon as I began focusing on building the physical foundation first, my athletes' level of technical skills increased exponentially. I was definitely on the right track." - Coach Sommer of Building the Gymnastics Body

Build a bullet-proof body first, that can take the stress of your sport without breaking down. From General Physical Preparedness to Specific Physical Preparedness to Physical Skills* to Mental Emotional Preparedness (Training Hierarchy Pyramid of CST).

Most sports approach (in Singapore) are training Physical Skills without building a body that can take punishment. Athletes who play at a high level who can't move properly, who are tight, who are weak etc. It's like putting the latest software in an outdated computer. It will crash.

This is why i am a big advocate of Strength & Conditioning. Laymen, you want to get fit, don't "play a sport", get your ass in the gym. It pays bigger dividends in the long run.

*Physical Skills is the old term for Activity Specific Preparedness. But i prefer to use it because it is more easily understood by laymen.