Sports are a big part of many people’s lives. Some are just fans and enjoy spending time supporting their favorite teams. Others have children in sports and love to attend their games, cheer them on or even coach their teams. Still others actually participating in sports, either on a competitive basis or just as a way to stay active and spend time with their friends. For those who participate in sports, it’s important that they are doing what it takes not only to be their best in their chosen sport, but also to avoid injury. When injuries occur, they not only take them out of their sports for days, weeks or months, but they can also negatively affect the person’s life outside of sports. So what does it take to stay injury-free while staying competitive? The answer is mostly in the training and conditioning.
Training for Youth or Non-Competitive Athletes
Many kids enjoy participating in sports as a way to make friends, socialize and stay active and many adults find sports are a great alternative to the regular treadmill or elliptical for cardio. For those sports enthusiasts, Paul Philo with Nebraska Elite Sports and Fitness says, “Less conditioned people should start slow and seek accountability for continuous progression. Soliciting help and having the support of others around you is the key to effective goal achievement. We offer a variety of individual and group programs that can enable people of any size, shape, age or gender to successfully achieve their goals and have some fun in the process.”
“Nebraska Elite Sports and Fitness Complex is truly a place for the whole family to train and engage in physical activity,” Philo continues. “It provides tremendous opportunities for youth to participate in nationally recognized club sports programs, while parents and adults can train using a multiple array of sports and fitness options ranging from tennis, volleyball, basketball, squash, and racquetball to strength training, group exercise classes, swimming or jogging on our indoor track. And it’s all centrally located under one roof. Nebraska Elite Sports and Fitness Complex is not a corporate chain owned and managed outside the state. The majority of our ownership reside right here in Omaha and that allows us tremendous flexibility to quickly respond to our members’ needs and provide a personal level of service that no other club can match. We also have the best location in Omaha. We feel if a facility like ours is easy to get to, you’re more likely to use it, and consequently reach your health and fitness goals. ”
Brent Dierking, General Manager for KOSAMA Complete Body Transformation, adds that in addition to starting slow and creating a support system, it’s important to establish goals for fitness and nutrition, whether it’s to be a competitive athlete, to build more strength and endurance for league sports or to just feel healthy and fit. “Many adults put work and kids ahead of themselves and their health. Establishing goals for overall fitness and nutrition and then setting aside time to achieve them is key.” Brent adds, “Everyone is looking for the magic pill that will get them back in shape and keep them healthy and strong. There isn’t one. The program at KOSAMA is designed to help our members transform their body as part of a lifestyle change, not a quick fix. Our initial eight week program is a jump-start to a new you. The majority of our members continue their transformation process as an Alumni Member.”
KOSAMA Complete Body Transformation is a revolutionary eight-week workout program that is designed to get you results! The program consists of seven different modalities: upper body, plyometrics, kettle bell, kickboxing, lower body, circuit and yoga. “All of our members love the kickboxing class,” says Dierking. “But all of the classes are important for overall strength and conditioning. Yoga is just as important as circuit training or kettle bell class. Our goal is to provide a mix of training that builds core strength in an environment that is safe, challenging, motivating and fun.”
Training for Competitive Athletes
“Too many athletes spend time on just one sport or a very similar set of skills rather than on general athletic conditioning,” says Danielle Kleber with Athletes’ Training Center, “so we help balance them out and train more efficient movement patterns and identify things that are slowing them down. For their strength development, we use functional training which develops them to better handle the movements and demands of their sports. The biggest piece we add to the development as an athlete is teaching them to be confident and mentally ready for the trials of being in athletics.”
“I think it’s about individualization and having a variety of options available to challenge, motivate, and enhance performance,” adds Paul Philo with Nebraska Elite Sports and Fitness. “Our specialized trainers structure programs to meet the individual needs of our youth athletes and their chosen sports that are both economical and effective.”
“There are several reasons we stand apart from other facilities, but the main ones include the level of training our coaches have and our ability to focus on the individual and their goals,” says Danielle Kleber with Athletes’ Training Center. “Both of our coaches have earned their Master’s Degrees and are Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialists (CSCS). In addition, our head coach is the only coach in Nebraska certified as a Youth Fitness Specialist. To focus on the individual, we train in small groups of three or less, spend extra time on goal setting, and each athlete training here has their own program they follow. We have trained all types of athletes from a professional hockey player and semi-professional baseball player all the way to middle school athletes. The type of training philosophies we use lend themselves well to all sports. We even train some kids who are not involved in organized sports but want a place to stay active and involved.”
Kleber’s advice to those athletes who want to excel in sports is this: “Remember that general athletic development, similar to what we do, is the best way to set yourself up for long-term success as an athlete. The athletes you see fizzle out towards the end of their high school careers have spent too much time on single sport activities and not enough time building themselves into well-balanced athletes.”
Whether you are looking into competitive sports for yourself, your children are entering sports in school or you just want to stay active and think sports are a good way to do so, it’s important to get the right training to stay injury-free to and to excel to the best of your abilities. By working with the right professionals, you can achieve the goals you have set out for your sports involvement, get in shape and stay healthy!