I’ve had the experience of training different kinds of sportspeople over the years and witnessing some common flaws with the way they approach training for their chosen sport.

The missing element most common in exercise programmes is the absence of free weight movements and in particular a lack of related pattern movements relevant to the sport. Sport is a three-dimensional activity so it is important to train in a three-dimensional way in the gym.

Training progressively on most gym equipment will bare little value or carry over for the body’s biomechanics. The body has to work in unison on the playing field. It makes little sense to isolate body parts when training them in the gym if your sport doesn’t call for that. The less attention you pay to the stabilising muscles that machine training bypasses the greater the risk of injury will be when playing your sport.

Ignoring functional exercises will put your body at a vulnerable disadvantage and limit performance.