The true definition of conditioning in sports and fitness

The true definition of conditioning in sports and fitness

Conditioning is a word that gets used a lot in the fitness industry, but what does it really mean to have conditioning? There are those who are ripped out of strength conditioning, marathon runners have to go through some kind of endurance conditioning and then there is the conditioning that is necessary for fighters and martial artists.

Conditioning can turn out to be that hard core concept of hard work and training to build your body to meet or endure the demands of sport.

And it's true.

However, this is not the whole picture of what it means to be a conditioned athlete. Building your body and its performance potential is only the result of “good conditioning”.

The other half of the definition of conditioning is more about the discipline, standard and values ​​you adopt.

“Good conditioning” is the result of adopting and integrating habits, standards, and values ​​that slowly change over time and alter the conditions of the body.

Conditioning is not so much about building yourself up as it is about adopting a certain way of being that will serve you in the long term and that will be beneficial to performance and execution of skills in a particular sport or physical activity.

How do you incorporate a great conditioning ritual? One that meets your athletic needs based on the sport or physical activity of your choice?

A good place to start is to look at where your stats rank in your sport. By looking at the components that you already have a natural inclination to favor and value, you will have a platform from which to design a discipline for yourself that you are most likely to commit to.

For example, if you naturally prefer cardio, then use that as a foundation to develop a discipline for conditioning, not only as great cardio, but also as a means to train better form, more strength, and more endurance in the activity that is the source of cardio. It's also a great way to develop secondary attributes. For example, if you normally rely on jogging for cardio but want to develop another physical skill or work on an upper body, consider cardio boxing. Or you want to develop better foot coordination and do a jump rope.

When you focus on what you already prefer, you're much more likely to build on it and develop a discipline. From a place of discipline, conditioning can come from the best.

Discipline is also a powerful way to predispose yourself to growth and improvement in a particular skill or attribute. Once you have established a discipline for a particular practice, all you have to do is push yourself and increase the effort to improve and refine that conditioning.

Let me leave you with one final thought and when you think about the type of conditioning you need for any fitness goal, think about what habits you need to adopt and how you need to be in the conditioning process of training rather than what you need to do to achieve and achieve a goal to finally achieve. Reaching this goal will likely require you to maintain conditioning by maintaining the practice that got you there in the first place.

Conditioning is a process.

Inspired by Ezine and Clinton Boucheix