SPORT RESTRICTIVE VS. SPORT SPECIFIC EXERCISE
Speed ladders, parachutes, and BOSU balls can get overbearing. They have a place, but when added to an athlete’s training—especially younger athletes—I wonder if they’re there to improve performance or just for novelty. Today’s guest post by strength coach David Otey looks at sport-restrictive versus sport-assistive training. It’s thoughtful stuff.
In fitness, finding your niche helps you make a real impact. In recent years, influencers and fitness magazines have pushed “sport-specific” drills as the path to greatness.
If you want to be great at throwing, do this.
If you want to play cornerback in football, do that.
The idea is demanding and precise, but details alone don’t create lasting results. A sharp-looking weight room program won’t make up for a lack of foundational athleticism.
We’ve all seen someone in their 50s still doing a high school lifting routine. Often, young athletes get pushed into a fixed rotation of moves that might polish small details but hurt overall development.
The first six to twelve months of training are crucial for building muscle, neuromuscular awareness, and gym know-how. Those early days set the table for later progress.
Sport-specific exercises have long been used to develop athletes for their particular sport. If you’ve heard of the SAID principle, it makes sense.
Sport-restrictive exercises, in my view, are any moves that could limit an athlete’s natural athleticism.
If you use sport-specific moves, they should complement the big, foundational lifts in your program. Right now, thousands of athletes practice flashy one-hand catches like Odell Beckham Jr., but in doing so they may neglect speed, power, route running, and basic catching fundamentals.
Athlete programming aims to: maximize potential and minimize injury or restriction.
If you’re not getting better, you’re not competing as hard.
If you’re hurt, you’re competing less.
We want athletes to compete more, work more efficiently, and stay healthy longer. Sport-restrictive training shifts the focus from “what can I do for this movement?” to “what should I avoid doing to protect or improve my sport?”
Most exercises can be good for athletes who have a solid base of athleticism (assuming no major injuries). There are, however, certain exercises that should be avoided if you want to maximize potential. Here are four common problem areas.
Restricted Hip Drive
Restricted Shoulder Mobility
Loss of Rotational Power Generation
Loss of Multidirectional Movement
These areas cover the traits that help an athlete stand out. If you’re lacking in one or more, you may fall behind or end up on the injury list. The four areas appear across sports in varying degrees. Now let’s look at how to spot and avoid sport-restrictive exercises. Sport-specific moves should resemble game actions, so I’ll refer to the following as “sport-assistive.”
HIP DRIVE
Hip drive is a powerful and common strength in any athlete. Whether you’re throwing, blocking, or sprinting, the hips drive the movement. Explosive power and stability come from the glutes. To maximize hip drive, train in ways that resemble your sport. The weight room offers many exercises that can build a powerful lower body, but the key is to develop real power, not just a strong-looking body.
SUMO DEADLIFT – SPORT RESTRICTIVE MOVEMENT
Note from TG: Noooooooooooooooo (sad face). I’m still posting a video of myself.
Traditional deadlifts are now common and valuable for building full-body strength and power. The sumo setup is unique and unfamiliar to most sports we see regularly. Some will argue about the extra muscles involved in sumo deadlifts. I get that, but I believe this lift is more suited to weight-room competitions than to typical indoor/outdoor sports. Building a solid foundation should rely on movements that directly impact performance, not just look impressive on Instagram.
BROAD JUMP – SPORT ASSISTIVE MOVEMENT
Adequate hip mobility is crucial to avoid injury. Restricted hip mobility can push you toward compensations that place extra stress on the knees or lower back, leading to chronic problems.
To avoid this, skip exercises with demands far from your everyday activities. The broad jump trains hip and lower-body explosive power with the aim of projecting yourself as far as possible. Real power comes from full hip extension, which mirrors many common lower-body movements.
SHOULDER STRENGTH
The shoulders are a key joint for athletes. While hips drive lower-body power, shoulders connect the upper limbs and transmit force through the kinetic chain. In throwing sports, shoulder strength and mobility (including the scapula and the shoulder joint) can amplify or dampen the throw.
BARBELL MILITARY PRESS – SPORT RESTRICTIVE MOVEMENT
Barbell presses build muscle, but they aren’t ideal for most athletes. Barbell work constrains the body to a fixed path, which can limit how sport movements are performed. In sports, athletes benefit from movement that allows their bodies to control the path themselves. For athletes with long arms, independent shoulder movement is safer than fixed patterns. While more muscle can help in some sports, overall, the barbell can be counterproductive.
LANDMINE SHOULDER PRESS – SPORT ASSISTIVE MOVEMENT
The Landmine Shoulder Press strengthens the shoulder while preserving natural movement. The free-rotating base lets you control the weight, and the bar path supports proper scapular rotation and force angle for this vulnerable joint.
ROTATIONAL POWER
Power works best when the body can transfer it smoothly. The core’s job is to stabilize the spine and help move power efficiently. Rotational power depends on coordinated effort from the whole body, not isolated pieces. This coordination won’t happen without a strong, integrated core.
POWER CABLE TWIST – SPORT RESTRICTIVE MOVEMENT
Cable twists are common for “abs,” but they’re not ideal for spine safety. Rotation without proper lower-body involvement can put extra stress on the spine. Real rotational power starts at the feet and moves upward.
MED BALL THROWS – SPORT ASSISTIVE MOVEMENT
Medicine ball throws closely mirror rotational power in action. When done properly, they allow full power output and can be practiced safely, just like real sprinting in the open air rather than on a treadmill.
MULTIDIRECTIONAL MOVEMENT
SIDE SHUFFLES – SPORT RESTRICTIVE MOVEMENT
Watching coaches teach side shuffles can be painful. Often the instruction keeps the back foot on the ground, which conflicts with natural side-to-side movement. Try running with one foot off the ground at times, and you’ll notice you lose accuracy and speed.
LATERAL SKIERS – SPORT ASSISTIVE MOVEMENT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOI1exR6pSk
The medial foot is a key power source for many actions—stealing a base, juking a tackle, the start of a baseball swing all rely on it. Lateral work translates to rotational power and quick lower-body reactions. Lateral skiers build single-leg strength and the ability to push off from a loaded position. This is a movement every athlete should practice.
SUMMARY
Every program is unique to the athlete and the coach. This piece isn’t about tearing down certain exercises but about explaining why other moves may be more suitable for your athletes.
You don’t need a speed ladder to be sport-specific.
The best sport-specific movements come from practice. Coaches may only have access to some athletes in a weight room, so it’s important to identify which exercises translate to the field and which could hold players back in the long run. Bottom line: don’t restrict your athletes by clinging to the status quo.
