All things explained about being a hybrid athlete

All things explained about being a hybrid athlete

What is your go-to workout style when you visit the gym or follow your fitness regime? Is it primarily cardiovascular-based, strength-based, or a fusion of both? 

If it's a fusion, you might be participating in hybrid training without knowing. Existing for over two decades, the hybrid approach is only growing more popular among fitness enthusiasts, and rightly so.

It's practical, functional and can be done everywhere.

But what exactly is hybrid training, and what does it entail? Find out everything you need to know about it below and why you should try this form of cross-training.  

What is hybrid training?

Hybrid training is nothing new; it's been around since the early 2000s. But it's probably been around even longer! It's simply undertaking more than one exercise or training style. 

For instance, if you love to…

  • Run and lift weights
  • Do CrossFit workouts
  • Swim and lift weights
  • Cycle and lift weights 
  • Mix up cardio and strength training
  • And more!

If so, you're already participating in hybrid training. This training allows you to challenge your body by performing various functional movements while getting your healthy dose of cardio.

At Go Nutrition, WE LOVE IT

It's a win-win approach to fitness that can be done anywhere at any time. You're training your muscles, cardiovascular, and respiratory system. Combining different workouts into your routine optimises your overall health and pushes it to its potential. 

However, cardiovascular-based training is often seen as a NO-NO.

It's true. If you come into contact with many fitness enthusiasts, professionals, and veterans, they probably look down on cardiovascular-based training, and we don't blame them!

Many people have developed this belief from a four-decade-old study conducted in the 1980s by Robert Hickson! This study focused on whether strength and endurance would harm overall performance—and back then, they did. 

Out of the two groups, the strength-only group outperformed the group that did both, creating a phenomenon known as the "interference effect".

Because of this, many coaches advised fitness professionals to stick to one model. But that was over forty years ago, and it didn't factor in the breaks or fatigue that may have accumulated, contributing to lesser performance! 

The right exercise selection and programming are proving this study wrong today, showing that hybrid training is the way forward. Many powerlifters are often doing trail runs, and many runners often incorporate more strength training into their routines!

What are the benefits of hybrid training?

Yes, it's partially true you may only sometimes hit your 1 rep MAX when participating in a hybrid training program, but if you're looking to improve your overall health and fitness, we recommend it.  To know if it's for you or not, here are 3 benefits of hybrid training for overall fitness:

Improved body composition 

Hybrid training might be one of the best ways forward regarding body composition. A 2022 study showed that those who underwent six weeks of training witnessed positive changes in their body fat and increased muscle mass. 

Better physical preparedness 

Hybrid training improves overall physical fitness. It helps train you for a broader spectrum of capabilities, preparing you for any activity, whether running, weights, cycling, climbing, or more. The versatility hybrid training offers allows you to be better prepared for daily life and participate in spontaneous physical challenges. 

Reduced likelihood of injury 

Another advantage of hybrid training is that it may help reduce the risk of injury. Training with different intensities, distances, and loads has been known to reduce the risk of injury. Hybrid training can help you develop robustness for your tissues, making you less at risk of injuries from high-impact exercise. 

What are the main elements of a hybrid training plan? 

While hybrid training programs differ, a training plan generally has five elements: strength training, running or cardio, functional training, flexibility and mobility, and rest and recovery.

Strength training

First, strength training is an important element of your hybrid training program. Compound movements, such as squats, deadlifts, bench presses, and pull-ups, compliment other exercise areas.

These resistance exercises help target different muscle groups simultaneously, improving performance. Of course, you can add accessory groups that focus on specific groups to eliminate weakness and increase strength further.

Top Tip: To reduce training plateaus, a major key is to slowly undergo progressive overload, steadily increasing the intensity or volume over time. Take note of your sets, reps, and weight to ensure you progress towards your goals. 

Cardiovascular based training 

Cardiovascular exercise, like running, can have significant benefits in hybrid training. It can help improve lung and heart function. Adding cardiovascular workouts like running into hybrid training can enhance recovery between strength training sessions and improve overall stamina. 

Functional training 

Another element of hybrid training involves functional workouts. If you're unfamiliar with them, functional training is a form of strength training that prepares you for daily activities. This type of training helps improve your balance, muscle strength, and mobility by focusing on specific movements instead of muscle groups.

Training such movements helps develop balance, stability, coordination, power and speed, which can be transferred to other training disciplines. Functional training is essential to helping you become a well-rounded hybrid athlete!

Flexibility & Mobility 

The best training programs for hybrid athletes incorporate flexibility and mobility into the workouts. Adding these in helps improve form and reduce the risk of injury. Examples are dynamic stretching while warming up, mobility between sets, passive stretching, and specific mobility sessions between workouts. 

Rest 

Sometimes, it can be tempting to skip rest days, but they shouldn't be skipped. These are essential in hybrid training as they help alleviate muscle pain and soreness, reduce injury, and repair and build muscles. 

How to become a hybrid athlete 

Now that you have insight into what to include in a hybrid training plan, you must consider the next steps. 

Set Goals

Before you start training, setting specific goals for your strength and endurance is important. These goals will help you stay on track and create a training plan and progression. 

Create a balanced plan 

To achieve your goals, creating a balanced training plan for them is important. It's equally as important to reduce fatigue as much as possible! With hybrid training involving a lot of volume and intensity, important sessions are strategically planned so you don't have fatigue falling into the next workout session.

To do this, always ensure strength training is low reps, keep long endurance sessions on their own, and always try to maintain strength or endurance on separate days. 

Add strength days

It's essential to schedule strength training sessions to support your running. Strength training helps build muscle, enhance power, and improve physical performance. It also increases bone density, reduces the risk of osteoporosis, and enables you to manage your weight. Adding strength training is important as it reduces the risk of injury. 

Include endurance days 

Another important aspect is including endurance (cardiovascular-based) workouts. Adding running, swimming, cycling, or rowing to your weekly routine can help you sustain physical exercise for longer periods of time.

Try to aim for various steady-state sessions and short, high-intensity intervals. Building in these is essential as they help improve your recovery times and overall athletic performance. 

Add progressive overload

With any training, it's important to gradually increase the difficulty, be it reps, distance, pace, or anything else, to get closer to your goals. You'll want to steadily increase them and review them weekly to see if you're on target! 

Get your nutrition right 

In addition to the different types of training, you must get your nutrition right. When doing this, aim to balance proteins, fats, and carbohydrates to help encourage muscle growth and repair.

Carbohydrates help replenish glycogen stores, giving you enough energy to push through workouts, whereas healthy fats encourage overall health and hormonal balance. It's important to include a variety of vegetables and fruits to ensure you have a broad variety of vitamins and minerals. 

How we help support hybrid athletes 

At Go Nutrition, we live for hybrid training but support other modalities, too! If you're interested in trying hybrid training, creating the right training plan and fuel up is important. Sometimes, undergoing this type of training can be challenging if you don’t get the balance right!

While whole foods should be the main foundation, we can help you push past your potential even more with supplements. Our supplements include electrolytes, pre-workouts, creatine, and recovery blends to help you go beyond your boundaries in training and competitions—check them out here

If you're already an experienced hybrid athlete and want support, we're here for you, too! Join our athlete program and gain exclusive discounts, promotions, and access to premium fitness and nutrition products!

Let us help you stay committed to your goals- register for our athlete program.
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