The World Games is an international multi-sport event with sports disciplines that are not in the Olympics. Let’s look behind the scenes to see what athletes in these multi-disciplinary sports might do to train for the World Games.
If you’re not 100% familiar with the event, you’ll see the most competitive athletes going head to head in sports like handball, kickboxing, lacrosse, and even powerlifting.
According to the official The World Games website, around 3,600 of the world’s best athletes in 30+ multi-disciplinary sports will compete this year. The World Games expect to hand out over 600 medals to the competing athletes, including 200 gold medals for the ultimate champions in each discipline.
Since there are so many unique disciplines and approaches to training, it’s tough to boil down one program or training method every athlete uses to stay at the top of their game. However, there is one commonality among many athletes' training gyms: they all incorporate VertiMax.
Training For World Games Athletes
Martial Arts
They feature several martial arts in the World Games. For instance, you can watch countries duke it out in karate, kickboxing, and Muay Thai. You can also watch more hands-on grappling during the sumo or ju-jitsu matches.
Each martial art is highly technical, requiring incredible balance, coordination, and explosiveness. Let's first take a closer look at kicking mechanics, as this is the foundation for all the karate, kickboxing, and Muay Thai athletes out there.
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Kicking
To throw a solid kick, you need:
- Exceptional bilateral hip mobility (both sides of the body)
- Strong single-leg balance and ankle dorsiflexion (gas pedaling of the foot)
- Trunk rotational power
- Vertical and horizontal explosiveness (e.g., bouncing, jumping)
With VertiMax, you can train these components of the kick by changing the resistance profile to match precisely what you want to train.
For instance, in this athlete’s Instagram video, see them first throwing kicks with a VertiMax hooked up to the feet. This allows the athlete to train a variety of kicks (e.g., head kicks or Thai kicks) with resistance. Generally, resistance bands don’t work well with kicks because the linear resistance of a regular band will snap the kick back too quickly. Whereas VertiMax will give a smooth, consistent resistance no matter where or how you move or kick.
In the next part of the video, see the athlete bouncing and bounding with more resistance around the waist. This allows the athlete to train specifically on the mechanics of the kick from the ground up. Or, they can use that resistance around the trunk to work on rotational power and explosiveness.
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Grappling and Wrestling
Grappling and wrestling, both of which are components of ju-jitsu and sumo wrestling, require a combined nimbleness and explosiveness that VertiMax trains perfectly.
In this athlete’s video, see them practicing sprawls, shuffles, and crawls while attached to a VertiMax.
And in this video, the athlete can attach a VertiMax to both the hands and feet, allowing them to train wrestling shoots and takedowns.
Attach VertiMax to any part of the body to practice drills during training, and it will result in better outcomes for each event or sport. That’s what makes it one of the most convenient, versatile pieces of training equipment on the market.
Ball Sports
Ball sports make up a large category of The World Games, with events ranging from lacrosse, squash and handball. If there’s one thing in common among all these sports, you must practice hand-eye coordination and master it to play at the highest level. Furthermore, hand-eye coordination results from good reaction time and an athlete’s ability to change directions quickly.
Check out this video of an athlete practicing reaction time and hand-eye coordination drills while attached to a VertiMax.
See this video of an athlete practicing catches for lacrosse while attached to a VertiMax.
Notice how it’s not just above the catch, but the ball's unpredictability in motion; that’s what makes a good reaction time and hand-eye coordination drill.
Remember, VertiMax can be attached directly to the equipment. If you play racquet sports of any kind, connect it to the racquet for added resistance during gameplay or drills.
The Specificity Principle
Specificity is a training principle where an outcome is determined by the specificity of the input(s). So, if you want to get better at handball, it behooves you to practice handball. Of course, most people figure that out on their own. However, elevating specificity and making it more nuanced might be just what they need to level up their game.
Check out this video of an athlete practicing a single-legged underhand shot while attached to a VertiMax.
Also see this video of an athlete practicing an overhand throw with a VertiMax attached to both hands and his waist.
Again, it’s challenging to replicate what VertiMax can do; it’s not just a resistance band. Instead, it’s a constant-tension resistance system you can apply to any sport or training session to improve your skills.
There are literally thousands of ways to use VertiMax to improve your game and to bring you to the next level to compete in The World Games.
Stay tuned for part two about sports like gymnastics and trend sports like canoe polo.
