10/23/2025
GOT YOUNG MULTI-SPORT ATHLETES? These young athletes have unique needs. What are you doing to balance development and performance while avoiding injury and burnout?
Drawing from 30 years experience training young athletes, here is what we've learned and what we do...
BEST PRACTICES
Young athletes who participate in multiple sports throughout the year face unique challenges and opportunities in their training. Strength and conditioning coaches play a crucial role in ensuring these athletes not only perform at their best across all sports but also stay healthy and avoid burnout. Let’s explore some effective strategies for training multi-sport athletes, focusing on how to balance their development and performance year-round.
CROSS-TRAINING BENEFITS
Cross-training involves exercises and activities that improve athletic performance as a whole. For multi-sport athletes, cross-training can help maintain fitness levels while reducing the risk of overuse injuries.
MONITORING AND ADJUSTING TRAINING LOADS
Given the physical demands on multi-sport athletes, it’s essential to monitor their training loads closely to avoid overtraining and burnout.
• Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE): Use RPE scales to gauge how hard athletes feel they are working during training sessions. This subjective measure can help identify when an athlete is pushing too hard and needs rest.
• Regular Check-Ins: Regular conversations with athletes about how they feel physically and mentally encourages open communication and assures they feel comfortable reporting fatigue or injuries.
• Deload Weeks: Periodically incorporate deload weeks, where training intensity and volume are reduced, allowing athletes to recover without completely stopping their training.
• Individualization: Recognize that each athlete’s response to training will vary. Be prepared to adjust training plans on an individual basis to account for these differences.
Example: If an athlete reports a consistently high RPE during training, it may be necessary to reduce the intensity of their workouts or add an extra day of rest to prevent overtraining.
• Muscle Balance: Cross-training helps develop a more balanced musculature, reducing the risk of imbalances that could lead to injury.
• Skill Transfer: Activities like swimming or cycling can improve cardiovascular endurance without placing additional stress on joints already taxed by running or jumping.
• Mental Refreshment: Cross-training can also provide a mental break from the tedium of sport-specific training, keeping the athlete engaged and motivated.
Example: A soccer player who also runs track can benefit from cross-training by incorporating swimming into their routine, improving cardiovascular endurance while giving their legs a break from the pounding of running.
IMPLEMENTING PERIODIZATION FOR MULTI-SPORT ATHLETES
Periodization involves the systematic planning of athletic training that divides the year into phases that balance intensity, volume, and recovery. For multi-sport athletes, periodization is crucial in managing the transition between different sport seasons.
• Macrocycles: Plan the year in macrocycles corresponding to the athlete’s sports seasons (pre-season, in-season, post-season). Each sport’s macrocycle should reflect its specific demands while allowing time for recovery.
For a student who plays football in the fall and basketball in the winter, the mesocycles could emphasize strength and power in the football pre-season, then shift focus to agility and endurance as basketball season approaches.
• Mesocycles: Within each macrocycle, include mesocycles that focus on different aspects of fitness—strength, endurance, speed, or power—depending on the requirements of the upcoming season.
• Microcycles: These are shorter cycles (weekly or bi-weekly) that can be adjusted based on the athlete’s current state, competition schedule, and any signs of fatigue or overtraining.
RECOVERY STRATEGIES
Multi-sport participation can be demanding. Recovery is critical to long-term multi-sport athlete success and injury prevention. Coaches/trainers must prioritize recovery in their training programs to help athletes maintain peak health and performance throughout the year.
• Active Recovery: Incorporating light, low-impact activities such as swimming, yoga, or cycling promotes blood flow and reduces muscle stiffness without adding significant strain.
• Sleep and Nutrition: Educate athletes on the importance of sleep and proper nutrition in their recovery process. Adequate sleep and a balanced diet rich in protein and essential nutrients are essential for muscle repair and overall recovery.
• Recovery Tools: Encourage the use of foam rollers, massage tools, and stretching routines to help maintain flexibility and muscle health.
Example: After a week of intense training or competition, multisport athletes could benefit from an active recovery day that includes light cycling and stretching instead of weight lifting. This helps reduce muscle soreness without the risk of overtraining and prepares them for the next round of practices or games.
CHALLENGES OF MULTI-SPORT TRAINING
Since multi-sport athletes compete in two or more sports during different seasons of the year, they often excel in diverse areas of athleticism, such as agility, strength, endurance, and mental resilience. However, the continuous cycle of training and competition also poses risks, such as overuse injuries, fatigue, and inadequate recovery time.
OVERLAPPING SEASONS
• Communication: Coordinate with other coaches to manage the athlete’s workload and avoid conflicting training demands. Ensure that everyone involved understands the athlete’s overall schedule and adjusts their expectations accordingly.
• Prioritization: Help athletes prioritize which sport needs the most focus at different times of the year. During overlapping seasons, this might mean reducing training volume for one sport to maintain performance in another.
OVERUSE INJURIES
• Varied Training: Ensure that athletes are not overloading the same muscle groups repeatedly by varying exercises and incorporating cross-training.
• Rest and Recovery: Emphasize the importance of rest days and recovery techniques to prevent overuse injuries. Educate athletes on recognizing the early signs of overuse injuries, such as persistent soreness or joint pain.
BALANCING LONG-TERM DEVELOPMENT AND IMMEDIATE PERFORMANCE
• Skill Development: While it’s important to prepare athletes for immediate competition, don’t neglect long-term development. Incorporate skills training that will benefit the athlete in the long term across all sports, such as foundational strength, agility, and coordination exercises.
• Goal Setting: Work with athletes to set both short-term and long-term goals, helping them see the bigger picture of their athletic development. This can help them stay motivated and focused throughout the year and beyond.
Training multisport athletes requires a delicate balance of developing diverse athletic skills, managing training loads, and prioritizing recovery. By implementing periodization, cross-training, and closely monitoring athlete fatigue, strength coaches/trainers minimize the risk of injury and ensure multisport athletes excel across all sports. With the right strategies in place, multisport athletes benefit from the versatility and resilience that comes with competing in multiple sports, leading to a successful and fulfilling athletic career.
The proper foundation of balanced fitness for peak performance is everything.
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