Two athletes. One squats 500 pounds but moves like a busted shopping cart. The other squats 315 but explodes off the line like a rocket.
Yes, all athletes need to be strong. But put them in a game situation and tell me who you’re betting on?
The best athletes don’t just stack plates in the gym; they convert their strength into usable power, speed, and movement skills.
If you want your weight room work to translate, here’s how to build strength that matters.
Step 1: Get Freakishly Strong (But Do It Right)
Like I said: All athletes need to be strong. Sprinting, jumping, and changing direction require your body to produce insanely high levels of force.
To put this in perspective, here’s a small sample from THIS paper showing peak muscle forces in sprinting:
- Gastroc – 3x bodyweight
- Hamstrings – 8x bodyweight
- Soleus – 7x bodyweight
- Iliopsoas – 9x bodyweight
This is where it gets weird.
Traditional heavy lifting increases force production—but only to a point. And rarely to the extreme levels encountered in competitive sports.
That’s why adding depth jumps, overcoming isometrics, and drop catches, which generate significantly higher peak forces are so effective for transferring strength from the gym to the real world.
Step 2: Move Like You Mean It
Speed is the greatest asset in sports. The best athletes can generate high force and apply it fast.
They don’t grind through movements.
They explode.
Here’s how to train strength that moves:
- Max Effort Sprinting – Not jogging. Not “running fast.” All-out, full-throttle sprinting. The purest, most natural way to train speed and force production.
- Plyometrics That Work – Depth jumps, bounding, reactive hops. Your muscles and tendons should feel like high-tension rubber bands, not stiff ropes.
- Oscillatory Training – Micro-movements that teach you to turn muscles on and off instantly. Because in sports, you don’t have time to think—you just react.
Step 3: Stop Training Like You’re Made of Glass
Some athletes get injured constantly. Others bounce back like nothing happened.
It’s not luck. It’s durability.
Durability comes from tendon strength, connective tissue resilience, and training that actually prepares you for competition.
Here’s how to bulletproof your body:
- Yielding Isometrics – Holding positions under tension until you start questioning your life choices. Builds tendons that don’t snap.
- High-Rep Strength Work – Sled drags, Nordics, calf raises. Not sexy. Not Instagram-worthy. But this is the stuff that keeps you in the game.
Step 4: Be an Athletic Problem-Solver, Not a Lifting Robot
Sports don’t happen in a straight line. You don’t move like a machine. So why train like one?
Athletic strength isn’t just about lifting weights—it’s about handling uncertainty, adjusting on the fly, and maintaining power in every position.
That means:
- Crawling, Climbing, Rolling – Basic human movement. If a toddler can do it and you struggle, that’s a problem.
- Throwing, Slamming, Rotating – Med ball throws, rotational work, slams. Strength needs to be dynamic, not just up and down.
Train to Win, Not Just to Lift
There’s a difference between training to be strong and training to be dominant.
The old model: Lift more, get bigger, repeat.
The new model: Get stronger, move faster, build resilience, stay adaptable.
Because at the end of the day, nobody cares how much you squat.
They care if you win.
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Ready to unlock your potential? So are we.
Contact Pure Performance today to begin your fitness journey.