Fitness

The word fitness conjures many images and feelings. In many circles fitness is equated with appearance- he or she looks fit. Many athletes equate fitness with gut check workouts that you do to get “fit”. In my eyes fitness is a moving target. It is certainly not something you are. It is an ongoing process. Being fit early an athlete’s career has different connotations than fitness for an athlete who has trained and competed for 10 years. As coaches we need to broaden our definition of fitness and widen our concepts of what it is. I always ask myself a simple question: Fit for what? Are your getting fit for the game or are we getting fit for an arbitrary test that measures fitness? Train for the sport; understand the demands of the sport. If the athlete’s training is well designed then the fitness should be threaded throughout, sometimes it will be an upfront objective and other times it is very transparent. Don’t forget that training is cumulative and that work capacity accumulates from year to year. Be fit for your game.

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Vern Gambetta

Director at Gambetta Sports Training Systems

Vern is the Director of Gambetta Sports Training Systems. He has been the a conditioning coach for several MLS teams as well as the conditioning consultant to the US Men's World Cup Soccer team. Vern is the former Director of Conditioning for the Chicago White Sox and New York Mets. He has lectured and conducted clinics in Canada, Japan, Australia and Europe and has authored six books and over one hundred articles related to coaching and sport performance in a variety of sports. He has a BA in teaching with a coaching minor and an MA in Education with an emphasis in physical education from Stanford University.