Something you are required to know about cross-training

Have you ever heard of cross-training before? Is it about transportation?



Of course not.

As an athletic training in sports other than the athlete's usual sport, the goal of cross-training is improving overall performance. It takes advantage of the particular effectiveness of one training way to negate the shortcomings of another. Actually, it can benefit a lot if you work out probably.



From the perspective of an organization, cross-training can not only help it have adequate employees on a stop-gap basis, it also represents an excellent way to cultivate leadership and keep your business running smoothly. Because it can make employees work harder in order to enrich their official life which can boost the morale of an organization. It also erases differences and unhealthy competition between departments. It will help you know those employees who are vital and those that are prepared to take on added responsibility. Cross-training gives employees a chance to build relationships with whom they might never have contact with before. Thus, your organization will work more effectively and employees’ understanding of the big picture will increase. It can also appreciate intellectual capital, improved individual efficiency, and increased standardization of jobs.



For personal, cross-training give you a chance to improve your cardio, strengthen your muscles, or help speed your recovery and many runners like to stay in the gym and sweat it out. What else you can gain from cross-training is durability, agility, flexibility, efficiency, and teamwork. It's a good aerobic workout which does not have the pounding forces on your legs. If you run 3 to 5 miles, you'll certainly get an aerobic activity in that practice. To some extent, it looks like a workout because of slowing down and speeding up. You have a lot of overall activity which will strengthen lots of muscle groups. It helps with your balance and allows you to stay in shape as well.



Every activity has its own drawbacks as well as advantages. There is no exception in cross-training.

So, what you should be concerned about?

It causes many ankle, knee, and other injuries. With the cutting, jumping, and player-to-player contact, there is a significant risk connected with those injuries in football players and basketball players. It can cause upper-body injuries, especially when your form is off. Because it works for the same muscle groups and adds in the upper body and the core. There is a lot on your feet that put some stress on your calves. Your legs are taking quite a beat, so the next day you might not be feeling fresh and ready to run again.



It may cause muscle strain or overtrain due to high intensity. If you combine it with usual training schedules and do not corporate proper recovery time, there may be a risk for overtraining."



It can have low aerobic intensity, especially if you paddle without paying attention. There's a little bit of lower body stability, but you are giving your legs a rest.



If you are walking and carrying a 15 or 25 pounds barbell, there could be an aerobic benefit. It takes the advantages of lower body strength and balance, which is something that can help to improve our running.



If your foot catches wrong, you could get muscle strains, so calf and hamstring injuries. Tennis elbow is common among tennis players. Those are more those overuse type injuries. I primarily see acute muscles strains. It's working similar muscle groups to running. There is high aerobic demand. It's a perfect sport that we could substitute.



If you suffer from asthma or exercise-induced asthma, it has one of the highest triggers for asthma. It's bad in cold and dry environments, you'll be at risk for experiencing symptoms while doing that.



If you do no pay full attention to playing it, you may get harm other than benefit from it. Thus, be careful enough while you are doing cross-training, try to cooperate with others and think on your own clearly. Make a decision with comprehensive consideration. What is more important, learn some techniques and master them before you start.



To make your organization better, you can follow these tips to implement a cross-training initiative.

Create a culture of collective success. For some employees, being indispensable is making certain progress. Think clear about that your organization values people’s ability to support each other and that single point of failure is a company-wide weakness. Show employees that their capacity to help their co-workers in times of need will benefit them when they need additional support
Set formal expectations. Require employees to have at least one person who can step into their role at a moment’s notice. Make it mandatory, give clear instructions, and provide time for people to cross-train effectively.
Check your success. Run simulations to ensure cross-training meets your expectations. If a vital employee is having a vacation without team contact or committing that employee to another project and he isn’t pulled in to help the person performing his role, meanwhile your organization still works well, then you need to take cross-train into serious consideration as an important part of your official life. If someone is able to step in in this person’s absence, you’re covered.
Develop a feedback mechanism. Give your employees a chance to give you feedback on the impact of cross-training activities, and use this information to keep improving your efforts.


Although cross-training may result in some short-term loss in productivity, it’s a small price to pay for long-term risk mitigation and increased efficiency. You can take cross-training as insurance into consideration against the inevitable. Having a good knowledge of cross-training, you will behave better in the workout.