Some Athletes Should (At Some Point) Play 2 Sports

Yeah, I believe this. 

Training multiple sports at the same time really does not get enough credit, especially in adolescent/teen/youth sport. I'll have you know that I love specificity, but it is hard to deny the multitude of benefits an athlete gets from training different stuff than their main sport. 

 What are some of these benefits?

1. Early Skill Acquisition

2. Mental Preparation

3. Physical peaking: This is the main benefit I see from training multiple sports. Some athletes do not peak for their sport until post puberty, and some into their late 20s. This is more common in sports where physical development is very important, like weightlifting or rugby. This is less applicable to higher skill sports like cricket or soccer. By training multiple sports before you peak as an athlete, you keep more eggs in your basket and also build a bigger base.

Notice I said you should 'train' multiple sports. Not compete in multiple sports at the same time. That would be hard (though not impossible, but hard).

So what are my recommendations? I think training 2 sports at once is possible. To some extent, all my athletes train 2 sports at once. My rugby players train both rugby and S&C, same with soccer and cricket players. As a weightlifter, I also train for BJJ. 

~ Prem

Accessories SHOULD NOT Be Heavy

I find people go really, unnecessarily heavy with their accessory work. This is common amongst both strength athletes and sport athletes. I hypothesis this is due to a misconception that using higher weights in accessories will directly transfer to higher weights in the main lifts. To some extent, this is true, but is highly overplayed.

The reality is that number-chasing on accessory exercises is counter-productive. One, you risk yourself injury, which is bad. Two, you get less bank for your buck.

The first point goes without saying. Use more weight with shitty technique, get injured. I've heard of people getting injured whilst doing fucking dumbbell skull crushers. I can understand getting injured on a back squat or heavy deadlift, but a skullcrusher? Pathetic.

Second. Quality over quantity. Many top powerlifters will use weights that normies would consider 'light' because they are getting the MOST out of the weight! They are going through a full range of motion, using higher reps, pausing, and using a slightly slower eccentric. I've had some of the fattest pumps of my life whilst using relatively light weights.

Moral of the story: If you are doing an accessory exercise that is NOT your main lift that you compete in, don't start number chasing just because you want to look cool or feel like you're doing something. It is always better to use slightly lower weights and focus on quality.

ALL HAIL THE UNITED CREATES