Why is team fitness important?

Why is team fitness important?

When looking at a sports team we need to look at fitness.

Now as important as individual fitness is I am talking about team fitness. But what does that mean and how does that differ to individual fitness.

When looking at individual fitness we look at 1 person on their own and how far they can push themselves. This tests their general fitness and their own mind strength. It is so easy to give up or not give your all when training on your own.

Now as a team you can normally find that the point at where someone would normally pull aside and call it a day is much further on. And there are reasons behind this...

- Nobody will want to be the 1st one out. It will come with pride that people will want to keep fighting to ensure that they are not the 1st one out and therefor classed as the un-fittest.

- You have less time to think about the pain and suffering that you are putting through your body as there is much more going on around you.

- You will be able to push yourself further as you have always got someone chasing you or have someone to chase.

But again this is looking at more the individual, so where does the team fitness come into play.

When conducting the fitness sessions at Bristol Harlequins RFC I ensure that the whole squad work as a team and while pushing themselves to the limit they are also ensuring those around them to keep up the pace.

This is vitally important when playing a sport like rugby or football.

You need to be constantly aware of what is going on around you and who is around you. Even when "blowing out of your ass" you need to be able to pick up your team mate, direct them into position while being a good leader.

If you can get a few players within a team to help ensure that energy levels are forced as high as possible it will do wonders to your results.

If the other team are constantly being pressured by a whole team giving their all throughout the match it will be very intimidating.

So next time you are at a team training session try to ensure that the people around you are also giving their all throughout the entire session.

Energy feeds energy.