The term hybrid athlete has been getting thrown around a lot of social media networks and by fit influencers all around the world. But what exactly is a hybrid athlete and what does a hybrid athlete training program look like?

Today, we’ll be tackling everything you need to know about hybrid athletes for those who are complete beginners. Let’s dive in!

What is a Hybrid Athlete?

The term hybrid athlete is often used to describe someone who engages in cross-discipline training that focus on a variety of niche athletic skills. For example, a person who is training for both a 10 km run, as well as training towards a deadlifting goal, would technically be classified as an amateur hybrid athlete.

In the world of professional athleticism, a hybrid athlete is someone who has competed in one aspect of athletics and switches to competing in another aspect of athletics - usually after attaining their personal or professional goals in one field.

An example of this could be a pole vaulter who has won national competitions deciding they want to switch up their focus to winning national 100m sprint competitions. Or, for a more exaggerated example, if a professional weight lifter decided to train for professional swimming, they would be deemed a hybrid athlete.

Usually,  hybrid athletes will excel in multiple different areas of fitness at the same time and will have a holistic, well-rounded approach to their personal fitness.

A good example of a hybrid athlete discipline would be obstacle course racers or martial arts practitioners - as both these fields of fitness require the practitioner to be well-versed in all kinds of functional cardio, strength and endurance exercises to train effectively.

Characteristics of a Hybrid Athlete

Hybrid athletes are known to have a unique set of characteristics that set them apart from other kinds of athletes. They’ll be:

• Versatile. Due to the nature of how hybrid athletes train, they’ll become adept in a variety of fitness-related skills such as balance, explosive power, speed, endurance, and more.

• Resilient. Hybrid training can be very intense for the body and for the mind. Unlike athletes who train in a particular area of fitness as a speciality, hybrid athletes tend to push their body to its limit regularly as most hybrid workouts will be full-body workouts. This reduces the amount of time their body will have to recover before they need to workout again and increases the likelihood of mental burnout. Hybrid training, therefore, requires a stern personality and fortitude.

• Injury resistant. Another key factor that tends to set hybrid athletes apart from regular athletes is their ability to heal or recover from injury more quickly (or they will be more adept at injury prevention).

• Disciplined. Dedicating yourself to a hybrid training program is not easy. Due to the intensity of the workouts, and the frequency at which you’ll need to do these workouts to progress, all hybrid athletes will need to keep themselves accountable and disciplined to succeed. 

The Benefits of Hybrid Athlete Training

Almost needless to say, hybrid athlete training programs are excellent at improving your level of fitness but they are by no means easy. By deciding to adhere to a hybrid athlete training program, you’ll be able to reap a range of fitness benefits and progress towards your fitness goals at a greater pace than most.

However, the key benefits of hybrid training are:

• It’ll provide you with well-rounded development. Ever encountered people who could bench a small car but likely run out of breath after a mile of running? Or maybe you’ve encountered long-distance runners who couldn’t bench their own bodyweight. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with either type of fitness enthusiast, hybrid training gives you the best of both worlds by providing you with well-rounded fitness progress.

• It can help with injury prevention and reduction. If you regularly train across multiple disciplines, it will give you a greater range of use for muscle groups and joints. This will decrease the likelihood of injury versus an athlete who only trains in one specific area.

• It will reduce the total body fat percentage. Unlike focussed workouts that aim to try and reduce body fat in a certain bodily area, hybrid training will help you shed body fat percentage with full-body workouts. This is, of course, respecting the vital role diet plays in weight loss too!

• Increase muscle mass and help you tone. As hybrid training programs will have cardiovascular exercises, muscular strength exercises, and muscular endurance exercises all rolled into one routine, you’ll be able to tone and steadily increase muscle mass.

• Helping to improve endurance. Cardiovascular exercises conducted alongside muscular endurance exercises will help you to improve your stamina, lung capacity, and prevent muscle fatigue from setting in sooner while exercising.

• Helping to improve mental health. All kinds of exercise will help you to reduce stress and anxiety while boosting your energy levels throughout the day. Exercise can also help you increase cognitive function and improve your sleep quality when you exercise regularly. 

Hybrid Athlete Training Program for Beginners

Before we delve into the details of a beginner training program for those who want to start hybrid training, we need to make a few vital points:

• Nothing compares to professional help. If you are serious about your fitness, booking a fitness class or talking to a professional trainer is strongly recommended. Personal trainers will be able to give you personalised, tailored advice for you, your lifestyle, and your fitness goals.

• Always consult a medical professional. Before starting any kind of new fitness routine, you should always talk to your doctor. They can give you personalised advice on what to avoid should you have underlying medical conditions or past injuries.

• Always listen to your body. If, at any time, you start to experience pain during a workout, you need to stop and adjust your workout. You can adjust by reducing intensity or duration, however, this is where the advice of a personal trainer will be invaluable.

• Never skip a warm-up or cool-down. These are essential to preventing injuries.

Weekly Hybrid Training Program

When starting out you’ll want to improve as many areas of fitness as you can. This can be easily accomplished by breaking down your week into three workout sessions with a specific focus. This will help you improve in the long run!

For your first few weeks, you’ll want to do 30 minutes of medium-intensity workouts. This will help you break into the routine before starting to increase difficulty through duration and/or intensity.

Monday: Focus on Cardio Training

How you train cardio is entirely up to you, however, swimming is a fantastic option. Swimming will not only help you improve your stamina and lung capacity, it’ll also help you tone (as it works for every muscle group in your body).

Recommended Option:

30 Minutes of Swimming:

• 2 minutes 30 seconds of light swimming to warm up.

• 3 minutes of medium-intensity swimming (any stroke)

• 2 minutes of light-intensity swimming (any stroke)

• Repeat this 5 times (25 minutes in total)

• 2 minutes 30 seconds of light swimming to cool down.

Other Options:

• 30 minutes of light non-stop jogging

• 30 minutes of moderate-intensity cycling

Wednesday: Focus on Strength Training

For strength training, you’ll want to do heavier weights with a low quantity of repetitions. You’ll also want to switch up between bodyweight exercises and weighted exercises (using machines or dumbbells).

• Short 1-2 minute jog to warm up (or 1 minute of jumping jacks)

• Squats: 3 sets of 10-12 reps

• Lunges: 3 sets of 10-12 reps per leg

• Push-ups: 3 sets of as many reps as possible

• Row: 3 sets of 10-12 reps

• Core exercises (e.g., planks, leg raises, Russian twists): 3 sets of 30 seconds each

• 1 minute of very light jogging/fast walking to cool down

Friday: Focus on Flexibility

Flexibility is something that often gets forgotten about in a hybrid training program but is vital for all fitness. Attending a class is a great option for this, such as Yoga or Tai Chi.

Ideally, you’ll want to attend a 30-minute session.

Progression

After 2-4 weeks of the above, you’ll want to slowly increase difficulty in order to progress and prevent a fitness plateau. You can increase the difficulty by:

• Increasing the number of reps for bodyweight exercises or weighted exercises

• Increase the resistance on bodyweight exercises (by holding a 1kg or 2kg weight)

• Increase the duration or speed of your cardio workouts (running for longer, or running slightly faster)

• Add new exercises to each session

• Increase the overall duration of each session

Become a Hybrid Athlete with Village Gym

Did you know there are dozens of locations up and down the UK with all the equipment and expertise you need to excel as a hybrid athlete?

At Village Gym we have state-of-the-art equipment, speciality fitness classes, and personal trainers, all at your disposal.

Browse our variety of membership options and join our health and wellness clubs. Train your way with Village Gym!