Ask any athlete and s/he will say that lifting is essential. Lifting will make the athlete bigger, stronger and faster, but it depends on the type of athlete that they are. Runners, baseball players, wrestlers, and football players all lift weights with one goal in mind, "I need to get better". There are many different types of lifts to focus on specific part of your body. Lifting, in return, will give that athlete what s/he desires and will make them better. .
Runners lift weights for a variety of reasons. Runners do not necessarily need to get bigger they need to work on speed and muscle definition. Most of their speed from lifting will come from lifting lower weights at higher repetitions. This will help with muscle definition. Runners sometimes need to work on muscle definition due to the fact that they are constantly running. Running breaks down muscle by using up stored water in the muscle. The main muscle groups runners work on is their quads, calves, hamstrings, and abdominal muscles. The lifts they do are very simple. The basic lifts would be squats, sit-ups, leg curls, and power cleans. By doing these lifts they see better performance both running and lifting. .
Baseball players need that little extra speed on their ball when throwing it. The average baseball player will only lift two to three times a week due to the fact that lifting heavy can cause soreness and can affect their performance. For baseball players, there are key muscle groups that they work on. Some of their lifting would include working on there shoulders, chests, and arms. Since baseball players do not need to concentrate on their running speed, so they stay away from most speed working exercises. Their upper body strength is vital to them. The more upper body lifting they do, the more it will help them with throwing and batting. The lifting that they do consists of bench, military press, incline bench, and lateral shoulder raises.
