The Confusing world of “The Hybrid Athlete”
Welcome to the confusing world of “The Hybrid Athlete”, a phrase that means many different things to different people. Not even Hybrid “coaches” really agree either on what the emphasis of the term really means, so in this post, I’ll endeavour to break down the different groups that people tend to find themselves in and whether this means that they really are fitting that true “Hybrid Athlete” definition that every one you know is slipping into their instagram bio.
I’m not going to go into the full history of the origins of the term on here, because that’s already very well explained by the OG Hybrid himself, Alex Viada, in his 2015 book titled “The Hybrid Athlete”. Since then, people have very much interpreted it in their own way, often veering off from the original message which was someone who pursues “two different sporting endeavours that don’t necessarily support each other” i.e, strength sports like powerlifting & olympic lifting alongside endurance sports like trail running, ultra running or triathlon, to develop strength and endurance concurrently.
So, how many ways have people interpreted it since then? Quite a few actually.
Here is a list that I’m sure could be added to, but it very much goes like this, and all these people would still say that they are “Hybrid” in some form, when really, going off the definition earlier, actually miss the brief.
The “Switcher” type person that separates out the strength from the endurance into different training blocks. Aka, they cycle through different blocks of focused training on bodybuilding or strength, but then drop one side completely (like strength training) to focus solely on half marathon or marathon training, in order to get the most out of the endurance side of things whilst not being compromised by the strength training.
The “Fitness” enjoyer - usually anything that falls into the bodybuilding/physique kind of split (usually a push/pull/legs set up) with a weekly 5km jog thrown in there too.
The Fitness “Race” enjoyer - whether it’s obstacle course racing or Hyrox - the event and training itself is now a specific sport in itself, and is far more weighted towards running and endurance capabilities rather than a balance of strength and endurance.
The CrossFit athlete. Be prepared for anything, except a different energy system to the one you always train and compete in.
The Rugby player. Yes, they are often referred to as a concurrent athlete, but this is used in the wrong context for what we mean when we say concurrency of training modalities (aka hybrid training). Training in a hybrid way for rugby would actually create a worse rugby player.
The multisport enjoyer - someone who does a mixture of sports - but all sports that ultimately develop one side of the fitness spectrum.
The ultra runner who occasionally holds down a running focused strength training programme, but is blessed with great physique genetics and calls it “Hybrid”.
The old guy you know who says he’s been training hybrid training since he was 6 years old, and it was just called fitness back in the day. All you modern men having to call yourselves something ridiculous, blah blah.
The fitness class enjoyer who throws in a few metcon style workouts at the end of the their strength training day.
So, what’s the problem here? Can’t we just live and let live, man? Well yes. And No.
Personally, I have no problems with how people want to train. We’re all just having fun after all. But I do have problems when people label something incorrectly, and then package it up and sell it people who don’t know any better. Especially if you didn’t realise what you were buying wasn’t actually - well, what you thought you were buying.
Let’s go back to that original phrase about what really defines a Hybrid Athlete, because it really can be as simple as it sounds - “two different sporting endeavours that don’t necessarily support each other”. The aim being to develop strength and endurance at the same time.
I think the “sport” element is an important takeaway, because it implies performance. And if we take the largest group from the above list, you can see that immediately some issues crop up when we try to reconcile the way they train with the definition of Hybrid Training.
For the people who follow a physique type split alongside (usually, but not always) some kind of running programme…
The problem for me is that there isn’t any performance element to the physique training, apart from arbitrary ones like, “I’m maintaining muscle” or, “I was able to get an extra repetition from my last set of 12 on incline smith press”. The argument falls apart for me because the only performance side of the training comes from the endurance part, which is inherently made easier by not really pursuing a real, credible strength goal alongside it to really make it into “Hybrid Training”.
So, how many coaches out there are actually fitting the brief of what really is “Hybrid Training”?
Only a handful actually. I’m one of them - but I can really only say that I know of two other coaching companies that are doing it. We all have our slight coaching nuances, but the core component of training strength and endurance at the same time, is consistent.
So. Where does this leave us? Well, hopefully it gives you an insight into the large discrepancies under the big umbrella of Hybrid. Some people are fully underneath it, some step in and out from underneath it, and others are constantly a bit wet on the sides from never really getting underneath it at all.
But now at least you know about it. Anyway, it’s quite good under the umbrella here at H+ Performance. You can come in from the rain anytime you like.
Feel like you’re ready to start? Have a look at the Hybrid Foundation or my other coaching options for more established “Hybrid’s”.