Athletes, Stop Wasting Time in the Gym — with Derrick Virassammy

Many of us hit the gym with good intentions—seeking strength, energy, and long-term health. We chase six-pack abs, bigger biceps, and heavier bench presses. But if your routine is rooted solely in traditional bodybuilding exercises like curls and crunches, you might be building the wrong kind of strength.

According to Derrick Virassammy, certified sports performance specialist and founder of AGF Performance Training, true fitness isn’t about muscle size—it’s about how well you move, stabilize, and react in the real world.

From Severely Injured to Bulletproof

Derrick isn’t just a trainer—he’s a survivor. After a devastating car accident in 2014, he had to rebuild his body from the ground up. He knew that aesthetics don’t equal function. What good is a chiseled body if it can’t bend, twist, or stabilize when life throws you off balance? So he had to build himself back up again.

Through this lens, Derrick developed a training philosophy focused on movement, injury prevention, and real-world readiness.

Redefining Strength: It’s Not About Muscles, It’s About Movement

The biggest distinction between athletic training and traditional gym workouts comes down to this: bodybuilding focuses on muscles; athletic training focuses on movement patterns.

Yes, athletes need strength—but it’s strength expressed through motion, not isolation. Derrick breaks down athletic training into three transformative pillars:

1. Stability and Deceleration: Train the Brakes, Not Just the Engine

Many people train for speed and power. But what happens when you have to stop? According to Derrick, injuries often occur during deceleration—when landing from a jump, changing direction, or absorbing unexpected impact.

That’s why “training the brakes” matters. Athletic training builds reactive stability—the ability to keep the body aligned and balanced under dynamic, often awkward conditions. Think squatting with a twist, lunging while resisting rotation, or catching yourself mid-fall.

2. Fast-Twitch Power: Train for Explosiveness, Not Just Strength

Power isn't just about how much you lift—it's about how fast you move. Athletic training activates fast-twitch muscle fibers through dynamic, explosive movements like medicine ball slams, sprint drills, and rapid bodyweight exercises.

Rather than going heavy all the time, this method uses lighter loads with speed, mimicking real-life demands where sudden movement and reaction time matter far more than brute strength.

3. Multiplanar Movement: Train for Life, Not Just the Mirror

Most gym-goers train in one direction—forward and back. But life doesn’t happen in a straight line. We twist to grab the remote, step sideways to dodge a kid’s toy, or rotate to throw a bag in the car.

Athletic training introduces lateral, rotational, and diagonal movements—building strength that is useful in real life.

Why Everyday People—Not Just Athletes—Need Athletic Strength

You don’t have to be a pro athlete to benefit from performance training. In fact, Derrick argues that everyone—especially moms, professionals, and weekend warriors—needs this style of fitness more than ever.

Here’s why:

Reactive Strength for Everyday Chaos

Athletic stability helps you:

Catch yourself mid-trip over a backpack.
Control your balance when hoisting groceries out of a cramped trunk.
Stay upright during a slippery hike or backyard soccer match.

This kind of “unideal position” strength is what traditional training neglects—but real life demands it daily.

Mobility That Keeps You Moving Freely

Training outside the sagittal plane gives you the mobility to:

Reach, rotate, and twist without strain.
Travel without fear of injury.
Chase after your kids, not just spot them from the sidelines.

It’s movement confidence—not muscle size—that keeps you active and injury-free.

Aging with Power, Not Just Grace

Fast-twitch fibers decline with age. That’s why older adults become more prone to falls, slower to react, and more limited in motion.

Athletic training slows this decline. It keeps your reflexes sharp and your body agile—so you can catch yourself instead of falling.

Where to Begin: From Stable to Powerful

If you’re already familiar with the squat, lunge, and hip hinge, you're halfway there. But to evolve into athletic training, you’ll need to rethink how you train those patterns.

Start with Stability

Use offset loading: Hold a dumbbell only on one side during a lunge. This forces your core to fight rotation and balance dynamically.

Next, add progression: transition from lunges to single-leg balance. The goal? Teach your body to stabilize under stress.

Add Controlled Explosiveness

Once you’re stable, sprinkle in fast-twitch training:

Resistance band hamstring curls (fast up, slow down).
Short sprint intervals (starting at 70% effort).
Low-rep plyometrics (quality over quantity).

Ramp Up Gradually

If you’ve been away from athletic movement, don’t go 0 to 100. Build intensity slowly over weeks, not days. Hamstrings, joints, and tendons need time to adapt.

Challenging Fitness Myths: Pain Isn’t Progress

Derrick doesn’t just train muscles—he challenges mindsets.

“No pain, no gain” is a myth.
Sweat doesn’t measure intensity.
And soreness isn’t proof of progress.

Real progress is measured by performance:

Can you move faster?
Can you recover better?
Are you stronger in real life?

Fitness should enhance your life, not hijack it. And too many people are stuck in cycles of extreme workouts, chronic pain, or mental burnout from obsessing over scale numbers.

Derrick’s approach? Train to live better—not just look better.

The Bottom Line: Function First, Aesthetics Second

There’s nothing wrong with wanting a strong physique. But let function lead, and form will follow. As Derrick says: train for “go” muscles, not just “show” muscles.

Athletic training isn’t just for athletes. It’s for parents lifting toddlers, professionals dodging city traffic, and retirees who want to age gracefully—with power and confidence.

If you want a body that doesn’t just look good in a mirror but shows up powerfully in real life, then it's time to trade in isolated curls for integrated movement.

You don’t need a new body.
You need a new way to train it.

Get in touch with Derrick here:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/agfperformancetraining/ and https://www.instagram.com/derrickvirassammy/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC68Y14TUOfv6xq5P_wCP1Nw
Website: https://www.agfperformancetraining.com/