The most important reason strength training is important for athletes is injury mitigation. Because the movement of our skeleton is controlled by muscles, training the muscles to be strong keeps the joints in anatomically safe positions when stressed by the outside forces that are always present in sports.

No matter how talented or advanced an athlete is in their given sport, in all likelihood, they are a novice in strength and conditioning. With novice trainees, it is important that they spend time mastering the fundamentals, the same as any other athletic pursuit.

The gym is a controlled environment. The barbell can be set down at any time, the load of the exercises can be infinitely scaled up or down, and safety precautions are systematically put in place.