Exercise Progression: How much, How Fast?
September 8, 2011Progression is one of the most important concepts in training. I personally think it is even of greater importance when athletes begin to reach an elite level of fitness. There is a lot of study on periodization and the management of progression on a macro and micro level. The majority of lower level athletes will follow a linear progression. This is a simple straight line increase in intensity and volume of exercise based on maturity and sport. It is actually not a bad place to start because of the simplicity. The only risk can be that increases are too great and the risk of injury can become higher. At Titan www.titansb.com we prefer an undulation of volume and intensity with constant monitoring of recovery. We utilize as many methods to speed recovery as possible to increase the ability to overload the athlete again and increase the progression where possible.
The biggest problem with much of the training of an elite athlete is the lack of regular progression. Progressions become smaller and smaller as athletes get closer to their genetic potential. However, the impact of gains in performance become bigger and bigger on the difference between winning and losing. Unfortunately, the systems that are employed to monitor these progressions are flawed. In many cases where progression is most important less time is spent on fine tuning this strategy. Poor planning and monitoring of performance loses precious time and results in lesser gains and breakthroughs for the elite athletes.
Let’s take a look at this concept of time for a moment and you can see the impact of the loss of time on an athlete’s career. I have said in the past that what a strength and conditioning coach really charges for is time. If an athlete in the early part of their career could possess the fitness that they obtain from years of training how much better would they be early in their career? This is not possible, however a good strength coach shortens the time that it is required to reach high levels of fitness by understanding how to progress the athlete, what areas of training will elicit the greatest impact on athletic performance, and understanding the science, past and present, that will produce the highest level of athletic performance for an athlete. This is all coupled with the underlying premise of not increasing the risk or causing injury.
Let’s look at the math. An athlete trains from the age of 10-20 and builds an athletic base and matures during this first ten years. This time is most often spent on building a good athletic base. Unfortunately in today’s environment of specialization many athletes become one dimensional and will start to develop injuries or potential for injury if they do not balance out their training and address any weakness that may have developed as a result of the specialization. The next 10 years of training are the most important. The athlete’s athletic gains are made with greater difficulty because they are now closer to their genetic potential. The impact of good progression becomes critical at this time because time needed for big improvement is greater and there is a diminishing ability to produce greater gains as the athlete becomes older. So there is a greater need for performance and a clock that is always running as the athlete ages. This is a difficult balancing act.
At Titan understand the impact of wasted training time is greater in these critical years. If a program does not address progression and address optimum progression rates then the athlete will never become as good as they could have been. In addition the mental frustration begins to take its toll. Athletes want to see gains. It is the nature of sport.
There are many studies on progression. However this concept is very dynamic and individual. All the ingredients of rest and recovery, fuel, stress etc become of much greater importance and must be addressed to optimize progression. It is very easy to not address this on a long term basis and the athlete wastes the best years for huge gains. Lance Armstrong lived like a monk in order to accomplish this. Food, training, rest, recovery, are managed like a battle campaign. Wining a war is all about preparation.
So pay attention to progression and make sure you are making the changes that result in the fastest, safest performance gains. At Titan we spend a great amount of time monitoring and developing progressions that work most effectively for a particular athlete. If you want great performance gains you should spend the time to look at your progressions and make sure this important aspect of your training is being addressed thoroughly and effectively.
Train smart, have fun, and you will prevail!
Jacques DeVore, CSCS
President Titan Sports Performance
