If you want to design superior quality training programs and achieve consistently superior results, you must respect and abide by a few key training principles. We covered 3 of those principles in the previous blog by Glen Carroll and here we’ll cover 3 more, so let’s get to it!
#1 – VARIATION
Training variation is a tool we can use strategically to alter the nature of training and the demands imposed upon a client. It’s also a way we can keep things interesting and ensure the client is always sufficiently challenged too.
Yet with variation, how we deploy it and when is crucial. This is because whilst variation can make things more interesting, excessive and random variation can potentially negatively impact a client’s progression and ability to achieve their goal.
This is because repetition of a training stimulus is also an essential component of superior progression. Repeated efforts of a stimulus allow for superior neural adaptations to occur, which allows for superior coordination and strength development. This is why you want to repeat a training program for a few weeks, as with each new week your neural adaptations improve, and your training performance does too.
Yet the returns from our training begin to decline and they will eventually plateau if you ride a training program too long. This is why variation is important and we can use it to simply tweak the stimulus and prescribe a new program, to kick start development again.
Variation example – in the next training phase, you prescribe a slightly different rep scheme for the same priority lift you want to develop. For instance, phase 1 you prescribe a 4 x 6 Chin Up, then in phase 2 you prescribe a 3 x 3 Chin Up.
#2 – RECOVERABILITY
To change your body, you need to stress your body! This is crucial to understand and it’s essential to know that training is a type of stress and that not all stress is bad. Yet we want the right type and dose of stress to achieve optimal returns from our training.
So, when it comes to transforming a client’s physique and athletic potential, we need to impose a training stress via our programming and the client needs to apply sufficient effort. This will result in positive training adaptations occurring and the client adapts to be able to handle the training stress imposed. This is why if you always do the same, you’ll stay the same, as there’s no need for your body to change.
Yet when it comes to training adaptations, we don’t want to prescribe any excessive amount of training stress either. This is because a client needs to also be able to recover from their training too!
Without sufficient recovery, adaptations will be more stunted and the results more subpar. This is why we want the right amount of training volume, the ideal training splits, and to embrace recovery too.
Recoverability example – your training splits are designed to be sufficiently spaced so that the muscle groups trained have sufficient recovery time before they are trained next.
#3 – REVERSIBILITY
Use it or lose it! The athletic potential or physique you have acquired can decline over time or be lost all together.
This can happen if the training stimulus imposed is insufficient or not at all. Yet crucially, the training stimulus required to preserve one’s ability will be much less than what is required to build it. This is why embracing strategic periods of less training can have enormous benefit and allow for greater recoverability, yet not result in performance reductions either.
However, if you just stop training all together for an extended period, it’s inevitable that you will see a reduction in your training potential and change in your physique.
Reversibility example – you obtain a knee injury and have surgery. You are forced to have time off lower body training and lose some size and strength during the recovery period.
So, there you go, 3 more key training principles you must know if you’re a coach who works in the fitness industry! Want to learn more about program design? Then check out our Program Design course as we dive deeply into these principles & showcase how to manipulate them for greater success.
Thanks for reading,
Glen Carroll