Principles That Will Make You A Better Athlete

ALL training must have an objective- to stimulate structural and functional adaptations to improve performance. If it doesn't, get rid of it. The following are basic exercise training principles that must underscore everything you do. Embrace them, and they will make you a better player.


Specificity

Years ago, I watched a swimming 'coach' start his practice with the team running laps around the pool. WHY? "To develop endurance," he said. Not only was he risking injury to the swimmers, they were not building any endurance. The body adapts to what you make it do. If you want to be better swimmer, swim, and if you want to be a better soccer player, play soccer. No matter your sport, practice the way you play. I am not saying there is no benefit to cross training, but 95% of your practice should be sport specific.

Progressive Overload

Because the body adapts, what you find challenging today will not be challenging next week. Develop a system of measuring your experience with a certain skill or exercise. As it gets easier, tweak it, or move on to another exercise to keep yourself challenged and stave off boredom. If you are challenged, you have the motivation to continue to practice until you gain mastery. There is a classic story of a guy who picked up a calf on his shoulders everyday since it was born. Each day, as it fed, it became heavier and he, because his load was heavier each day, progressively got stronger.

Individuality

Not everyone will respond to the same program in the same way. At base level, variables such as previous experience, injuries, training status, even mental status will differ. As such, each player must be treated as the unique individual they are. Unless there are insignificant differences in these variable, any competitions with regards to training should be with yourself. This is why it is valuable to test yourself at the beginning of a training regimen, enter into a program, then measure yourself again at its completion. Comparing your before and after scores will give you a true picture of your adaptations (as well as the effectiveness of the program) rather than comparing with someone else.


Reversibility


All adaptations are transient and will return to pre-training levels if you stop practicing/training. Structural changes, elements of exercise and metabolic capacities that you develop from those hours of hard work can be lost within a matter of weeks of detraining. The best way to limit this reversibility is to keep at it. I will talk about periodization in a future post. It is essential to get a good understanding of this so that you can effectively manipulate intensity and volume of exercise. That way, you avoid overtraining, but also reduce the effects of a long off-season which can be devastating. 


Be mindful of these principles all the time and you will be able to determine for yourself what works and what doesn't when it comes to training. I have been subject to teachers who knew nothing about the game, and these 'coaches' had us do things I'm appalled about now that I know better. I've also had coaches who played but did not embrace the science of training. They simply made us do what their coaches made them do. In combining the playing experience with the science, I want to help you be a better player.


Keep the game beautiful!