In order to get the most out of your training, you need to apply these key principles of training – overload, specificity, reversibility and variation.
Overload
In order to progress and improve our fitness, we have to put our bodies under additional stress. Applying this training principle will cause long-term adaptations, enabling our bodies to work more efficiently to cope with a higher level of performance the next time we train.
Overloading can be achieved by following the acronym FITT:
- Frequency: Increasing the number of times you train per week or the number of reps you perform.
- Intensity: Increasing the difficulty of the exercise you do. For example, running at 12 km/h instead of 10 or increasing the weight you are squatting with.
- Time: Increasing the length of time that you are training for. For example, cycling for 45 minutes instead of 30.
- Type: Increase the difficulty of the training you are doing. For example progress from walking to running, from accessory to free weights.
Specificity
This principle relates to the type of training that you do. It should be specific to you and your chosen sport. You should train the energy system which you use predominantly (e.g. a runner and weight lifter will require different processes), and the fitness and skill components most important to your sport, for example, agility, balance or muscular endurance. You should also test the components which are important in your sport to see your strengths and weaknesses, such as imbalances, speed, power, posture etc.
So this principle means you should consider what key conditioning you can work on, in order to boost your performance.
Reversibility
You can lose what you've gained if it's not maintained. If you stop training then the improvements you have made will be reversed. So if you do not train for a period of time, or reduce the amount you are training, you may not be able to resume training to the same level as before, so it’s important to build the body back up progressively until you reach that level again.
You want to be careful with overtraining though. It is a very common problem when you don’t get enough rest during your training schedule, overdoing workouts to a point where it is having adverse effects on your results and progress. This should not be confused with overload, which is the planned exposure to an increased workload and the right amount of rest in-between. Without the correct amount of rest, you will suffer from overtraining and your body won’t be able to correctly and safely perform the movements you need it to.
Variance
Try to vary your training, to keep you interested and to give your body (and the muscles you’re using) a different challenge. This can be by switching up the movements to circuits in your usual training, or doing something else entirely. Many athletes will take part in a completely different sport in-between their main season to keep their fitness up whilst still having a rest!
Experts recommend that training programs should limit periods of complete inactivity to no more than two to three weeks. Prolonged periods of inactivity should be avoided, and your training programme should incorporate some form of "maintenance" training where an extended break is desired.
Think about your current training. Do you incorporate the above? If not, it's worth considering each principle and adding the relevant elements into your routine, so you can maintain and progress as best as possible.
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In discussing training, you will come across a number of often referred to “do’s and don’ts.” Nevertheless, in one way or another, every effective program boils down to seven basic training principles, or “Laws”, as they have withstood the test of time.
These 7 principles are a guide post for the structure of the Firestorm fitcamps! training program and should all be a consideration when constructing and engaging in any training program. These seven principles or “Laws” are:
1. The Principle of Individual Differences.
2. The Principle of Overcompensation.
3. The Principle of Overload.
4. The Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands (SAID) Principle.
5. The General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) Principle.
6. The Use/Disuse Principle.
7. The Specificity Principle.
1. The Principle of Individual Differences.
No one’s training can and should be the same. Consider the following:
– Bigger muscles heal slower than smaller muscles.
– Fast movements require more recovery time than slow movements.
– Red fiber muscle tissue recovers quicker than White fiber muscle tissue.
– Women recover more slowly than men.
– Younger folks recover quicker than older folks.
– Heavier loads require more recovery than lower loads.
Obviously there are many more variables, but these items sum up the point.
Furthermore, because not all athletic endeavors are the same, training must be specific (which will be covered later). It makes no sense for a football player, a power lifter and a marathon runner to train the same. Each is “strong” in his or her given sport, and will benefit only by training to enhance their particular “strength”.
2. The Principle of Overcompensation.
What happens when you rub the palm of your hand at the knuckles? If done enough, and yet not too much, a callus will form. Rub it too much and a blister will form. The calluses are good and the blister bad…
The bottom line is that God designed the body so that it overcompensates and adapts to the stress it receives. Muscles and skill performance are no different. This leads to (among the other principles) to the Overload Principle.
3. The Overload Principle.
In order to force this “overcompensation”, or the stress placed upon the body, there must be an overload, or in other words a stimulus greater than what is generally placed upon the body. If you are content to squat the same weight with the same reps and sets without ever improving, your chances of improving in the squat are very small. Likewise, if you jump, run or move the same way without ever making it more difficult to do so or trying to do better, you will not make improvements in sport specific skills.
4. Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands or SAID.
The body will adapt in a highly specific way. To become better at squats, you must do squats. To gain more endurance, you must train enduringly. To become more explosive, you must train explosively. This principle further notes the points made under the Principle of Individual Differences. Training must be specific and it makes no sense to train for anything other than your sport specific skills. However, as we shall see, there are exceptions.
5. The General Adaptation Principle or GAS Principle.
This principle was presented by Dr. Hans Selye years ago and was originally applied to psychological stress. However, it has also been applied, and accepted, to physical stress in three phases:
1. The Alarm Phase. The body will not like the overloaded stress place upon it and begins to take drastic measures to combat it.
2. The Resistance Phase. The body will try to resist the stress.
3. The Exhaustion Phase. The body will inevitably become exhausted if it doesn’t receive rest from the stress.
This 3 phase principle leads to the belief that there must be periods of low or no intensity between those overloaded stresses which tax the body. You simply can’t train hard all the time! Doing so will lead to overtraining (generally over a period of several weeks) and dire consequences will follow. This is the main reason I advocate people take a week off from training during sessions of the Firestorm fitcamps! or Firestorm Fitness Systems, LLC personal training programs.
6. The Use/Disuse Principle with the GAS Principle.
The question of recovery becomes, “Low or no intensity?” The main problem is that it could take weeks to recover from explosive activity (recall what was said in the Principle of Individual Differences), yet there is still the matter of skill training to be considered.
Furthermore, the body will never adapt unless it is taxed often enough. Therefore, there must be periods of low intensity (but periods of intensity, indeed!) between periods of high intensity.
7. The Specificity Principle.
Getting back to the SAID Principle, the body will adapt in a highly specific way to the training it receives. However, a strong athletic foundation is needed and the body may not be ready for such specific training. This is especially so given that:
1. The season many times causes injury or some breakdown of a solid foundation, and
2. Many sports are ballistic in nature and the body may not be ready to act or train in such a way.
The Specificity Principle simply states that for the reasons mentioned above, training must go from highly general training to highly specific training. As an example; if you are a shot putter, you might consider starting out with limited amount of strength training and light cardiovascular conditioning, perhaps in the form of sprints. You would later move on to general explosive training, perhaps performing Cleans or dumbbell cleans, and low impact plyometric training and then move on to shock training. If you try to do shock training before the other phases, you will run the risk of such training being ineffective and possibly dangerous and leading to injury.
Conclusion:
There may be other “laws” or principles of training. However, these seven usually (if not always) cover all aspects of athletic training. Once put together, the most logical training program involves a periodized approach, which cycles the intensity and training objectives. The training must be specific not only to your sport, but to your individual abilities, such as tolerance to training stress, recovery ability, outside obligations, etc. You must increase the training loads over time, allowing some workouts to be less intense than others, and you must train often enough not only to keep a “detraining effect” from happening, but to also force an adaptation.
If you have any questions, please contact me.
Steve