Exercise Progressions for Performance Training

Implementing exercise progressions is a key part of creating a good training plan, and how it's done can help set the athlete up for success or put them on a route to unnecessary frustrations. Below are a few ideas I keep in mind when planning and implementing progressions.

First, progressions should have a reason why they're being implemented, randomly deciding to do something different "just because" isn't a valid reason. Understanding what physical abilities you need to be successful in your sport, with a clear understanding of where you're currently at is the foundation for planning exercise progressions.

Second, and just as important as the first point, you should only progress once the athlete has shown that they are ready for it. This seems simple enough, but many times progressions are made because that's what the plan says to do, or the coach is itching to get to the good stuff. Yeah, getting to more complex exercises is fun, but unless the athlete has shown that they can do the very basic things well first, you'll only end up spending more time having to double back and correct issues that arise because they weren't ready in the first place. 

Lastly, progressions shouldn't add unnecessary complexity for the sake of novelty, this comes back to having a reason why. Training is to prepare you for your respective sport and that should be reflected with the exercise selection and progression plan. So instead of progressing to kneeling on a bosu ball while overhead pressing kettlebells (please don't do this), transition from a regular squat to pause squats where you hold the bottom position for a few seconds. This changes the force-velocity demands of the exercises and helps increase isometric and inertial strength (starting from a dead stop) which are beneficial for almost all athletes.

Ultimately the goal of a good training plan is to give you the physical capacities to be better at your sport. This is accomplished through the use of proper exercise progressions that emphasize different physical characteristics of the core lifts instead of moving to something else entirely. We're not trying to reinvent the wheel, just refine it.

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Four Benefits of Strength Training For Runners

Running has always been fairly popular among recreational athletes, but for those who have decided to get a little more serious let’s briefly look at four benefits that adding strength training will have on your running performance.  

• Decreased injury risk by improving both muscle and tendon health and strength.

• Increased endurance by improving neuromuscular pathways, thus improving running economy and lessening the amount of work done to maintain the same pace.

• Improved mobility by working in more than just one plane of motion and developing the less used muscles in running.

• Improved speed, by increasing the maximum force output of the muscles, you’ll be able to run faster throughout the race or at the end during your last sprint.

These are are just the beginning of the benefits that strength training will have for runners, and at this point the research overwhelmingly supports adding strength training to endurance training as a way to get better.  

Understanding Resistance Training

Resistance training may be one of the most misunderstood topics in fitness and performance. There's plenty of misinformation out there on the inter-webs so let's look at some common myths and misconceptions regarding resistance training.

• Lifting weights will not make women bulky or "manly".
  • This is a common one that I hear all the time and frankly isn't true. It's almost impossible for women to get "bodybuilder bulky" from strength training because they don't produce enough testosterone to support that amount of muscle building, so to get to that level there typically needs to be some form of supplementation to get that amount of muscle building.
• Resistance training makes you slow.
  • I get this from my young track athletes who are just starting out their journey of athletic development. It's been thought that resistance training will make you slow and this isn't the case. To go sprint faster you need to put more force into the ground, so strength training is necessary for speed or power athletes.
• Girls shouldn't lift heavy weights.
  • Every time I have my track girls I see them not wanting to grab anything heavier than an 8 lb dumbbell when they can clearly go much heavier. This comes back to the false notion of them not wanting to get bulky, but to get strong you have to lift heavy weights and progress to heavier weights as you get stronger.
• A good workout will leave you exhausted and sweaty at the end of it.
  • This is something I get from parents, that their kids aren't tired enough at the end of a session, or that they rested too much to get a good workout in. While it may come from good intentions, this "no pain, no gain" thinking that has surrounded fitness and performance training has gone on too long. For high intensity work (max strength, speed, power) there needs to be plenty of rest time so that the athlete can perform to their abilities. While there is a time and place for exhausting workouts they should be used sparingly depending on the goals of the individual.
• You'll see results immediately.
  • I sincerely hope no one truly believes this. For physical changes to occur with resistance training it takes generally 6-8 weeks of consistent training. Before this, you'll see increases in strength, coordination, and power but these are primarily neurological improvements and the physical changes begin to show soon after this. The key with this is that you have to be consistent to see improvements.
• Endurance athletes don't need resistance training.
  • This topic has gained a lot of attention recently and many endurance coaches still won't budge from the way they've always done things. The truth is that resistance training helps stave off injuries, improves running economy and can make you faster. This works because your muscles have now been stimulated to a level that allowed them to fire in a more efficient manner that wasn't happening with just running, cycling, swimming. The benefits of adding resistance training are very clear for endurance athletes and should be part of every training plan.