How much is TOO much training for an athlete?

For those involved in athletics, it is drilled into us early on...."You have to work HARDER!" or "Only those who work hard will prevail." It's fairly obvious what this means: you have to push yourself beyond what's comfortable in order to have success in any sport. But I want to post today about looking at this a different way. I offer this phrase for your consideration:

"WORK SMARTER, NOT HARDER."

What does this mean?

First off, for the record, let me state that I have nothing against hard work in & of itself. In fact, being industrious is a virtue espoused by many a wise person over time. In the athletic sense of the phrase "working hard" I feel it is absolutely necessary to put forth more effort than others if one wants to be successful. I offer here, though, a new way of thinking about physical training for sport.

Let's take the "if a little works, then more must be better" training philosophy. This means that one thinks that if I train 4 days in a row hard, then adding another day must be better. Or, if one scoop of protein powder gives me results, then two must be better. While not everyone thinks this way about training, you would be surprised to see some of the things I come across while working with athletes. It's enough to take the time to post a blog about it!

The human body is an amazing machine---the most efficient machine ever created. If used properly, it provides amazing results. One key thing that helps it perform more efficiently is proper rest. This means more than just getting a good night's sleep (which is HIGHLY neglected for athletes....more on that later)---it also means structuring one's training program with proper rest periods built into it. Rest means a lot of things: rest in between sets, rest & recovery after a workout, a day or days in between workouts to allow the muscles time to rebuild, and finally, cycling workout intensities throughout a year to reflect things like "inseason, "preseason," or "offseason." This is called periodization, and allows for great physical performance gains by using parts of the year to be more intense than others, etc. It is built upon the body's ability to adapt to external stresses if given enough time to recover. Simply put, the body responds best to physical training when proper periods of intensity are varied throughout the year---you train hard during preseason, harder during offseason, and less during inseason.

Sadly, few athletes follow this model. They just train "HARD" because that's what they know or what they are taught. They are the athletes who peak too early...the athletes more prone to injury....the athletes who aren't ready for their season. You can't just go workout every other day & do the same thing every week, every month. Not only with an athlete grow bored of this routine, but the chance to maximize their athletic potential is greatly diminished. You have to have a plan---if you don't know how to get somewhere, you will never go anywhere.

"I train 12 months out of the year!" This model is good---but only if an individual plan is implemented that factors in different periods. If you just train hard at the same level month after month, you will never reach your maximal potential.

Another aspect to the "training smarter" piece is being efficient with your workout. Unless you are training for the Olympics or a professional tryout, it really isn't necessary for most athletes to go hard for several hours a day. In fact, research shows that it is actually counterproductive to do this type of training. You could be setting yourself back!

Our training programs at ASPC are built on this principle: train according to the time of the year, as well as maximizing efficiency in workouts. When you build training plans around kinesiology, biomechanics, and exercise physiology research, and utilize proven results, it becomes possible to get maximal results out of a 90 minute workout as opposed to a 3 hour workout.

My final thoughts on this piece: too few athletes get enough rest. It just makes no sense to me to work out at a high intensity and then deprive the body of it's most optimal time to build new muscle & replenish energy levels. If you are not getting a sound 7-8 hours of sleep, then you are really wasting time working out during the day. Try to make some changes to your schedule to allow for recovery time for your body!