Principle –> Stimulus –> Program –> Training
Build yourself into a BETTER ATHLETE by focusing on principles, not programs.
Following a principle rather than a program is easier said than done.
We don’t all have the time to break down training to see if it is following the right principles
Thankfully, you’re here and I’ll show you a simple way to follow training principles before digging into programs.
A simple litmus test.
Here’s the quick and dirty of what you need to know:
If you want to improve, you need to get as much of the desired stimulus that is required for that improvement and put it over time.
That’s it.
Want to get stronger? Faster? More aerobic?
It. Does. Not. Matter.
- For Athletes – After your ‘honeymoon phase’ of fitness is over; i.e. you stop hitting PRs every two weeksit’s time to start focusing on principles for continued progress.
- For Coaches – After your athlete’s ‘honeymoon phase’ is over, it’s time for you to start letting your athletes in on the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of every training session where they attack it properly and see continued progress.
If you want to improve, you need to get as much of the desired stimulus that is required for that improvement and put it over time.
I am NOT saying find ONE thing/exercise/program and do it for years and years
That won’t work.
Why?
The Law of Accommodation says so
A quote from V.M. Zatsiorsky, from the Science and Practice of Strength Training:
“This is a manifestation of the biological law of accommodation, often considered a general law of biology. According to this law, the response of a biological object to a given constant stimulus decreases over time. Thus, accommodation is the decrease in response of your body to a constant continued stimulus. In training, the stimulus is physical exercise.â€
Put in simple terms, your body will get used to doing the same thing all the time and respond less to the stimulus.
I.e.; you will not become a world-class powerlifter by doing 3 sets of 10 reps every day, even if that would be a great start for you.
On the flip side, more is not the answer. If it were, to be a world-class powerlifter you’d just need to do 1,000 sets of 10 and you’d be the bestright?
No.
However, you could become a world-class powerlifter by continually finding ways to recruit more muscle fiber through different stimuli.
So, in keeping with our example, if you were to find out how to recruit more muscle fiber (stimulus) and did that successfully over time you would see a large training improvement — YOU’D GET A LOT STRONGER!
In our Garage Gym Athlete Daily programming, we program on principle and never use other programs and mash them together.
And that’s how we can program for such large cohorts and help them all see progress.
The only challenging part now becomeshow do I know which “stimulus†I need to improve?
First, you need to get to the principle.
How do we get to the “principle†layer of training?
You’ll know when you can make a statement that would be true of any athlete; from beginner to advanced. This gives us an easy Litmus Test.
- Litmus test: Is the stimulus required true for ANY athlete?
Wrong (Almost Right) Example:
- Goal: Muscular Strength Increase
- Stimulus: 3 sets of 3 reps @ 85% of 1RM
- Litmus test: Is the stimulus required true for ANY athlete?
- No. Some advanced athletes will not see progress from lifting at 85% and some beginner athletes may not even be able to handle the load.
Right Example:
- Goal: Muscular Strength Increase
- Stimulus: Muscle Fiber Recruitment
- Litmus test: Is the stimulus required true for ANY athlete?
- Yes. ANY human being that wants to become stronger will need to recruit more muscle fiber.
Now, we are on the right path!
If you want to increase your muscular strength you will need to recruit more muscle fiber.
BOOM! That’s your principle.
This gives you a great question to start askingHow do I recruit more muscle fiber??
Answering the question above will then give you the stimulus or the “howâ€.
- We could do tempo squats
- Lift heavy weight (relative to the athlete)
- Focus on speed, technique, and range of motion
A lot of options.
I can now also begin to brief my athletes on “how†to lift the weight. Let them in on the “secret†and tell them that in this training session we are trying to recruit more muscle fiber so I need to them to move with intention and purpose – tempo lifts are helpful here.
Another easy way to recruit more muscle fiber is to lift heavy stuffbut that can’t ALWAYS be the answer
And, unfortunately, this is where I see most coaches and programmers stop on their journey. They land on a stimulus that has a lot of truth to it; i.e. lift heavyBut they are not focusing on the principle and walking their athlete through the “whyâ€.
What does programming on principle look like?
Like I said, programming on principle and correctly applying that principle to large cohorts works!
It’s is how you can have an athlete who would like to lose weight and an athlete who desires athletic performance see results when principles are applied.
So, what…?
You might be askingwhy does this really matter?
Or how does it apply to me?
A big part of what we are doing at End of Three Fitness is Building Better Humans. And with Garage Gym Athlete, we want to Build Better Athletes.
A Better Athlete is an informed athlete.
A Better Athlete has the ability to be completely autonomous.
Truly, I want you to have more autonomy not only with your body but in your fitness, programming, etc.
I don’t want our athletes to “need usâ€.
As a business, it may sound contrary to want your athletes to not need your service, but I look at this differently.
For instance, I know how to change my own oil. I CAN be fully autonomous in the changing of oil in my vehicles.
BUT I rarely ever change my own oil. I pay someone else to do it.
Why?
Just because you CAN do something doesn’t mean you HAVE to
I pay a professional to do it because I don’t have to think about, they’ll do it faster and, to be honest, they will probably do it better.
That’s the service we provide. Sure, you could fully program for yourself. Hell, I’ll teach you how to do it.
But once you realize you’ve got enough going on in your life and that programming is what we do FULL-TIMEyou’ll be happy to hand over the work.
Put simplyThe “Simple (not easy) Solution”
Now, to sum it up and give you an easy takeaway
When you are looking to get better at something start searching for what will get you better.
Then, apply our question of “Is the stimulus required true for ANY athlete?â€
Once you hit a ‘YES’, you are on the right track.
Answer ‘YES’ to the above question and
- You will avoid plateaus
- See continued progress
- Learn how fitness really works!
Here’s to being an autonomous athlete!
…Going back to my oil-change example
If you’d like for me and my team to be responsible for “changing your oil†we can do that 🙂
In our Garage Gym Athlete Programming, I program for our athletes using principles.
- We never mash programs together
- We never focus on one “type†of athlete
- We don’t post the random workout we did yesterday
Rather, we program in principles across multiple different training tracks and our athletes see results.