Strength Training and Adaptation
Are you planning for adaptation in your strength training programming? There comes a point in your fitness journey where it is time to loosen your leash and play with the big dogs. It is great to have a personal trainer who plans things out for you, but you most likely don’t want someone training you for the rest of your life. You will have to learn. That is why I try to post some of the articles I post, I want you to learn. I do a lot of reading and research and try to make it easily available for you. Here is an article to get you away from the milk and on to the meat.
The first 3-6 months of any sort of physical training are a blast! Well it is a blast if you are training correctly and you enjoy seeing results. The truth is that if you live a relatively sedentary lifestyle I could train you in almost any way I like i.e. bouncing a ball, jumping over cans, or lifting milk jugs and you will see results.
The Honeymoon is Over
Basically what I am trying to say is the honeymoon is over! Time to start training smartly.
However, with every accomplishment your body raises the bar for itself whether you do mentally or not. Every workout sets a new level of adaptation that is going to have to be accomplished for your body to see results. If you choose to ignore what this new level of adaptation is for your body you will end up retaining or even detraining your level of fitness. You will be running in place or even backpedaling.
Welcome the overload principle. You need a stimulus that is going to take you outside your “comfort zone”. This may seem incredibly simple, but even some of you who are more advanced aren’t actually taking this into account. I do not know what your goals are but you can only do so much sport specific training with no variation. Trying to get a heavy squat? Well keep squatting, but what else?
The unfortunate part is you are going to have to learn what it is for you. Keep in mind we are talking about strength training. If you have been training for a long time you need to know that your body’s “bar” has been set pretty high and you will need to change things up to make it react.
CrossFit in Strength Training
This is why CrossFit can be a great compliment to a strength training routine. Short metcons at the end of strength training can help with the variation of your training. The strength training itself will need some work as well so don’t think this is the only answer. However, the neuroendocrine response your body receives from CrossFit is unmatched. Your approach will matter greatly, i.e. strength training with some CrossFit, or CrossFit with a some strength training. More than likely you will need to take the former unless you came from a strength training background.
Always monitor your body for accommodation to adaptation and plan accordingly. Like I said, the honeymoon is over. If you are rather new to working out and you can figure out how to keep your body from accommodating too greatly, and always provide that stimulus for new adaptation, you will progress quickly. For those of you who have been around for a while. Stop pretending you are who you read about. What does your program look like? Are you spinning your wheels?
Resources: Science and Practice of Strength Training by Vladimir M. Zatsiorsky and William J. Kraemer