Off Season Adaptation

by May 17, 2017Strength and Conditioning

Here’s an article that will turn a little light on in the minds of those of you who are committed to improving your athletic performance.

I spoke to an athlete this week who told me “I’m doing everything I can to improve my performance”

Now I don’t doubt this particular guy was putting the hard work in, but the areas he had chosen to focus on were never going to dramatically transform his performance, why?

Because he had been training with the same focus for over 12 months and any adaptation in this area would have already taken place.

Adaptation is not infinite; the body’s ability to adapt is limited. Considering this which areas of your athletic development have the most room for improvement?

I have certainly been guilty in the past of training the things I am good at, deadlifting, back squats etc. and neglecting areas like flexibility, stability and agility however flip this on it’s head and you will quickly notice gains in your performance.

Let’s say for instance you’re a footballer and your strength is currently at 90% (100% would represent your genetic trained maximum or the best you personally could get to) but your quickness is around 60%

Where would your time be better spent? For the athlete I mentioned earlier who had been strength training for the past 12 months it would definitely be better spent developing quickness.

Don’t expect different results from doing the same thing.

As Louis Simmons, founder of Westside Barbell (arguably the strongest gym in the world) says “If you want to improve your back squat don’t back squat, if you were a fighter and you got your ass kicked by one guy you wouldn’t go back and fight him again and again, you go away and fight somebody else, then somebody else then when you go back to fight the first guy you’ll stand a better chance”

 

As Athletes your time with a window of opportunity to achieve great things is limited (trust me I learned this the hard way) you can only train so much per week but by spending time on the areas of your athleticism you know to be less than brilliant you’ll take one big, fast, flexible step toward your perfect performance.

 

If you do what others don’t you’ll get what others won’t.

 

Spencer

 

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