Balanced Training - Avoid Becoming a One Trick Pony

Avoid becoming a one trick pony with a balanced training approach

In the world of performance enhancement there seems to be a constant clamoring by different camps about whose method of training is the best and which one promotes the most optimal training results.  One camp argues that maximum strength is the most important factor in developing an athlete.  They may have a point, as training with heavy loads has been shown to enhance force production capabilities (McBride, Triplett-McBride, Davie and Newton, 2002).  Others argue that more emphasis should be placed on explosively moving lighter loads to develop powerful muscular contraction and speed of movement.  They too have a strong basis for their claims as research has revealed that training with less load at high speeds can in fact have a favorable effect on muscular force, power and in particular velocity generation (McBride et al., 2002).  Then there are those who insist that the only way to athletic excellence is by way of performing overhead single leg squats on a stability ball, unequally weighted, while reciting the alphabet backwards with one eye closed.  I’m not entirely sure what the justification is for this training methodology.  Maybe if you don’t hurt yourself in the gym while performing the workouts, the odds are probably good that your particular sporting endeavor likely won’t throw anything that crazy your way, and therefore injury is less probable and performance is enhanced. 

 

All jokes aside, the point I’m trying to get at is that properly developing an athlete takes multiple forms of training stimulus.  Sports require a balanced athlete who to one degree or another can display strength, power, speed and agility all while remaining relatively healthy.  Remember, the most explosive and powerful athlete does little to impact contest outcomes if relegated to the sideline due to injury (please don't skimp on any prescribed prehab work, it's programmed for a reason so get it done).  To that end, well balanced training leads to well balanced athletes.  In my opinion, we need to be careful about eliminating things like maximal strength training to focus solely on speed of movement or vice versa.  This type of practice may lead to enhanced performance in one athletic attribute while simultaneously negatively impacting another that was more strongly developed through the eliminated mode of training.   Much like everything else in life, when there are opposing views and each is achieving desirable results, finding a middle ground where pieces of every viable option can be included often generates the most fruitful outcomes.  As world renowned spine expert, Dr. Stuart McGill once stated,  "Never get married to a philosophy. As soon as you know it all, shake your head because you are probably missing something."

 Three things that I believe should be included in every athletes gym program

1. Explosive Work / High Velocity Muscular Contration -This can take many forms including plyometric work (broad jumps, squat jumps, box jumps, bounding, power skips, etc), Olympic lifts (clean, snatch, clean and jerk), Olympic lifting variants (high pull, push press, hang clean, dumbbell snatch, power clean, etc), dynamic effort work, accommodated resistance training (properly administered band and chain work).  

Please, for the love of Pete, if you are going to use or program the Olympic lifts as your primary power development tool, take the time to read and learn how to do / coach them properly.  These exercises are very technique driven and require well developed mobility and stability throughout the entire kinetic chain.  The Olympic lifts are a sport in and of themselves.  Athletes who train in the art of weightlifting (Olympic lifting), do so in the manner in which any other athlete would to perfect their craft.  They hone their skills daily.  Yes they develop exceptional power, but they do so in a safe and progressive manner by taking time to perfect technique early on in the process.  Now, this is not to say that I expect my field sport athletes to display the same outstanding technique as a seasoned Olympic lifter.  However, I do feel they should be able to at least exhibit enough competence in a given movement to strike a clear  balance between potential risk of injury and athletic performance reward.

2. Pure Strength Work - This one is relatively simple.  Athletes, regardless of their code, need to lift heavy at least some of the time.  When I say "lift heavy", I'm refering to weights which hold them between 1 and 5 repetitions on a given set (with the maintenance of proper form of course).  I had a football coach in high school who loved the saying "never sacrifice form for ego".  If I took nothing else away from our time together, it was that saying and the advice remains sound.  If the form looks like crap, then we shouldn't be impressed with the weight on the bar, period.

3. Prehab / Injury Minimization Work - I use the term injury minimization here because I feel the more popular "injury prevention" represents a non-reality.  In athletics, injuries will inevitably occur.  There are just too many variables to be accounted for to say that any training concept will completely erase all risk.  With that said, an abundance of studies have shown promise for the inclusion of injury prevention strategies, making it clear that proper training can help to minimize injury risk. Every athlete should be working on joint stability, proprioception, mobility and tissue quality to some degree during every training session.  This can include things like single leg / arm training, unilateral loading concepts, joint specific stability drills, mobility drills and self myofascial release techniques.  I'm a big fan of including these exercises during the rest periods of the programed major lifts to limit wasted time.  

Mark Frens - An adjunct professor with Grand Valley State University while I attended (and a strength coach for the Minnesota Twins minor league programs) was and is a huge advocate for single leg training and the enhanced athletic stability provided by such work.  Mark's concepts and ideas helped me learn to think outside the proverbial box.

Upper Left - Wall ankle mobilization, Upper Right - Third world squat for hip mobility, Bottom Center - Single leg multi-point reach for integrated hip, knee and ankle stability / proprioception.  If some of these exercise / techniques look similar to something one might see in a physical therapy rehabilitation setting, it is because this is where the ideas were likely derived. Hence the term prehabilitation.

References:

McBride, J. M., Triplett-McBride, T., Davie, A. and Newton R. U. (2002).  The effect of heavy-vs. light-load jump squats on the development of strength, power, and speed.  Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 16(1), 75-82.