Winning Clarity
A few weeks ago, I wrote a very long piece about sports performance strategy. It was a very basic philosophy that used a pyramid model to outline what I felt was the most important phases of training for any specific sport. And while I thought it was decent at the time, after some reflection on our training preparation leading up to the Arnold’s Sports Festival, I’ve revised the model to look something like this.
I’ll spare you the long essay and let you interpret the illustration. I think this is much more relevant to what we do at the IC.
Best,
Steven
This is pretty cool! The long version sounds good too….
POST THE ESSAY!
(oh, I mean, please?).
I’ve had tons of questions about nervous system training, plus what do you mean about “acceptance”, what’s the difference between strength and power, how much do these layers overlap and how do you know when you are ready to move to the next level… Etc.
See what that pyramid did? Got me thinkin’, and sometimes that’s a challenge!
Peace
mb
I’ll write the abridged version in comments later today. The essay is too long and boring.
Here it is. Keep in mind this concept is most applicable to those that have a specific goal in mind. If you are just training for general fitness, it’s not so relevant. The pyramid serves at an overview of the process as well as the content (and perhaps volume) involved with each step in reaching an end.
Foundation: Root Preparation.
Your mind and body is connected. Get in tune with the intangibles. Mental acuity, spiritual health (if applicable), internal turmoil, whatever it may be – deal with it. It doesn’t matter how much you work out, if the mind is off, the training is unproductive in the long run.
Be aware of what you’re putting in your mouth. Learn about your diet and its consequences.
Understand your situation / circumstances, be realistic, and move forward.
Baseline Training: General Physical Preparation
Develop the basic physical attributes in order to counter complexities and obstacles down the line: Stabilization, general strength, endurance, power, mobility, etc.
Advanced Training: Task Specific Preparation
Train specific movement patterns relevant to your sport or task. Central nervous system plays a huge role here. Baseline training becomes the support system for such specific movements.
Refinement: Game Strategy
What are you trying to accomplish? What are the rules of engagement? Are there variables of the game/task or physical attributes that can be manipulated to your advantage? Is your training program going to meet your goal(s)?
This should be enough to spark a discussion.
Steve, what exactly is CNS training and what kind of role does it play when it comes to training? Thanks.
Loredie,
CNS training can be view as skill development, or a part of it. For example, in the kettlebell lifting, the speed of the jerk is diminished when the CNS is fried from doing long durations of work. So no matter how hard you try to double dip in this state, the effort may end up looking like a push press because the message from the brain to the nerves, and nerves to muscles, is inhibited. To train the CNS for any specific sport might mean you back off of the strength training a bit to focus on making some isolated movement more efficient. Going back to the KB Jerk, it might mean that I back off the heavier weights and focus on generating the speed from the legs. Does this make sense?