The power of adaptation

Training by itself does not lead to strength, speed or overall physical progress. 

Training induces stress in the body, and our ability to adapt to that stress is what can eventually lead us to progress. However, not all training stress is the same. Depending on the amount of stress and our ability to adapt, we can experience a lack of progress, progress, or overtraining. 

See it like this:

1. Lack of stimulus > No adaptation > Lack of progress

2. Correct stimulus > Adaptation > Progress

3. Too much stimulus > Maladaptation > Decrease in performance (or overtraining)

So, if training aims to induce physical or performance progress, finding the correct stimulus for each person to adapt correctly and see the desired results is crucial. Immediately, one must understand that the stimulus given to an advanced athlete with excellent results can be too much for a beginner or intermediate athlete, leading them to injury, overtraining or a different state where the overall outcome is a “decrease in performance”.

Sometimes, identifying the sweet spot for inducing the correct stimulus is easy; other times, it can be more challenging. Therefore, we must remember that training is only positive when the body can adapt well to the stimulus created in the training session.

The goal of any Coach or training program is to improve performance. This is only possible by having the athlete flirt within their current level limits. It can be achieved by exposing the athlete to high percentages in strength, ballistic movements, or high but calculated intensities in aerobic conditioning. By flirting with this “high ceiling”, sooner or later, the athlete will reach a new level of adaptation, and breakthroughs will happen. If the “skill” demand is less complex or the athlete is a beginner, these breakthroughs can happen quickly or early. However, if the skill demand is challenging or the athlete is very advanced, more hours and more stress will be needed for a breakthrough. 

Advanced or elite athletes can only be created or developed slowly. Nowadays, social media can be quite deceiving regarding the speed of progress or the athletic journey that someone should expect. “Funky” drills, aggressive programs or excessive volume are sold in an attempt to reinvent the wheel. However, magic won’t happen by cutting corners or overlooking proper planning and a lot of good repetition. 

Remember that we are all different and at different spots in our journey, so the same stimulus can be nothing for you but can break someone else. 

Eddie