Fun and Fitness: Pumping to the peak

In case you haven't been reading my column the last couple of weeks, let me get you up to speed. We've been talking about training principles and how crucial they are to being successful in physical training. I detailed how you must specifically train for what you are trying to achieve, how you must overload your buddy in order to induce progressive gains, the ways in which our progress can reverse itself if we don't maintain consistency, and how different methods and approaches work for different individuals. Rounding out the last two training principles are recovery and diminishing gains.

When you train a muscle to get stronger and larger, it is important to understand how the process actually occurs. The strain of resistance training actually breaks down our muscle tissue. In order for our muscles to grow and strengthen, they must first repair themselves. This happens during rest periods combined with proper nutrition. In other words, our muscles grow OUTSIDE of the gym. Many people find themselves falling into the trap of overtraining without even realizing it. Overtraining can cause detrimental effects on the body and actually stunt progress. Ensure you get sufficient recovery time including sleep in order to keep yourself on the upwards hill of improvement.

Diminishing gains is self explanatory, but one of the most difficult principles for people to accept. Although we all have the ability to get stronger, faster or bigger, it is safe to say none of us are going to progress to the point where we will bench 4,000 lbs, or run the 100 metre dash in five seconds. As much as we'd love to have such super hero attributes, our bodies eventually peak at a certain point. As we progress in our training, we often hit plateaus which can cause plenty of frustration. This often calls for adjusting our training routines, and finding different ways of challenging and stimulating our bodies. However, it is always important to keep a level head and be aware that gains do diminish as we put our bodies to the limit.

There you have it; six training principles that should give you a reference of how to tackle your training regimens. Although I've used resistance training as an example to outline most of these guide lines, they do apply to all faucets of training and sport.

Now get out there, focus, challenge yourself and train with principle!