At one point I was hitting personal records EVERY DAY! It felt amazing, but I vividly remember my coach saying, “cherish this while it lasts” with an added smirk.
Where are you in your fitness/athletic training journey? Understanding where you are on this timeline drastically affects what your training should look like.
When just beginning the focus is on developing athletically. This doesn’t have anything to do with age. There are adult athletes who are just beginning to train and have to start the same place as a 12 year old. Both athletes have to prioritize doing things correctly and learning technique while building stability.
Once both of these factors are established these athletes begin the work towards building overall strength, explosiveness, or endurance depending on their sport and goals. To be honest though, for the beginner they will have already gained much in these areas from the technique and stability work done previously.
For the beginner during this stage of development they will see tremendous gains. This is the point where I was recording a new record daily. It is a great and fun moment to be in. Unfortunately, it doesn’t last indefinitely…
In our next post we’ll discuss maintenance phases and why these are okay to be in for the long term.
