“Are you getting tired or are you getting better?”
– Vern Gambetta
In talking with a few athletes this week, I was amazed to hear how their mentality of training is centered around the bravado of deconstruction.
It is unfortunate that so many are still under the belief that a workout is only productive if you are lying on the floor in a puddle of your own sweat and vomit. The “last man standing” mentality of training is not one that should be sensationalized and often leads to a very short sighted view of the overall training picture – which is much larger than any single workout. This thought process is often accepted by sports coaches as well, who commonly don’t understand the goal of a good training program and are typically the first coaches to prescribe “penalty” workouts/runs for those who do poorly in competition.
I am not saying this to give athletes a free pass from working hard, in fact, hard work is extremely important. However, periods of hard work (or sometimes hard training days) should be followed by days of reconstruction to allow the athlete time to recovery and adapt to the training stimulus you have just imposed on them. You can have the best program on paper, but if an athlete cannot recover from it, then it is pretty much worthless.
The training program should by thought out and satisfy the goals of the individual and the specific sport. Doing workouts is not the same as performing a program. As Vern’s quote above states, the goal is not to get tired, it is to get better!
“Make your hard days hard and your easy days easy.”
–Charlie Francis
Just as Charlie Francis states, if the day is going to be a “hard” day, then really get after it, and if the goal is to recover and give the body a break, then do so appropriately. The biggest error most athletes make is the later, as their mind tends to play tricks on them, causing them to think that they are “Not working hard enough” or “This is too easy. I need to add in a few more sets or increase the intensity a little bit to make it worthwhile”. Unfortunately, your body can only handle so much and eventually you begin to go backwards in your training or, even worse, sustain some sort of injury.
Remember, training is a process and not everyday is going to be your day. Not everyday is for breaking personal records or adding more weight to the bar. Keep the end goal in mind and slowly hack away at that goal. Don’t be so focused on a single workout and the idea that every workout should absolutely destroy you for it to mean anything.
You are only as good as your ability to adapt to the stresses that are placed upon you.