Training Age: The More You Train, the More Precise You Need to Be

by | Jul 26, 2023 | Sports Performance, Strength and Conditioning | 0 comments

I had a conversation with some athletes this morning about training age. By definition, training or biological age is the amount of time that an individual has been training consistently throughout their career. The more trained you become, the more precise you need to be in your training. This is because progress becomes more of a double-edged sword. Here is the biggest takeaway regarding training age:
Training is not like an investment that you can make a lump sum deposit into and then expect to see returns without any further effort. In order to see sustained results from training, you need to be consistent with your efforts. This means continuing to train regularly, even after you’ve seen initial progress. The good news is that the benefits of training are cumulative. So even if you take a break from training, you’ll be able to pick up where you left off more quickly than if you had never started training, but it still takes consistency.
With many of the surrounding schools who have athletes train, I will often have athletes that I train report back to me that they did the same program as a beginner trainee in team lifting, which I understand the importance of. However, If we want student athletes to continue to train consistently and reach their potential throughout his or her career, training age, developmental 1-3 maybe a good idea. This structure provides goals, incentives, and provides a better direction for the big picture. It won’t guarantee 100% retention, but certainly wouldn’t hurt. This also rewards the athletes who have worked hard.
How to find the right balance between volume and intensity?

The right balance between intensity and volume in training depends on your individual goals and fitness level. However, there are some general guidelines that can help you find the right balance for you.

  • Intensity refers to how hard you are working during your workouts. This can be measured by the amount of weight you are lifting, the number of reps you are doing, or the speed at which you are performing the exercises.
  • Volume refers to the total amount of work you are doing during your workouts. This can be measured by the number of sets and reps you are doing, or the total time you are spending training.
  • The more trained you are, the less volume you typically need, but may vary depending on your goals.

In general, higher intensity workouts will produce greater results in terms of strength and power. However, they can also be more taxing on your body and Lower intensity workouts will produce less results in terms of strength and power, but they are less taxing on your body.

The best way to find the right balance between intensity and volume for you is to experiment and see what works best. Start with a moderate level of intensity and volume and gradually increase it as you get stronger

  • Vary your workouts. This will help you avoid plateaus and keep your workouts interesting.
  • Get enough rest. Your body needs time to recover from workouts in order to make progress.
  • Track your progress. This will help you see how your workouts are affecting your fitness level.
  • Proper diet:  If you don’t consume enough food pre and pos workout, you will not recover properly. When you workout your body is breaking down your muscle, the only way to build it back up is through a proper diet. Think of this as fuel for your car. If you don’t have fuel in the gas tank, the car won’t work.

By following these tips, you can find the right balance between intensity and volume in your training and achieve your goals:

Here are some examples of how to adjust intensity and volume based on your goals:

  • If your goal is to build strength, you would focus on higher intensity workouts with lower volume. For example, you might lift heavy weights for 3 sets of 5 reps.
  • If your goal is to build power, speed, or increase your vertical: When this is the goal, it is underestimated how important strength is. You must build strength up first to truly train power in the weightroom. With this considered, using 30-64% of an athletes 1RM paired up with similar plyometrics movement that mimic the strength movement will often help the rate of force development and fast twitch recruitment of the muscle fibers.
  • If your goal is to build muscle, you would focus on moderate intensity workouts with moderate volume. For example, you might lift medium weights for 3 sets of 8-12 reps.