TRAIN THE ATTRIBUTE FIRST

newsletter Mar 16, 2023

Train the Attribute First

By Eric Bugera

Training your clients the way they want.

You will rarely encounter a client with a single goal.
You can (and should) train multiple attributes simultaneously for a young training age client.
Bodybuilding, powerlifting, and Olympic lifting are ways to train hypertrophy, strength or power; but, they are not the only way.

It’s Never One Goal

Personal training is an extremely individualized experience. Each intake form lays the groundwork for how you will operate on a per-person basis – but you will almost never be presented with a neatly compartmentalized set of goals. Hypertrophy, strength, power, endurance, body composition, obstacle races, you name it. While you may have the opportunity to self-select your clientele base eventually, in the early stages of your career the likelihood is less realistic. Instead, you will be confronted with an amalgamation of seemingly unrelated goals that is now your responsibility to manifest. The problem is that many view the goal attribute only through the lens of the sporting iteration.

Adaptations Exist on a Continuum

The fastest way to remedy any kind of anxiety over a diversity of goals is to divorce the idea that the “sport” iteration of a goal is the adaptation itself. Gaining muscle mass does not have to look like bodybuilding. Getting stronger has nothing to do with the big three powerlifting exercises. Becoming more powerful can be accomplished without learning to be a competitive Olympic lifter.

Hypertrophy is the increase in muscular size. This can certainly be accomplished by assuming a bodybuilder-esque program tailored to the most cutting edge research recommendations over exercise selection, sets, repetitions, loading, and rest; however, all adaptations are subject to specificity and progressive overload. Specificity comes down to at the most basic level of literally contracting the target tissue. Progressive overload is the act of maintaining or increasing the challenge experienced over time. This can be accomplished by an unimaginable amount of variations that suit the client – while not necessarily being in the exact shape of a bodybuilding program.

Getting stronger is the ability to progressively lift more weight. Full stop. Strength is meaningful in the most uniquely individual way – how does becoming stronger in specific positions, using specific implements or tools, or mimicking specific life scenarios best benefit your client? Barbells and specifically power lifts (squat, bench press, deadlift) are often the default surrogate for strength; however they needn't be if something more appropriate exists.

Developing power may be one of the most misunderstood traits that a client may ask for. The likelihood of a client successfully integrating Olympic lifting as a cornerstone tool to develop power (unless it is their goal to be an Olympic lifting athlete) is a huge overreach in terms of skill demand for the return on investment.

There are tons of alternative options that are not the sporting iteration of the attribute. To that extent, a young training age affords you the opportunity to train a breadth of attributes across a wide continuum without compartmentalizing a client’s experience.

It’s All Gains

Believe it or not, you can grow muscle with barbells, improve muscular strength with machines, or get more powerful using tools that aren't power cleans. Bodybuilding, powerlifting, and Olympic lifting exist on the far end of the continuum when compared to the multitude of ways to improve hypertrophy, strength, or power. Avoid the mistake of viewing these attributes singularly through the lens of their sporting variation and your options will explode. Using only the sporting variations of common attributes becomes prohibitive to a young client’s net progress. Until such a time where specific sporting goals exist, know that you can successfully pursue each attribute (and many simultaneously) in a diverse array of programs.

Isolate the underlying mechanisms behind hypertrophy, strength, and power (or any other goal).
List the tools at your disposal (equipment, exercises, training variables) to pursue each goal.
Tailor an appropriate training program per client using underlying mechanisms matched with their available equipment.