TRAINING MATURITY

Training Maturity

By: Eric Bugera

Clarify your approach before aimlessly adding “more”.

• Training maturity is the realization that what has once worked, may not always work.

• Distinguish between working out and training to clarify your path forward.

• Aiming for precision of intensity and volume rather than abundance of stimulation is the next step in your training evolution.

We’re All Guilty

The disconnect between effective training and (perceived) intensity affects us all at some point. Many aspects of training (beyond the physiological) are actually trainable qualities. One of the most overlooked qualities is training maturity. Not to be confused with accountability, discipline, or state of arousal, training maturity is often a result of an epiphany moment. As knowledge and experience increase, self-awareness of incredibly pervasive (and absurd) training practices becomes more obvious. Running through walls won’t effectively achieve your goals. More is not better. Training won’t necessarily “feel” like training, and your goals might require a different approach than you originally anticipated.

Training Evolves

The onset of training is the day everything changes. Moving from sedentary to active is a potent stimulus for nearly every physical attribute to improve. As plateaus start to flicker in the distance, you simply steamroll slowed progress by adding more. More volume, more “intensity”, more frequency, and most erroneously, more suffering. This is the way of the young and inexperienced. With a low training age and even the most rudimentary recovery plan, massive strides can be taken towards tangible gains. However, this is a very short-sighted solution. The real plateaus arise when the brick wall of reality sets in. There is only so far you will go by adding more. Instead, leverage specific solutions in response to specific problems for a much more predictable (and long term) outcome.

In absence of quality, there is volume. The very real progress that can be made by simply overwhelming the system with higher volumes cannot be underestimated. The ramifications of which would create an environment of resentment of distrust. Volume clearly works, but it only works for so long. Volume is the sledgehammer approach. Intensity on the other hand serves to balance the severity of volume needed to achieve continued progress. However, intensity is a similarly misappropriated term, leading to commonly abused intensification programming. Intensity isn’t popping an ammonia cap, slapping on your personal record song, and hyping up your training partner. It’s a genuine proximity to muscular or movement based failure. Arousal tactics can help you more accurately approximate failure – but one does not necessarily lead directly to the other.

In the end, true training maturity is skimming the fat. It’s becoming much more intentional. It’s accomplishing precision over abundance. It’s striking a balance between objective progress and subjective enjoyment. It’s not about forgoing the concepts that have taken you this far, but rather, allowing them to naturally evolve. The aim is to stimulate the body, not just exhaust it. Training the gas tank is only going to encourage a larger gas tank – if that’s your goal, you win. If not, you’ll be left confused and frustrated wondering why there’s no forward progress. Instead, the look, shape, and feel of training may seem underwhelming by comparison to its glorification online – and this is okay. This is training maturity. Strike hard, but make sure you’re striking true.

Train for It

Training is a constant evolution. Your physical movement will be the centerpiece but other aspects continuously change as well. From knowledge to application, training maturity begins to distinguish between ego-driven and precision intensity. More volume, more hype, more pain, and more fatigue are the calling cards of a young training age. While they work, at least for a while, there comes a time where maturity sets in and the shape of training dramatically changes. Exercise selection, execution, physical sensations, and recovery are shuffled from their original position in the hierarchy of importance. The acceptance that training is results-focused and working out is largely sensation-focused is the perspective of a mature lifter. One does not necessarily need to supplant the other, but there absolutely must be a distinction.

• Audit your exercise selection, sets, repetitions, etc.
• What means of progressive overload and specificity are you employing, do they match your goals?
• Describe how the perfect session for your goals would look and feel, where is the disconnect between what you are doing and what you should be doing?