Transferability

We all love to train and work hard, but do we want more than just a "good workout" from our hour or two in the gym?

I always enjoy meeting up with my former coach and current good friend and colleague Mark Lovat.  We have engaging conversations that range from the technical applications of our craft to the personal growth that comes from fortifying the mind-body connection.  Human performance coaching and training is a engaging business and when done right can lead to a lifetime of fulfillment for both the coach and the athlete.
Currently, Mark is in charge of the strength and conditioning for the Packers.  He was the assistant during my playing days, but now he is the head honcho and is making the most of his well deserved opportunity.  As a player, I admired Mark's broad scope of knowledge - he knew his shit and had a passion to learn more.  But as strong as his brains were; Mark's gut (his instincts) were even better.  Coach Lovat had a knack for getting the best out of everyone, myself included.  I highlighted best for a reason, because we typically think that we have to give our "most" when it comes to training.  And as Coach Lovat taught me: your "most" isn't enough, you must give your best for this training thing to work.  Follow me on this...
I was the typical blue collar, midwest, linebacker, wrestler type of athlete.  If it didn't hurt then I didn't want to do it; I felt I needed to bleed for every victory.  I would lift to failure, run to exhaustion, vomit, cramp, tear my hands open, rinse, and repeat.  It bordered on self-flagellation - and it started to cost me.  Injuries, less than optimal results, burn-out, etc. were starting to get my attention - what more do I need to do?!?  I wanted results for the football field first - I needed to get stronger, bigger, faster, more explosive, and more resilient against injuries.  What I was doing was closer to the opposite, I was breaking myself down and spinning my wheels too often.  Fortunately, I took a deep breath and began the process of learning that there was a better way to train.  But when you get some good results from "hammering down" and "sucking it up" it is tough to shift the paradigm.  And... sometimes more importantly - your confidence is tied completely to this "what you put it in is what you get out" mentality.

Like I was saying, my eyes started to open a bit - I was blessed with some awesome coaches along the way.  Learned some amazing things that transcend what they print in the books and some fun applications that create very dramatic training effects.  This stuff was great, but what I learned from Coach Lovat was novel.  At this same time, I also started to notice it was standard operating procedure amongst the NFL elite.
What was finally coming to light for me was that my "most" wasn't getting it done!  I had to do my best and I had to do it everyday.  I saw the salty vets doing it... Darren Sharper, William Henderson, Donald Driver, etc.  And I noticed how Mark would elicit the best from other players as well.  He had a knack for mixing in what guys needed to do in order to perform and still maintain their confidence and fill their need for an exercise fix (getting a "good workout").  Too often the idea of "training smart" is associated with sub-maximal exercises, active recovery, technical learning - in short, necessary but less than demanding applications or "entertainment training" as it is commonly referred to in training circles.  This isn't the case with the pros baby!  Training smart means training hard at the right time - but it's all about putting it out on the field, to get it to transfer and transfer consistently.  It was a revelation for me and took my training to a whole new level.
I got stronger, faster, leaner, faster, more whatever-you-need-to-play-better-er!  I wish I just learned it sooner.
All training is cumulative, the wears and tears from the sins of my youth led to some surgeries and permanent structural changes.  But no fear here, I continue to learn and practice what I preach - my body is as healthy and fit as ever.  Mark found a way to convince me along with many other players from varying backgrounds, training histories, and work ethics to have our cake and eat it too.  Getting training to transfer demands science, it also demands that the athlete trusts the system.  The coach's job is to gently merge the two, sometimes unbeknownst to the target (athlete).  In time, a mature athlete will accept a better way - the paradigm will shift and so will his/her results.
As a coach, what can we do to help our athletes ease this transition.  Maybe you're competing or maybe you just want a healthy lifetime of fitness.  Regardless, here's a few pointers that can help:

- Mix corrective exercise throughout a workout.  Sometimes a full 15minutes of necessary (but boring) injury prevention exercises can dull the mood and athletes lose their drive.  Get the essentials in the beginning to ease into the warmup, and save the ancillary correctives for select times to use as a rest between more demanding efforts.  Check out this workout we call 60in60 for an example of strategic applications of injury prevention and variable energy eliciting efforts sprinkled though out a workout.  For exercise videos that coincide with the workout, check: http://zoneready.net/FunctionalTraining.asp

- Layout the yearly plan so the athletes see where they are going and how you'll help them get there.  If you're making up workouts as you go along, you're just filling the hour and you know it!  True training requires the ability to work from goal achievement back to through to where you're at now.  See the big picture in your mind and on paper before you start applying paint to the canvas.
- Measure a few things and do so consistently.  Testing maxes, PRs, times, circumference or goniometric measurements, etc. every 4-6weeks does three things... 1. Let's you know what you're doing is having an effect (now, just make sure you're measuring the right stuff, more on that another time!); 2. Keeps the athlete's confidence high - crucial for buy in and compliance; 3. Prevents most occurrences of overtraining which means less injuries and more fun.

This is one of the more fascinating topics in our industry - would love to hear your thoughts or share your story, coaches and athletes alike.