used to. Any of the body’s systems adapts
rather speedily to forces that are imposed
upon it. Therefore, for continual progress
to take place, one must forever be moving
onward and upward. Practical examples
of this might include adding more weight
to be lifted, increasing the distance one is
running or cycling, holding stretches for a
longer period of time, etc. By simply looking
at the activity that you have chosen, it will
not be difficult to find ways of employing
the overload principle.
2. The principle of specificity. What
do you think would happen if the winner
of the World’s Strongest Man contest tried
playing a complete game of NBA basketball?
Physically, he would probably not last more
than just a few minutes. Why? Because his
muscular and endurance systems have
been trained for very short, powerful and
explosive movements, not for continuous
movements involving speed, agility, local
muscular endurance and cardiorespiratory
fitness. This extreme example shows that
“you get what you train for.” The body and its
systems adapt to the specific types of stresses
imposed upon them. If you are involved in a
particular sporting activity, then it is vitally
important that you understand the specific
conditioning requirements of that sport. If
your goal is general fitness, then specific
exercise prescriptions must be employed
in order to maximally develop each general
fitness component. Specificity even applies
within one particular movement. Running,
for example, will affect the body very
differently if you are repeatedly doing one
hundred yard sprints as opposed to running
INSIGHT
marathons. The important thing here is to
know exactly what it is that you are wanting
to achieve.
3. The principle of progression. This
principle relates closely to the overload
principle, but has more specifically to do
with how to apply overload. Many people
who begin an exercise program soon
quit because they try to do too much too
soon. This only serves to discourage and
demotivate. Gradual and incremental
progression is the key. If you have never
lifted weights in your entire life, for example,
then do not go into the gym and try to find
out what your one-repetition maximum
squat is on the very first day. Neither your
muscular nor nervous system is adapted to
this type of stress. Start slow and work your
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