Train at the ability you are not the ability you want to be. We see this frequently in newer athletes who have started training towards an objective with no initial guidance, so we'll focus on the beginner stages of training in this post.
Usually beginners who want to be competitive look to a role model or professional in their sport or discipline and try to mirror what they are doing. It’s admirable and comes from a place of good intentions but unless you are a genetic freak of nature, this will always hinder your progress and more often than not lead to backwards steps through injury and overtraining. That professional athlete that they look up to did not start out training that way they do now.
Training progression should be seen as building a pyramid. You can't get to the peak without first building a solid base. A proper base requires a considerable amount of time to build, think how wide the circumference of a pyramid is when compared to the peak. Once a base has mean set you can continue to build on it brick by brick, level by level until the peak is reached, but this process takes years. Professional competitors are at the peak, because they have already put the time into building their base. When you use this analogy its easier to see how training must be tailored to athletes current athletic level rather than where they strive to be.
When athletes begin their training journey the stimulus they require to adapt to a new stress is very low, therefore it does not require large amounts of training and anymore than what is neccessary to drive a response is a waste. Something known as junk volume. As a coach we want to prescribe the minimal amount of stress to provide the required adaptation. As time training moves forward; additonal volume can be added to increase the stress and further progress. If you start with large amounts of volume you remove this ability to improve through increased volume tolerance.
During the beginner athlete stage technique and proficient movement patterns should be a primary focus. Technical ability can be hindered by multiple things such as mobility, strength in positions or even coordination. Once these issues have been addressed and corrected can athletes then begin to layer on loading. To begin with heavier weights without first having the requisite skills required leads to inneficient and potentionally dangerous movements and bad habits which are harder to change down the line.
As athletes build the levels of their pyramid, brick by brick, their training can continue to evolve and change to match their current level. This gradual move forward is how over years athletes can develop to a level of excellence in their sport.
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