For a long time, training environment for the most part has been an unused and often un-thought-of intangible factor of training progress considered by coaches. Environment can make or break a successful training block. It goes hand in hand with consistency of training sessions along with effort within those sessions. It can lead athletes to PRs and conversely, in some cases lead to injury.
Negative training environments usually are not glaringly obvious, but are extremely detrimental. These include things such as intimidating or rude people that don't seem to care about other gym users' experience. Lack of space, lack of free equipment, lack of coaching support. These all lead to the same thing which is an inconsistency of training sessions or completely stopping all together, whether it is through frustration, uncomfortableness or just general boredom.
Being surrounded by like-minded driven individuals is the most optimal training environment an athlete can be in. Supportive and encouraging peers who are genuinely happy to see you progress. This is why at UPC we have the Team Growth project. We want to continue to grow a team of people who constantly push each other forward in pursuit of their goals. The programming itself does not need to be the same across the group of people that are training at the same time, it has its place and benefits in certain aspects but is not necessary. Just being around others is enough to benefit from a positive training environment.
Motivation is needed to begin training towards a goal or competition. However it is foolish for athletes to believe that their motivation is in endless supply. This will always wain, but habits that are formed and drive to achieve the end goal will stay. Accountability is needed to continue these habits and continue on with training. Having other athletes around you that are doing the same thing as you; sticking to the process. Provides accountability to do the same.
In addition, having peers and coaches around during training helps you stay focused on the intent of sessions and movements. When not in the mood it is easy to skip over effective warm up strategies and painful accessory work. But being in an environment where this is a standard that is held across the board means it's less easy to just skip over. Along with your fellow athletes calling you out for not warming up when they see you've just arrived and are already loading the bar with 20 plates, this consistency with effective warm up protocols helps stave off injuries and training niggles. Furthermore, having intelligent and experienced lifters and coaches around means you can benefit from their kean eye for movement quality. Having someone watching your lifts or movements to spot flaws or inconsistencies helps you develop more proficient technique.
Suffering. Training is not always sunshine and rainbows. To drive intended responses things are often required to be uncomfortable and difficult. When there's multiple people suffering together, it becomes that little more bearable. "If they can do it, so can I" becomes a regular thought process for athletes and helps them push through the pain and benefit from the adaptations.
As the name suggests, max lift attempts or max effort efforts of any kind require an immense amount of both mental and physical effort and can sometimes be difficult to amp yourself up to the required level needed to complete. Being surrounded by encouraging individuals who are invested in you doing well as well as being verbally encouraging and supportive makes it substantially easier to get fired up, or push as hard as you possibly can when it is required. This is where the most progress is made, and if you're always in a good training environment, you're in the most optimal place for progress.
Healthy competition is always an added benefit. With driven individuals comes competitiveness. As long as this remains in good spirits it is a very useful tool to push harder and faster when the training requires it.
Finally and most simply, friendship. Having friends that share the same interests and have the same commitment to progress is invaluable. These friendships appear and develop in a good training environment.
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