Accelerated Adaptations: How to Get the Most Out of Your Training!
Andrew Romeo, of Romeo Athletics, discusses the Training Principle of “Accelerated Adaptations.”
Accelerated Adaptation is how you maximize the physiological adaptations with the minimally effective dose. Simply put, how do you get the biggest bang for your buck? There are 4 points we to understand in order to get the most out of your training:
1.) Athlete Life Cycle: What does your training age look like? Are you a novice athlete, a trained athlete, or an advanced athlete? The majority of everyone reading this will think that they are at least a trained athlete, if not an advanced athlete, but this isn’t necessarily true. Being a novice athlete is a great thing, as this means you can get huge gains from a very simple program. A novice athlete is anyone who has not completed a basic linear weight progression. This past fall we completed a linear weight progression, so for those who completed the program, now we just need to get a little fancier to keep the gains coming.
A great analogy for this is learning to play in instrument. If you are just learning to play the guitar, you would not be expected to practice with the same material that Eric Clapton practices, but would start with music suited for a beginner. Fitness is the same; the complexity of a program is dictated by your experience.
2.) Primal Proficiency: How do your fundamentals look? You need to crawl before you walk, walk before you run, and run before you sprint. We all can move better and this is something we work at on a daily basis. Everyday in our warm ups, I try to take advantage of this time and work on the building blocks of movement, whether you realize it or not...that’s what the warm ups are all about.
3.) Nutrition and Recovery:
Nutrition: Optimal nutrition is different for every person and every goal. A very basic view of nutrition that will do well by most people is: did it grow from the ground and did it have a face or soul at somepoint? If so, you’re good to eat it. If not, maybe you should think twice. Included with your membership is Nutrition Consultations; I’m happy to sit down with anyone and everyone to discuss a nutrition plan that would fit you best.
To schedule a Nutrition Consult with Rome: Click Here!
Recovery: This taps into sleep, stress, recovery methods (stretching, meditation, ROMWODs, etc.), and rest days. A long-time mentor of mine, Gary Valentine, has always stated “You only get stronger while you rest, but you have to earn your rest.” There is a lot of information out there about the importance of sleep and giving your body a chance to recover from the work you’ve done. Every day in the gym you break down muscles, and if you rest you will become stronger...if you don’t give these muscles a chance to rebuild you will become broken.
Are you beat up, sore, and/or not feeling 100%? Schedule a session with our on-staff Physical Therapist to see how she can help! Click here to schedule a recovery session!
4.) Hormonal Profile: The only way to really read into this is through blood work. What does your hormone profile look like? Hormones can really be driven by healthy eating, exercise, sleep, stress, but there is a lot that goes beyond this. My biggest suggestion here is to find a doctor that is very knowledgeable in this area that you trust and develop a relationship.
The easiest example I can give of this is that in your early 20’s you might have been able to eat and drink whatever you wanted, go out partying, and come into the gym the next day and smash a PR. As you get older, we all know that if you eat, drink, and go out partying, you will pay the consequences for a much longer time period than you used to, nevermind even making it into the gym the next day. This is driven by hormones and your body’s ability to heal itself.
If you are looking to get the most out of your hard work in the gym, go back through these 4 points and see where you can improve. Are you following a plan that best fits your current fitness level? How are your fundamental movement patterns? How is your eating and recovery? What does your hormone profile look like? Check your ego, answer these questions honestly, and reach out to me for some guidance if you need it.
To set up a goal-setting session with Rome, Click Here. You work HARD, you DESERVE the results!