Progressions – More than lipservice
I’m very progression oriented in my training. That is, I not only like to have a big bag of sick twisted trainer tricks, but I want to use them at the right time on the right person for the right reason. Consequently, some of the stuff many of us can use never gets touched due to the intense nature of a progression.
Having an ordered process in your progressions is a very logical and wise thing to do. Here’s why:
1. It keeps people from getting injured – You don’t throw them under the bus with inappropriate exercises.
2. It helps them attain mastery before moving on to more challenging things – More challenging exercises at the wrong time aren’t more challenging, they are totally botched and a waste of you and your clients time when they can’t do them.
3. It makes you look like the hero – This sets up short term wins for the client by getting measurably better. People love being successful.
But pay more than lip service to progressions. Think of progressions like climbing a ladder…generally you take one rung at a time and you need to take your time. Don’t start with a progression and try to skip steps for the sake of it–This results in falling off the ladder. If someone masters a split squat, that’s no reason to assume they would now have a successful reactive Bulgarian split squat jump. While the first step was probably a success, skipping too many steps resulted in a failure.
Second, don’t try to progress before people are ready. People should spend some minimum amount of time on a progression, but not necessarily a maximum time. In terms of the ladder, it’s like trying to climb further when your other foot isn’t stabilized. When it comes to plyometrics, Coach Mike Boyle has said that his clients will spend 3 weeks on each phase regardless. This ensures technical proficiency and allows them to master each step to it’s entirety before progressing.
If someone is NOT ready to move on, then they should stay at the progression for a while longer. Until they master it. If they aren’t progressing noticeably after some time, then perhaps a regression is in order so they can master that.
Set up progressions, honor them, and then tweak them as you go to get the most fluid and efficient progress for you clients.
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