How to start training? I often hear this question from beginners or competitors who want to return to the gym after the season. Many people are looking for the best training plan for themselves to start with. You won’t find it in this article, but I will give you something much better. I will show you training principles that will help you understand what training should look like. If you use them, you will be able to design your own training and manage it in the future.

A well-planned and executed training will help you ride faster and longer. It will also protect you from injuries and prepare you for competitions. However, there is a huge difference between a wisely designed training and imitating what others do in the gym.

Want to know how to start training? Learn 5 training rules!

5 training principles

1. Progressive Overload
2. Variety
3. Individualization
4. Specificity
5. The Principle of Overload and Recovery

1. Progresive overload

The principle of progressive weight gain is best illustrated by Greek mythology, telling the story of the legendary Milo of Croton. In order to become the strongest man on earth, Milo, at the age of a teenager, began carrying a calf up a mountain every day. With each passing day, the calf grew larger and heavier, and Milo stronger. In time, the little calf transformed into a full-grown bull, and Milo became the strongest man in the world. This story represents long-term progression.

More specifically, progressive training causes adaptations in the structure and function of the athlete’s body. This increases motor potential, and the result is better results in sports. Progression of loads affects the body’s response in 2 areas:

• physiologically – muscles, bones and tissues become stronger as a result of systematic loading
• psychologically – the nervous system begins to cope better with the stress caused by training and loadingżeniem

Progressive increases in load are the variable that induces the greatest morphological and functional changes. There are many ways to progress and increase load to induce adaptations such as; hypertrophy, muscular endurance, maximal strength, or power.

Increasing the load (intensity) can be done by modifying the training parameters:

• Weight
• Number of reps
• Number of sets
• Rep tempo
• Rest

Depending on the adaptation we want to achieve, we modify specific training parameters. The progression of loads should occur gradually over the training cycle. In the training cycle, after the period of the greatest load, the so-called “unloading” is used, i.e. time for regeneration and preparation for the next progression. In practice, this means 2-4 weeks of increasing intensity or volume, after which we perform a week of easier training.

2. Variety

Systematic training requires many hours of work from the athlete. The training plan often assumes an increase in intensity and volume throughout the year. During this time, exercises are repeated many times. Every athlete who wants to seriously improve their fitness and results must devote 2 to 4 hours to strength training per week.

Such conditions can promote greater boredom and monotony, which become a limitation for motivation and progress in training. For this reason, it is necessary to introduce variety into training, which will improve the body’s response and have a positive effect on the athlete’s well-being. Below are tips on how to introduce variety into training.

• Vary the range of motion (ROM) from full in the general preparation phase to sport-specific range in the special preparation phase.
• Use multiple forms of one exercise – do not limit lower body training to the barbell squat, but introduce other forms e.g. Split Squat, Cossack Squat, Single Leg Squat, Sisi Squat etc.
• Change the load (kg) according to the principle of progressive load increase.
• Vary the exercises by adding different types of contraction and movement speeds. Usually start with slow and controlled movement, through isometrics to fast and dynamic repetitions.
• Use different training methods: super sets, contrast sets, drop sets, reps ladder, rounds, max strength, amrap etc.
• Use different equipment; dumbbells, balls, kettlebells, barbells and introduce bodyweight exercises.

Variety in training should be used while maintaining the continuity of adaptation. This means that it is not worth changing every exercise every week, because then we will not achieve the expected results in the form of improved technique or increased strength.

3. Individualization

Modern training requires individualization. If you work with a trainer, your trainer should analyze and assess your abilities, and then plan the appropriate training for your needs. However, if you do not work individually with a trainer or use our group training program (TFS Enduro), you can still apply the principle of individualization to your training. This is possible by adjusting the load or number of repetitions to your strength, as well as performing a full or scaled version of the exercise.

You can also individualize your training due to the level of fatigue, e.g. if you are after two days of riding, on Monday you will do strength training, but you will do 50% less volume. This will allow you to maintain adaptation and will not interfere with regeneration. On the other hand, if you feel very tired, you can skip the training at the expense of rest.

When consulting with athletes when they ask how to arrange training days during the season or during a trip, I recommend that they be guided by fatigue or, if someone has an HRV meter. It is good to have a set training plan for specific days, but life does not always work out according to our assumptions. In such cases, it is good to listen to your body and adjust your training accordingly.

4. Specificity

The principle of specificity states that we must use training methods and forms appropriate to what we want to achieve. These are usually adaptations specific to a given sport. When planning training, we should make an analysis of the motor skills needed for a given sport, which will include the following elements:

• participation of individual energy systems
• definition of body position and joint alignment
• planes of movement
• what are the so-called “prime movers” or main muscle groups and what work do they do (eccentric, concentric, isometric)

A coach or athlete planning their training must determine which energy system is crucial in a given discipline. Is it the aerobic system; which dominates long efforts >5 min, the glycolytic system; which dominates intensive efforts lasting between 20-60 sec, or is it the ATP-PC phosphagen system; which contributes to very intensive and short efforts, e.g. 6-second sprints. Very often there is a mixture of these 3 systems, but usually one of them should be the priority.

At this point I would also like to explain what specific strength is, so as not to confuse it with the concept of functional strength.

Specific strength refers to the physiological and psychological component of an athlete. It is the adaptation of the musculoskeletal system and nervous system to a specific ability that the athlete performs during sports. Specific strength improves abilities in a specific position of the joints, which is required in a given sports discipline. Functional strength, on the other hand, is strength training, which involves exercising muscles and joints in the planes of work for which they were created and not limiting yourself to a narrow specialization such as a specific sport. Usually, functional strength is the one that we develop during the general preparation period, and over time we transform it into specific strength closer to the season.

5. The Principle of Overload and Recovery

Anyone wondering how to start training must know this – every training, strength and technical, exerts stress on our body. Depending on how trained we are, everyone will regenerate at a different pace. For this reason, the principle of overload and regeneration is very closely connected to the first one, which speaks of gradual progression. After each period of stronger overload, there should be a period of “deload”, which will allow for physical and mental rest from the stress of training. For this reason, every wisely planned training must include time to reduce the load and rest.

Summary

There are many methods and tools, but only a few principles. If you understand and implement these 5 basic training principles, you can be sure that your training will bring results in the long term.