Disadvantage Training

An important way to gain motivation and determination is to tie your fitness to a goal.

For the adult it may be in the way of training for a marathon or powerlifting event.

For the youth it may be in the way of training for their particular competitive sport.

For all people it should be to live a healthy life.

While the purpose beyond the actual exercise itself is important, it brings up a question that creates a lot of debate and complexity; the question of which type of exercise is best?

One could respond back with far more questions for clarity such as are we talking about reps? sets? duration? Intensity? Volume? Frequency? Circuit? Isolation? And the list goes on…

While much of this is up for debate I’d like to propose one simple way to make improvements towards whatever your goal may be. One that is generally accepted, and can be applied in every fitness type.

If you want to make progress towards any fitness pursuit, you must find a way to safely incorporate disadvantage training.

In traditional bodybuilding it is simple to explain. Want the muscle to grow bigger? Lift more weight than you normally lift in your day to day activities. It isn’t needed to be any more complex than that for initial muscle growth to occur.

But what about training for a marathon? What could you do to put yourself in a disadvantage while you attempt to run 26.219 miles? An example that looks great on the surface but actually isn’t, would be to run with a weighted vest for that length of time. While beneficial in shorter distances, training with a weight vest for hours at a time can unhinge proper posture and put unnecessary strain on the knees.

A better option may be to create a route that is for the most part, uphill. So that you feel more resistance in your hamstrings and glutes to develop them stronger, while having to control your breath as it becomes more difficult. Not only is this a good idea to increase your bodies physiological capabilities but it will also train your brain, for a more intense experience. This will be the push you need to finish ahead of the competition.

On a side note, because it is so important society hears this, it is also beneficial to train the hamstrings and glutes more consistently since we live in a quadriceps dominant society due to all the sitting we do in a day. OK, back to the subject.

One area where this may not be true in regards to your bodies physiological improvement is training on an unstable surface, as science is conflicting on the benefits. There may however be a neurological benefit of having to focus with an additional distraction during the exercise, but this would only be beneficial if the exercise directly related to the actual goal we were looking for.

I see all kinds of different ways that youth athletes are trained for speed and agility, but it generally does not focus on disadvantage training. I would much rather see a baseball player use a band to resist them as they swing through a pitch than to do some form of high repetition rapid speed movement.

I could continue this conversation with examples, but I want to keep this straight to the point. Whatever your training for, consider disadvantage training. This works in developing your brain as well as your body and we should apply this to our many categories of our life.

If you are in need of assistance with your nutrition or training program, one of my new ventures is nutritional and exercise programming that goes well beyond the scope of just providing you with a sheet of paper and what to do.
If you are interested, please send me an email to jason@betterbodysports.com and wecan talk and see if working together is a good fit and if we can help you achieve your goals and give you an education that will serve you beyond our time together.