The Path to High Performance: Part 2
In Path to High Performance: Part 1, the article discussed the need for Technical Mastery and the paramount need for high-quality coaching to avoid developing persistent technical errors. This second article discusses the training regimen required to achieve high performance.
The training regimen for high-performance
High-performance athletes must be superbly adapted to Olympic Weightlifting. This adaptation includes improvements in neuromuscular coordination, muscle and tendon strength, joint flexibility, bone density, cardiovascular fitness, muscle metabolism and the development of mental skills. The level of adaptation required can occur only through a training stimulus applied over a long period of time. This training stimulus is likely beyond the comprehension of the average person, because the required training is nearly as much as a full-time job and, in reality, requires a lifestyle change. The athlete will spend 20 hours per week or more lifting weights spread across 8-10 sessions. Because high-performance weightlifters generally have one rest day per week, the training schedule requires twice-a-day training on 3-4 days a week and single sessions on 2-3 days per week. Training duration typically ranges from 2 to 5 hours per day, depending on the number of sessions. Training can also be characterised by the volume of lifts. Much depends on the training phase, but a high-performance weightlifter will regularly reach a volume of 200 lifts across 70-100 sets in a single day. This volume will be spread across technical and assistance exercises and will frequently exceed 20 tonnes in a two-session day.
Stress and fatigue
The high-performance athlete’s training regimen creates high levels of stress and fatigue. As a result, athletes must spend additional hours on flexibility, recovery exercises, and physiotherapy visits. This extra time component takes the training commitment well beyond 20 hours per week. High-performance athletes should be intimately involved in planning and monitoring their own training, but oversight by an experienced coach is critically important. Training often sails close to the red line, where the athlete risks injury and overtraining syndrome.
The law of diminishing returns
This training volume is driven by the Law of Diminishing Returns. Training 2-3 times per week under a weightlifting coach, a 15-year-old male will improve by 40-60 kg nin the first year, depending on body weight and other factors such as prior fitness. The improvement figure for 15-year-old females is around 30-40 kg. However, after the first year, under normal circumstances, an athlete improves less and less each year. To achieve this improvement, an athlete will need to invest more and more time in training. So, by the time the athlete is attempting to extract the last 5 kg of possible improvement, their training time will expand by as much as eightfold.
Training will progress to the High Performance level through a series of decisions the athlete makes over several years. Beginner athletes should not increase training too quickly, and they should seek advice from an experienced coach. Questions such as “do I increase to 4 days a week”, “how can I manage 5 sessions a week”, or “should I start to train twice a day” will inevitably come up. At each step, the athlete will evaluate their potential and weigh the costs and benefits of increasing their training commitment. The athlete will also evaluate the constraints that limit further improvement. These constraints include sport factors such as injuries, available coaching, selection standards, and competitors, as well as non-sport factors such as family commitments, career, and finances.
The shocking truth about High Performance training will cause even those athletes with enormous physical capability to doubt their own ability. While an athlete might aspire to be great, they may lack the confidence to risk other opportunities that are already occurring in their life. After all, many a successful sporting star will talk about the sacrifices made.
