We believe that most people want to train for 3 main reasons:
i) Aesthetics – fat loss, muscle development, posture, co-ordination
ii) Performance – get fitter, stronger, faster, go for longer, be better at sport/work
iii) Wellness – longevity, improve energy levels, less pain, injury reduction, happiness
The exact ratio for each of these motivations will vary from person to person and may change at different times of life, but most people want some kind of mix of these. They are, of course, also related to each other…people tend to improve their aesthetics and wellness as they get stronger and fitter.
We think the best way to achieve a good mix of these goals is to spread your focus of training widely, developing a balance of different types of fitness. A good way to start to understand these categories of fitness is by looking at the various adaptations to exercise listed below.
The 9 Adaptations to Exercise:
1. Skill/Technique – learn to move better, more efficiently with better position, timing and sequence.
2. Speed – increase the highest velocity you can move at
3. Power – improve your acceleration (power = speed x force)
4. Strength – increase maximal force production…how effectively you can move something
5. Hypertrophy – increase in lean muscle mass
6. Muscular Endurance – increase how many reps you can do in a specific movement
7. Anaerobic Capacity – improve the amount of work you can do in short duration tests (30-120 secs) of all out work
8. Aerobic Capacity – improve your VO2 Max, or the amount of oxygen you can use at maximal aerobic capacity (8-15 min range)
9. Long Duration – improve your ability to sustain sub-maximal work for a long period of time with no breaks
We’ve realised that many of our members would benefit from having some measurables in each of these areas. So, we’ve developed some benchmark goals, in 6 Levels, for most of the adaptations listed above. We hope this will aid you in seeing where your strengths and weaknesses are, and help guide us in your goal setting.
You can download a copy of the Levels here: Fitness for Life – MOVE Levels (v1 25.12).
You can then have a look back through your training diary (TrueCoach) and see what level you’re at for many of these already. We’d suggest, if you’re looking for a rounded fitness, to minimise your weaknesses. So, if any of the adaptations are far behind the others, then you could set a goal with your coach to improve them.
The adaptations that don’t appear on the table are Speed and Hypertrophy. The reason for speed not being on there is that testing speed is only really suitable for well trained athletes, with maximal sprinting carrying a higher degree of injury risk than I would normally prescribe for our members. Hypertrophy isn’t on there, as lean muscle mass levels are very individual and wouldn’t make sense to standardise in this way. We can use our bio-electrical impedance scales to measure your lean muscle mass though, so you can get a measure of this too.
When looking at these levels, also bear in mind your body type. The row, for instance, favours a taller and/or heavier athlete, so if you’re a lighter/shorter individual and your time is coming lower on the levels than some of the other adaptations, that should be taken into account. Likewise, if you’ve naturally got a bigger frame, the % bodyweight goals for Strength movements might take a little longer to achieve. It’s not a perfect framework, just a tool that can be used as a guide. Your coach can help you make more sense of it where necessary.