Load management is one of the most important things when it comes to injury avoidance, but it is also one of the more complicated aspects of your training too. Too little load progression and you won’t see the workout progress and growth that you’re looking for; and too much load progression and you will find yourself with multiple injuries very quickly.
This blog is going to explain what we mean by ‘training load’, different ways of changing your training load, when is the best time to change your training load, and how you can avoid any injuries, the “Principles of training progression”. Another key factor when it comes to injury prevention and seeing progression with your training is consistency, our blog will explain why consistency is so important to your training.
If you’re a little stuck on what training load or progression looks like for you, head on in to see your Physiotherapist and they will be able to give you the right guidance on how you should be progressing your training, to avoid any nasty injuries!
Principles of Training Progression
Want to level up your gym progress? Be Stronger or Faster? Not sure how?
We all want to see results for the hard work we put in at training. But how do we do this safely, to avoid injury, and in a way that is sustainable.
Simply, we are talking about Load Management, which involves knowing when and how to begin changing your programs.
Keep reading for the simplest, safest, and most effective ways you can reach your goals!
WHAT is Training Load?
Load is quite simply the physical strain or effort placed on the body and is monitored over time. It takes into consideration all the physical requirements you place on your body each day including sitting, walking and training.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?? If we mismanage loading our body, i.e. fail to load certain structures or load them too quickly, the result is usually an injury.
As Physiotherapists, one aspect of our job is to analyze load patterns and identify what changes may have led to negative outcomes. As well as guiding people toward a more sustainable and efficient training program
HOW do we Change Training Load?
Altering load can be as simple as increasing or decreasing the following aspects of your training. You must be careful when altering multiple factors at the same time, if you want to monitor the effect of training changes on your body. Otherwise, it may be difficult to decipher which element of your training has had a positive or negative impact.
Load includes:
- Weight
- Sets and Repetitions
- Speed
- Time
- Complexity
- Number of Training Sessions
- Rest / Recovery
Additionally we must be careful with how fast we change load. Weekly increases to any of these aspects by approximately 15-20% is often advisable to avoid injury.
However sometimes when the body is not tolerating load changes as well as hoped, simply maintaining the current load and focusing on technique can often help improve load sustainability.
Consistency is Key!
Training consistency is fundamental to load management. When you watch an elite athlete or gym influencer, what you usually do not see is the years of training that have led to that moment.
Committing to a plan and setting some achievable goals is a great way to make sure that loading remains consistent and injury is avoided. The Leaders Physiotherapy team has vast experience in load management and training programs to remove any confusion or hesitation when considering load changes.
