Quality or Quantity

It is so easy to verbalize
that more is not better, but when it comes right down to it seems our comfort
zone is to revert to more. To quote my good friend Gary Winckler: “Volume is
not a biomotor quality.” Regardless of the event or sport eventually it is
quality and intensity of effort that is rewarded in competition.  It is easy to do more, difficult to train
with intensity. You are walking a fine line so everything must be more
carefully planned and controlled. Unless I am missing something the purpose of
training is preparation for optimum results in the competitive arena. A volume
oriented approach has the tendency to make training an end unto itself. Does it
really matter how many miles you run, meters you swim, how many swings of the
bat if those efforts are of poor quality? The key concept here is what I call
stimulus threshold – the optimum volume, intensity and density that ensures
continually adaptation. Each athlete has their own individual stimulus thresholds
for each quality you are training. This is what makes coaching challenging and
rewarding. One size that does not fit all. A little tidbit that I will share:
for every athlete that thrives on volume there are ten who are destroyed.  Bottom line – more is not better.