Who are you training? Plow Horses or Race Horses

It is important to know who you are training, the type of
training they need and what type of training they respond to. In my experience
you have two types of athletes, the thoroughbred and the plough horse or
workhorse.

 

The thoroughbred is high strung, wired differently; they
demand and need  high intensity short bouts of work that challenge them. They
are high maintenance, basically a pain the ass sometimes. They don’t need more;
they do not respond to volume loading in fact it deadens them. They resist that
type of work, because they know it is counterproductive for them. In team
sports these guys are often labeled as “prima donnas” (sometimes they are),
but in my experience they are the money players. These are the go to athletes,
the ones who score, touchdowns or game winning baskets. They have pop; they are
wired for speed and explosiveness. These win games.

 

 At the opposite end is the plow horse. These guys are
workers, they can’t get enough, it seems the more they do, the better they get.
Coaches love this type of athlete because they will do anything they are asked to do
and then do more. You can count of them, they are not spectacular, but they are
steady. You always know what you are going to get here.

 

There is another group,a tweener so to speak, the quarter horse, a smaller group, a
different bread. They are a product of the old west where a horse had to
work all  day and then sprint to chase some runaway cattle at night. They have some of
the characteristics of both the thoroughbred and the plough horse. They are
fast and explosive, they are tough and they have work capacity. You need to
have some of these also to have a great team. They also will win games for you.

 

So now that we know what we have to work with and agree that
each has different characteristics, then why do we train them all the
same?  I have made that mistake and so have you. Different athletes need programs that fit their needs; one size
does not fit all. This is the time of year when American football and soccer in
most parts of the world have ended training camps and are beginning their
seasons. How many of the thoroughbreds can’t go the starting gate or if they
can are not 100% because they have been deadened or hurt in training camp? Tough to
admit, but it is true. We need to find a way to individualize in a team
context. It is not easy, but it can be done. Everyone must be on the same page
with an implicit understanding that the goal of training is to get everyone to the
game, match or race at their optimum, ready to perform in the competitive
arena.

 

One moral of this story is that if you want to win the
Kentucky Derby make sure you are training thoroughbreds and train them like
thoroughbreds.