Keep the main thing the main thing

Another Episode of The Weekly Dose!

Every week I set out to help educate you on movement practices and principles that will enable you to become a better athlete. Whether you are a high school athlete or a 75 year old grandparent trying to keep up with your grandkids, this email will have value!

Today I am sharing or reminding you of a simple principle that I use with my athletes when developing a training plan

Keep the main thing the main thing

It sounds stupidly simple, right?

This maxim was popularized by Stephen Covey in his book, “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.”

It’s used in all professions and across all industries as a way to help prioritize

I can’t tell you how many athletes, myself included, lose sight of this!

It’s not flashy or sexy. It feels more like a monotonous approach, “grindy” if you will… BUT IT WORKS!

So what exactly does this principle look like?

Whenever I set out to develop a training plan I go through a “Needs Analysis” with an athlete

What does this athlete do well, what sport are they playing and what is their position and positional requirements in terms of an athletic skillset?

We put together our athletic buckets and tackle them in an orderly fashion in terms of highest to lowest priority

In the Needs Analysis the key is to get specific, don’t bring in any self-bias. You don’t want to sugarcoat this. It oftentimes helps to work through this with someone else

This is our outline for where we want to go for the next season, next 3 years, 5 years, etc.. Singling out the top priorities and routinely attacking the priorities will keep you focused and on track

This applies to you no matter what sport, activity or endeavor you are participating in. Even if you aren’t playing a sport this still applies. That’s why Covey put it in his massively successful book  

Keep the main thing the main thing.

Here’s an example: say your athletic skill set requires you to improve your change of direction & “shiftiness”… then make that your priority. Don’t waste time bodybuilding at the gym just because you see a bunch of your friends on social media doing it to get big. That will take you away from your main goal!

You don’t need to spend 2 hours everyday at the gym if you keep the main thing the main thing

Set up a specific plan, prioritize what you want to attack, then go through the list and knock the priorities down… one by one. Does it feel like I am being redundant? GOOD

What is really interesting that a lot of my athletes don’t understand is the residual effects of training athletic skills

We will get more into this in a later email, but know that if you don’t strength train in the gym for a week (example) you won’t lose your gains! There is a residual carryover for up to 5 weeks

I bring this up because when setting up a training plan it is important to understand that even though you aren’t prioritize strength in a specific phase you still may have the carryover effect working in your advantage

This same RTE (Residual Training Effect) works with other motor abilities other than strength (speed, repeatable power, fast twitch and slow twitch actives, etc..)

What does NOT keeping the main thing the main thing look like:

Hopping between workout programs, working out without any direction or plan, working on gaining muscle size/trying to lose weight/improve your 10k time all in the same week

It is very easy to get distracted and direct your attention toward the shiny new fad or phase of training. Follow the path of discipline

Get specific with your priorities, use some assistance from professionals who can help organize you & knock the items on your list off one by one

It isn’t always easy. That’s why everyone isn’t doing this