Introduction
The principle of progressive load is defined as a steady increase in load with increasing performance. For a sporty beginner it is sometimes impossible to jog a distance of 5 km continuously without a break. Regular training improves the performance, so that the endurance run of 5 km can be completed without any problems.
What is the reason for this: the external load is absolutely identical in both cases, the internal load (stress) decreases with increasing performance capacity while the external load remains the same. The load capacity has increased through the training. From this follows: The athlete must permanently adapt his training (external load) to his ability to cope with stress… And this is not easy in everyday training.
Terminology
external load = acting load stimuli through trainingload = physical reaction to the external loadTolerance = current performance level
Training adaptation
The external load must be permanently increased to achieve a constant (internal) stress. However, not only the external load can be increased by training, but also the internal load (increased resilience) … this leads to a performance dilemma! You have to train more and more intensively/hardly to achieve smaller and smaller progress in performance.
For example, improving the time in 10 km from 60 min to 50 min is possible with relatively little effort. From 50 to 40 minutes you already need a proper training. From 40 to 30 minutes seems hopeless.
The increase in performance does not keep up with the increase in training. The higher the athlete’s performance level, the less favorable the ratio between effort and yield. This topic might also be of interest to you: Principle of the effective stress stimulus
Fields of application
The application of progressive load in the conditional sense: The principle of progressive load does not only concern conditional aspects (strength, speed, endurance) but also technical and tactical aspects. Progressive technique training is also known as variable availability. This means that the athlete has several choices to complete the task, depending on the situation. Examples for progressive technique training: Examples for progressive tactics training:
- Increase in training frequency (from once a week, every 2-3 days to daily training)
- Increase the amount of training (instead of 30 minutes running – 60 minutes running)
- Increase of stimulation duration
- Increase of the stimulus density
- Increase of stimulus intensity
- Tennis: The athlete has several options for the serve (slice, topspin, without spin)
- Soccer: Several feints to overcome the opponent
- Gymnastics: Several elements in the floor freestyle
- Etc.
- Increasing the number of tactical skills (attack strategies in soccer, constellation forms etc. )
- Variable availability through the different tactical capabilities
