The Training Principles Applied to Real World Situations

can come alive. Here are some lessons learned through personal experience about the training principles applied to weight training programs.

For many years, I competed in the throwing events in track and field. I trained with free weights using traditional lifting regimens. I had some understanding of how training principles applied to sports, and I made gradual, consistent progress over a 10-year period. See

In the late 1970s I began to train with world class Olympic weightlifter Phil Grippaldi and other top lifters in Belleville, NJ. Phil introduced me to Emile Press, a former Soviet coach, who designed my weight training programs, which included new exercises and a more varied regimen. See Olympic Lifting Variations

In time, the program produced moderate gains in the traditional, nonexplosive lifts, but very good gains in the new, explosive lifts. My key indicators of muscular power (the vertical jump and the 40 yard dash) improved dramatically.

Weightlifting Legend Phil Grippaldi

Within the next few years, my shotput advanced from 49 feet to more than 56 feet, a consistent improvement of 3-5 ft. My discus performance improved from the upper 160s to nearly 190 (consistently 15-20 ft. farther). After that, gains again became more gradual.

I power cleaned just over 200 lbs., my bench was 215, and back squats were just over 220 at best. These are not outstanding weight loads, but the improvements in explosiveness speaks to targeted coordination of large muscles groups and transferability from weight training skills to the throwing events.

My body weight remained about the same during these years, fluctuating between 165-175 lbs. I witnessed similar patterns of improvement in the many athletes that I have trained over the years.

During graduate school at the University of Tennessee, I gained insights as to why this weight training regimen was so effective: (a) it more closely matched the demands of throwing events (specificity), (b) it introduced greater variation, and (c) the Olympic lifting variations held more common elements with throwing events, allowing greater training transfer.

As I learned more about the sport sciences during graduate school and competed/coached internationally, I revised and individualized these training programs for many other athletes.

The training principles work when you correctly apply them in concert! I have since learned that the same concepts apply in many fields of human performance--not just to fitness and sports training.

For more about Phil and other mentors see, see Personal Mentors at Sports Training Adviser. If you have a question or would like to request a consultation, see Weight Training Advice.

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