Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
I'm sure you've heard "Train like an Athlete, Not a Bodybuilder".....
🤔 Here's the problem with most of that content.
It's a snapshot of training. Often showing specific exercises that are "for athletes" vs. "for bodybuilders"
🔑 But here's the truth.
Athletes actually DO train a lot like a bodybuilder, just not all the time.
📊 The traditional periodization model is the most common general framework for training athletes.
It involves progressively decreasing resistance training volume as athletes approach their season/ competition.
📉 It also involves a shift from higher stress hypertrophy and strength work off season to lower stress power focused training in season.
It's important to recognize that each of these phases has its own benefit for athletes.
🏋🏽♂️ Strength and hypertrophy work tends to have a longer term benefit setting a strong foundation and ceiling for force production.
Power training can be a reasonable stimulus to learn to express force quickly in different contexts once an athlete is already strong and fast.
📊 It's misleading to suggest that power training (Olympic lifts, throws, loaded jumps, ballistic/ dynamic effort lifts, etc.) is what creates athleticism, without acknowledging the years of heavy strength training that preceded it.
I'm sure you've heard "Train like an Athlete, Not a Bodybuilder".....
🤔 Here's the problem with most of that content.
It's a snapshot of training. Often showing specific exercises that are "for athletes" vs. "for bodybuilders"
🔑 But here's the truth.
Athletes actually DO train a lot like a bodybuilder, just not all the time.
📊 The traditional periodization model is the most common general framework for training athletes.
It involves progressively decreasing resistance training volume as athletes approach their season/ competition.
📉 It also involves a shift from higher stress hypertrophy and strength work off season to lower stress power focused training in season.
It's important to recognize that each of these phases has its own benefit for athletes.
🏋🏽♂️ Strength and hypertrophy work tends to have a longer term benefit setting a strong foundation and ceiling for force production.
Power training can be a reasonable stimulus to learn to express force quickly in different contexts once an athlete is already strong and fast.
📊 It's misleading to suggest that power training (Olympic lifts, throws, loaded jumps, ballistic/ dynamic effort lifts, etc.) is what creates athleticism, without acknowledging the years of heavy strength training that preceded it.
