Progressions and Regressions: The Dos and Don’t Dos
There is absolutely no question about it, a properly designed strength and conditioning program is vital to any successful athletic preparation. It has been proven that this type of program improves athletic performance, decreases the likelihood of injuries, and allows for the development of proper functional body mechanics, strength, and mobility. The development of these attributes allows athletes to gain a strong foundation of fundamental strength training and conditioning practices as well as prepare them for advanced strength training and conditioning programs potentially down the road as they progress athletically.
As most of us train our athletes in groups, it is a rare occasion that each one of our athletes’ strength and conditioning levels are exactly the same. Can you imagine walking into the gym with the 10 people in front of you and all doing the exact same workout or lifting the exact same weights? Depending on who you walk in with, that could be a disaster waiting to happen!
This is when choosing appropriate exercises and modifying them based on the skill level of the athletes comes into play! Let’s dive in!
WHAT ARE EXERCISE PROGRESSIONS AND REGRESSIONS?
As I am sure we all know, progression is an increase in difficulty, typically incrementally through minor changes. Conversely, a regression does the opposite by decreasing the difficulty of an exercise, skill, or drill. It is important to understand this concept to maintain the integrity of the intended stimulus of the workout while working within your scope of abilities to maintain proper form and safeguard your body from potential injury. Staying focused on the specific area you are working to improve is key to avoiding excessive use of other musculature. In a sport where repetitive strain and overuse injuries are highly prevalent, the last thing we want is to put our athletes at further risk due to overworking one area of the body.
IMPROVE CONFIDENCE WITH APPROPRIATE EXERCISE SELECTION
Have you ever said to yourself or heard other athletes say, “I can’t do push-ups!” or “That exercise is too hard!”
If you know how to modify an exercise to make it easier (regress the challenge) you are sure to find a version of that motion that you, your teammate, or your athlete can execute safely and also successfully. I am sure all of you know, performing a set of push-ups with the hands placed on the kitchen counter or the side of a couch with proper form is more important than the same set of push-ups with the hands placed on the floor with poor mechanics. Did you know, however, that the push-ups with the hands placed on the elevated surface will also achieve greater gains towards improved muscular strength down the road due to the ability of the athlete to maintain the proper body position? That’s right! The regressed exercise gives you MORE bang for your buck!
Now it’s just a matter of consistency and gradual progression to achieve that traditional push-up with good mechanics and botta-bing-botta-boom! You are win-win-win, cashing in your ticket, and off to Gainz-ville, you go!
From a confidence standpoint, we all know how important it is to feel successful in sport, but also in our lives. Having challenging workouts that are also attainable is an extremely important aspect of strength and conditioning not only from an exercise form and safety standpoint, but also from the mental side of training as well. Regressing an exercise may feel like a temporary failure to an athlete. However, a simple understanding that working to acquire the proper technique first will help the athlete continue on the journey to where he or she would like to go! Remember, it’s all about enjoying the journey, not necessarily the destination! Even with a small amount of let down the athlete may feel with a possible regression, we all know that overwhelming feeling of success to ‘PR’ (personal record) when you unlock a new level of achievement during a workout; whether you are demonstrating improved exercise form to level up your performance, are able to pick up a heavier set of dumbbells, or increase the number of repetitions, the progress and progression towards something more challenging is the true win!
Here are some helpful hints when progressing/regressing workouts.
LOOK AT THE BODY POSITION
Changing body position is probably the easiest way to manipulate an exercise in order to create a greater or lesser challenge. Now, in order to do this successfully, you need to adjust the exercise position as it relates to gravity, the direction of resistance, or possibly both. Depending on the exercise, this may be easier said than done!
Going back to our push-up example, we can all agree to doing push-ups with hands on an elevated surface is easier than having the hands placed on the floor. I am sure we can also agree that placing our hands on the floor and elevating the feet up on a chair or box would further increase the difficulty of the exercise, all based on gravity and direction of resistance. This would be a great way to progress or regress your athletes while maintaining the intended strengthening stimulus of the workout (shoulder and abdominal strength work) while catering to the specific needs of the athlete.
MODIFY THE RANGE OF MOTION
Controlling range of motion is a simple modification to make during a working exercise set. Decreasing the range of motion will typically decrease the difficulty of the exercise and allow the athlete to focus their attention on a specific point of the movement. This can be useful until the athlete has a chance to rest and perhaps perform the exercise again at a lighter weight or resistance with a full or greater range of motion.
LEVEL UP!
Maybe it’s time to increase a resistance band or weight during an exercise. This is a big opportunity for athletes to feel successful lifting or achieving a new standard with a heavier load upon them.
Another leveling-up option could be to increase the height of a box or step to step or jump onto. Even reaching different levels like hip, shoulder, or eye level when performing a lateral shoulder raise could be an opportunity to level up performance.
In our lower body example of stepping up onto a box, a way to progress an exercise may be to increase the height of the box they’re stepping onto, which also requires the athlete to utilize a greater range of motion of moving, working musculature!
SPEED
I know one thing is for sure about speed, it KILLS! Fast, slow, holding, pulses, all the speeds! Utilizing different speeds for different training reasons at different ability levels will surely change the level of challenge in any given workout or exercise.
On the regression side of things, utilizing momentum can be an excellent way for athletes to lift a weight or resistance to a specific height or distance (to feel successful of course). The athlete can then work to improve the stability and use of the muscles involved by slowly controlling the weight back to the starting position. Slowing the speed puts the muscle under tension for a longer period of time and can also create more demand for regional stabilizers in the area of the body that’s working. That’s code for, this is a great idea to include in your workout as a potential progression OR regression depending on the exercise!
From a plyometric and agility standpoint, moving quicker is absolutely more challenging on the cardiovascular system but keep in mind, it also requires additional strength and body awareness in order to achieve greater speed. Let’s get out of our chairs for a second and try this experiment as an example.
Test #1: Perform 1 (one) burpee as fast as possible with the best possible form.
Ready. Set. GO!
Results: It’s pretty easy to maintain proper form, right? How long did it take you to complete this task?... Less than 5 seconds, perhaps?
Test #2: Perform as many burpees as you can in 1 (one) minute.
Ready. Set. GO!!!
Results: That most likely looked a little different than the first test, right? If you start this challenge as fast as you could possibly go, guns blazing like I would have, at around the 30-second mark, your form may start to deteriorate, right? Your hips start to plop to the floor from the plank position, your arms feel like they weigh 100 lbs reaching up over your head during the jump, and you may even begin to resemble those inflatable air people at the car dealership on the weekends :)
The point of this topic is understanding that speed is a large determinant of progressing and regressing exercises and can be extremely effective in assisting athletes towards greater cardiovascular endurance AND strength. Don’t forget to use this tool in both capacities; add holds, slow things down, speed them up, add pulses, get creative!
TO SUM IT UP
Remember, sometimes regression is the first step to progression. Don’t be afraid to step back, assess, and scale back if needed. If you are the competitive type (like I am!), you may not want to choose the easier option at the beginning, but remember, eventually being able to level up and progress your exercise will be an opportunity to celebrate your hard work and enjoy a slice of success pie along the way.
So the next time you are looking to improve performance during a workout, try these tips to keep your athletes safe and feeling successful in their workouts while continuing towards their goals!
Use or Lose Gravity
Change the Range
Level Up!
& Play with Speed!