Every year in fitness there's a new "it" trend. Right now, hybrid training and pilates are having their moment. So, what's next?
My prediction: performance based training.
Here's the thing about most fitness trends. They're rarely new training, they're just old training methods with a new label. For instance, hybrid training isn't anything new. Sport has combined strength and conditioning for decades; hybrid just gave it a name and sold it back to us as something new.
Performance based training is about to get the same treatment.
What Is Performance Based Training? Strip the marketing away and the idea itself is simple. Performance based training means your training is built around a specific output. A sprinter trains to get faster, whether that comes from more strength, more power, or cleaner mechanics.
That output doesn't have to be sport specific either. Maybe it's your first pull up, maybe it's a heavier back squat, or maybe it's just having more energy at the end of your day. The output changes, but the idea stays the same: if you can't name what you're actually trying to get better at, you're not training for performance - you're just working out. And none of that is a new concept, it's just training with intention, something good coaches have been doing long before anyone thought to put a label on it.
None Of This Requires A Label Which is really the whole point. You don't need a program with "performance training" stamped on it to get the benefits of one. A well built program is already doing this. Progressive overload, consistency, and covering strength, conditioning, and mobility instead of picking one and ignoring the rest.
This is why we have stayed consistent despite whatever label is trending. We build our programs around covering a bit of everything, strength, power, conditioning, mobility, so you're a well rounded athlete no matter what life throws at you; padel, pickleball, a hike, a local 5k, whatever it is. That's what good training has always looked like - we just never needed a new name for it.
The One Exception If you're actually training for a specific event, that's a different conversation, and a real one. As I mentioned earlier, if you're a sprinter, your training is tailored to making you faster. As much as I am all for what we program, I wouldn't suggest only following it if you're a professional sprinter.
And being in the fitness world, we understand that many are now interested in Hyrox. If you think that might be you, in the next installment, I will break down exactly what an approach to this looks like.