This title may be a bit misleading. In order for this to apply to you I’m assuming you’re already doing everything you can to achieve whatever results you’re after. If you’re not currently working your ass off, then this post is not for you.
With that disclaimer out of the way, I’ll give this some context. A question I get a lot from motivated athletes is about why their performance isn’t improving even though they’re doing all of these different things to try to get better. When I ask for more details it usually goes something like this.
“I lift four days a week. I throw five days a week, long tossing to max distance three times a week with pull downs after. I run sprints three days a week, and I have practice five days a week.”
That’s a ton of stress to try to recover from, no wonder you’re velocity is down and you feel like crap. Your body can only handle so much stress in a given week, and your training plan needs to take this into account. Lifting, running, and throwing all stress your body. And depending on the intensity and volume of each, they can each contribute a significant amount of stress.
Your individual needs and the time of year will determine what specific portion of your training is most important to your athletic success. For example, right after your season ends, tons of sport specific work, i.e. throwing, is probably not what you need. But, you probably need to get stronger and you may need to make up for strength and weight loss during the season. So your lifting volume and intensity will probably be relatively high, while your sport specific, i.e. throwing, volume and intensity are low or non existent. But as you get closer to your season those priorities will likely shift. Sport specific work will become more of your primary focus and the weight room will work to assist that.
The point is, you can’t just do a ton of everything and expect to get better. Stress is important and necessary, but it’s also something that needs to be managed throughout your career to allow you to express your athletic skills at the highest possible level. Eric Cressey sums it up pretty well when he says, “Fatigue masks fitness.”
All of this boils down to periodization, which is how you plan a program based on timing, in the context of the season/offseason. Be on the lookout for a post on that topic coming out soon.