One Step Back … Two Steps Forward

I don’t think anyone will ever understand all the intricacies of Dr. Bondarchuk’s training methodology. That being said, the underlying theory is easy to grasp: one step back and then two steps forward. To help explain, imagine that you want to be the world champion in pull-ups. You head to the local gym one day and do as many pull-ups as you can. You manage to do ten. Determined as you are to improve, you dedicate yourself to doing pull-ups every day. Most people will initially get very sore and tired because their muscles are not used to working in that manner. After a week, they may only be able to manage six or seven pull-ups. However, over time, the muscles will recover and strengthen and what once seemed hard will become easy. After time, twelve or fifteen pull-ups will be no problem.

This result happens because most people’s bodies become tired when presented with new exercises. However, over time, the body adapts to the new exercises and then reaches a new improved state where the exercises become easy. Once the individual reaches this point, Dr. Bondarchuk changes the training program so that the process can start anew and the individual can keep progressing. The reason I bring this up is because I am current in the down phase and am not throwing well. My muscles are sore, I never seem like I can get enough sleep, and my technique feels a little uncoordinated. While I used to get frustrated at this point of my training, I now realize that it is just part of the process and things will be better soon.