Stimulus Threshold

Basically the challenge in preparing athletes for competition is to find the optimum training load with the appropriate stimulus to ensure continual adaptation. That requires determining the stimulus threshold for each of the physical qualities being developed and what is right for each athlete. The stimulus threshold is the minimum load required to achieve this response. You are saying minimum, has he lost his mind, and yes you read it correctly, the minimum. Recognize that training is cumulative, so you will achieve more over the time of training by working at the stimulus threshold. I am convinced we are fixated on more because volume is easy to quantify. Stimulus threshold is all about quality. I also want to emphasize that stimulus threshold is different for different physical qualities and varies for each athlete. This is where knowing your athletes and how they respond to training is so important – it is called coaching. Determine optimum not maximum.