Whether you’re training for muscle growth, strength in a specific movement, flexibility, or endurance, everyone has a particular training goal. But how does your body actually change to reach that goal? In this blog, I explain how the SAID principle plays a crucial role in this process.

Get Better at the Exercises You Train

Why do you get better at the exercises you perform during your training? According to the SAID principle, your body will adapt to the load and movement of the exercise. Through repetition, your body adapts to the specific movement and its associated load, making you stronger or more skilled in that exact exercise. In other words, the more often you perform a particular exercise, the better your body will handle it in the future.

Achieve Specific Results Through Targeted Training

How do you achieve specific results toward your training goal?

Want to get stronger? Then you’ll need to train with heavy weights. Want to run faster? Speed training, such as short sprints, is essential. Whether you’re training for muscle growth, strength in specific movements, flexibility, or endurance, every form of training aims to provoke a specific change in your body. It’s all about tailoring your training to the result you want to achieve.

The Importance of Targeted Training

By aligning your training with your goal, you’re placing specific demands on your body. This ensures the adaptations are very specific, making your training even more effective. However, since the adaptations are so targeted, it doesn’t mean that two similar exercises will cause the same bodily changes. The difference may lie in your technique or the execution of the movement.

Why Specific Exercises Cause Different Adaptations

If you train pull-ups a lot, you’ll get really good at them, but that doesn’t automatically mean you’ll also get better at muscle-ups. While both exercises share a lot in common, such as the muscle groups involved and the movement patterns, there are also important differences, like technique and form. These differences are what cause your body to adapt in slightly different ways to each exercise.

What the SAID Principle Means for Your Training

The SAID principle (Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands) states that your body specifically adapts to the demands you impose. In other words, your body adapts based on the load it’s subjected to during your training. How you train and the demands you place on your body determine where the changes in your body will occur.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is the SAID principle important?

By understanding and correctly applying the SAID principle in your training, you can train more purposefully and achieve faster results.

Also, check out my other blog: “The SAID Principle: Faster Results Through Targeted Training.”

Is the SAID principle applicable to all types of training?

Yes, anywhere you use imposed load during training to trigger a specific change in your body.

Conclusion

Whatever your training goals may be, your body adapts to the load you place on it during training. By training with a clear focus, you can stimulate specific changes in your body. It’s crucial to tailor your training precisely to the result you want to achieve, as even small adjustments in your training can make a significant difference. Your body will change exactly where you impose load during your training.