SAID stands briefly for “Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demand”. This article is about the impact of the SAID principle on training and any kind of sport.
Each type of sport (e.g. Basketball, Football, Ballet, Running etc.) has its own motional patterns, and therefore individual demands on each athlete who is performing this sport. Actually, it is not really difficult to force the expected results by designing the right training drills if you know the basics.
To train something new and to set new stimuli, the strangest training methods are often used. Many exercises are far away from demands of competition and sometimes coaches may not reflect results of training, exercises or competition, habitual behaviour and athletes or team needs.
The way you train, behave, move, eat or feel will change you. When you are working in an office and you are seated for 8 hours in front of a computer you might get back problems or a headache. You are very good at computer work but your posture isn’t good and therefore different health problems are occurring.
The body usually adapts to the requirements that are placed on it. This means that in the end we always have to train what we want as an end result: It does not have an impact to train ballet if I want to be able to kick high. The ability to kick high is ultimately achieved by simply trying to get high.
The same also applies to e.g. training of shooting-power in football. Even if we can do squats with impressive weights, we lack the intermuscular coordination to achieve optimal results without a specific training that requires the ability to increase the shooting-power.
With everything you do in addition to your sport, don’t forget that nothing can replace the sport-specific training. Supplementary strength exercises have a positive effect in general, but if you want to jump higher, don’t forget to jump, you want to run faster, do not forget to run. Sounds trite, but this principle is often forgotten by many athletes and coaches, despite being so simple. Specify the demands and create the needed specific drills!
I SAID it – use it or lose it!
Dirk Schauenberg 
SAID stands briefly for “Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demand”. This article is about the impact of the SAID principle on training and any kind of sport.
Each type of sport (e.g. Basketball, Football, Ballet, Running etc.) has its own motional patterns, and therefore individual demands on each athlete who is performing this sport. Actually, it is not really difficult to force the expected results by designing the right training drills if you know the basics.
To train something new and to set new stimuli, the strangest training methods are often used. Many exercises are far away from demands of competition and sometimes coaches may not reflect results of training, exercises or competition, habitual behaviour and athletes or team needs.
The way you train, behave, move, eat or feel will change you. When you are working in an office and you are seated for 8 hours in front of a computer you might get back problems or a headache. You are very good at computer work but your posture isn’t good and therefore different health problems are occurring.
The body usually adapts to the requirements that are placed on it. This means that in the end we always have to train what we want as an end result: It does not have an impact to train ballet if I want to be able to kick high. The ability to kick high is ultimately achieved by simply trying to get high.
The same also applies to e.g. training of shooting-power in football. Even if we can do squats with impressive weights, we lack the intermuscular coordination to achieve optimal results without a specific training that requires the ability to increase the shooting-power.
With everything you do in addition to your sport, don’t forget that nothing can replace the sport-specific training. Supplementary strength exercises have a positive effect in general, but if you want to jump higher, don’t forget to jump, you want to run faster, do not forget to run. Sounds trite, but this principle is often forgotten by many athletes and coaches, despite being so simple. Specify the demands and create the needed specific drills!
I SAID it – use it or lose it!
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