Long Term Athletic Transformation: “Hardware Before Software”
Roadmap for physical transformations -Explaining how to plan for long-term athletic development and how to overcome “genetic“ disadvantages over time
Summary:
• Hardware is the body’s structure & body composition; muscle, tendon, fat mass etc.
• Software is the nervous system development & skill acquisition + strategy/tactics used by the athlete.
• There are generalized IDEAL structures that athletes want to develop to optimize different types of performances.
• Software development for a particular performance is HIGHLY limited if the hardware development of the athlete hasn’t been developed as well. The training hierarchy (read here) must be followed long term for this reason.
• By building an athlete’s foundational hardware to a similar body composition & connective tissue structure of elite athletes in a given performance - similar performance capability *is possible*, given further “software” development. However, this is often ignored & done poorly by those interested in “functional” training and thus its rewards are severely limited in those who do not build a true foundation properly.
Details about how this should be planned for, a sequence of targets to focus on, & how to reverse engineer your (or another’s) need are described in great depth within the essay below.
Following posts after this will begin to provide action-based plans, exercises, and training methods to utilized step by step through this process, including organizing other pieces that have been posted before. More advanced methods for developing athletes will be placed in part of this developing series and placed in an ordered sequence for you to follow from A to B depending on your athletic fitness goals.
“Hardware & Software” Defined
99% of gym trainees interested in strength or performance fall into the same trap. I myself fell into this trap early in my largely self-coached athletic development.
Performance training (be it strength, speed, endurance, etc), possesses plenty of elements within it that are separate from traditional bodybuilding practices. Your nervous system, energy systems, coordination and skills among other things are of vital importance. So much of your athletic training is intended to develop “go, not show.” Very often it’s those who are not as naturally gifted with broad frames & large amounts of muscle mass or speed who turn to training very hard in compensation.
While it’s a good thing to want to make more of your potential, a common compensation attitude or truth that is taken too far is the idea of deliberately avoiding well practiced and effective bodybuilding methods with justifications such as “that’s not functional strength“ or “all that muscle is just going to slow you down.” This trap cripples people from building the necessary foundations that allow their “less visible“ training results to really take root.
Performance training focused on non-aesthetic qualities can be very enticing for those who weren’t blessed with the physical qualities that signal high capability (like higher muscle mass or leanness). This doesn’t mean lacking muscle mass, or any other quality means you’re incapable, but here is something you need to consider:
The kids who excel in football at a young age are, on average, the largest and most muscular kids. Those that excel in other sports with varying needs also possess the physical frames that give them a large advantage during play. It’s easy to see why a naturally broad, muscular kid is beating the naturally thin kids in wrestling, football, and even basketball.
Other sports have other physical considerations that a kid might be advantaged with (volleyball, gymnastics, tennis etc.) And overweight athletes might excel as football lineman but might be highly incapable of running cross-country or playing soccer.
Everything I’m saying seems obvious yet is so commonly ignored when claims such as “functional training” and martial arts myths/anime fantasies come up. (i.e. small, tiny guy is way more powerful than big, muscled guy)
Far too many people focused on “functional training“ don’t want to compare themselves to others on the qualities they may lack and thus protest any form of bodybuilding practices for muscle mass or leanness as an important factor in their “functional improvements”.
So, what does this mean for our own athletic development?
Long term athletic development is easily understood by using 2 of my favorite analogies:
Computers & Cars
Computer software makes the best use of a computer's hardware. Applications installed onto a machine allow the machine to express its potential for a given task.
However, certain complicated or advanced software cannot be installed onto weak or primitive hardware; it simply wouldn't be able to handle the demand potential the software asks of it. Certain applications and programs require a hardware upgrade in order to effectively be installed and run appropriately. Same goes for if the hardware were to become damaged or removed, the function of the software would cease along with it.
Hardware is the foundation → software is the optimized use of the hardware. Without the hardware requirements in place, the software programmer cannot get the computer to operate at a high capacity at all.
“You can't put lipstick on a pig”
Same with vehicles. No matter how much you infuse nitrous, improve driving skill, and put bells and whistles on a Toyota Corolla - it will never keep up with any formula-1 race car because it’s structural equipment isn’t even comparable in competition.
Here, however, is how we make great changes POSSIBLE:
If we were to take that computer or car, and replace it’s CPU or it’s engine, and install an advanced video graphics card or high-performance tires - and thus change the actual physical structure of the parts on the vehicle, suddenly profound performance increases will automatically occur and valid software updates with user skills/knowledge becomes legitimately possible and useful.
Reverse engineer this concept for athletic development →
An athlete's “hardware“ is their foundational bodily structure. These can be visible things, such as height, bone frame and muscle mass; But it also includes foundational health components like metabolic well-being and less visible but observable qualities under an MRI such as connective tissue size and strength.
Body fat levels are included here as well in the sense that it’s “dead weight“ structure on the body, which has numerous implications.
“Software” in this analogy, can be considered as the nervous systems development (back end) for strength + power development & skills, knowledge, strategic/tactics etc are the front end/user skill of the software.
An easy proxy for how I group factors here is that the BODY IS HARDWARE & the BRAIN IS SOFTWARE.
The brain is meant to optimize the use of the body, and as such is limited by the bodi’s limitations.
Structural qualities on the body from head to toe are your foundational hardware, while *non-conscious* brain activity is your “back-end software”. Skills, strategy, and any *conscious* brain activity is user skill / front end software.
Summarizing each:
Muscle mass + tendon development = hardware
Neural drive, reflexes/balance/proprioception, max speed or power (non conscious ability) = “back end” software
Skills and strategy, mental approach, technique = “front end” software and user skill
If you can replicate a high performing athletes “structural hardware” (muscle, fat, & tendons) on your own frame you can mimic their performance potential - especially if the “software upgrades” are present as well.
But you cannot expect to upgrade elite software onto low potential hardware.
An example format of what I focus on (with exercise details) was written here:
Body Types & “Gifted Athletes”
There IS an ideal body composition type and structure for particular types of performances.
“Gifted“ athletes are often athletes who were genetically predisposed to starting with these qualities or developed them more easily and early in their life through natural play.
These “structural“ qualities are the hardware and the foundation for physical performance. The tools and equipment they used to move, throw and strike are usually more developed than their peers.
Young athletes that have some disposition already towards having an ideal structural “hardware” for a sport are selected and respond very well to refinement training and “software“ upgrades from coaching and special athletic training.
This will be a certain total body size, muscle mass development, allocation, & tendon stiffness/strength.
They can excel exponentially when they develop skills, and get very fast, explosive, or enduring when exposed to advanced training protocols.
Your body composition in many of the most relevant ways is actually highly malleable. While changing your bone frame and height might not be realistically possible, muscle mass, fat mass and connective tissue (which we have discussed why they are of central importance to athleticism before) are very changeable. This means you can restructure the physical hardware you were born with to replicate the body type needed for a sport.
This is why the second block in the training hierarchy is an appropriate base of muscle mass. Having the appropriate amount of musculature and body composition, including the appropriate allocation of that muscle mass depending on the type of athlete - is central to having the clay needed to mold someone into peak performance.
*You must build the body that will excel in your chosen “sport”*
Without constructing your muscular/body composition framework to be near the optimal level for a chosen performance, you will be both limiting what refinement training can do for you, and be spinning your wheels, trying to install a “software“ program that your hardware doesn’t have the potential for.
For example, the individual in the picture above will never be able to excel as a rugby forward for the singular reason that his muscle mass is essentially nonexistent compared to what would be necessary to produce the physical outputs required.
No amount of explosive training & neural drive will compensate for the lack of size & hardware he is missing.
In order to play rugby forward, or rugby in general for that matter, his first goal is to add muscular tissue as effectively as possible to his entire frame.
Body Types & Sport Demands
Let’s look at a few examples of optimal body compositions for different types of performances.
There are several main types of performances that most physical competition falls into:
Momentum
Momentum based athletes (many track and field jumpers & parkour athletes - sports that take advantage of a buildup to momentum to take advantage of maximum speeds - also often including endurance athletes)
Note the very similar body frames & composition of each high jumper above. They look like the same person with different hair & arbitrary features. This is important.
Acceleration “Light” (minimal contact / external load / upper body contact)
Acceleration with minimal external load (Sports that require “stop and go“ motions, change of direction, and short bursts of speed or power but do not need to make full contact with opposition or heavy external objects mainly. These are usually “Powersports” not true contact sports - Soccer, basketball, tennis to various degrees, etc.)
Notice the stronger development of the legs (for acceleration power) but lesser development of the upper torso in these soccer players. Again, this is a clue for what “general structure” allows for the best performances.
Acceleration “Heavy” (high contact / external load / upper body contact)
Acceleration with high external load (strength sports obviously, and most contact sports. Football, rugby, grappling, etc.)
These sports demand maximum power, which is greatly aided by strength - thus favoring athletic structures that possess as much overall muscle mass as possible. Due to upper body contacts being required the upper body is highly muscularly developed compared to “mixed” athletes.
There are some nuances in distinction between these three groupings of course. Different positions, play styles, and weight class considerations can alter and come into play when addressing the optimal body composition a particular athlete should be seeking to develop.
This nuance includes consideration of both the *amount* & the *allocation* of muscle mass.
FFMI
A useful metric for many athletes (especially contact athletes) is the FFMI, or “Fat Free Mass Index”.
This index is essentially an equation which places you on a scale number based on how developed muscularly you are relative to your height.
(You can use a calculator online to estimate your FFMI)
It is recommended that for most “acceleration ‘heavy’” sports, athletes want to initially build their whole-body muscle development to as close to an FFMI rating of 25 as possible. (Or as high as you can *within your weight class* if applicable - I.e. Have the most muscle & least fat as you can manage)
“Acceleration ‘light” will have more variety based on sport/position etc but generally speaking should fall in a 21-23 FFMI range at least.
“Momentum based” athletes may be fine with minimizing muscle mass or at least maintaining a base amount for their sport - focusing greatly on low body fat levels. 20-21 FFMI is the minimum I suggest, however.
As suggested earlier, the distribution of muscular tissue throughout the body does not necessarily need to be even. In many cases, certain positions will benefit from having fairly muscular lower body limbs while moderating the muscular weight added to the upper body - this can be common in a sport like soccer where the added muscular tissue to the upper body serves little purpose functionally and thus would only slow an athlete down. (See pictures above)
Conversely, a “rowing” athlete may want to limit excessive weight in the legs while maintaining a higher level of mass and endurance in the upper body.
You can apply this hardware design concept to many niche performances as well, such as arm wrestling & dance.
“Connective Tissue vs Muscular” Hardware
As discussed In previous posts, the strength and development of joint related tissues in the musculoskeletal system beyond visible muscle mass is equally important to strength and performance. No matter how much muscle mass you have, a brittle knee/ankle/shoulder will be limited in how much force you can safely produce upon action or absorb upon impact. For the very reason that lifters and bodybuilders snap a tendon due to a muscle beyond what it’s connected tissue can handle, it is central that the connective tissue hardware from head to shoulders is developed adequately even outpaces muscular development to prevent unnecessary risk of injury and to optimize production of force through those joints.
Connective tissue strength is equally important to all athletes even though highly developed muscle mass is not necessarily important to all athletics.
Though some athletes use their connective tissue strength and elasticity to produce elite performances and do not utilize their musculature as much - this does not mean that connective tissue development is unimportant for muscle dominant athletic frames.
It is extremely important to understand that connective tissue allows for high strength performances to occur safely, and all dynamic athletes need to be elastic, even if not all dynamic athletes need to be extremely muscular.
Long Term Athletic Development Stages
In terms of long-term physical development there are several stages that I think are worth considering:
Childhood/natural play:
This is natural and organic development that comes from childhood exposure to certain stimuli. Running, jumping, landing, throwing and general play creates neural and structural development qualities that last for life & is extra potent before age 12. Many “naturally gifted” athletes were exposed in high doses to childhood micro-behaviors that produce great athletes. This isn’t the concern for this post but will be covered with detail in the future.
Foundation building:
Early-stage athletic development; hardware focused training - being able to compete well in the sport by having prerequisite joint strength & general structural development. Typically, high-school athletes would focus most of their efforts here.
Ascension period:
Intermediate/mid-stage athletic development; hardware and software balance of skills and advanced qualities. This is where training tends to become focused at the college level.
Peaking/refinement:
Advanced/late-stage athletic development; hardware is maintained and software refinement of skills with emphasis on peaking neurological outputs during specified times of the year where performance is most valuable. Professionals are essentially working in this stage.
See the training hierarchy below and observe the trend.
A strong takeaway is that “hardware gives you the chance at a scholarship, and software lets you excel with it.
So, What Might a Long Term Development Plan Like (So You Can Follow It)?
From a hypothetical “start to finish” - I’ll give it short and simple:
First figure out what kind of performance your inclined to optimize for. Soccer player, football, track, gymnast, wrestler, or a “blend” etc. A particular sport isn’t required but can be a good proxy for the type of athletic ability you want.
Find the best performers in that sport, position, type of play / have a “structure type” that seems relevant to you.
Assess what they look like & what type of performance category they fall into. (Momentum, accel light, accel heavy) include the allocation of those qualities as well, stronger legs > torso etc, as well as ideal body fat composition too.
Proceed to build those structures up as needed. Use discretion for your own frame and needs as necessary. *Remember that structure is not ONLY muscle mass but also connective tissue. Structure can be partly assessed at a glance but having the joint strength to move freely & with security is also paramount. Momentum athletes will be much thinner but really focus on developing HIGH elasticity & rely on joint strength (hence why weight training is necessary for all) Acceleration “heavies” like in most contact sports will want to max out their potential human muscle mass as much as possible or fairly close (FFMI 24-25+), use discretion for developing the necessary frame for “mixed” (accel light) athlete types. Momentum based athletes are ignoring muscle size *a little* but must take extra care to slowly develop tendon structure and elasticity while keeping body fat levels on the lower end (10-12% ideally) for best performances. EVERY athlete should still be working on tendon strength & elasticity, however.
When your general frame and structural development is approaching the adequate levels - training can become more balanced between advanced training methods, such as complex training or other more niche exercises to round out the athlete’s potential now that the framework that provides you the *potential* for elite performance is in place. Advanced training methods can always be used by any athlete to benefit in the correct context; however, it is simply important to note that they are much less effective as the ceiling for how far they can take you is lower if lacking the muscle or tendon development to take you very far. Hence “putting lipstick on a pig”.
Skill development IS emphasized throughout this process of course, but it’s understood that without the foundational physical hardware the athlete is severely handicapped. Neural drive, reactions, & other advanced peaking training methods become more powerful when an athlete has their physical foundations in place for a supercharged nervous system to express itself through.
The meta point of this post is to help one understand that:
A) You can’t skip steps on the training hierarchy and expect maximum performance improvements. Foundations must be in place - and as part of that, a basic level of being “built” for the role you want to play is a necessary “buy in” to have a competitive chance at a high level or to reach a real serious level of ability. You cannot choose to be built like “Jack Skellington” but truly perform like “The Hulk” & no skinny men are succeeding in high level sumo. You need the necessary hardware to be elite first.
B) Your frame is very malleable. You can change mass, body fat levels, joint integrity, and customize the details of such to a high degree with good, focused training. This means with the right approach to the right areas - you can replicate the structures of elite athletes from their muscle makeup to their tendon development in order to have the potential for a similar performance. The laws of physics don’t care if you were born with that structure or developed it. All it knows is that it’s there and it will create similar outputs. Building this structure to its peak will provide you peak potential outcomes. This means both total body composition, including connective tissue development, is the first and foremost goal of any athletic development plan. (Especially with younger athletes & less advanced trainees)
Having the hardware gives you a chance to develop ELITE performance ability. To lack it is to limit your potential in the harshest of ways.
Note: Just because you have been training or practicing a sport for decades does not mean you are “less advanced” in this respect. If you do not have the leg musculature and tissue development required for high-speed acceleration movements than you will never reach close to what your peak potential otherwise would be. Improvements in neural drive & other “software” focused training will be much less valuable and limited if you have spent years with poorly developed structure. You *are* a Corolla with bumper stickers at that point - not a sports car.
*You must restructure yourself to be a race car first → then high-level training & the “bells & whistles” will truly pay off.*
Final summary: build structure first → then optimize.
Reverse engineer your goals stating here and get to work building your structure & foundational development as needed. Make that your priority first unless you already are very well developed.
As always, train sensibly.
If you have any questions, or need guidance about where to focus your efforts, ask below.
None of this is medical advice. Consult a physician before partaking in any advice in this post.