TOTE: Transfer Of Training Effect. Guest post by Frankie Faires

Most people go to the gym to look better naked.
I get that.
I do that, too.

But there is another reason to go to the gym:
To get better at something else other than the gym.

I am a Martial Artist, and I go to the gym
to get better at Martial Arts.
I am not the only one.
Watch any BJJ or MMA pre-fight videos
and you will see the athletes in the gym.

Many of the Sports Science and Exercise Physiology Elites
will scoff at the idea of Strength & Conditioning for a Sport….
and for good reason.

There is such an abundance of research
that points to little, if any benefit
to S&C as it relates to Sports Performance.

And despite the mountain of empirical evidence,
we have all experienced the difference in our performance,
our anecdotal experience,
when we put our time in the gym.

But there’s something we forget:
Our memory is biased.
We often tend to accentuate the positive to the detriment
of the negative when it comes to recall…
That is to say:
We forget when we perform like shit after going to the gym.

Here’s what I think:
Sometimes our performance is better in our sport
after having gone to the gym
and sometimes it’s worse.

And so what is it that we are doing in the gym
that is leading to positive transfer
which leads to an increase in sports performance?

And so what is it that we are doing in the gym
that is leading to negative transfer
which leads to a decrease in sports performance?

How can we know the nature of the Transfer of Training Effect?

I believe that is based on three premises:
1:Everything Makes You (Your Health) Better or Worse
2: You Can Measure Better or Worse
3: Your Performance is a Function of Your Health (Which Includes Your Mental Health)

Believe it or not, these points aren’t all that controversial
but the logical conclusion of these points…
well, that’s another story.

These premises are the foundation for how I approach my training;
how I approach my entire life.

The premises are incredible simple
and the practice is even more so.

And so I do things.
Then I test their outcome.
And things get better.
Measurably.

In the gym,
this translates into a Personal Record
for each lift trained
each time it is trained.

While the implausibility of that
deserves a lengthy treatment and explanation,
that isn’t what I want to emphasize here.

Let’s make an addition:
I do things.
Then I test their outcome.
And things get better.
Measurably.
Specifically.

That means when I lift weights
I get better at lifting weights…
but that isn’t the whole story

Let’s make another addition:
I do things.
Then I test their outcome.
And things get better.
Measurably.
Specifically.
Non-Specifically, too.

That means when I lift weights,
I get better at other things…
like Martial Arts.

Let the scoffing commence.
But hold on,
Let’s review our premises:

Premise #1:Everything Makes You (Your Health) Better or Worse
Premise #2: You Can Measure Better or Worse
Premise #3: How Well You Perform is a Function of Your Health (Which Includes Your Mental Health)

If everything makes you (your health) better or worse
and you do things that make you better,
then as your health improves,
so does your performance…
eventually in all things.

And so I lift weights
and because of the Transfer of Training Effect (TOTE)
I get better at Martial Arts
and because of the Transfer of Training Effect (TOTE)
I get better at other things
and because of the Transfer of Training Effect (TOTE)
I get better at getting better.

While this may sounds like a logical device,
it is, in fact, a physiological device.
It is your very nature.

Before it was biology, it was chemistry.
Before it was chemistry, it was physics.
It is your very history.

And so while I’d like to show you how to get better
at Martial Art by lifting weights in a very specific fashion
(and practicing your art in a very specific fashion),
I’m most interested in showing you
how you are going to get better at everything
by getting better at one thing
and another thing
and another.

Frankie Faires discovered the Gym Movement Protocol, created The Movement Bio-mechanics education system, and is a devoted student of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. You can reach him at Are You The Movement and Movement Martial Arts