Programming for the novice is the most important task a coach will encounter. Done correctly, it set the stage for a lifetime of proper training habits, and long - term progress. Insufficient attention to detail, and to the trainee’s response to training, during this phase can cost valuable progress that may not be recoverable later.

In one very important respect training novices is easy: virtually anything that makes a novice work harder then bed rest will produce positive result. As a result, many people have an erroneous impression on the quality of their training system.

The very essence of training is the correct application of the stress/adaptation cycle, and the outcome of this cycle is extremely dependent on the physiological characteristics of the individual to whom it is applied. As characteristics of the individual change, so must the stress, if the adaptation is to continue. Novice eventually become “trained” and move to the intermediate, advance, and possibly elite stages.

The elderly adapt to stress less efficiently; children and adolescent adapt more efficiently, but only to certain stresses; males respond differently than females; motivated athletes progress faster than casual trainees. Specific training organizations are necessary for each stage of life and of fitness, and the blanket application of the program across populations is absurd.

Yet I claim above that all novices respond to any stress by adapting - an apparent contradiction. The point is that in an adapted trainee, any stress serves to cause an adaptation, but as a trainee become more adapted to stress and more closely approaches the limits of genetic potential, the stress must become more and more specific to that individual trainee in order that adaptation can continue to progress.