5d • Training 💪
⚖️ Specialist vs Generalist Training
There are 2 main ways people usually train.
Not perfectly.
Not rigidly.
More like a slider.
And depending on your goals, life, energy, injuries, or the season you are in, you might shift between them.
The 2 big styles are:
• 8 out of 10 training = specialist training
• 2 out of 10 training = generalist training
Neither one is wrong.
They are just useful for different reasons.
🔥 1. The 8 out of 10 approach
This is when you put most of your effort into one main thing.
For example in hybrid calisthenics, that could look like:
• Strength = 8 out of 10
• Skills = 1 out of 10
• Freedom of movement = 1 out of 10
That means your main focus is strength.
You still touch the other things just enough to maintain them, but most of your time, energy, and recovery goes into one priority.
This is very common in sports.
For example:
• off-season = strength focus
• pre-season = technique focus
• competition season = routine and performance focus
The reason this works so well is because it takes a lot of effort to make something improve quickly…
But it takes much less effort to maintain it.
That is a huge lesson.
You might need an 8 out of 10 to really build something.
But only a 1 or 2 out of 10 to keep it.
✅ Benefits of specialist training
• Faster progress in one main area
• Easier to track
• Easier to feel momentum
• Great for people who like structure and consistency
• Great for breaking through plateaus
• Great when you have one big goal
If you are someone who likes seeing progress every week, this usually feels really good.
⚠️ Downsides of specialist training
• Other areas mostly stay the same
• You are not working on everything at once
• Can feel repetitive
• You need patience and long-term thinking
• Hard if you love variety
That is the tradeoff.
You grow one thing faster.
But only because you are not trying to push everything else at the same time.
🌍 2. The 2 out of 10 approach
This is the generalist way.
This means you spread your effort across multiple things.
For example:
• Strength = 3 out of 10
• Skills = 3 out of 10
• Freedom of movement = 3 out of 10
• Something extra = 1 out of 10
So instead of specializing hard in one area, you are slowly building multiple things at once.
This is honestly how I naturally like to train.
You get to keep a lot of things alive at the same time.
You feel more athletic overall.
You can work on strength, movement, technique, and maybe even some random side project like splits or a weird skill you just want to try.
✅ Benefits of generalist training
• More variety
• More fun for people who like change
• Lets you work on multiple goals at once
• Great for people who want to feel well-rounded
• Helps keep training interesting
• Builds a broad base over time
This is a really good fit for someone who values movement, freedom, variety, and play.
⚠️ Downsides of generalist training
• Progress is slower
• It is harder to notice week to week
• It can be harder to program well
• You may feel like you are not progressing fast enough
• It is easier to get distracted
This is the hard part.
You are still making progress.
It just takes longer to see clearly.
That is why generalist training can be mentally tougher, especially if you are impatient.
🧠 Which one is better?
Neither.
It depends on:
• your goals
• your season of life
• your personality
• your injuries
• your schedule
• your motivation
Sometimes injuries force you to become a specialist.
Sometimes life forces you to become a generalist.
Sometimes your equipment makes the choice for you.
Sometimes your sport season makes the choice for you.
🔁 You can switch between both
This is the big idea.
You do not need to be one forever.
You can go through seasons.
For example:
• 3 months heavily focused on strength
• then a phase focused more on skills
• then a more general phase where you maintain everything
That is normal.
That is smart.
That is how a lot of long-term progress actually works.
🎯 Simple way to choose
If you want one thing badly right now and want faster progress:
• go more specialist
If you want to stay balanced, enjoy more variety, and build multiple things at once:
• go more generalist
🔥 Final thought
Specialist training helps you grow one thing faster.
Generalist training helps you become more well-rounded.
Both work.
The important part is knowing which game you are playing right now.
Because once you know that, your training makes way more sense.
👇 Question
Which one sounds more like you right now?
• Specialist
• Generalist
• Somewhere in the middle
10
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⚖️ Specialist vs Generalist Training
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