The Law of Individuality
The Law of Individuality offers a more in-depth understanding of an individual’s biological response to training. It is fascinating that humans are genetically very similar, with expert Riccardo Sabatini suggesting that we share up to 99.8% of our genetic code.
This similarity implies that we are more alike than different. In his 2016 TED talk, “How to Read the Genome and Build a Human Being,” Sabatini demonstrated the human genetic code’s vastness by printing it across 262,000 pages in 172 books. He explained that a mere 500 pages of 262,000 define an individual (Sabatini, 2016).
Riccardo Sabatini is an Italian mathematician, physicist, and entrepreneur who has published various scientific papers on a range of topics such as complex systems, network theory, and data science.
There are many similarities between individuals, but as Eric Helms (2022) frequently discusses and with which we strongly agree, numerous factors influence our response to training. The most crucial factors to consider are undoubtedly genetics, training history, injuries, nutrition, sleep, motivation, cumulative life stress, and arousal levels during exercise. All of these factors can affect a program’s stimulus and the resulting fatigue experienced by an individual.
Consequently, training programs should be tailored to the client’s health and fitness status, background, and goals. Since every client has unique needs, a “one-size-fits-all” approach will be ineffective.
We agree with Eric Helms’s statement in the book “Advanced Personal Training (Routledge, 2022):
“The fitness and fatigue responses to exercise, which differ between and within individuals, are also affected by less quantifiable emotional responses to environmental and social factors (Kiely, 2012). For example, negative perceived life stress can reduce the magnitude of strength development following resistance training (Bartholomew et al., 2008). In essence, the fitness and fatigue responses to training and the necessary recovery are highly individual and also modified by the ever-present and highly influential backdrop of clients’ lives, experiences, beliefs, and emotions. Thus, to successfully elicit positive adaptations, training programmes need to be flexible and adaptable so that they remain appropriate given the current state of the client.”
To better comprehend the fundamental law of individuality, it is useful to examine the health-performance continuum. But, first, let’s establish the definitions we will use moving forward:
Health, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO, 1948), is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
Fitness refers to the physical capability to perform daily tasks or work, which involves the five basic components of physical fitness: muscular strength, muscular endurance, cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, and body composition.
Performance is defined as achieving competitive success in specific physical activities or sports.
With these definitions in mind, we can outline the Health-Performance Continuum.
From this, we can deduce that an individual’s position on the continuum and their desired position will determine the appropriate exercise prescription to help them reach their specific goals.