As athletes improve in the sport of fitness, their weaknesses become obvious and apparent to them. “Man, I really struggled on those handstand push-ups.” “My weightlifting numbers just aren’t up to snuff.” Driven athletes home in on their weaknesses and will want to work on them obsessively. However, especially for a lot of intermediate athletes, improvements will come over time simply from more exposure to the movements and the demands of the sport. How can athletes and coaches know when they need to focus in on specific movements through targeted training, focused cycles, and special accessory work? And when will athletes just improve over time from doing the movements more? Check out the conversation with Jon, Luke, and Todd to find out. If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to www.legionsc.com to get a weekly selection of training tips and our favorite articles. You can follow us on Instagram as well for regular training tips and crunchy tactics: @legion.sc Show Notes: [00:13] Why do some athletes improve just from being exposed to a training stimulus—even without focused work or a structured program? [02:50] How can athletes find a balance between “doing the sport” and dedicating specific time to doing skill work on target movements? [10:52] Some people are very capable of figuring things out on their own. Their success can mislead others about the best way to acquire skills. [19:47] Many impatient athletes and coaches look for complicated solutions to stalled out progress in intermediate athletes. In reality, they often just need more exposure over time to a specific movement or skill and will improve eventually regardless of the structure of training.