Health First

I read an article this morning by Rob Faigin.  I thought the following quote was an interesting expression of the Health First paradigm of Circular Strength Training.

This raises the
question: correctly for what? For
winning? For hormonal enhancement?
To illustrate this point, if Pete
Sampras practices tennis for 6 hours a
day, is he training "incorrectly"? Yes,
if his goal is optimal hormonal status.
No, if his goal is to be the best tennis
player in the world. If one thing is
clear, it is this: competitive athletes
striving to attain greatness have other
concerns besides optimal health. This
is why they sometimes take steroids,
diuretics, amphetamines, etc. and
engage in dangerous sports such as
football and boxing.

The beauty of CST is the integration of performance and health goals.  CST Coach Scott Sonnon often explains that he is above all concerned with the longevity of his athletes.  But within that paradigm he trains highly competitive athletes.