Vertical and Horizontal Development in Fitness Training: Maximizing Growth and Performance at Prototype Training Systems

Something that interests me is the integration and overlap between what we do within the walls at Prototype Training Systems and the connections between life outside these walls. From personal and professional development to mindset… to how you navigate challenges, there are a lot of commonalities.

When it comes to coaching, much like employee/team development, there are two primary approaches or ways to look at development: Vertical Development and Horizontal Development.

For context…horizontal and vertical development are two different approaches to employee development, each focusing on distinct aspects of personal and professional growth. They can be used individually or combined to create well-rounded development programs.

The concepts of horizontal and vertical development have been influenced by various scholars and researchers over time, but one key figure associated with these ideas is Robert Kegan. Kegan is a developmental psychologist and a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. His work on adult development, particularly his book “The Evolving Self” (1982) and “In Over Our Heads: The Mental Demands of Modern Life” (1994), introduced a framework for understanding personal growth and development in terms of stages and transitions (more on Robert Kegan in the footnote below).

Horizontal development focuses on expanding an individual’s knowledge, skills, and competencies within their current role or a specific domain. This type of development is more traditional and emphasizes acquiring new abilities, tools, and techniques to enhance job performance. Examples of horizontal development include:

Vertical development, on the other hand, is about personal and professional growth that goes beyond the acquisition of new skills or knowledge. It involves helping individuals transform their mindset, self-awareness, and the way they think, make decisions and interact with others. Vertical development aims to build an individual’s capacity to handle increased complexity, uncertainty, and ambiguity. Examples of vertical development include:

At Prototype Training Systems in Westborough, MA, we understand the importance of incorporating both approaches into our training programs to help our clients achieve their goals and maximize their performance. Through our partnership and close working relationship with a Deliberately Developmental Organization ( Next Jump ), we have been fortunate to implement even more development strategies on the vertical development side for our staff and team at Prototype. For the context of this blog post, we can draw connections between the two approaches and how we look at fitness from this lens.

Horizontal development in fitness training refers to the acquisition of new skills, techniques, and knowledge within specific domains. In the context of fitness, this can mean learning new exercises, improving form, and mastering different types of workouts. At Prototype Training Systems, we focus on horizontal development by:

Vertical development in fitness training is about helping clients transform their mindset, self-awareness, and mental resilience. It goes beyond learning new skills and focuses on personal growth to enhance overall performance. At Prototype Training Systems, we promote vertical development through:

At Prototype Training Systems, we believe that integrating both vertical and horizontal development into our fitness programs leads to well-rounded, sustainable progress. By combining these approaches, we create an environment where clients can not only learn new skills and techniques but also develop the mental resilience and self-awareness needed for long-term success in their fitness journeys.

Whether you are participating in our CrossFit classes, small group training, or personal training sessions, our coaches at Prototype Training Systems strive to provide a comprehensive and balanced approach to fitness development. We take the lens of a “high performance” coaching mindset to connect these concepts into our coaching. What we have found is that by incorporating both horizontal and vertical development, we are able to help clients achieve their goals, maximize their performance, and enjoy a fulfilling, sustainable fitness journey.

Kegan’s developmental theory emphasizes that people progress through different stages of cognitive, emotional, and social development, with each stage building on and incorporating the previous one. The horizontal development concept aligns with the idea of acquiring new skills and knowledge within a particular stage, while vertical development corresponds to the process of evolving to a new stage, characterized by a shift in mindset, perspective, and the way an individual makes sense of their experiences.

While Kegan’s work has been influential in shaping the understanding of horizontal and vertical development, it is important to note that these ideas have also been inspired and expanded upon by other researchers and thinkers in the fields of adult development, education, and organizational leadership. Some notable figures include William R. Torbert, Susanne Cook-Greuter, and Jennifer Garvey Berger, among others.

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