Performance coach aims to make you stronger, faster and fitter

If you fancy yourself as an athlete, have you ever wondered what you could achieve if you pushed yourself? That's the question Tom Summers aims to answer for performance junkies.

Using his experience of training Olympic athletes and professionals, the British-qualified strength and conditioning coach has turned his hand to the issues of everyday athletes at Pinnacle Performance in Wan Chai, a development facility that claims to rival elite sports institutes.

Unlike personal trainers who aim to make you fit and toned, a strength and conditioning coach has "performance output in mind", Summers explains.

"A strength and conditioning coach is looking for 'adaptation'. That is, we are looking to make you stronger, faster and fitter for your chosen athletic pursuit," Summers says.

Adaptation is achieved through a deliberate balance of "overloading" and "de-loading" using a carefully structured programme, to allow the body to adapt to training, says Summers. "You can't get stronger, more powerful or quicker in a day - it's a process."

Here are five elements Summers recommends that every athlete, no matter their goal, should incorporate into their training schedule.