This week in the second of a 3 part series, Michael Ryan of RnR Fitness in Tralee, continues to examine the principles of a proper exercise regimen…
1. Adaptations
The body will react and adapt slowly overtime to the increased training loads imposed on it.
Adaptation occurs during the recovery period. During intense bouts of exercise that last less than 10 seconds (ATP-CP energy system) are repeated in succession with a full recovery (approx 3 to 5 minutes) between sets ,then an adaptation occurs in which the body ability to store ATP and CP in the muscles are increased.
This will lead to a greater storage of energy available more rapidly and thus enhances the maximum peak power output (MPPO) of the individual.
During intense bouts of exercise and exercise overloads are performed for periods of up to 60 seconds, with a full recovery between sets, glycogen stores are enhanced by adaptation.
During exercise sessions where heavy loads are performed and lifted, muscle fibres are stressed which will result in the body entering a muscle growing phase.(hypertrophy).
The rate of adaptation will depend on the volume, intensity and frequency of the exercise sessions. It has been reported those sessions over a 6 weeks period consisting of low-volume, high-intensity sprint training produced comparable changes in body adaptations as traditional high-volume, low-intensity endurance workouts.
It has also been believed that the duration of adaptation in the human body can be realized quicker for high-intensity sprint training when compared to that of the adaptations occurred in the body during low-intensity endurance training.
However it believed that over a longer timeframe, the two training systems elicit similar adaptations. A basic training principle that states that any training programme must take into account the specific needs and abilities of the individuals for whom it is designed.
It is based on the fact that heredity plays a major part in determining how a person responds to a training programme, therefore no two individuals (except possibly identical twins) will respond in the same way to a given training programme.
2. The Recovery Principal
The Recovery Principle states that people who exercise or partake in training and exercise programmes need adequate time to recuperate from training and exercise sessions.
It is believed that the human body’s recovery period between exercise sessions is just as important as the workout itself. It is during recovery periods that the bodies adaptation mechanism kicks in as a result of the stress placed upon it during intense workout sessions.
The Recovery Principle is applicable to both the immediate recovery needed between exercises to the longer time intervals needed between exercise sessions ranging from several hours to several days.
The term “metabolic recovery” describes what happens to the human body after the completion of an exercise session, and it involves the post-exercise elevation of your metabolic rate or oxygen consumption.
By maximizing the recovery processes after interval training, weight training, or repeated sprint work gives the body the best possible chance to adapt and familiarise itself with periods of strenuous exercise.
Engaging in an active cool down after exercise by jogging or walking prevents the potential for blood pooling. Rhythmic exercise increases blood flow through the body and heart during recovery, speeding up lactate removal from the blood thus increasing the benefits of the recovery period.
Active recovery should generally lie within the threshold of at about 30-60% tolerance. The reason active recovery is also important is because also sustain circulation to the heart, liver, and inactive muscles that are in turn able to use lactic acid to synthesize glycogen.
Sleep, proper nutrition, and healthy lifestyle habits after intensive training periods are also of critical importance critical in recuperation and recovery.
