Training is a consistent or chronic progression of exercise sessions designed to improve physiological function for better health or sport performance.1

  • 8 Principles1
  1. Specificity
  2. Overload
  3. Rest/Recovery/Adaptation
  4. Progression
  5. Retrogression/Plateau/Reversibility
  6. Maintenance
  7. Individualization
  8. Warm up/ Cool Down

SAID: Specific adaptation to imposed demands

The training effects are highly specific to the type of exercise.

  • Adaptations produced by the training are highly specific to the nature of the stimulus or overload applied.
  • SAID applies to all the systems of the body.
  • The adaptations are specific to strength, power, endurance, functional activity, joint angle, sequence of muscle activations, energy systems and virtually all other variable present.

Overload

  • Overload is a demand placed on the body greater than that to which it is accustomed.
  • Overload can be applied by increasing the intensity or volume. In strength training the intensity is increased where as in endurance training the volume i.e. frequency, repetitions and time is increased.

Rest/Recovery/Adaptation

  • Adaptation is the change in physiological function that occurs in response to training.
  • Adaptation occurs during rest, when the body recovers from the acute homeostatic disruptions & residual fatigue & as a result, may compensate to above baseline levels of physiological functioning (supercompensation)

Progression

  • Progression is the change in overload in response to adaptation. The best progression occurs in a series of incremental steps (called steploading), in which every third or fourth change is actually a slight decrease in training load. This step-down allows for recovery, which leads to adaptation. Each step should be small, controlled and flexible.

Retrogression/Plateau/Reversibility

Reversibility:Detraining

The adaptations achieved through training persist as long as the exercise is performed regularly and go back gradually to the pre exercise levels once the training is stopped. This means the effects of training are reversible.

Maintenance

  •  Maintenance is sustaining an achieved adaptation with the most efficient use of time and effort.
  • The amount of time and effort required to maintain this adaptation depends on the physiological systems involved.
  •  More time and effort are needed to maintain adaptations in the cardiovascular system than in the neuromuscular system.
  •  In general, intensity is the key to maintenance. That is, as long as exercise intensity is maintained, frequency and duration of exercise may decrease without losing positive adaptations.

Individualization

  • Every individual responds to exercise in a different way, thus similar stimuli may bring about a lot of improvement in one patient and no improvement in others.

Warm-Up/Cool-Down

  • A warm-up prepares the body for activity by elevating the body temperature.
  • Major role in injury prevention and exercise benefits.
  • Conversely, a cool-down allows for a gradual return to normal body temperature.

Periodization/Variation3

  • Periodization is the systematic process of changing one or more variables in the training
  • program—mode, volume, or intensity—over time to allow for the training stimulus to remain challenging and effective.
  • Training intensity and volume of training are the most commonly manipulated aspects of training to achieve peak levels of fitness for competition.
  • Classical periodization involves high initial training volume with low intensity; then, as training progresses, volume decreases and intensity gradually increases.
  • For sport-specific training, the volume and intensity of training are varied over a macrocycle, which is generally up to a year of training.
  •  A macrocycle is composed of two or more mesocycles that are dictated by the dates of major competitions. Each mesocycle is subdivided into periods of preparation, competition, and transition.

•References 1.Exercise physiology for health, fitness, and performance / Sharon A. Plowman, Denise L. Smith.—3rd ed. 2.Essentials of exercise physiology / Victor L. Katch, William D. McArdle, Frank I. Katch.— 4th ed. 3.Physiology of sport and exercise / W. Larry Kenney, Jack H. Wilmore, David L. Costill. — 5th ed. •