04/03/2013
How Do You Speed Adaptation and Fitness Gains? The Impact of Non-training Stress on Your Recovery and Fitness:
Overload/ adaptation! We all have a pretty good understanding of what that means. However, it gets complicated. If we exercise over the norm our body will make an adaptation that will allow us to perform the exercise at a higher level of output. It seems pretty simple. As strength and conditioning coach’s at Titan and Sirens www.titansb.com, www.sirensfitness.wordpress.com we spend a ton of time determining which stimulus will lead to the most appropriate adaptation. Lots of factors go into the development of the stimulus strategy and a lot of science is called upon if you want effective adaptations and fitness gains.
There is an unending amount of science available about this process. However, the human body is dynamic. Some athletes handle the adaptation to stress differently. Age, genetics, athletic maturity, and a myriad of other factors impact the speed of adaptation and subsequent fitness gain.
I have been coaching Dave Zabriskie, a professional cyclist on the Garmin Sharp Team, this season on the bike, in the gym and also with his eating. I am able to control all of his training but the outside stress in life is sometimes more difficult to control and can really sabotage gains. Overseas travel, time zones, different food available, altitude, etc. All of these factors have to be factored into the equation. The difference between winning and losing at his level of competition is so small that speed of recovery and outside stress is a really important factor to consider. So I have to look at stress outside of training stress and integrate that into his training program. Life gets in the way!
I know training in my own life is compromised greatly by the stress that is going on in my real life outside of training. Mental stress can be one of your greatest hurdles in your recovery. Your cortisol level jumps with mental stress, testosterone drops and recovery slows. This outside stress impacts many aspects of physiology for the weekend warrior, someone trying to lose weight, as well as the professional athlete.
In my last blog entry I discussed progressions. Progressions are of great importance in creating the appropriate stimulus for effective adaptation. The other side of the coin is the ability to unload stress in your life to speed the recovery from training and speed up your ability to perform at higher and higher levels of outputs.
Different athletes have different stress responses. Keeping track of macro and micro nutrients, sleep quality, weight gain or loss, outside stress, resting heart rates are all helpful methods to identify when outside stress may be impacting recovery. I try to get all my athletes to keep track of these indicators year over year in a training journal and food journal. This helps to identify how you deal with stress in different scenarios. Having this information can help tremendously in developing effective training strategies and recovery tactics. Managing your life stress can really increase your performance and fitness.
I have also found that stress really impacts weight gain and loss when someone is trying to change their body composition.
So pay attention to your stress outside of your training. If you have plateaued, are stuck in a rut, pay attention to your life stress outside of your training stress. It will make the effort you put out in training pay much greater rewards.
Train smart, have fun, and you will prevail!
Jacques DeVore, CSCS
President Titan Sports Performance and Sirens Fitness
www.titansb.com www.sirensfitness.wordpress.com
Patrick Abu Semi-Pro Football. SBCC Football Player Santiago Aguirre Westmont Men’s Basketball Angie Akers AVP Hugo Alcaraz Pro Soccer A-League/Westmont Men’s Soccer Ricardo Alcarez Westmont Men’s Soccer Marianna Alevra Club Tennis Cooper Allebrand SBHS Soccer Eddie Aronchick SMHS Men’s Volleyball E...
