Athlete Training: An Overview

• Training is a continuous evolution based on understanding the body's adaptation to stressors.
• Sport scientists explore training, recovery, nutrition, and biomechanics to enhance athlete performance.
• Training theory involves a structured system targeting specific physiological, psychological, and performance characteristics.
• Understanding bioenergetics is crucial for developing effective training plans.

Scope of Training

• Athletes train to achieve specific goals, increasing skills and work capacity for athletic performance.
• Training occurs over a long period, involving physiological, psychological, and sociological variables.
• Training is progressively and individually graded to meet demanding tasks.
• Athletes should combine physical perfection with spiritual refinement and moral purity.
• Physical perfection involves harmonious development, varied skills, positive psychological qualities, and good health.
• Realistic and achievable goals are paramount for training, planned according to individual abilities and environments.
• Goals should be precise and measurable, with procedures determined before training begins.
• The deadline for achieving the final goal is the date of a major competition.

Objectives of Training

• Training prepares athletes for the highest level of performance.
• Coaches direct performance optimization through systematic training plans based on scientific disciplines.
• Training targets specific attributes correlated with task execution.
• These attributes include physical, technical, tactical, psychological, health, injury resistance, and theoretical knowledge.
• Successful acquisition requires individualized means and methods appropriate for the athlete's age, experience, and talent.

Multilateral Physical Development

• Also known as general fitness, it provides the foundation for success in all sports.
• Improves basic biomotor abilities: endurance, strength, speed, flexibility, and coordination.
• A strong foundation allows athletes to better tolerate sport-specific training and reach greater athletic potential.

Sport-Specific Physical Development

• Develops physiological characteristics specific to the sport.
• Targets specific needs of the sport, such as strength, skill, endurance, speed, and flexibility.
• Many sports require a blend of performance aspects like power, muscle endurance, or speed endurance.

Technical Skills

• Focuses on developing the technical skills necessary for success in the sport.
• Perfecting technical skills is based on both multilateral and sport-specific physical development.
• The goal is to perfect technique and optimize sport-specific skills for successful athletic performance.
• Technique development should occur under normal and unusual conditions, focusing on specific skills required.

Tactical Abilities

• Improves competitive strategies by studying the tactics of opponents.
• Develops strategies that take advantage of the athlete’s technical and physical capabilities to increase success.

Psychological Factors

• Psychological preparation is necessary for optimizing physical performance.
• Develops characteristics such as discipline, courage, perseverance, and confidence.

Health Maintenance

• Overall health is very important and is maintained through periodic medical exams.
• Includes appropriate scheduling of training, alternating hard work with regeneration.
• Injuries and illness require specific attention and proper management.

Injury Resistance

• Achieved by ensuring the athlete has the physical capacity and physiological characteristics necessary for training and competition.
• Involves appropriate application of training to prevent injuries, including avoiding excessive loading.
• Crucial for young athletes to target multilateral physical development.
• Managing fatigue is essential, as high fatigue increases the risk of injuries.

Theoretical Knowledge

• Increases the athlete's knowledge of the physiological and psychological basis of training, planning, nutrition, and regeneration.
• Understanding why certain training activities are undertaken is crucial.
• Achieved by discussing training objectives or attending seminars and conferences.
• Improves the likelihood that the athlete will make good personal decisions and approach training with focus.

Classification of Skills

• Biomotor abilities include strength, speed, endurance, and coordination.
• Sporting skills are classified as cyclic, acyclic, or acyclic combined skills.

Cyclic Skills

• Used in sports like walking, running, swimming, rowing, cycling, and kayaking.
• The motor act involves repetitive movements; one cycle is learned and duplicated continuously.
• Each cycle consists of distinct, identical phases repeated in succession.

Acyclic Skills

• Used in sports like shot putting, discus throwing, gymnastics, team sports, wrestling, and fencing.
• Skills consist of integral functions performed in one action.

Acyclic Combined Skills

• Used in sports like figure skating, diving, jumping events, and tumbling in gymnastics.
• Consist of cyclic movements followed by an acyclic movement.
• Easier to distinguish between acyclic and cyclic movements.
• Teaching the skill as a whole is effective with cyclic skills, while breaking it into smaller pieces is effective with acyclic skills.

System of Training

• Based on scientific findings coupled with practical experience.
• Should not be imported, but studying other systems is beneficial.
• Requires consideration of a country’s social and cultural background.
• A system of training is constructed through observation, determination, and validation.

Uncovering the System’s Forming Factors

• Factors stem from general knowledge, scientific findings, coaches’ experiences, and approaches used by other countries.

Determining the System’s Structure

• Requires constructing the actual training system based on established factors.
• A short- and long-term training model should be created that is applicable and flexible.
• Sport scientists play a crucial role through research, athlete monitoring, talent identification, establishing theories, and developing methods for dealing with fatigue and stress.
• The use of sport science is not embraced with equal enthusiasm worldwide.

Validating the Efficacy of the System

• Involves constant evaluation of the initiated training system.
• Simplistic assessments include performance improvements.
• Complex assessments include direct measurements of physiological adaptation.
• Mechanical assessments can be quantified to determine effectiveness.
• Sport scientists can use their expertise to evaluate the athlete and provide insight.
• The performance enhancement team can reevaluate and modify the system if needed.

Factors Affecting Quality

• The quality of the system depends on direct and supportive factors.
• Direct factors relate to training and evaluation.
• Supportive factors relate to administrative, economic conditions, professional styles, and lifestyles.
• Direct factors are most significant, highlighting sport scientists' importance.

Adaptation

• Training involves exposing the body and mind to stressors of varying volume and intensity.
• The ability to adapt to training and competition workloads is crucial.
• Inability to adapt results in fatigue, overreaching, or overtraining, preventing athletes from achieving goals.
• High performance results from years of well-planned and challenging training.

Stimulus and Adaptation

• Greater adaptation leads to greater potential for high performance.
• The objective of training is to induce adaptations that improve performance.
• Increasing stimulus leads to adaptation and performance improvement.
• Lack of stimulus leads to a plateau and lack of improvement.
• Excessive stimulus leads to maladaptation and decreased performance.
• The objective is to progressively increase the training stimulus to induce superior adaptation.
• Alterations in training stimulus must include variation to maximize adaptation.

Training Adaptations

• Sum of the transformations brought about by systematically repeating bouts of exercise.
• Structural and physiological changes depend on the volume, intensity, and frequency of training.
• Physical training overloads the body in a way that stimulates adaptation.
• If the stimulus is insufficient, no increase in adaptation can be expected.
• High training loads undertaken for too long may result in injury or overtraining.

Specificity of Adaptation

• Adaptation is highly specific to the type of training undertaken.
• Training must be based on energy systems, sport skills, and motor abilities required by the sport.
• Time required to reach high adaptation depends on skill complexity and difficulty.
• Systematic and progressive increases in training stimuli should be designed to elevate physiological and performance capacity.

Superior Adaptations of the Main Functions of the Body

• Neuromuscular Increase movement efficiency, reflex activity, motor unit activity, muscle hypertrophy, mitochondrial biogenesis, and alter cell signaling pathways.
• Metabolic Increase ATP and PCr stores, muscle glycogen capacity, tolerance to lactic acid, capillary network.
• Cardiorespiratory Increase lung volume, left ventricular wall hypertrophy, stroke volume, capillary density.
• The focus of any training program is to improve performance.
• A new level of adaptation improves performance.

Training Phases

• Divided into preparatory and competitive phases with different types of adaptations.
• Preadaptation is gradual and temporary adaptation during the early part of a training plan.
• Compensation is the body’s reactions to a training program before stable adaptation, with positive reactions to training demand.

Stable Adaptation

• Occurs during the precompetitive adaptation phase
• An improved equilibrium between work and compensation.
• High stressors have to be planned and applied at the same levels as during competition so athletes learn to react and cope.

State of Readiness

• Is the result of the athlete's training.
• The athlete can compete with high efficacy.
• High levels of stability indicate readiness.

Training Effect

• Any training program creates a reaction to the adaptive responses of the body.
• Can be classified into immediate, delayed, and cumulative.

Immediate Training Effect

• Detected during and after a training session in the form of physiological reaction to a training load.

Delayed Training Effect

• The final outcome of a training session can be long lasting.

Cumulative Effect

• The result of several sessions. Good alterations allow the athlete to benefit.
• Zatsiorsky and Kraemer proposed that the relationship between fatigue and training gains is a factor of 3:1.
• Positive effects of a session are visible after fatigue is eliminated.

Assessing Training Effect

• Depends on one’s current functional or training state.
• Depends on the effects of previous training bouts.
• Depends on the combination of training variables.

Supercompensation Cycle and Adaptation

• Supercompensation, also known as Weigert’s law, was described by Folbrot and discussed by Hans Selye.
• Selye’s general adaptation syndrome (GAS) theory is the basis of progressive overloading.
• Alternating training intensities, volumes, and bioenergetic specificity in a sequence of phases is needed for best training adaptations.

Cycle Planning

• Coaches should plan training microcycles that alternate high, moderate, and low intensities.
• Alternations allow for recovery. Adding recovery time between sequenced training phases is the basis of cyclical planning and supercompensation.

Supercompensation

• A relationship between work and regeneration that leads to superior physical adaptation and metabolic arousal before a competition.
• Helps manage stress, creates structured training systems, avoids fatigue, alternates intensities.

Physiological Responses During Training

• Mitigated by the volume, intensity, frequency, and type of training.
• Greater training leads to greater responses.
• Results in accumulation of fatigue.

The Postexercise Period

• Is associated with reduction in stored energy.
• It requires the athlete to dissipate fatigue, and restore energy.

Athlete Recovery

• Affected by athlete status.
• Affected by muscle contraction.
• Affected by restoration techniques.
• Affected by nutritional status. Is of particular importance.

Homeostasis

• Exercise results in an abrupt drop; is coupled with reduced capacity.
• The return is slow and progressive.

Cycles

• Sufficient time leads to complete restoration and the beginning of supercompensation.
• Every time supercompensation occurs, a new level is established with positive benefits.

Decrease in Performance

• Occurs if the time between stimuli is too long, leading to involution.

Phases of Supercompensation

• The cycle occurs in a sequence.

Phase 1: Duration of 1 to 2 Hours

• After training, the body experiences fatigue.

Exercise-Induced Fatigue

• Occurs by various mechanisms.
• Reductions in neural activation of the muscle.
• Can increase brain serotonin levels.
• Results in impairments in neuromuscular transmission.
• Disrupts contractile process.

Exercise-Induced Substrate Utilization

• Affects muscle glycogen and phosphocreatine stores.
• Phosphocreatine stores reduced in just seconds.
• Lactic acid accumulation in the classic view is a major contributor.
• Prolonged exercise results in muscle damage.

Phase 2: Duration of 24 to 48 Hours

• The compensation (rest) phase begins.

End of Exercise

• ATP fully restored within minutes.
• PCr completely resynthesized quickly.
• Muscle glycogen restored in just under a day.
• Oxygen consumption is increased.

Protein Synthesis

• Is increased to provide and anabolic affect.

Phase 3: Duration of 36 to 72 Hours

• Marked by a rebounding or supercompensation of performance.
• Force capacity and soreness return to baseline.
• Glycogen replenished.
• Psychological supercompensation occurs.

Phase 4: Duration of 3 to 7 Days

• If the athlete does not apply another stimulus at the optimal time (during the supercompensation phase), then involution occurs.
• If the athlete is exposed to high-intensity training sessions too frequently, the body’s ability to adapt to the training stimuli will be significantly compromised and overtraining may occur.
• To maximize the athlete’s performance, the coach must regularly challenge the athlete’s physiology.

Sources of Energy

• Athletes require energy to perform work and contract muscles against resistance.
• Energy is derived from converting foodstuff into ATP.
• ATP consists of adenosine and three molecules of phosphate.

ATP

• Energy is released by converting ATP into ADP + Pi.
• The amount of ATP stored in muscle is limited, so the body must continually replenish ATP stores.
• ATP stores can be replenished by the anaerobic phosphagen system, anaerobic glycolytic system, and aerobic oxidative system.

Phosphagen (ATP-PC) System

• The primary anaerobic energy system.
• The system contains three basic reactions:
  • Breakdown of ATP into ADP and Pi.
  • Resynthesis of ATP from ADP and phosphocreatine (PCr).
  • Breaking ADP into adenosine monophosphate and Pi.
• Skeletal muscle can store only a small amount of ATP, leading to energy depletion in ~10 seconds.
• PCr can be decreased in as little as 5 seconds.
• The phosphagen system is the primary energy source for extremely high-intensity activities.

Examples of High Intensity Activity

• Short sprints.
• Diving.
• Football.
• Weightlifting.

Replenishment

• Is usually a rapid process. Restoration of ATP in 30 seconds, restoration of PCr takes longer.
• Phosphagens restoration occurs mostly via aerobic metabolism.

Glycolytic System

• Is the prevalent energy system for activities that last from 20 seconds to about 2 minutes.
• The primary fuel for the glycolytic system comes from the breakdown of blood glucose and glycogen stores.
• Fast glycolysis results in the formation of lactic acid.
• Accumulation of lactic acid is most prevalent in repeated high-intensity exercise bouts.
• As duration increases toward the 2-minute mark, ATP supply shifts from fast to slow glycolysis.
• Athletes perform anaerobic (e.g., strength training, repeated sprints) and aerobic activities to maximize the use of glycogen and blood glucose.
• Adequate and balanced diet helps maximize blood glucose.

Glycogen

• Amount available has a positive correlation carbohydrate levels in the diet. Low carbohydrate diet reduces performance.
• Utilization during exercise and competition depends on the duration and intensity of exercise.
• Glycogen resynthesis is a major concern for athletes/coaches. Inadequate stores can significantly impair performance.

Glycogen Restoration

• Occurs roughly a day after completion but the athlete must replenish it.
• Within the first 2 hours of completing exercise, the athlete can potentially increase the muscle's glycogen synthesis.

Oxidative System

• The oxidative system has the ability to use blood glucose and muscle glycogen as fuel sources for producing ATP.
• Enzymatic reactions associated with the system occur in the presence of O2.

Oxidative vs Glycolytic

• Oxidative does not produce lactic acid.
• The oxidative system has the ability to use fats and proteins in the production of ATP

The Cross-Over Concept

• Lower-intensity exercise receives ATP primarily from the oxidation of fat and some carbohydrates.

Utilization

• Depends on the intensity of exercise, with higher-intensity exercise using carbs and lower-intensity exercise using fats.
• Aerobic system is primary source of ATP for events lasting longer than 2 minutes.
• Relies on anaerobic means to meet ATP demands.

Bioenergetics

• Coaches/athletes need to understand this to train athletes based on these factors.

Overlap of the Energy Systems

• At all times, the various energy systems contribute to the overall ATP yield.

Amount of Lactate

• Gives insight on primary energy systems at play.
• Lactate threshold (LT) is the point where lactate formation begins to rise.
• Elite endurance athletes demonstrate high LT and OBLA as high as 90% of maximum heart rate.

High Intensity Intervals

• Can result in elevations in endurance performance and in the LT.

Sprint Interval Training

• Has the capacity to enhance recovery from repetitive bouts of high-intensity anaerobic exercise, which improves maximal short-term power output.
• The inclusion of high-intensity interval training results in an aerobic capacity.
• The inclusion of aerobic training increases power, it generally decreases performance.

Exercise Intervals

• Depending on exercise to rest ratios athletes selectively target systems for maximum effects.
• The coach/athletes need to model time characteristics and intensity profile of the activity.

Energy Systems

• In interval training rest determines the specific systems stressed.

Applying Ratios

• Shorter work-to-rest ratios - target oxidative system
• Longer work-to-rest ratios - target the phosphagen system
• Model athletic events with position-specific characteristics.

Principles of Training

• Principles are the foundation of the theory and methodology of training.
• The purpose is to increase the athlete’s sporting skills and level of sporting performance.
• Principles are part of a whole and should not be viewed in isolated units.
• Use of these principles will result in superior training programs and well-trained athletes.

Multilateral vs Specialization

• Development involves balancing multilateral development and specialized training.
• Early development should focus on multilateral, targeting overall physical aspects.
• Specialized training increases as the athlete becomes more developed.

Multilateral Development

• Overall physical development is a necessity.
• Use is important during the early stages.

Implementing Mutilateral Training

• Training should be sequenced appropriately to maximize physiological, technical, psychological mastery and ultimately, performance.
• If training is implemented at all, a strong foundation is necessary.

Sequential Model

• Involves progressing multilateral, which is the foundation.
• Second phase of development with specialization.
• Full development requires full implementation.

Long Term Planning

• Focuses on foundation building to avoid potential injuries.
• In this phase of training, specialized training only contributes a small percentage.

Examples

• Several studies showed a stronger correlation to better athletes that focused on development instead of sport-specific training.
• Strong development builds a solid foundation for potential greatness.
• Early development avoids injuries with physical and psychological attributes.
• Essential skills: running, climbing and throwing which build speed flexibility and overall coordination.

Specialization

• The athlete will specialize in an sport, physiology/adaptation is specific to activity.
• Training has very specific effect on athlete's physiological characteristics.
• Different modalities allow for the activation/deactivation different molecule signals.
• Specific adaptations are technical, tactical and is expressed via psychological traits.