Concurrent Training and Overtraining

Concurrent Training

• Simultaneous strength and aerobic endurance training might not mix well, particularly when combining high-intensity aerobic endurance work.
• Some studies have shown incompatibility between resistance training 3x/week alternating with aerobic endurance 3x/week, or combined high-intensity resistance and aerobic endurance training 4-6x/week.
• Performing both modalities during the same workout, 3x/week with one day off in between, might decrease incompatibility's incidence.
• A study showed four days a week (two of resistance, two of aerobic) was more effective than two days (combined) for increasing leg press strength.
• Power development seems more negatively impacted than strength.

Overtraining

• The goal of training involves an incremental overload to facilitate performance enhancements
• Successful training merges overload with sufficient rest, recovery, and nutrient intake.
• Overtraining manifests from too frequent, voluminous, or intense training without sufficient rest, recovery, and nutrient consumption.
• Overtraining leads to long-term performance impairment, with possible physiological and psychological symptoms.
• Performance restoration takes a long time to recover from.

Acute Fatigue

• Excessive training leads to short-term performance decline
• Recovery happens within days or weeks
• It can be a strategic phase of a training regimen.
• The goal is to suppress performance to build tolerance which allows for taper to help improve performance.
• Short-term overreaching followed by an appropriate tapering period can have beneficial strength and power gains.

Nonfunctional Overreaching

• Athletes may experience stagnation and performance decrease when an intensified training stimulus continues without proper recovery.
• This could persist for weeks or months.
• Early indicators include:
  • Decreased performance
  • Increased fatigue
  • Decreased vigor
  • Hormonal irregularities.

Overtraining Syndrome (OTS)

• It involves protracted maladaptation for the athlete.

• OTS has multiple biological, neurochemical, and hormonal regulatory mechanisms.

• Alternative terms for OTS include burnout, chronic overwork, staleness, unexplained underperformance, and overfatigue.

• It is on a continuum involving overtraining.

• OTS can last > 6 months.

• It can also end an athletic career.

• Two types of OTS: sympathetic and parasympathetic.

• Sympathetic overtraining syndrome involves increased sympathetic activity at rest.

• Parasympathetic involves increased parasympathetic activity at rest and with exercise.

• The sympathetic syndrome thought to develop before the parasympathetic syndrome, common in younger, speed/power athletes.

• Eventually all states of overtraining culminate in the parasympathetic syndrome and the chronic suppression of physiological systems.

• It is hard to tell when overtraining becomes chronic because rebounds are possible.

• Some athletes may respond well to overreaching whereas for others it starts OTS.

OTS as a Feature

• An inability to sustain high-intensity exercise when training load is maintained or increased
• A high progressive overload mistake
• Increasing volume OR intensity (or both) too rapidly over weeks or months with inadequate recovery leads to overtraining.
• In a laboratory it's hard to deliberately cause OTS for studying overtraining.
• Longitudinal monitoring of athletes tracked the physiological responses and performance effects of overtraining.
• A predominant feature of OTS is the inability to sustain high-intensity exercise when training load is maintained or increased.
• OTS sometimes as a result of NFOR
• Mistakes are made in training load and acute training variables mismanagement.
• A common mistake is a high progressive overload.
• It is important to investigate overtraining in a lab setting.
• Both anaerobic and aerobic activities have symtoms and side effects.

Chronic Hormonal Concentrations

• Unlikely following anaerobic workouts and research provides inconclusive evidence with testosterone, growth hormone, IGF-I, and cortisol
• Concentrations depend on: the current state of the muscle tissue, training program changes, and nutritional factors
• Post workout elevation = stimuli to impact tissue.

Hormone Receptor Changes

• Receptor content affects the adaptations elicited by any hormonal response.
• Androgen receptors depend On muscle fiber type, contractile activity and hormone concentrations
• Resistance training upregulates AR content 48-72 hours after the workout.
• Exercise mediates magnitude of acute AR modifications
• Muscle tissue volume is more important for content
• With sufficient volume AR protein content may downregulate initially before up regulation after training.

Cardiovascular & Respiratory Responses to Anaerobic Exercise

• Both bouts and long-term training benefits cardiovascular and respiratory function
• Proven through anaerobic athletes
• Enhanced cardiac function + dimensions
• Resistance training with heavy load can benefit you just as much as light loads and aerobic endurance
• Improved function aids performance.

Acute Cardiovascular Responses

• Significantly increases cardiovascular responses
• High exercise can benefit responses. Volume + HR will need to be at the top for pressure (320/250 mmHg) and a heart rate (170 BPM)
• Blood pressure increases non linearly with the magnitude of muscle mass
• Concentric phase is higher than eccentric Large elevations may not have negative effects for the individual's resting blood pressure

Cardiovascular System

• Stroke volume
• Cardiac output
• Heart rate
• Oxygen uptake
• Systolic blood pressure
• Blood flow to active muscles all increase through resistance training

Acute Resistance Training Responses

• The eccentric phase is the best for repetition.
• Inhalation is very important while using the Valsalva technique.
• Concentric phase is difficult, this limits venous return.
• It has been shown more during the eccentric phase and rest.
• Heart rate shows best results 5 secs after a set.
• Blood flow during anaerobic sets show results for intensity and the number of repetitions.
• Light reps = similar to aerobic exercise.
• Heavy reps = less blood flow.

Muscle Contractions

• Muscular contractions > 20% of maximal voluntary contraction impede peripheral blood flow.
• The lack of blood flow is good for growth
• Reactive hyperemia occurs during rest
• Overall = is dependent on the intensity + volume of exercise, muscle mass involvement, rest period length, contraction velocity.

Long-term Cardiovascular Training for Strength Training

• Remains to be fully elucidated when it comes to resting HR

• Short term resistance affects resting rate between 5-12%.

• Mixed results overtime with no changes or reductions of 4-13% over longet periods

• Resistance trained = 60-78 BPM

• Overall resistance reduces or does not change cholesterol.

• Cardio function may not enhance a lot, but with high volume + short rest, the workouts could enhance function.

• A meta analysis shows resting blood pressure decreases 2%-4% from adaptation

• Response is best for those who start with slightly elevated BP

• Rate pressure product remains constant decreasing after set.

• Training might not change total cholesterol while raising high density lipoproteins

Changes in Cardiac Dimensions

• Exposure to high BP
• Accommodates changes lean mass
• Resistance trained may have greater ventricular dimensions
• The ventricular size volume is a major difference from resistance and cardio.
• Increases the volume + intensity of the exercise
• Not weightlifters
• High intensity workouts are great for increasing ventricular volume.
• High volume + strength = significantly greater dimensions.
• Both have high greater dimensions.

Ventilatory Response for Anaerobic Exercise

• Ventilation rate + cardio is unaffected and only moderately improved with training.
• Resistance causes high ventilation during each set.
• Minute of recovery = even greater Ventilation = 60 L/min, with 30secs - 1 min of rest
• Benefits include increased tidal volume
• Maximizes exercises.

Aerobic and Anaerobic Training Compatibility

• Cardio endurance + strength power have different physiologies
• Strength and cardio may have bad affects to strength
• Cardio high affects power
• Might not have adverse affects due to cell changes
• Resistance might only hinder Max improvements.

This lesson explores concurrent strength and aerobic endurance training, highlighting potential conflicts, especially with high-intensity aerobic work. It also defines overtraining as resulting from excessive training without sufficient recovery and explores its effects.