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Managing Performance and Recovery
By Ryan Riell, MS
After having worked with hundreds of athletes, I’ve learned one very important thing from athletes- the most underrated aspect of training is recovery. Let’s take a few minutes to show you definitively why recovery is not only important, but essential!
Before we can get into the specifics, first we’ll cover some basics of the physiology of training and then some more specific terminology that we need to explain.
When we train, we are seeking physiological adaptations that lead to an increase in functional capacity. There are three main principles that dictate the adaptations we are looking for: overload, progression and specificity.
Overload
Overload is simple, an external stress that is greater than normal. This stress will create a strain, which is the internal challenge to homeostasis. The stress and strain then create a physiological response that is intended to reduce future strain by increasing functional capacity.
The above diagram puts overload into pictures. We can see there is a short-term response and a long-term physiological/functional adaptation. Looking at the diagram below, I’ve detailed the specifics of overload and running.
We see that running is the stress, which creates a strain, the limited supply in ATP (fuel). The immediate response to a limited supply of ATP is an increase in blood flow and oxygen delivery, which increases the availability of ATP. This is the short-term effect that takes place to keep you moving. The long-term effect is increased capillary and mitochondrial density. That long-term adaptation is what we are looking for, that is the physiological adaptation, also known as the increase in functional capacity.
For progression and specificity, they don’t play a direct role in this article so we’ll save that for another article. Now that we are all on the same page with the physiology of how adaptations take place, lets get into the terminology used in the remainder of the article.
“Fatigue” or Acute Training Load (ATL)
Fatigue is pretty simple and easy to understand. The harder the workout, the more fatigue that is introduced into an athlete’s system. As we increase the amount of stress and strain, the body has an acute response, which is felt by the athlete as fatigue.
“Fitness” or Chronic Training Load (CTL)
Fitness is a little more complex; it’s the accumulative training load over a longer period of time, such as 3+ weeks. This is the accumulation of the Stress/Strain over a longer period of time, which accounts for recovery.
“Form” or Training Stress Balance (TSB)
Form can best be explained as the short and long-term physiological adaptations or functional adaptations to the training that take place.. Another way to look at form is “race readiness” or more accurately functional capacity!
Looking at the first graph, this is an outstanding illustration of recovery. The three main things variables that we are looking at are the fatigue (red line), fitness (blue line) and the form (solid yellow). We are looking at two consecutive weeks of training, the first being a relatively normal training week for one of my clients who is just getting back into training after some off time. The week consisted of two swims, three rides and seven runs. The second week is the recovery week, which consisted of two swims, two rides and seven runs, all of which had reduced volume and intensity.
Looking more closely at the graph to the to the right,
there is a lot going on so lets break it down a week at a
time.
In the first week, lets start with fatigue (red line), which
is tracking the intensity of the workouts. We can clearly
see the increasing intensity through the week as the red
line goes up. Next is fitness (blue line), which is a far
more gradual increase since it is the chronic training load,
looking at the accumulation of fatigue over time.
The most important part of this graph is the solid yellow
area at the bottom of the graph, which is indicating form
or how race ready (functional capacity) someone is.
The vertical black arrows are pointing out the relationship
between training and form.
One thing to keep in mind, the scale on the vertical axis
on the graph above is relatively small due to the
significant time off prior to resumption of training. If we
looked at a graph of an athlete that was starting a taper
for an Ironman, you will see the scale on the vertical axis
ranging from 200 to -200 versus the above graph that
ranges from 45 to -45.
Here are a couple things to look for with these graphs:
•Long and/or intense workouts increase fatigue
•As fatigue increases, form decreases
•As intensity/duration decreases, form increases
Arrow #1
•Rapid increase in fatigue indicating some long and/or intense workouts
•Gradual increase in fitness
•Rapid decrease in form and functional capacity
This portion of the graph is showing that as training increases overall fitness will increase, but race readiness is decreasing. We can tie this back into a stress, which created a strain in training. We know that we will see short-term effects to keep us going through the workout, such as increased blood flow and oxygen delivery. But what we are striving for is the long-term physiological adaptations that lead to increased functional capacity. The yellow area, which we have been calling form or FUNCTIONAL CAPACITY. We see that as stress/strain increases, our functional capacity is decreasing. In real world terms, you wouldn’t have a very hard week of training right before you went to a race that you wanted to perform well at.
Arrow #2
•Rapid decrease in fatigue indicating a reduction in volume and/or intensity
•Leveling of fitness
•Rapid increase in form and functional capacity
This portion of the graph is showing the physiological response to a recovery week. We can see the rapid decrease in fatigue, which is due to the reduced volume/intensity.
We can see the definitive increase in functional capacity, which is due to the reduced volume/intensity, also known as a recovery week. You could imagine what would happen to the solid yellow area if we kept pushing and pushing.
Bottom line- if you don’t recover from workout to workout, from day to day and from week to week… you will NOT see the increase in functional capacity that you are looking for!
These articles have been written by the professional coaches at Break Through Multisport and are packed full of useful training and racing information. For more information and articles similar to this, please feel free to visit the 100% FREE Break Through Multisport training and racing blog!
Ryan Riell is recognized as one of the top triathlon, fitness and nutrition experts in the nation. Ryan has been selected by USA Triathlon to give multiple continuing education lectures to USA Triathlon certified coaches on the topic of time trialing and pacing. He was selected by USA Triathlon to attend multiple Elite Coaching Mentorship Programs at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO and the year-long webinar based program. Ryan is the Head Coach of Break Through Multisport Inc., a national triathlon and endurance sports coaching company that has locations in Chicago, IL, Tucson, AZ and Phoenix, AZ, that provides professional coaching for triathletes, swimmers, cyclists and runners of all levels and abilities. Ryan also hosts a free triathlon and endurance sports training blog (http://breakthroughmultisport.blogspot.com) that is packed full of training tips, nutritional advice and racing tactics. Ryan holds two master’s degrees, one in exercise physiology and biomechanics and the second in organic and biological chemistry. For more information, please contact Ryan Riell at (931) 220-7050 or at Ryan@BreakThroughMultisport.com.
