Originally published November 1995
The major objective of training is to improve performance. The general approach for the inexperienced athlete is a well known adage : “If a little is good, then more is better”. Well known that is, to those concerned with treating injured athletes!
A training session is only effective if it requires the body to adapt to it and allows this adaptation to occur. When training many people consider only the amount of work done, not what happens in between these exercise sessions. Rest and recovery techniques are critical to the success of any training program - long and short term.
Although not to scale, the diagram The Compensation Cycle accurately depicts the four general stages involved in training :
As can be seen from the diagram, a training session acts as a stimulus for adaptation (called overcompensation) by fatiguing the body and causing the Normal Biological State to fall below it’s normal level (level II). In reaction to this fatigue, the body compensates (level II), reaching an Enhanced Biological State (level III). Without further stimulation it returns to it’s initial level (involution : level IV).
Rest and recovery allows the body to repair the physical trauma of training and the compensation stage to proceed to an overcompensation. It is only when in the Overcompensation (preferably) or Involution stages that another training session should occur. Training causes the body to drop below it’s present state, resulting in a net decline overall unless performed during these stages. Monitoring your physical and mental responses will help define these stages and your tolerances.
Ensure you include prescribed rest sessions in your training schedules.
Rest : You’re maximizing your training !
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Regards Kym
