Balancing the Components of Athletic
PerformanceThrough Training Load Manipulation There are five major components to athletic performance, power, speed, endurance, strength, and skill. All athletes train to develop a conditioning status and physique that is specific for their sport. If an athlete has a successful training program, their body will be able to execute sports specific skills efficiently and effectively when structural, physiological, and psychological demands are placed upon it during athletic activity. Athletic success is dependent upon a balanced combination of the five major components of athletic performance (i.e. power, speed, endurance, strength, and skill). Some athletes are dominant in such areas as speed and strength but lack endurance and skill. Thus, the components of athletic performance are out of balance. Therefore, the athlete is out of balance and is weak in certain areas of performance. Training is a complex process of mixing and sequencing the variables and components of training so that at competition time, a tapered athlete can maximize the power, speed, endurance, strength, and skill necessary for optimal performance. One way this is accomplished is by manipulation of the training load. Training load is defined as a combination of intensity, frequency, and duration. The training load is one of the main factors in the periodization formula. Many strength coaches are extremely talented at manipulating the training load to induce the desired performance outcomes. The desired performance outcomes such as speed and power will only come after sports specific adaptations occur due to training. Dr. Smith of the Human Performance Laboratory at the University of Calgary in Canada states that optimal training adaptations will take place if the magnitude of the training loads is applied to a high performance athlete in an appropriately sequenced manner (i.e. periodization). Strength coaches will map the training load over various periods of time. For example, the training load may be calculated over one session or over 2-7 sessions. Some athletes who are training for the Olympics may even calculate their training loads over months and years. All training load manipulation will revolve around championship competition so that athletes peak at their highest competitive event (e.g. National or International Championships). In an article written by Dr. Smith in the Journal of Sports Medicine, he describes the different classifications of training loads. The following are the different classifications of training load:
- Excessive Load – surpasses the functional capacity of the body and results in a form of overtraining
- Trainable Load – results in a specific training affect.
- Maintenance Load – provides enough stimulus and stress to delay the detraining affect.
- Recovery Load – supports the recovery process by providing enough stimuli to allow recovery.
- Useless Load – is low enough of a stimulus that it has no affect on the body.
When developing a training load, coaches should always include rest in the equation. Optimal training designs are usually planned over a one year period (i.e. periodization). This means that the training load is planned over a one year period. It is manipulated to maximize performance at a known date, and to reduce the accumulation of fatigue and injury leading up to that date. Many sports scientists have stated that a cyclic pattern of training is needed to produce improvements in performance year after year. Performance development is achieved by a constant change in training load variables. Programs that use static training loads (i.e. the training load is not manipulated) are usually unsuccessful. Static loads over a period of time will no longer induce changes or performance improvements. Athletes will usually fall into the maintenance or useless load classifications due to a lack of training stimulus. In contrast, a training load that is too high will also produce negative affects. Excessively high training loads will result in injury and/or illness. Periodization should be used to map and monitor training loads. Strength coaches implement periodization to formulate the correct training loads. It also yields adequate recovery and rest periods. This helps to avoid short term fatigue (i.e. fatigue that accumulates over/during one training session) and long term fatigue (i.e. fatigue that accumulates over a period of weeks to months). Periodization is a systematic and methodological template for both the coach and athlete. Periodization is responsible for controlling the stress and regeneration that is essential for increases in performance. Dr. Smith indicates that the periodization model lends itself to performance objectives, training emphasis, and test standards for each phase of training, thereby eliminating the random approach that may lead to excessive increases of volume or intensity, and insufficient regeneration. Therefore, the training load should be manipulated so that optimal performance can be achieved. References Smith, D. J. A Framework for Understanding the Training Process Leading to Elite Performance. Sports Medicine. 2003; 33(15): 1103-1126 |