PRINCIPLE OF

TRAINING

Jonas B. Tiboroha (Ph. D)

PHYSICAL EDUCATION & SPORT SCIENCES UNIT
UNIVERSITY OF DAR ES SALAAM
Remaining Lectures
 10/26/05 – Principles of Training
 11/2/05 – Resistance Training
 11/9/05 – Endurance Training
 11/16/05 – Anaerobic Training
 11/23/05 – No class
 11/30/05 – Plyometrics/Flexibility
 12/7/05 – Class Presentations
Formatting Instructions for
Paper
 Draft due before
Thanksgiving
 Times New Roman (font 12)
 Justify text
 Line Numbers
Tips for Scientific Writing

 Start with outline of section

 Topic sentence
 Make sure the entire paragraph relates to main idea
 Transition between paragraphs
 Citations (Moran et al., 2002)
 Avoid “sloppy references”
 Do not cite a review article citing the research studies
that actually completed the studies
 Typically avoid direct quotations from studies
 Occasionally it is OK but it is better to paraphrase
 Avoid writing “the authors”
 Keep sentences simple, avoid long run-ons
 Acronyms – be sure to identify initially
 Why understand training
theory?
 Ultimately it is to improve athletic
performance
 Secondary Objectives:
 Prevent injury
 Maximize human potential

 Keys to developing successful training

paradigms
 KEEP RECORDS (very important)
 Read relevant research reports
 Be open to new techniques/ideas
Training Program
Evaluation
 Goals: proper goals are necessary for a training
program to be evaluated

 Goals common to training programs

 Increasing muscle strength
 Improving aerobic capacity
 Improving sports performance
 Improving body composition
Acute Program Variables

 Specific training components that can be altered

from workout to workout
 Choice of exercise
 Order of exercise
 Intensity of exercise
 Volume of exercise
 Training frequency
 Rest interval
 Fleck & Kramer (1997)
Acute Program Variables
(continued)
Basic Training Principles

 Specificity Principle
 Overload Principle
 Individuality Principle
 Principle of Diminishing Returns
 Principle of Reversibility
 Detraining

 Additional Topic
 Overtraining
Specificity Principle

 Physiological adaptations are specific to

the muscles trained, intensity of exercise
and metabolic demands of exercise
 Carryover Effect
 Ex: resistance training program supplements
most sport training
 100% carryover NOT possible
 Resistance exercise selection
 Similar NM coordination
 Recruitment of correctly-targeted muscles
 Overload Principle

 For adaptations to occur then the demand of the exercise

must exceed what the body is normally accustomed to
 Yakovlev’s Model

Workout
“Super”
Compensation
Normal State
Fa
y
ti
gu c ov er
R e
e
Time (days)

APV of workout, outside variables (sleep, nutrition), effect recovery time!!

Overload Principle (continued)

 Dr. Hans Selye (1936)

 His model to describe the biological
reaction of an organism to
sustained and unrelenting stress;
there are several stages,
culminating in death in extreme
circumstances

 Three Stages
1.) alarm reaction: initial
response to stimulus and
consists of both shock and
soreness

2.) adaptation: improvement

in performance is noted
during this time

3.) exhaustion: unable to

make further improvements
and chronic fatigue is a
possibility
Seyle’s General Adaptation
Syndrome

Alarm Resistance Exhaustion

Reaction
Progression Principle

 Adaptations will occur as a result of a training

program

 If training intensity does not change (progress), then

overall intensity will get easier for the athlete

 How often is it necessary to change training

intensity?
Individuality Principle

 20 athletes  same training stimulus = 20 different

responses!
 Athletes respond DIFFERENTLY to training programs
 Why?
1.) pretraining (training age)
2.) genetics
3.) gender
Principle of Diminishing
Returns
 Performance gains are related to the level of
training experience (training age)

 As training continues, strength and

performance gains are more difficult to achieve
 Genetic ceiling
 Point of frustation
 Ergogenic aids (?)
 Principle of Diminishing
Returns
Hoffman et al. (1991)
 Purpose: determine effectiveness of in-season
weight training program
 Design: two groups (group 1: previous strength
training experience; group 2: minimal strength
training)
 Results: no strength improvements in group 1
but 4% increase in upper-body strength in
group 2
Understanding training age is crucial for interpreting performance
gains OR lack of gains!
 Principle of Diminishing
Returns (continued)
Genetic Potential
Strength Increases

Duration of Training
Principle of Reversibility

 Once a training stimulus is removed the

performance gains will revert back to their original
state (detraining)
 How quickly will this occur?
 Coyle et al. (1979): 4-6% reduction in VO2 max after 2
weeks of inactivity
 Coyle et al. (1986): 12% decrease in SV is evident after
2-4 weeks of detraining
 Biokinetic Swim Bench and Strength
Changes Detraining

a b
 Physiologic Effects of
Detraining
 Decreased performance may be related to losses in
cardiorespiratory endurance.
 Oxidative enzyme activity in muscles decreases (up to
60%).
 Glycolytic enzymes remain unchanged with up to 84 days
of detraining.
 Muscle glycogen content (and thus storage capacity)
decreases.
 Acid-base balance becomes disturbed.
 Muscle capillary supply and fiber type may change.
Principle of Reversibility
(continued)
Principle of Reversibility
(continued)
 Principle of Reversibility
(continued)

You can prevent rapid losses to your cardiorespiratory

endurance with a minimum of three training
. sessions per
week at an intensity of at least 70% VO2max.

Research Article
.
Specificity and Reversibility of Inspiratory Muscle Training
Romer & McConnell (2002)
Designing Training Programs:
When is enough, enough?
 Designing Training
Programs: Definitions
Excessive training—well above what is needed for peak
performance, but does not strictly meet the criteria for
overreaching or overtraining. It can lead to chronic fatigue
and decrements in performance.
Overreaching—a brief period of heavy overload without
adequate recovery, thus exceeding the athlete’s adaptive
capacity. There is a performance decrement, but it is
relatively short-term, lasting several days to several weeks
Overtraining—that point at which an athlete starts to
experience physiological maladaptations and chronic
performance decrements, lasting weeks, months or
longer. Up and exceeding 6 months (Kreider et al., 1998)
 Overreaching VS
Overtraining

OVERREACHING OVERTRAINING
Overreaching

 Athletes may plateau or see a decrease in

performance
 Typical response: frustration
 Initial symptom of overreaching
 Reduced stimulus provokes
 Overcompensation
 Improved performance
Overtraining (OT)

 Produces an autonomic nervous system imbalance

 Results in a sympathetic system and/or parasympathetic system
dominance (Israel, 1976)
 Sympathetic overdrive during rest
 Restlessness
 Weight loss
 Increase in resting HR

 Parasympathetic overdrive during exercise

 Fatigue
 Depression
 Reduction in resting HR

 Parasympathetic overtraining more severe case of OT

 Associated with exhaustion of neuroendocrine system
 Detecting Overtraining
 Decline in physical performance with continued training
 Loss in muscular strength, coordination, and maximal
working capacity
 General fatigue
 Change in appetite and body weight loss
 Sleep disturbances
 Irritable, restless, excitable, anxious
 Loss of motivation
 Lack of mental concentration
 Feelings of depression
Overtraining Marker: Resting HR

 Reversal of Runner's Bradycardia with Training

Overstress
 Dressendorfer et al. (2000)

 Bradycardia = slowness of the hearbeat, usually defined

(by convention) as a rate under 60 beats per minute.
PDR Medical Dictionary
Endocrine System
Disturbances
 Testosterone/Cortisol
ratio has been
proposed as a
monitor of training
stress
 Anabolic to catabolic
relationship
 If T/C decreases 30%,
then recovery is
insufficient
 Day 1: T/C = 1/1
 Day 5: T/C = 12/-8
 Day 10: T/C = 22/-12
 Psychological Disturbances

 Mood states are sensitive to

training volume (Morgan
et al., 1997)
 Use as a monitoring tool?
 Profile of Mood States (POMS;
1971)
 Self-report inventory
 950+ research articles have
used POMS
 “Iceberg Profile”
 Overtrained athletes exhibit
lower confidence in their ability
to succeed

 Use of POMS in
sport/exercise literature
Potential Causes of
Overtraining
 Potential Causes of Overtraining

MULTIFACTORAL
1.) Periods of excessive training and/or
emotional stress
2.) Abnormal responses in the autonomic nervous
system—sympathetic and parasympathetic
3.) Disturbances in endocrine function

4.) Depressed immune function

5.) Psychological factors

6.) Nutrition

A single factor may push an athlete over the top!

Treatment of Overtraining

 Best to avoid by detecting signs of overtraining

 Treatment: rest & recovery
 Remove stimulus to allow a full recovery to normal
values
 Recovery can take many months to be complete