Principles that must always be taken into consideration when planning training
The Resistance
Resistance or aerobic capacity represents the total amount of ATP synthesized by the aerobic system and depends on the energy substrates used (fats, carbohydrates) which are in turn linked to the hepatic and muscle glycogen stores. With the same oxygen consumed by burning carbohydrates, a yield higher than that of fats is obtained. The duration of use of glucose depends on the intensity of exercise and the degree of training.
The aerobic power depends in turn on various factors (heart, transport and use of O2, ventilation and muscles), therefore it represents a good index of the overall functioning of the machine; in particular, the main determinant of aerobic power is VO2max. It depends on circulatory parameters (number of red blood cells, hemoglobin, capillary bed), on body composition (subjects with a low percentage of fat mass are naturally favored) and on the wealth of muscle fibers (subjects with a "high percentage of fat are favored). red fibers, because they are very vascularized and rich in mitochondria). Vo2max is largely a genetic characteristic, with training you can only improve by 50%, what changes is the percentage of VO2max that can be sustained for a long time. Thus, the evaluation of the anaerobic threshold (Conconi test) becomes essential, which in many cases constitutes a better index of endurance capacity. It is also important to have a good technique to make the gesture more effective and less expensive from an energy point of view.
Endurance Training - Repeated Tests and Continuous Runs
The training of continuous running lays the foundations for biological adaptations; depending on the intensity with which it is carried out, the use of the substrates and the purposes for which it is practiced changes (capillarization, regeneration-recovery are characteristics of slow running; the average run on the other hand, it is ideal for a more efficient metabolism of fatty acids and to increase stamina; the running in progression works on special aerobic endurance by activating the anaerobic mechanism without producing too much lactic acid; finally, the long and very long run serves to economize the gesture and for the use and mobilization of fatty acids). The continuous recovery run should be performed around 80% of the deflection speed, the slow run at 85% of the Vd, the average run around 90% Vd and the progression run from 90% Vd to the anaerobic threshold.
The repeated tests, on the other hand, have the main function of training the race rhythms (it already presupposes the acquisition of the condition) by significantly activating the recruitment of intermediate and fast fibers, often reduced by long sessions of continuous running (increase resistant strength).
Another fundamental aspect is that this type of repetition tends to avoid bradycardia induced by continuous running at low intensity. These interval tests are usually performed around + or - 3% of the deflection speed (in trained subjects) depending on the duration.
Supercompensation
Supercompensation is the basis of the adaptation principle. Physical activity initially causes stress to our body.
Our body responds to this state of fatigue with an adjustment reaction that allows, after recovering from stress, to slightly raise the level of sports performance. This reaction tends to wear off over time.
In order for these physiological modifications to be exploited to raise the performance level, the new training stimulus must be applied when the compensatory peak is at its maximum. If this load is applied before complete recovery, further stress is caused to the organism with an inevitable decrease in performance.
The supercompensation goes gradually towards the cancellation, if it is too late to apply the new training stimulus the super compensatory adjustment will not be exploited and will not give adaptation (which is the basis for a better performance)
The Factors of Sporting Capacity
The factors of sporting ability are:
- coordination skills, motor skills that influence the technique and the optimal development of various physical skills (much attention to develop this aspect in the 2nd childhood).
- conditional skills (strength, endurance, joint mobility and speed)
- psychic abilities (safety, self-esteem), social, technical-cognitive predisposition, constitutional factors and health.
Each physical activity includes an initial conditioning phase:
- Conditioning phase: build a good aerobic or anaerobic base depending on the discipline
- Muscle efficiency: a very important feature also in aerobic disciplines
- Muscle flexibility: useful for preventing injuries, improving general coordination, etc.
- Technique closely linked to the sport practiced.
Morphofunctional mechanisms underlying force
Strength manifests itself through the muscle whose functional unit is the sarcomere. The muscle is made up of an elastic fibrous part and a contractile part; both collaborate in the development of strength. Specifically, we can say that the force developed by a muscle depends on: type of fiber (even if the force produced is all in all the same, the time required for a fast or white fiber to produce a certain tension is about half the time necessary for red slow fibers); cross section of the muscle and its initial length (hypertrophy and elongation); neuromuscular recruitment capacity (synchronization, coordination, co-contraction of antagonists).
In a training cycle the neuromuscular recruitment capacity emerges immediately and is responsible for the initial increase in strength, only later will the hypertrophy emerge.
