What does exercise do to your body?

Edited by: Danielle Abel 

Something that can sometimes get overlooked is the adaptations different training types have on the body. If you're interested in performing well in sports or recreational performance events, then it's essential to distinguish between the types of exercise you might do and what the expected response is for each type of training. 

For example, it would be silly to think that plyometric training itself would produce endurance adaptations because they are two distinctly different types of training. If you want to jump higher, then you most likely want to include plyometrics in your training. If you want to run for progressively longer distances, you'll need to spend plenty of time training endurance. 

What we're describing above is a principle known as the SAID (specific adaptations to imposed demand) principle. According to SAID, if you want an athletic trait to improve, you need to focus a greater majority of your training efforts on that quality. 

Where things can get a bit more difficult to understand and apply is how to incorporate other types of training throughout the year without diminishing the effects of your primary goal. Below, we will highlight key points using in-season and off-season examples. 

Plyometric Training

Plyometrics involves explosive movements like jumping, hopping, and bounding, focusing on developing power and speed. This training method utilizes the stretch-shortening cycle (SSC), where muscles rapidly stretch and contract. This cycle allows the body to store elastic energy during the stretching phase and release it explosively during the contraction phase.

Plyometric training enhances explosiveness and ballistic force and strengthens tendons through near-isometric muscle action. It's important to progress gradually, starting with low-intensity plyometrics to build tendon capacity before moving to higher-intensity exercises.

• Plyometrics focuses on rapid muscle contractions and relaxations, leveraging the stretch-shortening cycle for explosive movements.
• This training method strengthens tendons and prepares the body for high-intensity movements by gradually increasing the force applied.

When you're in season, incorporating a lower volume of higher-intensity plyometrics is most likely a good approach. However, when you're off-season, spending time performing lower-intensity movements with a higher volume than in season could be an excellent approach. 

High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

High-Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT, involves short bursts of intense exercise followed by brief recovery periods. While often touted for fat burning, HIIT's primary physiological benefit lies in its ability to significantly increase oxygen debt. This oxygen debt, also known as Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) or the "afterburn," stems from the body's need to break down lactic acid produced during anaerobic metabolism.

Contrary to some claims, HIIT doesn't lead to dramatic calorie burn during the workout itself. However, it can elevate your resting metabolic rate for up to 24 hours post-workout. This means you continue burning calories at an accelerated rate even after the exercise session is over.

• HIIT primarily impacts the body's ability to create oxygen debt, leading to the "afterburn" effect.
• The afterburn effect can increase calorie expenditure by about 15% in the 24 hours following a HIIT session.

While HIIT can be added off-season, it is probably a good idea to keep the total volume of HIIT low since, for the most part, athletes can benefit from higher volume, lower intensity off-season when there's less likely to be interference between their sports/events and their endurance training. It is common for HIIT to be added to programming in-season as one of the primary aerobic training methods since it's programmed with lower volumes which help mitigate fatigue from an already intense sports/events season. 

Endurance Training

Endurance training, unlike HIIT, focuses on sustained activity at a moderate intensity level. Activities like jogging, cycling, or swimming at 60-70% of your maximum heart rate fall under this category. The key to improving endurance lies in training below the lactic threshold, the point where the body shifts to anaerobic metabolism due to insufficient oxygen.

Training above the lactic threshold, while feeling challenging, isn't as effective for building endurance as staying below it. Consistent endurance training leads to physiological adaptations like increased mitochondria and capillaries, enhancing oxygen uptake and delivery throughout the body.

• Endurance training requires sustained activity at a moderate intensity, typically below the lactic threshold.
• Regular endurance training promotes the growth of mitochondria and capillaries, improving the body's oxygen utilization.

Off-season is most likely the best time to incorporate the highest volume into your endurance efforts. During these times, it may be helpful to keep your intensity relatively low, below the lactate threshold, to limit fatigue accumulation. When you're in season, you'll probably want to increase the intensity of your training, similar to the intensity needed for your sport or event, while simultaneously decreasing the total volume of endurance training you're doing. 

Hypertrophy Training

Hypertrophy training is all about building muscle. When you lift weights or engage in resistance training, within 2-3 reps of failure, you create microscopic damage in muscle fibers. When repaired through proper nutrition and rest, the damage results in added muscle fibers, increasing muscle size.

Muscle protein synthesis needs to exceed muscle protein breakdown for muscle growth to occur. Mechanical tension, created by contracting and lengthening muscles under load, plays a crucial role in stimulating muscle protein synthesis. The benefits of hypertrophy training extend beyond aesthetics, contributing to improved strength and speed.

• Muscle growth, or hypertrophy, happens when muscle protein synthesis surpasses muscle protein breakdown.
• Lifting weights and performing resistance training cause microscopic muscle damage that, when repaired, leads to increased muscle fiber count.

Hypertrophy training is intense, so for athletes playing a sport in-season, adding added intensity via training for muscle growth is probably not a great idea. A better approach typically involves training power, with the athlete lifting moderately heavy loads quickly to generate high nervous system adaptations. Off-season, when athletes have some time away from their sport, can be a great time to focus on lifting relatively heavy loads near failure for the purposes of building muscle. 

Summary 

Understanding the type of training you're engaging in is crucial because it dictates how your body will adapt and how much progress you will make. Aligning your training methods with your fitness goals ensures you achieve the desired physiological adaptations and maximize your training outcomes.

Training Programs Available

Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned athlete, our Hybrid Athlete Team program adapts to your fitness level. Progressive training ensures constant growth, and complimentary expert guidance and coaching from us guarantee you're on the right track to hitting your running and lifting goals. You can get more info or join our Hybrid Athlete Team here.