Better PT results with overload and recovery

By Sgt Rob Orr

Over the past few months we have looked at designing a basic training program following the FITT principal. In the final segment of this three-part series we will look at the variables of overload and recovery.

Overload concept

Overload is the means in which the exertion or effort required to perform a task is increased – making the run longer or faster, lifting the resistance for more repetitions or utilising a heavier weight.
Many people acknowledge this principal yet forget to apply it.

Remember

There must be some form of overload if you wish the body to adapt positively to training.
Overload must be progressive in order to prevent over-training.

Guidelines

Overload applied should be no more than 10 per cent per week.

For resistance training this concept is a little more difficult to apply so a generic example has been included.

Ensure that your body becomes the guide to the overload as opposed to the program.

That means you should look for signs of overtraining (which will discussed in the next column) and only overload when your body is ready.

Rest/recovery concept

Recovery is where your body recovers from and, more importantly, adapts to the training stimulus.

Planned recovery is a vital component of a training program.

If there is not a sufficient recovery phase in a program, then trained muscles will not have time to repair and adapt.

This means that rather than breaking down and adapting, the muscle will just break down.

Weight-bearing exercise such as running, although important for developing bone density, can be extremely detrimental to health improvements if the body overtrains.

Not only can the body develop impact injuries, such as shin splints, but excessively low carbohydrate levels can lead to fatigue and poor concentration.

While sleep is widely acknowledged as an effective recovery tool, do not forget that there are other means of applying recovery. These include:

Guidelines

When weight training, the same body part should not be trained on two consecutive days – allow at least 48 hours recovery.
For endurance athletes it is recommended that weight-bearing sessions be interspersed with non-weight-bearing sessions such as cycling, rowing, swimming or deep water running.