One problem that many athletes face in the gym is monotony in their workouts. Monotonous workouts can lead to loss of motivation, and ultimately, a lack of results. Another difficulty is not having a structured program, which leads to not maximizing the benefits of a workout because there is no plan or goal in sight. Having a systemic approach to progression in place can prevent training plateaus. An understanding of the guiding principles of training and the rationale behind periodization is necessary to getting the most out of your training programs, but more importantly, enhancing your long term gains.
Periodization:
Periodization is simply the divisions an individual would follow in their training, which essentially breaks up a macro, meso, or micro cycle of training into various stages. Varying your focus within training cycles is essential to allow for successful progression of exercise and to minimize the likelihood of hitting sticking points and/or incurring an injury. Failure to cycle between training cycles can also lead to sense of “staleness”, which can diminish motivation and consistency.
The Overload Principle:
The importance of an overload stimulus is one of the first training principles that I learned about in my undergraduate course studies in physiology of exercise. It is one which is heavily researched, yet eludes the masses of individuals who step into the gym. It was Albert Einstein who said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Performing the same amount of volume, intensity, frequency, type or duration of exercise day in and day out and expecting to increase your results is analogous to Einstein’s quote. An overload stimulus is an absolute requisite to elicit increases in muscle size (ie. Hypertrophy), strength or muscular endurance. It’s essential to remember that your physiological, physical and performance adaptations are all dependent on an appropriate specific training stimulus. If you are looking to continue making progress you will need to continue challenging your body, by increasing training intensity to further overload your muscles and produce greater results.
S.A.I.D. Principle:
It’s important to remember that all learned motor behaviors and increased development acquired are very specific to the task performed and there is very little carry over into other tasks. For example, I cannot go to the gym and run for hours on a treadmill and expect to be able to squat 600+lbs. The specificity, a.k.a. S.A.I.D. (Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands) principle states that our physiology only allows us to adapt to specific demands placed on it.
The Adaptation Response:
Before being able to fully grasp the concept of the Overload Principle, let me breakdown how it relates to the grand scheme of things. One of the unique qualities of our bodies is our adaptability. It allows us to meet the needs of constantly changing stimuli, such as those seen in a correctly periodized training program, which should emphasize progressive adaptations. An additional feature of skeletal muscle is its ability to alter its phenotypic profile in response to specific stimuli (1). Our bodies are extremely efficient in adapting when stimulated, given there is sufficient time between training sessions for the tissues to repair and grow. Most of these changes can be seen as increases in muscular size or strength. There are various studies in the field of exercise science and there exists empirical data demonstrating the certain types of adaptations occurring as a result of muscle fiber adaptations associated with degrees of difference in strength gains. A closer look at the phenotypic changes our bodies go through, show that adaptation occurs as continuum of processes which result in a specific outcome designated by the training parameters (2).
The initial adaptations our bodies make as a result of a training stimulus occur through effects on our central nervous systems. Rapid improvements in the ability to perform the training exercise, such as lifting weights, will result in the learning process which corrects the sequence of muscle contractions as it is laid down as a motor pattern in our central nervous system. Therefore, strength adaptations at the onset of training are not necessarily due to increases in muscle size, but rather due to the increased efficiency in our central nervous system, as it has now adapted to a new learning process for the correct sequence of muscular contractions and recruitment of muscle fibers known as the motor learning pattern (2).
Once a motor behavior has been learned, subsequent increases in muscular strength can be seen as a result of hypertrophy in our individual muscles. This is a result of continuously overloading the muscular system. Anatomically, these will all come about as increases in the cross-sectional area of our muscle fibers. Continuously overloading our muscle tissue will lead to continued neural activation and alterations in fiber arrangement or connective tissue content, which account for increases in muscle size and strength. High tension forces produced by our muscles during intense exercise will induce damage, which promotes division of satellite cells and their incorporation into existing muscle fibers (2). This will only occur in the presence of an overload stimulus on our muscles, which is a greater stressor than we were previously able to tolerate. If this stimulus is not sufficient enough to cause an overload training response, or if the training stress is already well within our bodies’ capacity to tolerate, then you will not be able to garner any additional training adaptations.
Now that we have covered periodization, principles of specificity and overload progression, and examined how our bodies respond physiologically, we can look at some key methods for overloading during training.
An overload stimulus does not necessarily need to be an increase in resistance from workout to workout. It can be something as simple as performing additional sets (ie. Increasing volume), increasing your workout intensity (decreasing rest periods), increasing training frequency, adding additional movements, utilizing the pre-exhaust method, increasing your repetition speed (contraction velocity) or increasing metabolic stress via occlusion method. These are collectively referred to as the acute training variables. Let’s briefly examine the benefits of these methods.
Increasing load:
The obvious benefit to continuously increasing tension in the muscles by increasing the amount of resistance you use during exercise is that it creates the proper environment for stimulating hypertrophic responses. Increasing resistance in a linear fashion from set to set, or workout to workout, is a proven and heavily researched method for increasing an overload response on the muscles being trained. Sufficiently loading our bodies musculature and performing exercises through a full range of motion, while eliminating momentum, will increase time under tension and ultimately lead to muscular adaptations.
Reducing rest between sets:
Duration of rest periods during exercise can have a significant effect on the outcome of a workout session, including the hypertrophic adaptations. While the load used during exercise will lead to the adaptations, maximal hypertrophic adaptations are seen when rest periods do not exceed 90 secs between sets. However, in the case of maximal strength and power adaptations, longer rest intervals may be required. A high intensity training stimulus can considerably deplete out bodies energy systems; in the case of heavy resistance training, this would be our ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) and CP (Creatine Phosphate) stores. Rest time intervals between sets and exercises is one of the determining factors as to what extent our bodies energy stores are replenished. By limiting the rest interval between sets, our ATP-CP stores are not allowed to fully replenish which makes moving into the subsequent set more taxing, thus increasing the intensity of the workout, which will lead to an overload response. Shorter rest periods are able to garner a higher anabolic process associated with metabolic buildup due to the generation of higher levels of metabolic stress (3). Your longer rest periods allow you to train with full force as you have allotted sufficient time for recovery of the bodies energy systems, and moderate rest periods will favor hypertrophy as they allow for compromise of both rest interval modalities (3).
Occlusion Method:
Another heavily researched method for inducing an overload response is the blood flow occlusion method. This advanced training method involves the use of straps, wraps or tourniquets for occluding blood flow. It restricts venous blood flow supply in an attempt to maximize the anabolic response to training via increased metabolic stress and activation of fast twitch muscle fibers. This is due to the induced hypoxic environment created by the tourniquets around the trained periphery. Utilization of this training method is extremely beneficial at inducing an overload and hypertrophy response using lower levels of muscle tension and without having to use heavier levels of resistance. Hypoxic training has been shown to have additive effects on muscular hypertrophy when combined with anaerobic resistance training (3).
Take Home Message:
Ever heard the expression, “Not having a plan is planning to fail”? I am a firm believer in this idea. Research, personal experience and anecdotal feedback all show that a planned approach to training programs is far more optimal than simply performing random training splits with no progressive approach. Progress should not be a haphazard occurrence. Whatever your training endeavors may be, ensure that you are making the most of your time in the gym by taking a planned approach and applying these training principles to your training or try out some of the above mentioned training techniques to overload your muscles.
Disclaimer
All programs and articles provided are intellectual property of James Shmagranoff. No copies or redistribution of these is allowed without express permission from James Shmagranoff. James Shmagranoff is not a doctor and nothing contained within this article is to be taken as medical advice. Always follow the directions of your medical practitioner.
Sources
1. Gerson E. Campos, Thomas J. Luecke, Heather K. Wendeln, Kumika Toma, Frederick C. Hagerman, Thomas F. Murray, Kerry E. Ragg, Nicholas A. Ratamess, William J.
Kraemer, Robert S. Staron. November 2002. Muscular adaptations in response to three different resistance-training regimens: specificity of repetition maximum training zones. European Journal of Applied Physiology, Volume 88, Issue 1-2, pp 50-60
2. Jones DA, Rutherford OM, Parker DF May 1989. Physiological changes in skeletal muscle as a result of strength training. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Physiology, 74(3):233-56.
3. Brad J. Schoenfeld. October 2010. The Mechanisms of Muscle Hypertrophy and Their Application To Resistance Training. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 24,10;ProQuest Health and Medical Complete pg.2857
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