Introduction

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From the course by University of Florida

Science of Training Young Athletes Part 2

29 ratings

University of Florida

Science of Training Young Athletes Part 2

29 ratings

In this course you will learn how to design the type of training that takes advantage of the plastic nature of the athlete’s body so you mold the right phenotype for a sport. We explore ways the muscular system can be designed to generate higher force and power and the type of training needed to mold the athlete's physical capacity so it meets the energy and biochemical demands of the sport. We also examine the cost of plasticity when it is carried beyond the ability of the body to adjust itself to meet the imposed training stresses. The cost of overextending plasticity comes in the form injuries and chronic fatigue. In essence, a coach can push the athlete’s body too far and it can fail. Upon completion of this course you will be able to assemble a scientifically sound annual training plan.

From the lesson

Training Science

In the first topic you are introduced to the fundamentals of training science. This knowledge underlies your ability to design the type of training that will most effectively improve an athlete’s performance. Essential concepts such as homeostasis, core training principles, magnitude and timing of the training stimulus, and periodization theory are all discussed.

Introduction5:21

Terminology3:10

Categories of Physiological Responses9:44

Optimal Stimulus Timing4:58

Before Super Compensation4:53

Measuring Intensity5:07

Meet the Instructors

Dr. Chris Brooks
Instructor
Coaching Science Coordinator for USA Track and Field

In this lesson, we discuss the training stimulus.

Now a stimulus is a specially designed exercise that evokes a specific

physiological reaction in the athlete's organs or tissues.

And the purpose is to strengthen those organs and tissues.

The strength of the physiological response to a training stimulus depends on

how much the body's homeostasis has been affected.

A well designed training stimulus challenges the body's

homeostasis in a very specific way, so

relevant sport specific structural and functional redesign occurs.

Now recall that temperature, salt, acid, nutrient and waste balance

of the body's internal environment affects the ability of cells to do their job.

Temperature and acidity of the body is of particular concern to

the brain because these variables affect enzyme functioning.

Now, enzymes are really delicate proteins structures that act as catalyst for

the thousands of chemical reactions taking place during a training session or

during the training, during the athlete's recovery, or

during their day to day living.

In essence, enzymes are essential to maintaining life.

Now we've discussed homeostasis quite a bit already.

Because this is a very important biological concept and there's a key

to understanding how training works to improve the athletes performance.

And in this lesson, we talk a lot more about the interaction between training

and the effect it has on the body's homeostasis.

A training session is a planned disturbance of homeostasis.

The blue box here represents the range of conditions within the body

where homeostasis is maintained.

During a warm up, there is a slight improvement in the working efficiency of

the athletes body due to the adjustments the brain makes to heart rate and other

physiological functioning in response to the initial disturbance of homeostasis.

The purpose of the warm up is to increase the physiological functioning of

the body while remaining within the tolerable range for homeostasis.

And here you see physiological functioning extend to the upper

range of homeostasis as the warm up proceeds.

The training session itself disturbs homeostasis by taking it

slightly outside this tolerable range.

The athlete's physiological functioning will gradually decline as

the cell's resources are depleted.

And depending on the intensity of the training session, the tissues

of the organ structures are stressed and the cells can be slightly damaged.

The athlete will feel the sensation of increasing fatigue that

reflects the inability of the brain to maintain homeostasis.

During recovery, between the training sessions,

these resources are replenished back to the normal level.

In other words, the internal environment of the body returns to homeostasis.

Damaged cells are also repaired during recovery.

Restoring homeostasis after a training session can take several hours.

It depends on the intensity of the training session.

If the time between training sessions are sufficient for

full restoration to occur the body then enters into a super-compensation

phase where structures such as enzymes are strengthened, so

the athlete's physiological capacity improves just a little bit.

And this is referred to as the training effect, each time

super-compensation occurs, the structures of the body are functionally enhanced,

making it slightly easier for the brain to mobilize resources and

maintain homeostasis during the next training session.

Now, if another training session does not occur within a couple of days, the body

structure functioning will decline back to match the needs of the less active body.

So when you've completed this lesson, you'll be able to discuss

the physiological responses associated with the training session.

You will understand the optimal timing of the next training stimulus and

you'll be able to discuss the different types of stimulus variables that you can

use to disturb homeostasis and induce the correct adaptation.

And you'll be able to discuss methods you can use to measure the intensity

of the training stimulus.

So let's get started.

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