Recovery-Centered Training: Mechanical Aspects

In a previous post, I described the basic principles underlying Recovery-Centered Training (RCT). This new model of human performance is based on the mechanisms of tissue recovery, adaptation, and development. Not only does it focus on optimizing the sport performance capacity of the athlete, but it also serves as a functional basis for injury prevention-based training. A schematic overview can be found below.

One of the primary functional elements of Recovery-Centered Training is the mechanical network. This includes all of the tissues and the neuro-musculo-skeletal and cardiovascular systems. In many ways, the cardiovascular system is simply another component of the neuro-musculo-skeletal system. The heart is, in fact, a very specialized muscle that adapts to training stimuli much like other skeletal muscles do. These systems (and the tissues that create these systems) are responsible for the mechanical function of the human body.

Physiological mechanisms of the human body are always seeking to maintain homeostasis and to adapt to the imposed demands of the world around us. Those demands could be training-related, or just life-related.

Mechanical loading involves the application of a training stimulus to attain a desired mechanical, cognitive, symptomatic, or functional response. By applying various mechanical loading strategies to the tissues of the mechanical network (via varying degrees of tension, compression, and shear), changes in tissue architecture, integrity, and function can be elicited. The goal is to increase the overall mechanical loading capacity and thus the overall sport performance capacity of the athlete.

Of course, in order to attain an optimal training response, one must have not only the correct training stimulus, but also the correct dosage and frequency of the training stimulus. These critical parameters can be manipulated systematically in order to “turn on the gene” at the cellular level to elicit the greatest training response for a given training stimulus.

It is important to remember that mechanical loading strategies should be viewed no differently than taking medicine. In order to attain an optimal response, you have to have the correct medication (mechanical loading strategy), with the correct potency (load sensitivity) of the medication, and the correct frequency of dosage (rate sensitivity).

Mechanical loading strategies are always the aspect that most coaches and clinicians want to focus on. Everyone wants to know what the best training session or exercise is! But what are oftentimes forgotten are the critical parameters required to attain the optimal desired training response, and the other loading strategies (cognitive, nutritional) that impact the ability to recover from and adapt to the imposed training stimulus. Training adaptation rarely occurs immediately: there is a lag time or delayed response required to fully adapt to the training session.

In the broad spectrum of training, we must apply the right stresses both neurologically and mechanically. If we do so, then we will continue to develop in accordance with the functional demands. The mechanical network is truly the part of the functional system that we are affecting with our training sessions. But training has little value if there is an impaired ability to both recover from and adapt to the training session. This is where the cognitive network comes into play, along with both cognitive and nutritional loading strategies. I will present these aspects in upcoming articles.

Photo credits: Wikipedia