Week 8 Article Summaries

Article #1
"Recovery-Adaptation: Strength/Power Sports" by Dr. Michael Stone
     Recovery is defined as regaining what was lost and adaptation is the process of long-term adjustment to a specific stimulus.  It's important to understand those terms before going into the theories that Dr. Stone addressed.  The Stimulus-Fatigue-Recovery-Adaptation theory proposes a cause and effect relationship between stimulus and the body's response in the form of fatigue, recovery, and adaptation in order for supercompensation to take place.  In contrast, the Fitness vs. Fatigue theory proposes an opposing relationship between stimulus and response.  In other words, one must maximize fitness responses to stimuli and minimize fatigue.  A general guideline to follow when designing training programs is the greater the "load" of training, the greater the demand for planned recovery.  Monitoring athlete's progress and responses to stimuli is essential in designing the most effective training program. This means that the coach must test at key phases throughout training such as before and after high volume or high intensity phases, general preparation, special preparation, and competition.  This will assist the coach in developing athlete profiles, standardizing testing and monitoring procedures, and determining an athlete's recovery needs as well as whether or not the program is producing desired results. 

Article #2
"Tapering: The Critical Interaction of the Art and Science of Coaching"
     Tapering is defined as a "special training period immediately preceding the major competition phase during which the training stimulus is reduced in a systematic non-linear fashion to achieve a peak in performance." Tapering has proven to produce an optimal biological state characterized by optimal health, quick adaptability to training stimuli, and a great recovery rate.  A taper is progressive and non-linear and the goal is to reduce the physical and psychological stress of daily training while optimizing sport performance.  The physiological effects of tapering include:
-Hematological effects - increased hemoglobin level which increases the body's ability to buffer lactic acid
-Hormonal effects - changed balance between anabolic and catabolic hormones which is believed to improve recovery and fatigue
     **Reducing any kind of stress (relationships, exams, etc.) can reduce the level of cortisol in the athlete and improve positive adaptation.  Two important issues regarding stress:  the more important the competition, the greater the stress; keep accurate and detailed information about past tapers and performances in order to be able to effectively adjust the taper.
-Neuromuscular effects - tapering induces alterations in contractile properties of individual muscle fibers.  Type IIa fibers respond greater than Type I. 
-Immune Response effects - increased white blood cell count which improves the body's capacity to resist illness
-Sleep - improved quality/perception of sleep; growth hormone is released during stages III and IV of sleep which is important in repairing muscle tissue and speed recovery. 
-Psychological effects - increased motivation, arousal, and psychological relaxation

     Critical variables in designing an optimal taper include intensity, frequency, volume, duration, and taper design such as fast decay exponential, linear, or step reduction.