Energy & Work Capacity

It is a common notion that in order to develop an athlete's physical capabilities we must initially develop a large base of general fitness; there is no question in this. However, it is very common for athletes and coaches to confuse this general fitness with building an aerobic base, whilst is is certainly important to build an aerobic base in endurance athletes, for non-endurance athletes an aerobic base is only part of the greater puzzle.

What is very common is to see uneducated coaches following previous patterns of what they 'think' works, which is then passed on to young athletes themselves, leading to a paradigm of ineffective training. Rather than simply saying 'this should work for our sport', it is important to identify what is actually required from the sport. So much of training and physical preparation depends on the athlete and the sport. Certainly an athlete in a transition game sport or an intermittent sport will need a greater aerobic base than a sprinter, yet we must ask ourselves what is the most effective way of building this aerobic base. For example, research has illustrated that by training aerobically our ability to build explosive power is very limited as there is no stimulation of Type II muscle fibers and the neuromuscular system isn't having to work as hard as it . Whereas training anaerobically we are able to see developments in both lactate threshold and power development (PCr regeneration). (1) (2)

Work capacity lays the foundation for more intense and specific work to be attended in concurrent phases of training. However, work capacity shouldn't be completely neglected after its specific block of training has finished, it should be threaded into other blocks of preparation to stabilise the initials gains made and maintain a good base from which to continually build.

Work capacity can be defined as "the total amount of work you can perform, recover from and adapt to".

The key feature that can be drawn from this definition is ADAPTATION, there is no point in performing a certain load of work if the athlete won't be able to recover and adapt. But also, an athlete must be able to work at a level that is stressful enough to achieve an optimal response. For example a footballer who is unable to complete the required drills in training due to lack of a general base of fitness will be significantly limited in their ability to improve. To be able to invest the required effort to improve in technical drills the athlete should build a work capacity specific to football and the energy systems necessary.

In training theory terms work capacity would generally fall into the category of general physical preparation (GPP) as this is where most time is available to build the general physical capabilities required for the chosen sport and position of the athlete. In addition to being about to tolerate a workload and recover sufficiently, work capacity also entails the capacity to resist fatigue, whatever the source. Fatigue is more than metabolic; in involves the nervous system and mental capacity.

Resisting fatigue is the refinement of the efficiency and coordination of the cardiovascular, metabolic and nervous systems.

In latter blocks of training work capacity can serve as a recovery session if the intensity is kept low and it is sequenced after a hard session and prior to a recovery session. Work capacity training is usually of a lower neural demand and at a low-medium intensity. To aid understanding of the concept of work capacity it is useful to address it in terms of the components of athletic fitness, if deficient would limit the ability do complete other training and subsequently perform. These components of fitness include: body composition, mobility, aerobic capacity, aerobic power, anaerobic power and strength endurance. All of these qualities are prerequisites for being able to handle more demanding tasks.

There are three conceptual terms that will aid understanding of work capacity:

1. CAPACITY

- "Total amount of energy available to perform work", in simple terms this refers to the size of the tank. In the buildup phase of athletic development the primary goal is to build the size of the tank in order to draw on them reserves later and allow faster recover during and between training sessions. Work directed towards increasing capacity is usually volume orientated.

2. POWER

- "Amount of energy that can be used per unit of time", work directed towards increasing power is usually higher intensity with a greater neural demand.

3. EFFICIENCY

- "Optimal use of the energy available", this can also be referred to as economy and describes the athletes economy of movement. To be most effective the athlete wants to waste as little energy as possible when performing a movement or task, allowing them to work at a greater percentage of their maximum for longer.

The aerobic base is part of work capacity for certain. Yet, in sprint sports, intermittent-sprint sports and transition game sports, it is not nearly as significant a portion of the work capacity training as conventional wisdom would have us believe. Even in endurance sports the development of an aerobic base needs revisiting, once the aerobic capacity has been increased to a certain level and aerobic power is elevated, it is not possible to continually raise those measures significantly. The focus then needs to shift on to efficiency which is how the aerobic component can further contribute to performance enhancement.

References

1. Helgerud J. et al. Aerobic High-Intensity Intervals Improve V˙ O2max More Than Moderate Training. 2007.

2. Gibala, M. Journal of Physiology. Short-term sprint interval versus traditional endurance training: similar initial adaptations in human skeletal muscle and exercise performance. 2006.

#Conditioning #Fitness #WorkCapacity #EnergySystems #SportsTraining #SportsPerformance