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High Intensity Training Can Lead to Over-training

August 26, 2005 11:06 AM

You know by now that I don't like to put up abstracts from journals. But the recent discussion of my post on avoiding injury in high intensity training prompts me to put this up. Note that no abstract is a substitute for the real article (though this one is so straight forward it is pretty reliable) and studies come and go; they may be published, but often are overturned by later research. Don't put too much into any one study. Another reason I do not write to the content of abstracts but from a theoretical perspective that tries to put the body of research together.

The point of the experiment reported in the abstract is that the body doesn't seem to monitor over-training in high intensity resistance training as well as it does in high intensity endurance training. Daily training at max 1-RM for 2 weeks was enough to put the subjects in an over-trained state. Yet, the hormonal response did not show this adequately to protect the athlete. So, there is a higher probability of over-training in high intensity resistance exercise.

It is not hard to see an evolutionary reason for this; continuous high intensity work is not what our ancestors were adapted to because the Paleolithic existence did not impose those kinds of demands in an unremitting manner. There were bursts of high intensity, involved in all fight or flight responses as well as the activities of the hunt, but there was variation in metabolic load, with abundant leisure and intermediate loads of all kinds. Ancestors were the first cross trainers.

Power law variation avoids this over-training and uses all the energy pathways to varying degrees.

Note also, the over-trained athletes got weaker as the training progressed.

The abstract follows, pardon the BibTeX format; that is how I keep my bibliography since I use TeX to write my books and articles. I use it because TeX is the best program for mathematical typesetting.

@article{A.C. Fry12011998,
author = {Fry, A. C. and Kraemer, W. J. and Ramsey, L. T.},
title = {{Pituitary-adrenal-gonadal responses to high-intensity resistance exercise overtraining}},
journal = {J Appl Physiol},
volume = {85},
number = {6},
pages = {2352-2359},
year = {1998},
abstract = {Weight-trained men [OT ; n = 11; age = 22.0 {+/-} 0.9 (SE) yr] resistance trained daily at 100\% one-repetition maximum (1-RM) intensity for 2 wk, resulting in 1-RM strength decrements and in an overtrained state. A control group (Con; n = 6; age = 23.7 {+/-} 2.4 yr) trained 1 day/wk at a low relative intensity (50\% 1 RM). After 2 wk, the OT group exhibited slightly increased exercise-induced testosterone (preexercise = 26.5 {+/-} 1.3 nmol/l, postexercise = 29.1 {+/-} 5.9 nmol/l) and testosterone-to-cortisol ratio (preexercise = 0.049 {+/-} 0.007 nmol/l, postexercise = 0.061 {+/-} 0.006 nmol/l) and decreased exercise-induced cortisol (preexercise = 656.1 {+/-} 98.1 nmol/l, postexercise = 503.1 {+/-} 39.7 nmol/l). Serum concentrations for growth hormone and plasma peptide F [preproenkephalin (107[---]140)] were similar for both groups throughout the overtraining period. This hormonal profile is distinctly different from what has been previously reported for other types of overtraining, indicating that high-relative-intensity resistance exercise overtraining may not be successfully monitered via circulating testosterone and cortisol. Unlike overtraining conditions with endurance athletes, altered resting concentrations of pituitary, adrenal, or gonadal hormones were not evident, and exercise-induced concentrations were only modestly affected.
},
URL = {http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/content/abstract/85/6/2352},
eprint = {http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/reprint/85/6/2352.pdf}
}

· Evolutionary Fitness

Comments

Posted by: Flower Online [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 12, 2006 2:40 AM

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Posted by: outsider [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 10, 2006 10:34 AM

Ugh, I meant to comment on this post earlier and got busy. I don't think this study is representative of any HIT programme. "Daily training at max 1-RM for 2 weeks" doesn't sound like any HIT programme I've ever heard or done. It's definitely not what Mentzer or Yates did or what Bass does. Mentzer starts with 3 days of rest between work-outs and calls for longer periods, if necessary. Bass works out once a week.


Posted by: Wild Pegasus [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 9, 2005 12:58 PM

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