Juan Ramón Heredia Elvar; Guillermo Peña García-Orea; March Edir Da Silva Grigoletto (International Institute of Sciences of Physical Exercise and Health, IICEFS, Spain)

Definition of load / stimulus, its relation to adaptation and its application to training

The process of adaptation, in terms of the mechanisms and laws that govern it, is the framework on which all decisions about the methodology of training must be based. As in any other science, the empirical results of the practice must seek their scientific explanation to arrive at formulating the theoretical concepts and criteria that define the adaptation itself and justify the training methodology (RAE, 2016).

In the processes of adaptation both in the short term (response or acute adaptation) and in the medium-long term (chronic adaptation) we must consider some basic assumptions (González-Badillo JJ, Serna JR., 2002) that help us in decision-making about planning, periodization and training prescription. It has to be considered that these assumptions are in many cases hypotheses regarding the knowledge of the physiological response to exercise (and therefore it is necessary to relate it to the training methodology itself).

The acute adaptation will be constituted by the process and the result of the application of a training stimulus, in which the organism reacts to obtain the homeostatic regulation, trying to compensate the imbalances caused by said stimulus.

Another concept that needs to be clarified throughout this relationship is the term "load" that is defined, among others, as (RAE):

"Thing that weighs on another"

"Obligation attached to a state, employment or trade"

"Tax or tribute linked to a property or a state and the use that is made of them".

As we see, it is not easy to relate the term with the common use that is made of it in the area of ​​exercise science. In some moments it could even lead to certain confusions. For example, the term "load" is usually used to refer to the weight that is added to a bar as an external resistance to train the force, or to be used as a synonym of proposed stimulus (external load) and / or degree of real effort (load). internal).

However, due to the spread and acceptance of the term, we consider it correct that in the field of sports training the "training load" is the set of biological and psychological demands (real or internal load) caused by the training activities carried out (load proposed or external) (González-Badillo JJ, Serna JR., 2002). In this way we have to understand the internal load as the homeostatic alteration or physiological effect provoked in the organism by the application of a stimulus or external load.

From this can be inferred the need to assess the load from a double perspective:

The stable or chronic adaptation is the result of the accumulation of the effects of the successive acute adaptations and that gives rise to more lasting and stable modifications at the level of the morphological and functional systems of the organism.

On the one hand, the estimation of a proposed load that represents the set of stimuli expressed in the form of training and raised in each training unit. This proposed / external load represents the stimulus or "training dose" that causes the effect provoked in the organism (functional, biochemical, morphological responses, etc.), and therefore constitutes the independent variable that can be manipulated by the trainer.

On the other hand, the degree of effort involved in this load proposed at the organic level, and which is manifested by the set of biological and psychological demands caused by training activities (González-Badillo JJ, Serna JR., 2002), which represents the real load. The real or internal load is the response or effect provoked in the organism by the application of the external load (González-Badillo JJ, Serna JR., 2002), and therefore represents the dependent variable.

What must be programmed is the actual load that should be adequately expressed by the proposed load, the most important objective being to ensure that the expected real load is well represented by the proposed load (González-Badillo JJ, Serna JR., 2002) .

The fundamental task of the professional of the sciences of the physical exercise and of the methodology of the training will be:

• a) Define the load accurately and exhaustively.
• b) Control and analyze the relationship between the real load and the proposal, as well as between both and the performance.
• c) Validate measurement models and quantification of loads.

Therefore, one of the most important and determining errors would be to ignore which stimuli are being administered to the subject that we train. Something extremely serious in the performance of our profession and that represents a right of the trained and not only a duty of the professional. This is the main function of the exercise science professional: to know what stimuli are being provided at each moment in relation to the capabilities of each subject. Another question will be, and this will be another of the priority objectives, to know if this stimulus is appropriate or not. Sometimes the stimuli that are proposed as training are the simple application of "recipes" or schemes without the decision making has followed criteria based on the available evidence, or even without having any justification known by the technician who applies them (González -Badillo JJ, Serna JR., 2002).

In fact, for many years the idea has been spread that you have to "train a lot" to achieve relevant results, but this does not fit the reality. Practical experience and data derived from scientific studies indicate that the maximum workload does not provide the best results (González-Badillo JJ, Gorostiaga EM, Arellano R, Izquierdo M., 2005, González-Badillo JJ, Izquierdo M, Gorostiaga EM ., 2006).

The contents placed in this blog belong to the main study material of the subject "Load of training and guidance in strength training", dictated by Mr. Juan Ramón Heredia Elvar and Guillermo Peña García-Orea, within the framework of the Subject 2 of the University Postgraduate Course in Strength Training.

In the Postgraduate Course in Strength Training (started on August 10, 2017), certified by CAECE University and organized by Physical team and G-SE, with the participation of teachers from the International Institute of Physical Exercise and Health Sciences (IICEFS) of Spain, will deepen in the definition of load / stimulus, its relationship with adaptation and its application to training; the components of the training load; loading and recovery; and the training process in terms of its analysis and updating.