“Within the EvoLab, there are several ways the watch can play a role in proper recovery.”
With the start of the 2022 Winter Olympics, it’s hard not to imagine all the training each athlete has endured to prepare for this moment. Days, weeks, months, and even years of training take place. When dealing with training, it’s important to realize that both activity and non-activity loads can place stress on individuals. Ultimately, these stressors can affect overall physical and psychological health.
Training and Recovery
Overreaching and Overtraining Syndrome are common topics in the exercise and sport science world. Both of these concepts involve intensified or excessive training that ultimately results in decreased performance. However, there are significant differences between them.
Functional Overreaching
- An increase in training that leads to temporary decrease in performance.
- Can last days to weeks.
- Normally, after proper rest and recovery, performance supercompensation follows.
Nonfunctional Overreaching
- Prolonged, excessive training that lacks the proper rest and recovery.
- Leads to a lengthier decrease in performance.
- Can last weeks to months.
- Performance supercompensation isn’t achieved in this aspect.
Overtraining Syndrome
- Severe condition involving excessive training without adequate rest and recovery.
- Leads to a decrease in performance lasting months or longer.
- Examples of potential complications are hormonal, nutritional, muscle, immune, and emotional imbalances.
Monitoring Loads for Recovery
Benefits of Monitoring
- Monitor changes in performance
- Training response awareness
- Recovery awareness
- Decreases risk of injury and illness
Monitoring Examples
- Recording of Training Load
- Training Journals
- Physical and Psychological Screenings
Let COROS Take Your Training to the Next Level
COROS watches gather and store a great deal of data when it comes to training. Within the EvoLab, there are several ways the watch can play a role in proper recovery. Examples of these components include:
- Training Load measures the impact brought to your body from your training. You can review this to estimate the intensity and duration of the training and also compare training days to one another.
- Training Effect evaluates how your training impacts both your aerobic and anaerobic system. The training effects range from inefficient to overreaching.
- Base Fitness measures the ability to take on exertion from long-term training. It’s calculated based on your training load in the past 6 weeks. A higher value means your body is capable of training longer and more frequently in higher intensity.
- Load Impact measures the amount of impact that is brought on to your body from short-term training. It is calculated based on the training load in the last 7 days. A higher value means a higher impact is introduced to your body and will limit your performance from tiredness. Load impact goes down if you take more rests and up if you train more.
- Fatigue is the difference between Base Fitness and Load Impact. It reflects the amount of fatigue your body is suffering from the recent training while considering your ability to sustain the impact. A low value means that your body is ready to take on more intensity, while a high value indicates overtraining.
- Recovery Timer provides feedback to you regarding the time needed to receive full recovery and suggests when you are actually ready for easy or hard training. To use this timer properly, stop and take a rest when you are in the red zone, start mild training when in the yellow zone, and resume a high training load when you are back in the green zone.
Conclusion
Proper training and recovery are crucial to performance, whether you’re an Olympian, triathlete, marathon runner, weightlifter, or just simply involved in physical activity. While you’re watching the Winter Olympics this year, think about your own training and how you can make improvements. Start by monitoring your EvoLab!
