El rumor de la melancolía y la suntuosidad cromática

After long periods of preparation, hard work, and stressful competitions, in which both physiological and psychological fatigue can accumulate, a transition period should be used to link annual training plans or preparation for another major com-petition, as in the case of the bi-cycle, tri-cycle, and multicycle annual training plan.

The transition phase serves an important role in preparing the athlete for the next training cycle. The athlete should start the new preparatory phase only when fully recovered from the previous competitive season (10). If the athlete initiates a new pre-paratory phase without full recovery, it is likely that performances will be impaired in future competitive cycles and the risk of injury will increase (10).

The transition phase, often inappropriately called the off-season, links two annual training plans. This phase facilitates psychological rest, relaxation, and biological regeneration while maintaining an acceptable level of general physical preparation (40-50% of the competitive phase). Training should be low key; all loading factors should be reduced, with the main training components centering on general training, with minimal, if any, technical or tactical development (10, 39). The transition phase generally should last 2 to 4 weeks but could be extended to 6 weeks (10, 39). Under normal circumstances the transition phase should not last longer than 6 weeks.

Figure 6.22 Unloading phase for a team sport.

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There are two common approaches to the transition phase. The first and incor-rect approach encourages complete rest with no physical activity; the term off-season fits perfectly. This abrupt interruption of training and the complete inactivity can lead to significant detraining even if only undertaken for a short period of time (<4 weeks) (49, 50). This detraining effect can cause a substantial loss in the physiological adaptations established in the previous months of training.

Some authors have suggested that an abrupt cessation of training by highly trained athletes creates a phenomenon known as detraining syndrome (or relaxation syndrome) (49, 50), exercise abstinence, or exercise dependency syndrome (38). This type of detraining appears to occur in athletes who either intentionally cease train-ing or are forced to stop traintrain-ing in response to an injury (38). Detraintrain-ing syndrome can be characterized by many symptoms including insomnia, anxiety, depression, alterations to cardiovascular function, and a loss of appetite (see the bottom of this page for additional symptoms). These symptoms usually are not pathological and can be reversed if training is resumed within a short time. If the cessation of train-ing is prolonged, these symptoms can become more pronounced indicattrain-ing that the athlete’s body is unable to adapt to this sudden inactivity. The time frame in which these symptoms manifest themselves is highly specific to the individual athlete but can occur within 2 to 3 weeks of inactivity and will vary in severity.

Simply decreasing the level of training can also stimulate a detraining effect that will decrease physiological (table 6.3) and performance capacity (49, 50). The magnitude of the detraining effects will be related to the duration of the detraining period. Short-term detraining, which occurs in less than 4 weeks, can result in some significant decreases in endurance (49) and strength performance (32, 49).

In endurance athletes, short-term detraining has been reported to result in a 4%

to 25% decrease in time to exhaustion and a substantial reduction in endurance per-formance (49). It has been postulated that the reductions in endurance perper-formance are largely dictated by the decline in cardiorespiratory fitness noted in response to short-term detraining (30). Maximal aerobic capacity can be reduced by 4% in as little as 4 days of detraining (86), decreased by 7% within 3 weeks of the cessation of train-ing (9), and reduced by 14% in as little as 4 weeks of detraintrain-ing (49). If the detraintrain-ing period is extended to 8 weeks, aerobic capacity can continue to decrease up to 20% of predetraining values (50). These reductions in aerobic capacity are most likely related to specific alterations to the cardiorespiratory system including decreases in blood volume, stroke volume, and maximal cardiac output (table 6.3). These detraining-induced physiological alterations appear to occur progressively and proportionally

PoTenTIAl SymPTomS of deTrAInIng Syndrome

• Increased incidence of headaches

• Loss of appetite

• Increased incidence of insomnia

• Occurrence of anxiety and depression

• Profuse sweating

• Gastric disturbances

• Increased occurrence of dizziness and fainting

• Nonsystematic precordial disturbances

• Increased sensation or occurrence of cardiac arrhythmias

• Occurrence of extrasystolia and palpita-tions

Adapted from Mujika and Padilla 2000 (49).

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by detraining Detraining characteristics (<4 weeks) (>4 weeks)

Cardiorespiratory Maximal oxygen uptake ⇓ ⇓

Blood volume ⇑ ⇑

submaximal heart rate ⇑ ⇑

recovery heart rate ⇑ ⇑

stroke volume during exercise ⇓ ⇓

Maximal cardiac output ⇓ ⇓

Ventricular mass and dimension ⇓ ⇓

Mean blood pressure ⇑ ⇑

Maximal ventilatory volume ⇓ ⇓

submaximal ventilatory volume ⇑ ⇑

Oxygen pulse ⇓ ⇓

Ventilatory equivalent ⇑ ⇑

Endurance performance ⇓ ⇓

Skeletal muscle Capillary density ⇓ ⇓

Arterial-venous oxygen difference — ⇓

Fiber type distribution — Altered

Fiber cross-sectional area ⇓ ⇓

Type II:I area ratio — ⇓

Muscle mass — ⇓

EMG activity ⇓ ⇓

strength power performance ⇓ ⇓

Oxidative enzyme capacity ⇓ ⇓

Glycogen synthase activity ⇓ —

Mitochondrial ATP production ⇓ —

Metabolic characteristics Maximal respiratory exchange ratio ⇑ ⇑ submaximal respiratory exchange ratio ⇑ ⇑

Insulin-mediated glucose uptake ⇓ ⇓

Muscle GLUT4 protein content ⇓ ⇓

Muscle lipoprotein lipase activity ⇓ ⇓

Postprandial lipemia ⇑ —

high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ⇓ ⇓ Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ⇓ ⇓

submaximal blood lactate ⇑ ⇑

Lactate threshold ⇓ ⇓

Bicarbonate level ⇓ ⇓

Muscle glycogen level ⇓ ⇓

Adrenaline-stimulated lipolysis ⇓ ⇓

Adapted from Mujika and Padilla 2000 (49, 50).

⇓ = decrease, ⇑ = increase, — = no data available; EMG = electromyographic; ATP = adenosine triphosphate; GLUT4

= glucose transporter-4.

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to the training status of the athlete, thus suggesting that highly trained endurance athletes will experience a greater magnitude of decline in both physiological and performance capacity.

Short-term and long-term detraining can also produce marked alterations in strength and power performance. For example, 4 weeks of detraining in which strength training is completely removed from the training plan results in a 6% to 10% reduc-tion in maximal muscular strength (23, 32) and a 14% to 17% decrease in maximal power generation capacity (32). These reductions in strength power performance may be related to preferential atrophy of Type II muscle fibers (29, 67) and a reduction in neural drive (1, 22-24). The reduction in the ability to express muscular strength and power characteristics depends on the magnitude of the reduction of muscle cross-sectional area and electromyographic activity.

The extent of strength and power performance and physiological detraining-induced maladaptations depends on several factors including the duration of detraining and the training status of the athlete. Although the largest decrease in the expression of muscular strength occurs during the first 4 weeks (10% decrease), extending the detraining period to 8 weeks will result in a continued performance reduction (11-12% decrease) (23, 49, 50). These reductions in performance appear to occur at a greater rate and magnitude in highly trained individuals compared with recreational athletes and untrained people, because the latter appear able to main-tain both strength and power performance in response to 2 to 3 weeks of detraining (29, 35, 51).

If training completely stops during the transition phase, it is likely, depending on the length of the phase, that the athlete will lose a substantial amount of the physi-ological adaptations gained from the previous training period. When this occurs, the athlete will spend a large portion of the next preparatory phase attempting to reestablish the physiological adaptations that were gained in the previous training period, which limits the athlete’s ability to continue to improve. Conversely, if the athlete uses an active rest period during the transition phase, she will retain a larger portion of her physiological adaptations and continue to develop both physiological and performance capacities during the next general preparation phase.

In the second approach to the transition phase, active rest is used to minimize the loss of physiological function that occurs when passive methods are used. Active rest refers to participating in a compatible sport or using a period of low-volume and low-intensity training within the athlete’s sport (71). By using this approach, the athlete will be able to minimize the loss of physiological adaptation and maintain some level of general fitness.

The transition phase begins immediately after the completion of the main com-petition and can last between 2 and 4 weeks. During the first week after the compe-tition, active or passive rest can be used. Passive rest may be necessary if the athlete has injuries. If active rest is used during this microcycle, the volume and intensity of training are substantially reduced and may target movement patterns or activities that are not used in training. During the second to fourth microcycle of the transition phase (in a 4-week transition), the volume and intensity of training can remain low or can increase slightly. The activity used for active rest must match the bioenergetic characteristics of the sport being trained for. For example, a cyclist may use cross-country skiing or running as a transition activity, whereas a volleyball player may use basketball. The transition phase is a period during which the athlete can recover physically and psychologically while minimizing the loss of fitness.

The transition phase has an additional purpose. During this phase, the coach and athlete should analyze the training program, performance results, and testing outcomes. This is an essential task because it will allow the coach and athlete to make specific changes to the athlete’s next annual training plan.

ChArT of The AnnuAl TrAInIng PlAn

Now that the basic concept of periodization and the main objectives of each training phase and subphase have been presented, an annual training plan can be constructed.

Charting an annual training plan requires an understanding of the relationships between the training components and stress that these factors impart upon the ath-lete. During this process decisions must be made about when the major competitions are, the ratio of training factors contained in each phase, and the sequencing of the training phases. Successful training planners are able to use their knowledge about training and its physiological responses to develop training plans that will induce specific outcomes.

Annual training plans for all athletes are constructed with the same basic steps, but each plan, and thus the chart, must be individualized to the sport and the athlete’s needs. Several examples of annual training plan charts are provided in this text (see the following sections), and readers can either adapt these examples or create their own charts.