A post was written
trying to explain the effects of detraining but we stayed short of what happens
to elite athletes with high volume, high intensity training. The effects mentioned in the previous post
are for age-groupers but detraining has implications on technique and the
effect of gene inductions that take place when training for years, i.e., the
gene induced that helps us to go fast shut down after certain time and we need
at least the same level of intensity to induce them again. This is an empirical observation, of course,
but it is backed up after looking at athletes that try to come back. Technique does not come back as fast as we
would like to, and it is like learning to walk back again after a cast in one
of our lower extremities.
Swimming 200 meters
at the same speed that the elite swimmer used to, takes at least two years, if
we decide to work on coming back conscientiously. The longer the swim the longer it takes to
come back to the same speed per distance.
This is the reason why ironman distance elite competitors are unable to perform
well at Olympic distance triathlons.
They suffer from detraining at the end, even though they swim, bike and
run.
I first heard this more
formally from Paul Bergen who mentioned that he told Inge de Bruijn that she
was not going to compete in 200 meters crawl because she stopped months without
formal training and could not have enough training to compete in 200 meters; it
was a year and half before the Athens’ Olympics. Inge was trained for 50 meters and 100 meters
and medaled in the Olympics. Also, we
know that Ian Thorpe stayed too far from being competitive after he tried to
come back. Triathlon is the same thing
or even worse. I remembered Vanessa
Fernandes being lapped at Huatulco when she was trying to come back. Paula Findley did not finish at Madrid (2013)
and it does not look that she is coming back.
Detraining is a reversible condition but there is a limited time in life,
and the world is getting faster.
Technique has improved and what somebody has as technique is obsolete
even if retrained.
RECOVERING TRAINED STATES
TAKES MUCH LONGER THAN IT DOES TO LOSE THEM
Hsu, K. M., & Hsu, T. G. (1999). The effects of detraining
and retraining on swimming propulsive force and blood lactate. Medicine
and Science in Sports and Exercise, 31(5), Supplement abstract 1400.
The effects of detraining and retraining on 50 and 400-m performance,
arm stroke propulsive power, lactate, and lactate dehydrogenase in crawl stroke
swimming were investigated. Male college swimmers (N = 18) detrained for 85
days by not performing any swimming. Retraining consisted of covering between
3,500-6,000 m per day for 91 days.
After detraining 50-m times regressed 3.4% and 400-m times regressed by
7%. Arm stroke propulsive power regressed by 12%. Peak lactate for the 400 swim
was 22% lower. After retraining, 50-m times and arm-stroke propulsive power had
not returned to the levels exhibited before detraining. Lactate dehydrogenase
was unaltered by either detraining or retraining.
It was concluded that recovering lost training effects takes much longer
than the period of time in which they were lost.
Implication. Recovering training effects takes much longer than losing them through
detraining. It would be wise to avoid detraining.
There is another form of
detraining I have seen in athletes who try to come back after practicing
another sport like ironman. Macca had years of detraining when trying to come
back to Olympic distance triathlon. It
looks that “cross training” is useless when competing at a high level and
detraining exists significantly when comparing through performance. Training is very specific for the sport we
practice. There is an interesting
article written that deals with the gross physiological variables of
detraining, but there are more subtle differences at the cells as enzymes. WE CAN SEE THE RESULTS WHEN SOMEBODY TRIES TO
COME BACK FROM AN INJURY OR AFTER STOPPING:
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