In these uncertain times, a number of events have still followed a familiar and predictable path – Liverpool still haven’t won the Premier League title, ambitious Carlton fans lost their first multi of the AFL season, and I was on the verge of winning yet another fantasy NBA championship. But the inevitable postponement of the Tokyo Olympics and the closure of gyms amid strict social distancing policies have drastically impacted our access to sport and exercise, and we’re now in uncharted territory. Given the current global climate, worrying about training is certainly a luxury. But in times of great distress, sport and exercise so often offer great hope. For some, it’s a sense of belonging and a vehicle for self-improvement, for others it’s a mental health preservation strategy, and for the lucky ones, it’s a job. Whatever the motivating factor, one thing is clear - athletes and averages alike are left navigating the uncertain path of home-based training for the foreseeable future.
What happens when we take time off training?
Many people are quite rightly using this initial period to recover and make sense of their new normal, whatever that may be. So how long do our carefully harvested physical capacities stick around once we stop training?
Each training-induced adaptation is uniquely equipped in the battle against detraining. Determinants of endurance performance begin the reversal process as early as the second day of inactivity, followed by substantial declines in maximal oxygen utilisation (VO2 max) and performance within 2-4 weeks. However, highly trained athletes may detrain at a slower rate, given that elite cyclists who stopped training for five weeks experienced only 8-10% decreases in VO2 max. Meanwhile, early decreases in strength are like due to neural factors, and changes beyond four weeks are probably driven more by muscular mechanisms such as a shift in fibre characteristics. Despite this, it’s possible to fully maintain strength throughout two weeks of rest, with inevitable progressive declines following longer periods without training. The appearance of muscle mass takes an initially rapid hit due to the quick loss of glycogen, followed by actual decreases in cross-sectional area. Further, an initial two-week rest may actually work as a taper for reactive strength and power metrics, such as countermovement and depth jumps, before a decline of roughly 11% following four weeks of rest. Like jumping, sprinting is a complex integration and application of a range of these capacities, and so its decay is often rapid, at least anecdotally. Evidence is limited, but elite female pole vaulters inevitably experienced a falloff in sprinting performance following 28 days of rest, with some suggestion that this decline begins within a week.
But if social media feeds are any indication, complete detraining won’t be an issue for most. People are sharing training resources and posting their at-home workouts at unprecedented levels (even Britney Spears posted a scorching 100m time recently). We’re certainly #blessed to have influencers posting their 18 variations of crunches and glute bridges (don’t forget to enter TRACKADEMIC20 at the checkout for 20% off your order), but due to the sheer volume of information available, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Regardless of your ambitions, there are some general guidelines that can help navigate the next weeks and months.
Priorities, protection and performance: guiding principles for approaching isolation training
1. Prioritise health over performance
It goes without saying that now, more than ever, is the time to prioritise health and safety over performance. There’s no COVID-19 specific evidence, but physical activity is associated with decreased incidence and mortality of both influenza and pneumonia. It’s also important to keep in mind that for the general population, incidental physical activity often props up general health and wellness. Something as simple and relatable as a drastic reduction in steps per day can have pronounced effects on markers of metabolic and cardiovascular health if sustained over a long period of time. Consequently, you should aim to do a little more than walking between the fridge and the couch ten times per day in order to ward off preventable health complications.
There is some evidence that overly exhaustive exercise can alter the immune response. During the 1998 Hong Kong flu outbreak, those who exercised five days per week were at the greatest risk of death alongside those who didn’t exercise at all, and, in particularly bad news for the blokes running marathons on their balconies, around 13% of marathon runners report illness in the week following a race. Factors like poor sleep and increased stress can compound any negative effects of overly strenuous activity on the immune system, so given the current circumstances, it’s important to be open to slight adjustments in your training load if the situation demands it.
So, what’s the message? Find the sweet spot. Realistically, the risk of compromising your immune system via exercise is almost non-existent if you’re strategic about it, and this information is intended to encourage people to adapt smart loading principles rather than to act as an exercise deterrent. The benefits of exercise are profound, and as essential as ever. But make sure that when you do train, you do so responsibly - just because you’re fit and healthy, that doesn’t mean everybody else is too.
2. Protect your gains via damage control
Despite the looming detraining timelines, the forecast for at least partially maintaining well-developed physical capacities is surprisingly positive when a strategic approach is adopted. Experienced cyclists who trained three times per week over 21 days (a 50% reduction in training volume) entirely maintained both their peak power output and VO2 max. Further, a 70% reduction in training volume across a three-week period also had no impact on VO2 max and 5km performance in trained distance runners. Elite kayakers were also able to minimise the damage to their bench press and squat across a 5-week post-season break by performing one strength session per week. Indeed, both maximal strength and muscle mass appear to be maintained with just one training session per week across periods as long as 8-weeks, and eccentric-focused lifting appears to be especially protective against detraining. The maintenance of neurally driven properties such as explosive strength, sprint speed and jumping ability is a bit more complex. However, following a 10-week preparation program, professional soccer players were able to maintain their improved strength, sprint and jump performances for 12-weeks by simply performing one strength maintenance session per week alongside regular soccer activity.
A consistent theme across all capacities, regardless of whether they’re endurance or speed/strength based, is that training intensity rather than training volume tends to dictate maintenance. Unfortunately, that’s the issue people are currently grappling with. While the interval training flooding social media is great for general cardiovascular, muscle and metabolic health, a degree of specificity is needed to maintain well-developed gains. The neuromuscular responses to strength training, for example, are specific to the velocity and training load used. And, while endurance athletes are currently able to go for solo sessions in many parts of the world, thus replicating their typical training intensities, loaded gym training is notoriously difficult to emulate with little equipment. Consequently, lifters everywhere are quickly exhausting the weight-carrying capacities of their backpacks and shopping bags in an attempt to stay loaded.
Single leg lifting variations, sprinting (as long as it adheres to social distancing regulations), and long-duration and partner-loaded isometrics should be at the top of the list for most people who have experience lifting but limited access to equipment. But the injection of both extensive and intensive plyometric loading into training is highly recommended for most populations regardless of objective, particularly given its viability. Plyometric training can improve maximal strength performance and muscle mass even in the absence of traditional weight training, and has direct transfer to a range of capacities, including sprint speed. Even trained basketball players see increases in vertical jump and agility through a focused 2-week plyometric program. There is particular value for the general population completing appropriately-adjusted plyometrics too. A novel jump-training program performed throughout 60 days of bed-rest prevented negative health effects typically associated with sedentary behaviour, whereas participants on strict bed-rest with no activity exhibited a 2.6% decrease in bone density, a 5% reduction in muscle mass, and reductions of 40% and 29% in maximal strength and VO2 respectively. All the personal trainers prescribing jump rope training are on the right path, as plyometrics need to be introduced with care in order to prevent the occurrence of injury.
Importantly, when regular programming resumes and the gyms of the world welcome you back with open arms, your gains will remember you. Following a 30-week training period, lifters who took 20-weeks off training were able to regain their previously attained muscle strength within only six weeks of retraining. This rapid retrainability has been attributed to one of sport science’s most remarkable discoveries of the last decade, referred to as the epigenetic memory of muscles.
3. Diversify your training
An extended period of isolated training provides an opportunity to expand your repertoire by diversifying your training investments, upskilling your mental game and addressing the underlying issues you’ve been ignoring.
Physical performance is a puzzle, and no single piece completes the picture by itself - VO2 doesn’t perfectly predict marathon performance, and squat strength is far from a seamless predictor of sprinting performance. While particular pieces are more dominant for some puzzles than others, now is an opportune time to invest in smaller pieces that are often neglected, but easily targeted. For example, middle- and long-distance athletes notoriously complete structured and appropriately-loaded strength and plyometric training programs at woefully low rates (62.5% and 25.1% respectively). This is despite the mountain of evidence indicating that both strength and plyometric training reduce the energetic cost of running, even in elite populations.
It’s also a suitable time to upgrade training methods that are sometimes an afterthought during the competitive season. Visualisation is overlooked by coaches who don’t understand things that they can’t see, but there’s now compelling evidence that it facilitates not only the acquisition and retention of technical and skill components but also augments the development of physical capacities such as strength. Mindfulness for athletes is also finally (and deservedly) gaining mainstream traction, and some of the best in the business have even recently reviewed the latest in recovery science in podcast form. Further, if you haven’t done so already, developing a simple training load management system which tracks training and competition data can assist in the training decision-making process (check out an introductory example if you’re not sure how to get started). Expanding your training CV via these pieces of the puzzle will pay dividends in the future.
Finally, there’s never been a better time to address underlying injury issues. Over 20% of professional Australian football players report either Achilles or patellar tendon pain, but less than 5% miss game time due to the same complaints. They’re not alone in training and competing through pain, and ultimately, it can cost in the long run. Take the time to get on top of your issues while you’ve got it.
The verdict
Maintaining control over training can bring a healthy dose of normality in otherwise uncertain times. Although it’s unclear how long the current circumstances will last, it’s possible to successfully navigate the uncharted training territory ahead with strategic planning. We may be training in isolation, but we’re in this together. Train smart, be responsible and stay healthy.