The best way to understand this concept is to compare it to the changes in skin colour when sun light is applied. Imagine spending a day in the sun on the first day of summer. With your skin not adapted to this ultra-violet light it burns. As a protection mechanism, your skin responds by becoming darker, and so protects it from damage on day two. Whilst in no way advocating excessive sun exposure, this example is perfectly analogous to the specific adaptation caused by an imposed demand on the body.
To this end we must amend our view of exercise, to not just say it is hard, but to add that there must be some degree of increase in stimulus, a removal from familiarity. The question of complex exercise is thus a complex one. A removal from familiarity invariably partners a removal fom the comfort zone, and with this removal, safety and possibly, health, are compromised. Some research has pointed to the potential for high intensity exercise to cause DNA damage.
The question then becomes what magnitude of a previously unapplied stimulus can we justify applying to maximise both results and safety? How do we maximise results without compromising safety?
The answer lies in controlling the environment in which we exercise – coupling an unstable and unfamiliar degree of exercise with a stable and familiar environment. In this way we can manage the risks. Note the aim is to manage the risks, not remove them. Consider the example of learning to touch type. Faster key strokes lead to more mistakes, but also to increased typing speed. The aim, as with exercise, is to balance exercise and outcome. Typing fast without making mistakes, or maximising the benefits of exercise without suffering any negative consequences.
Here lies the crux of the issue. We must determine the smallest possible amount of exercise we need to do to maximise results. If the results are a constant, but the output is variable, it makes sense to do the smallest amount of exercise possible to elicit a response, thus increasing the safety of exercise.
We must learn how to exercise smart, not hard (unless hard IS smart).
It is possible to find a balance between safety and effectiveness of exercise. By finding this balance, any negative effects of exercise can be minimised while maximising the numerous benefits and positive effects.
So what initiatives can we undertake to ensure smart training, while still maintaining intensity? Here are some suggestions:
- Responsible exercise programming to ensure a balance of movement types and time domains while minimising unnecessary repetition.
- Correct nutrition and hydration to maximise muscle and nervous system recovery, including the maintenance of a favourable omega 3:6 profile.
- Sufficient rest (not recovery – REST) between sessions. Important between both sessions of the same type (to prevent peripheral fatigue) and sessions of different types (to prevent central fatigue).
- The inclusion of deloading weeks (to allow the central nervous system to recover), or complete rest weeks as a regular part of programming.
- Minimisation of ‘oxidative-stress-causing’ long, slow, chronic cardiovascular conditioning.
- Deep tissue and myofascial release following muscle damage.
- The practice of specific Pre and Post Exercise Routines.
