- How much is too much?
- How do you increase training volume appropriately?
- How fast can you increase the pace?
- How will you know if it’s too much too soon?
How much is too much?
Far too often as physiotherapists, we see people with injuries as a result of taking up a new sport or getting back into an old one. A key question we ask is about how much training has been occurring over the preceding weeks. When training has increased inappropriately, we can usually trace the origin of the injury back to training too hard too fast and too soon.
So how do you increase training volume appropriately?
The golden rule is to increase by a totalof 10% per week. Yes, this is a rough guide and individual differences will occur, but this rule is simple, safe and usually achievable. It also allows time for the muscles to adapt with changes in muscle fibre type, capillary density, coordination and energy delivery systems (e.g. fat burning ability) and for bone to adapt to the new loads and stress.
How fast can you increase the pace?
This is a motor control/coordination issue. When teaching your muscles to work at faster speeds, the brain needs to work out how to send the right signals at the right time. The gains we see in the early stages of training and rehabilitation are mainly due to motor control/coordination.
Too much, too soon, too early? The signs:
Injury & Pain – this may be the last sign that you’ve pushed too hard, too fast.- Fatigue
- Sluggishness
- Losing lean muscle mass
- Getting sick
- Feeling unstable during exercise
- Most importantly you’re not enjoying the exercise you’re doing!
Too many people exercise and train with PAIN – our advice is STOP at the first sign of pain and get early treatment. Too often people come to us late in the piece and expect miracles. Get in to see us as early as possible for the BEST results.
TOO MUCH – TOO SOON – TOO EARLY – TOO OFTEN THE CASE!!
