Q & A with Dave Scott
Dave Scott is the most recognized athlete and coach in the sport of triathlon. He is a six-time Ironman World Champion and the first inductee into the Ironman Hall of Fame.
Please send your questions to DaveScott@BodyHealth.com. Some will be selected for response in his MAP newsletter column.
From Chuck in Atlanta GA..:
I heard you mention that the body progresses about every 10 – 14 days in response to exercise. Could you explain how this works and how you use this as a coach in working with athletes?
From Dave Scott:
Chuck, the principles of endurance exercise that need to be incorporated into all programs are: progression, over load and recovery. There is a fine balance between all three elements. During the off-season and pre-season training months (2-5 months), combining progression and gradual overloading will elicit very positive returns. Recognizing improvement aerobically seemingly happens week to week. Feeling “stronger” each week is a common characteristic.
As the season progresses into the competitive season, the overload during training and allowing adequate recovery become more defined. Recovery is paramount to enable the body to progress and grow.
Let's look at the typical training cycle in trying to understand how the body adapts in a 10-12 day cycle. First off, everyone's routine is different. Secondly, every athlete's resiliency, repair, and recovery varies from session to session. Thirdly, specialization in training may contrast dramatically from a sprint to an Ironman.
Recognizing these variables, during a week of training, an athlete may have two hard sessions of running, two hard sessions on the bike, and three hard swim sessions. Recovery from either a hard lactate threshold session on a long day with intensity may take 2-5 days to completely rebound from. This is quite common, where as a long bike and a tempo (LT) run are done back to back.
The muscle physiology inducing elements eliminating metabolites, lowering muscle enzymes, reducing muscle soreness, replenishing protein synthesis, rebuilding glycogen stores – collectively may take several days.
So Chuck, here's my point: measuring improvement by repeating similar workouts and sessions that allow comparative analyses either by – heart rate, power, speed, distance, and/or perceived exertion, generally is not practical nor possible (during the competitive season) on a weekly basis. It takes two “like” sessions spaced by 5-8 days to recognize the gain which occurs every 10-14 days.
Lastly, when you look at progress, there should be a break through workout per discipline each month.
Good luck,
Dave Scott
Q & A with Dave Scott - Previous Issues
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Within 24 hours of doing a hard workout, on MAP, my body recovers from what I have done and is ready for the next training day. This is invaluable for any athlete of any age.
MAP allows the body not only to heal, but to gain from each workout done. I feel it. I love it. I recommend it.” - Dave Scott
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