Different strokes for different folks

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Physical Education - Different strokes for different folks

Different strokes for different folks

At the Laval University in Canada, the University of Texas at Austin, and
three other Universities in the United States, a major collaborative
project is currently under way to determine the role of genetic variability
associated with individual responses to an identical training program.
Fittingly, this project is called the Heritage Study. Millions of dollars
are being spent to quantify and understand the genetic foundations of a
phenomenon that athletes already know full well. We all respond differently
to a training program. Some athletes can do next to nothing for three
months then train vigorously, sweat, and spew chunks for three weeks and
achieve racing shape. Others are "hard gainers" who seem to lose everything
if they miss a week of training. From numerous research studies involving
untrained people starting an endurance training program it is clear that, ,
three months of regular endurance exercise of appropriate intensity and
duration will result in a 15-20% increase in maximal oxygen consumption
[1], in people with typical VO2 max. values. But what these results do not
say is that one or two amongst each of those groups will increase by only 3
or 4%, and one or two others will increase by 35%, despite identical
training!

Some people tolerate, and even thrive on, a high volume of training to
reach peak fitness. Others cannot tolerate the same workload, but reach
similar performance levels if they intersperse more rest days. We each have
a unique psychological make-up. We have different strengths and
"weaknesses" within our physiological performance machine that should
influence training plan design, and we have different hormonal and immune
reactivity that will influence the level of stress we can tolerate and
improve under. In the field of exercise physiology, we have learned a great
deal about physiological adaptations [2] and the general methods of
training that conform to known physiology. This is very valuable
information for the athlete to understand, whether 24 or 64. But remember:
ANY exact training program that you copy from me or someone else is
destined to be, at best, an approximation of what will work best for you;
and, at worst, a total failure.

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Links:
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[1] http://alison.com/#
[2] http://alison.com/#