Sunday, February 13, 2011

It can take at least 6 days to recover from a hard training session

This study seems to support the basic workout frequency prescribed by Doug McGuff and John Little in Body by Science - once a week (and less frequently if necessary).

Recovery after Heavy Resistance Exercise And Skeletal Muscle Androgen Receptor And Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I Isoform Expression In Strength Trained Men.

The effects of heavy resistance exercise on skeletal muscle androgen receptor (AR) protein concentration and mRNAs of AR, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF)-IEa, and mechano growth factor (MGF) expression were examined from biopsies of vastus lateralis (VL) muscle before and 48 hours after heavy resistance exercise (5 × 10 repetition maximum [RM] leg press and 4 × 10RM squats) in 8 adult strength trained men. The present exercise induced an acute decrease in maximal isometric force and increased serum total testosterone (T) and free testosterone (FT) concentrations. During 2 recovery days, maximal isometric force and subjective perception of physical fitness remained significantly lowered, whereas serum creatine kinase activity, subjective muscle soreness, and muscle swelling (i.e., thickness of VL by ultrasound) were significantly increased compared to pre-exercise values. Subjective perception of physical fitness was followed up to 7 days, and by 6 days postexercise, it was elevated above the pre-exercise level. Basal T and FT concentrations remained unaltered after the exercise. No statistically significant changes were observed in AR protein or mRNA expression, but IGF-IEa (p < 0.05) and MGF (p < 0.05) mRNA expression were increased compared to pre-exercise levels. These findings indicate that IGF-IEa and MGF responses may be related to acute regenerative processes in muscle because of exercise and may contribute to muscular adaptation to resistance exercise. Subjective perception of physical fitness suggests that recovery over a pre-exercise level of the present type of heavy resistance exercise can take approximately 6 days.


Of course I am left asking about the vaidity of subjective perceptions.....

8 comments:

Jason said...

after heavy resistance exercise (5 × 10 repetition maximum [RM] leg press and 4 × 10RM squats)

Not sure if I am missing something here. The the above seems a contradiction.
My understanding, a 1 rep maximum is a weight you can rep once. The heaviest you can go. So to do 5x10 does not sit right with me, unless there adequate rests between each rep. Though that is not suggested.

I am quite happy for someone to show me the error of my understanding as this just seems plain wrong.

Jason

Anonymous said...

1RM = a weight you can do once, but not twice. 10RM = a weight you can lift 10 times but not 11 - in theory.

5x 10 & 4x 10 are quite high volumes... 40 reps for a squat, even though the loading is relatively low. I get more fatigue perception with higher volumes than higher weights.

Jason said...

My point exactly. Their use of the word "heavy" seems out of context.

RafeK said...

I don't see that this study indicates that training prior to full recovery from a given session halt the recovery process from that first session or dull the long term response to the intial stressor.

Its abnormal in any training system I know besides HIT to train while sore from a previous session in fact this the norm in almost all athletic training.

Dan said...

First off why in the world would any one want to train in this manner is beyond me if you call training to knock yourself out of the ballpark or to be so sore and crippled up you can't move is not training if your sore your tired bottom line period their are better ways to accomplish goals let's face it if you were training a athlete that's the last thing you would want is for him to come back out of his training dead up to his arse and sore

Anonymous said...

Well, if I do an extra strenous session of HIIT, it does take nearly a week to recover.. but otherwise, i dont know..

RafeK said...

My comment should read it is not abnormal to train while sore.

Anonymous said...

I believe they mean 5 reps at 10RM and 4 reps at 10RM for a grand total of 9 reps.