Is Your Training Effective?
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Most of people don't know...because there has not been any way to measure! Now the solution has been discovered: EPOC and Training Effect.
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EPOC (Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption) is the absolute numeric value of oxygen that your body needs after training. When related to your current fitness level, it tells you what kind of effect each training session has on your fitness.
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The Training Effect is an indicator of how much the training session improved your aerobic fitness, especially the maximum performance of your cardiovascular system and the ability to
resist fatigue during endurance training. It does not provide direct information about the effect to, for example, strength or speed attributes.
At rest, your system is in equilibrium (the homeostatic balance). In order to achieve a training effect, this equilibrium must be upset, i.e., the body must be put under stress to which it can react. This stress is known as training stimulus. Your body's reaction to the stimulus caused by
exercise is called the generation of a training effect. The better your fitness level, the more you have to push your body during the training in order to improve your performance.
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Long-duration, low-intensity endurance base training (>1h, <50%vo2max) improves fat metabolism and increases capillary density and heart volume over the long term. This builds a foundation for better maximum performance and harder training in the future. Base endurance training does not usually have an immediate effect on maximum performance, so the Training Effect based on the EPOC value is relatively low.
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High-intensity training (>75%VO2max) directly improves physical properties that increase maximum endurance performance, such as oxygen transport from lungs to muscles, energy production and utilization, and nerve/muscle cooperation. Improving these properties increases the maximum oxygen intake (VO2max) and resistance to fatigue, thus leading to a better
endurance performance. The effect of such training depends on its duration.
Depending on individual differences, athletes' objectives and training history, the optimal intensity levels of training are different. Experienced athletes must usually train at a higher intensity or for
much longer intervals than beginners in order to reach Training Effect that increases fitness.
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Suunto t6 allows you to accurately monitor the amount of your body's stress level and training stimulus based on the EPOC value, and also determines the personal Training Effect level.
Your body adapts rather quickly to the stimulus caused by physical exertion. The next time, the stimulus caused by exactly the same training will be lower, because your body will have prepared itself based on the earlier experience. Thus, the Training Effect is slowly reduced and the same
repeated training will improve your fitness level less and less.
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To learn more about Training Effect check the Suunto t6 site.
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