General adaptation syndrome

The body's adaptation to training: general adaptation syndrome

The reason why training can improve a person’s athletic performance is based on the body’s ability to respond to stress. Canadian psychologist Hans Seyle once published a model that was later widely used on the response of a living body to stress in the environment, called General Adaptation Synthesis Sign (General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)). Since this model can properly describe the body's response to training, this model has now become the basis of training theory.

What is general adaptation syndrome?

When an organism receives pressure (defining pressure), in order to maintain its stability, the response to pressure can be divided into three stages:

Alarm (Alarm): The first creatures that are stressed will have a so-called Fight or Flight response, or be paralyzed. In the alarm phase, the body will temporarily reduce its resistance to pressure and notify the body to enter the resistance phase (Resistance).

Resistance (Resistance): The body begins to resist the stressor and increases its tolerance to the stressor.

Exhaustion: If the source of stress continues to be too long or the intensity is greater than the body can load, the body's resistance will decline and enter a period of fatigue. Too long at this stage will cause harm to the body and even death.

If the body does not suffer too much damage due to stress after entering the exhaustion period, after the stressor disappears, the body will begin to recover and increase the body’s ability to resist the same stressor through the super-recovery mechanism. Does this mechanism follow? Does training look alike? That's right, in fact, training is to properly put the body under stress (various physical training), allowing the body to go through the general adaptation syndrome and super-recovery mechanisms to increase its tolerance to stressors. The result at this time is increased strength, stronger muscles, and better physical fitness! With this level of understanding, we can try to define training:

Training: A systematic process that increases the body's ability to resist the same kind of pressure in the future by continuously putting the body under appropriate pressure.

Finally, let’s take a look at a few training principles based on the above cognition:

1. The training intensity needs to be adjusted based on the athlete's own ability. The same menu may be just enough for the veteran to provide enough stimulation to make him progress, but for the novice, even if too much pressure does not cause injury, it may also produce "overtraining", but there is no way to recover through recovery. The process increases resistance to pressure.

2. The pressure applied by the training needs to meet the ability that the athlete wants to increase (consistent with the sports goal). This is also commonly referred to as "specialized" training. When the body recovers, it will only increase its resistance to specific pressures. Therefore, you must be aware of your goals during training.

3. The body needs rest. As mentioned earlier, continuous stress will eventually lead to injury or death. Remember, you will not become stronger during practice, you will only become stronger when you rest after practice!