Monitoring Intensity and Flexibility

🏋‍♂️ Monitoring Training Load – Simple Notes

🔍 What is it?

Tracking how much stress (physical + mental) is put on the body during training to:

• Improve performance

• Avoid injury or illness

• Prevent overtraining

✅ Goals:

• Reach fitness targets

• Stay healthy

• Avoid fatigue (nonfunctional overreaching)

📊 Types of Training Load

1. External Load – What you do

   • Distance run, reps, weight lifted, sprints, etc.

2. Internal Load – How your body feels/reacts

   • Heart Rate (HR), RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion), HR Recovery, HR Variability

   • TRIMP, blood lactate, questionnaires, training stress

👨‍👩‍👧 Monitoring for General Population

1. Session RPE (sRPE)

• Rate your workout from 1 (easy) to 10 (hard)

• Formula:
  Training Load = RPE × Duration (min)

🔢 Load Ranges:

• Low: 100–300 units (e.g. yoga, walking)

• Medium: 300–600 units (e.g. jogging, gym)

• High: 600–1000+ units (e.g. HIIT, heavy lifting)

🗓 Weekly Load Example (Intermediate)

2. Resistance Training Load

• Formula: Volume = Weight × Reps × Sets

• E.g. 25kg × 10 reps × 3 sets = 750 kg

3. Heart Rate Monitoring

• Max HR = 220 − Age

• Train at 50–70% for moderate intensity
  (e.g. Age 40 → 90–126 bpm)

4. Step Count Tracking

• More daily steps = lower risk of early death

• Aiming for 5,000–10,000+ steps is good

5. Wellness & Fatigue Check

• Use simple logs or tools like:

  • POMS

  • RESTQ-Sport

  • TQR

6. Resting Heart Rate

• High RHR = sign of fatigue, illness, stress

• Good recovery = lower RHR

🤸‍♀ Flexibility

🧠 Definition:

• Range of motion (ROM) at a joint

• Affected by muscles, tendons, bones

⚙ 2 Types of Flexibility

• Static – Holding a stretch

• Dynamic – Active movement

🧩 Factors That Affect Flexibility

1. Joint Type (e.g. hip vs knee)

2. Age & Sex (younger/female = more flexible)

3. Muscle/Connective Tissue

4. Stretch Tolerance

5. Neural Control

6. Resistance Training (full ROM)

7. Muscle Bulk (too much = limits movement)

8. Activity Level (active = more flexible)

9. Injuries (scar tissue reduces flexibility)

10. Body Temperature (warm muscles = more flexible)

🎯 Benefits of Flexibility

• Better posture

• Lower injury risk

• Better performance

• Daily movement easier

📋 Stretching Guidelines (ACSM, 2021)

🧘‍♀ Stretching Types

1. Static Stretching

   • Hold 15–30 sec, no bouncing

   • Safer, easy, great for improving flexibility

2. Ballistic Stretching

   • Bouncing movement (risk of injury if uncontrolled)

3. Dynamic Stretching

   • Controlled movement mimicking sport activity

   • e.g. Walking lunges, knee lifts

4. PNF (Partner Stretching)

   • Contract → Relax method

   • Uses proprioceptors to increase ROM

📚 Proprioceptors in Stretching