HUMAN PERFORMANCE IS ALL ABOUT ADAPTATION . . .

by Mark Ottobre, Owner of the Alpha Body

People around the world in gyms and health clubs are plagued with plateauing. What a plateau really means is that the body has adapted to its environment and surroundings. This is one of the reasons why training programs must change every 3-6 weeks.

The human body must have reason to be stronger, faster and better. No one suddenly wakes up one day and has the ability to squat 200kgs and Abs like Superman. These are feats that are achieved through time, effort and forcing the body to continually adapt to higher levels.

Squatting 200kg is not normal and functional from the perspective of everyday living. Neither is 5% percent body fat. Regular people, living an everyday life will never cause the body to achieve great acts of physical performance simply because the body has no reason for it. In order to squat 200 kilos a person must force the body through adaptation via a scientific, planned and consistent training program until the body adapts and is able to perform the lift.

To understand the concept of adaptation imagine this…

We take you out of your environment right now, the suburb in which you live, away from the computer in which you receive this and put you in the Amazon jungle, what would happen? Let’s assume you make it passed the first week of misery with no Laptop, TV, Super Markets, Air-conditioner, Car and Mobile Phone. You would have to learn how to adapt to your environment or die trying. In the first week you would find your self breaking habits in which you use to rely and form habits which help you survive. An adaptation process would occur both physically and mentally.

Besides the mentally habits you form, over the coming weeks your body adapts on a physiological level. The tanned skin from the sun, the layers of body fat you shed to survive the heat, your bodies ability to retain fluid so you don’t dehydrate, your appetite for food decreasing so you don’t starve, your metabolism slows to utilize energy or your bodies survival mechanisms jump into action to keep you alive, these are all signs that your body is adapting. This isn’t done by accident, this is what the body is design to do, adapt to its surroundings to sustain life.

Change the environment to the Antarctic and the body will again result in a different adaptation response. Differences in the adaptation response in this case would include storing fat to help keep the body warm. Have you ever wondered what is the cause of why people from different parts of the world look different? Environment people live in and food consumed play a major part. Environments cause bodies to adapt in certain ways.

ONCE THE BODY STARTS TO RECOGNIZE SOMETHING AS ROUTINE, IT WILL NO LONGER RESPOND IN A POSITIVE WAY.
-Jason Hanisak- Elite Fitness Systems

So why are you telling me this and how is this going to help me get toned, buffed and beautiful?

There are better and worse ways of training, but at the end of the day it’s all about causing the body to adapt to the next level to make progress. As long as we can continue to cause adaptations in our bodies, we continue to make progress. Failing that, we fail to make progress, pretty simple right?

Sounds simple enough, however people become complacent. From failing to plan workouts, skipping sessions and often egos focusing too much on load (weight) used.

Many Trainers’ solely focus on load to force adaptation. Load used is a bonafined means of creating an adaptation response in the body. However it is still only one way. Others principles that NEED to be considered are:

• Reps

• Sets

• Tempo/Pace (Speed, slow or fast)

• Workout Density (Load lifted in a specific period, example, complete the same work out, using the same weight, in less time)

• Exercise

• Increasing Load/Weight

• Range of motion (ROM)

All of these principles combine produce a certain style of training. For example, if the reps are low and rest and set are high, you could assume a strength based style of training. While there is nothing wrong with specifically labeling a style of training, mention must be giving to altering principles based on science rather than switch styles to bust through training plateaus. If one continues to switch styles, they will not know what specifically lead to a positive or negative response (reps, sets, rest, etc).

Examples of styles of training:

• Heavy Duty
• HIIT
• Volume
• Pyramid Training

(Styles are all made up by the principles of training, and changing training principles is what should be a core focus)

So what to do?

There are two main factors one can change to combat a plateau or insure it doesn’t happen:

1. Training
2. Nutrition

When starting out in the gym, even if equipped with the world’s best training and nutrition program the body will adapt then cease to get results. The few weeks of the program will be marvelous. After that the body will know what is coming next. A program that is ‘100% right’ is one that changes as the body adapts to the program.

My fat fighting and muscle building friends pay particular attention to this law. This must be considered when trying to lose body fat, gain muscle and dieting.

Have enough sameness to measure improvement and enough variety to never let the body adapt. This is a vital key; even the best, most scientific program ever created will be null and void after the body adapts (4-6 weeks).


THE RULE IS, THE PROGRAM IS ONLY AS GOOD AS THE TIME IT TAKES YOU TO ADAPT TO IT.
-Charles Poliquin- World renowned Strength Coach

READ PART 2 NEXT MONTH: "TRAINING PRINCIPLES OF ADAPTATION"

Mark Ottobre is the owner and creator of www.thealphabody.com, an Elite Mentoring service that guides people compete successfully or get in great shape! Having trained both a Mr. and Ms Australia, the program is worth its weight in gold!

Coinciding with his passion for Health, Fitness and Bodybuilding, Mark writes for Muscle Mag, profiling Australian Bodybuilders and the Emcee for the ANB (Australasian Natural Bodybuilding Association, Victoria). Check out http://www.thealphabody.com for more information