A well constructed, thoughtful and effective training must respect certain theoretical rules, here are the 10 most important principles to have an effective training, be careful not to forget any!
Specificity
This principle is based on the fact that we must train in the same way as for competition. In fact, in order to increase the level of performance, training must be targeted according to the characteristics of the discipline and the competition.
Let's take the example of a cyclosportive in the mountains. It is not by doing push-ups that you will progress, but for a beginner, practicing an endurance sport (for example trail running) will still make him progress. However, if you enter a higher level of performance, training on the flat will not make you progress as much as training in the mountains. Until you reach very targeted objectives where you will train for example on 45 min climbs corresponding to the time of the climbs in the race.
Individualization
Principle often forgotten by many, the training of your friend will not necessarily have the same effect on you, whether it is positive or negative. It is important to keep in mind that each person is different and that all the physiological changes resulting from physical activity depend on your genetic baggage, your degree of trainability and your lifestyle. All of this makes it incompatible in the long term and ineffective in the short term, even for two people of the same level, to perform the same training.
Progressiveness
Training must be progressive, whether in its volume (duration), its intensity, its overall charge, and this, in the short term (over one session), as well as in the long term (over several years).
The typical counter-example is to want to do the same distances as before as soon as you resume training. Making sure that your progression is realistic and optimal means: reducing the incidence of injuries, reaching a higher level of performance/health, all while having more fun!
Thus, from one session to another, or week to week, the training load should increase progressively and this principle should be the same from one year to the next (not to be neglected in the case of the youngest athletes to avoid overtraining/long-term injuries or blocking their progression by charges that are too high too early).
Optimal Load
In order to increase performance capacity, training must be done at an optimal load.
If the load is too low, the body is not stressed and will not adapt = stagnation or regression
Too high a load, impossible to achieve = Fatigue, overtraining and long-term regression
Optimal load = increase in performance capacity
Example: running every day for 1 hour at 12Km/hr on the same course, at the beginning you will progress, because the training load will be sufficiently important to generate adaptations, then once these adaptations have been put in place the "stress" of the session will be less and less important until it no longer increases the performance capacity.
Another example: to carry out non-maximal training sessions = I hold 300w over 20min, if I train at 280w over 20min the load will not be optimal, on the other hand if I train at 280w over 25min or 320w over 15minutes, or at 280w over 20min but after 2h of training, the load will be adapted.
Adaptation/overcompensation
The principle following that of the optimal load, any training carried out at this level of load generates adaptations on the part of the body. To respond to the stress on the body that upsets its homeostasis (its balance), the body will generate short-, medium- and long-term adaptations to regain its homeostasis as quickly as possible.
These adaptations allow for an increase in the level of performance, which is what we call overcompensation:
After a training session with an optimal load, homeostasis is disrupted, we are less efficient than before it (see 1, image below), but if we give the body time to recover (2) (see following principle), it will create adaptations allowing us to perform better (3). The goal is that if a similar stress occurs, the body can respond more easily without disturbing its homeostasis.
For example, during a long stay at altitude (several weeks), the body will be shocked by the reduced presence of oxygen (resulting in hypoxia), to compensate it will trigger several mechanisms/adaptations to respond to this stress, in the short term, an increase in ventilation, in the medium term an increase in EPO secretion (direct effects), resulting in an increase in the production of red blood cells, and in the long term a better muscular economy (deferred effects)
Alternating load/rest - Recovery
To progress, you need to recover! It is during recovery that adaptations are created, so it is important to optimize this phase to start fresh for the next session.
In order to have an optimal progression, it is necessary to have an adapted load-rest alternation, neither too much nor too little.
Too high a load and/or not enough rest = impossibility for the body to make adaptations, does not allow it to return to the base level (regain its balance) = short-term fatigue, overtraining and long-term regression
Training load too low and/or too much rest = no or little adaptation / disappearance of adaptations due to a lack of solicitations, which leads us to the following principle
Reversibility
The adaptations put in place are reversible and after some time without training the body returns to the starting points, the reversibility of the adaptations can be fast (decrease of the V02max, of the reserves of muscular glycogen or of the buffer systems) as much longer (loss of the economy of race/gestual).
Motivation
In order to go out and work out (or get on the home trainer) instead of staying on the couch in front of the TV, you need to be motivated! In the same way, to carry out a difficult session and to wait for an optimal load level, you also need to be highly motivated.
There are different types of motivation, from the most unstable and unsustainable: external motivation (I do it to avoid a punishment), thinking of interjected external motivation (I do it to please my family), integrated external motivation (I do it for my health, because it increases my self-confidence), to the most stable and sustainable motivation: intrinsic motivation defined as a commitment by interest and pleasure.
It is therefore towards this intrinsic motivation that one must tend, even if at times one can find another type of motivation, the intrinsic motivation remains mandatory to continue one's practice over the years.
Variability
Vary, the types of sessions, the intensities worked, the way of working them (exercises), the course of the sessions or on a more global vision the cycles of important loads with cycles of less important loads or different loads, vary the sports practiced, the races practiced from one year to another, the construction of one's season... Varying, while respecting the principles seen previously is the key to continue to "shock" the body and stay motivated, whether by not seeing the time pass on a training session on a new course or by being motivated like a cadet at the beginning of each season.
Pleasure
First notion of any training, without pleasure, desire to practice, there can be no progression or maintenance of the activity in the long term. Pleasure, generating an intrinsic motivation which allows to stay motivated and to realize all the sessions in an optimal way
Even if some sessions are difficult, the key is to find small pleasures within the sessions (such as being ecstatic about the speeds reached during a PMA session)
An optimal training is the right implementation of all these rules, you are fussy and take pleasure in the small details, a daily training will be your key to be successful and last in this performance. You love to race on the road, but you also like to ride a mountain bike in training, even if it is not the most specific for your goal, the implementation of mountain bike sessions can be a way to motivate you and bring you to performance on the road, moreover it will allow you to work on certain qualities that are more difficult to work on on the road (like Peter Sagan who practices mountain biking all year long because he needs this fun side). The key is to find the right balance that will allow you to have an optimal training while having fun and be able to perform in the long term.
This is what I try to do for the athletes, riders and enthusiasts who trust me with their training.