1.1.c – The Recovery Process

Learning objectves

To understand the causes of fatgue in the body and factors afectng recovery.

To be able to defne the terms ‘oxygen defcit’ and ‘oxygen debt’.

To explain EPOC and the two post exercise recovery stages.

To be able to describe training adaptatons that might aid the recovery process.

The recovery process

What do athletes do to aid the recovery process afer exercise and why?

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The recovery process involves returning the body to the state it was in before exercise. The reactons that occur and how long the process takes depend on the duraton and intensity of the exercise undertaken and the individual's level of ftness.

The recovery process

Post exercise the body is in a state of fatgue and enters a period of recovery. To do this, aerobic energy is required and is termed excess post-exercise oxygen consumpton (EPOC)

Oxygen Defcit:The amount of oxygen that the performer requires to complete an actvity aerobically.

Oxygen debt is the amount of oxygen needed to return the body to a restng state. Oxygen debt results from EPOC.

The recovery process

Afer strenuous exercise there are 4 main tasks that the body needs to be completed before the muscle can operate efciently again:

• Replacement of ATP and phosphocreatne (the fast component)

• Replenishment of myoglobin with oxygen

• Removal of lactc acid (the slow component)

• Replacement of glycogen

Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumpton (EPOC)

Oxygen defcit and EPOC can be ploted against tme. There are two distnct stages during EPOC. 1.The fast component of recovery2.The slow component of recovery

Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumpton (EPOC)

Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumpton (EPOC)EPOC will always be present but the size of the oxygen defcit and EPOC will difer depending on the actvity intensity and duraton.

Low intensity exercise results in a small defcit limitng the use of the anaerobic energy systems and therefore lactc acid accumulaton.

Low intensity exercise High intensity exercise

Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumpton (EPOC)Fast component of recovery:This frst stage of EPOC recovery is also known as the alactacid component. The increased rate of respiraton contnues to supply oxygen to the body and myoglobin stores.

EPOC helps replenish these stores and takes up to 2-3 minutes.

Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumpton (EPOC)Fast component of recovery:Resynthesis of ATP and PC stores also occurs within the frst 3 minutes of EPOC. Afer this tme, phosphocreatne stores, are completely restored but 50% of PC can be replenished afer only 30 seconds.

Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumpton (EPOC)Second component of recovery:This stage is also known as the lactacid component. It is the slowest of the replenishment processes and full recovery may take up to an hour, depending on the intensity and duraton of the exercise.

Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumpton (EPOC)Post exercise respiratory rate (ventlaton) and depth along with heart rate (circulaton) remain high to aid removal of by-products such as CO2 and carbonic acid.

Body temperature rises during exercise and will remain elevated during EPOC. This accounts for about 60% of the slow lactacid component of EPOC.

Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumpton (EPOC)Lactc acid (the slow component) can be removed in four ways:

Components of lactc acid removal % Lactc acid involved

Pyruvic acid is oxidised (broken down) and re-enters the kreb’s cycle to produce carbon dioxide, water and energy.

65

Converted into glucose and then stored in muscles/liver as glycogen. This process is called gluconeogenesis and glyconeogenesis.

25

Converted into protein 10

Performing a cool-down accelerates lactc acid removal because exercise keeps the metabolic rate of muscles high and keeps capillaries dilated. This means that oxygen can be fushed through, removing the accumulated by products.

The stores of glycogen in relaton to the stores of fat are relatvely small.

The replacement of glycogen stores depends on the type of exercise undertaken. It may take a number of days to complete the restoraton of glycogen afer a marathon.

Eatng a high-carbohydrate meal will accelerate glycogen restoraton, and should be done within 1 hour post exercise.

Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumpton (EPOC)

Training implicatons for recoveryKnowledge and understanding of EPOC and the recovery process are essental to maintain training efciency and peak performance. It is the job of the coach and performer to ensure some general principles are applied.

1. Warm up thoroughly – reduces O2 defcit by increasing O2 supply to working muscles and ensure myoglobin stores are full.

2. Actve recovery (cool down) – using an actve recovery maintains respiratory and heart rates and fushes the muscles and capillary beds with oxygenated blood fow. This also aids removal of lactc acid is quicker. Intensity of cool down depends on individual but moderate (approx 35%) is best.

Training implicatons for recovery

3. Monitor training intensites – This will ensure performers avoid OBLA and maintain quality of training.

Training implicatons for recovery

4. Cooling aids – Ice baths can be used to lower the muscle and body temperature and reduce the demand on the slow lactacid component.

5. Work:recovery ratos – training should adopt the correct work to rest balance depending on the energy system required.

Training implicatons for recovery

Training aim Main energy system Work:recovery rato

Explosive strength & Speed (100m)

ATP-PC system 1:3+

High-intensity – Muscular endurance (800m)

Glycoltc system 1:2

Aerobic capacity / endurance (Marathon runner)

Aerobic system 1:0.5

6. Strategies and tactcs – A coach should use tmeouts and substtutons strategically to allow for lactc acid removal and ATP resynthesis. i.e. a tennis player changing rackets or using hawkeye during a game.

Training implicatons for recovery

7. Nutriton – The correct pre, during and post match nutriton is vital to maximise fuel stores, delay the onset of fatgue and aid recovery. i.e. Loading creatnee protein and phosphagen will aid the first component o ,POC..

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Exam questons1. Identfy the processes that occur during the fast component of excess post exercise oxygen consumpton (EPOC). [2]

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Marks Scheme:

1. Two marks for:

• Re-synthesis of ATP/PC/phosphocreatne.

• Replenishment of myoglobin with oxygen / oxy-myoglobin link

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