Gassing when returning to training…?

It is common knowledge that a week or two off (maybe more) from any form of exercise will have a detrimental effect on your ability to perform but how, why and by how much?

The fundamental element of your training capability is your cardiovascular system. The primary function of your cardiovascular system is to deliver oxygen and various other nutrients to the muscles. There are various systems in play here, including stroke volume and cardiac output.

However I do not want to concentrate on those today.

My focus is on our VO2 capability and how much this is effected by illness and time off training.

VO2 or as others may call it Oxygen uptake is the amount of oxygen that our body consumes. While I do not wish to insult anyone, this will increase and decrease depending on our level of activity. The greater the activity the greater demand for Oxygen – the better our oxygen uptake (VO2) works the better we perform. This is more often than not associated with aerobic exercise which I believe is applicable to BJJ (given that most rolls last in excess of 2 minutes and will be continual for anything up to an hour for some). More commonly it is associated with our ability to perform at maximal exercise for a prolonged period of time – otherwise known as Maximal Oxygen Uptake (VO2 max). This in the simplest form means the greatest amount of oxygen that can be used at a cellular level for the entire body. Scientifically it would be defined as thus ‘The highest oxygen uptake the individual can attain during physical work breathing air at sea-level’. (Astrand and Rodahl, 1986, p332).

It is estimated that our resting oxygen uptake is 3.5 ml of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute (scientifically labelled as either – l.min¯' or ml.kg¯'.min¯').

The range of VO2 max is widely accepted to be 25 to 80 mk.kg¯'.min¯'

The above obviously changes per individual depending on a wide range of factors, physiological parameters, age and conditional level (Guyton, 2000).

Just to give you an indication of what the above figures indicate:

The highest VO2 max recorded was a Male Norwegian skier who achieved a level of 94 ml.kg¯'.min¯' with a Female Russian skier achieving 77 ml.kg¯'.min¯'

For the hypochondriacs out their – chronic heart failure would produce levels between ~10-15 ml.kg¯'.min¯'

Now that I hope you have grasped a very basic understanding of the VO2 system, what happens when training cessation happens. It has been recorded that in just 12 to 21 days there can be a drop of almost 15% (9%-15% range) in your VO2 capability and cessation of up to 2 months can see a further 9%. In essence if you are off for 3 months you are likely to see a loss of between 20%-25% in your VO2 capability.

For the old ones out their reading (me included) after 25 years of age your VO2 will decline ~5-10% per decade (sucks eh).

Training your VO2 is somewhat straight forward – concentrate on large muscle group’s i.e. dynamic activity and vary the length of training time between 20 and 60 minutes. It is important however that you exceed 50% and do not exceed 85% of your VO2 max (if not known your Maximal Hear Rate will suffice)…. If you are not sure of that, a simple calculation is thus 220 minus age (example 30 year old is 220 – 30 = 190 beats/min). Remember this calculation is generic and not entirely accurate, but a good tool to use for those with limited resources and knowledge. Heart rate monitors are widely available, well priced and very good tools.

So while this blog was somewhat long winded (sorry)… when you return from injury/holiday/break in training you are 'gassing' quicker because your body has adjusted. Physiological changes have occurred, it is not an excuse it is a fact. But fear not, it is widely accepted that the higher our levels prior to injury/illness or break the quicker we can recover the losses we see.

Oh this is not a tool to use as an excuse by the way, just a scientific way (complicated more like it) of saying 'Don't train, loose it. Train, improve it'

oossss