A cool topic indeed for today’s message. Responsive autoregulation can at times seem quite obvious and in other instances we may find ourselves somewhat oblivious to this concept.
As we figure out this healthspan to athletispan process, we frequently need to make adjustments in our training and recreational output in accordance with how our bodies are feeling.
When we responsively autoregulate our fitness and athletic output, we are essentially adjusting the intensity (effort) and duration (length) of our sessions. And we’re doing so based on the intrinsic feedback we are receiving from our beastly human beings.
This process comes in three flavors and I’m sure you’ve tasted them all. They are before, during, and after. And that’s referring to how you feel going into a workout (or game, etc.), what’s going on during the session or event, and your sensations or realizations after you’ve finished up.
This autoregulation process in response to your awareness of state (readiness and recovery) also has three general categories. We often use the traffic light analogy for these conditions.
- When you feel great, you give yourself a green light to do what you had planned (or what is prescribed in the T2 programming, etc.). You invest fully in your session and even add a few percentage points of mojo where you’re inclined to do that. Just don’t go too high in the acute:chronic workload ratio.
- When you feel decent (typical, average, even a little foggy or sluggish), you apply yellow light thinking and proceed as normal but with just a little caution. If everything wakes and loosens up, and you feel reasonably energized and excited to train, you’re good to go. But if those sensations don’t change and it’s just a “B” day, you bring the “B” game and soft-pedal here and there as needed. You might not make any major changes to your session, but in minor ways you scale back load and volume just enough to keep things absorbable. You get the session in. You get it done. Good enough and you’re living to fight (the Reaper) another day. Nice use of instinctive wisdom to avoid burying yourself.
- When you feel not so good (poor, stiff, tired, sore), you turn on the red light (but not quite like Roxanne), stop, and assess the situation. Unless things are horrible and you are sick or injured, you probably don’t need a total OFF day. But you definitely need to significantly modify the session or change it altogether. Select some low intensity, short duration options that are recovery-based. A lot of times this is a Zone 1 cardio and mobility combo, perhaps with a little tissue work, or cold/hot therapy thrown in.
As we discussed at the beginning, you can tune in to what’s going on before you begin your session. That’s the easy one. You can also make intraworkout adjustments. This takes a little self-control because sometimes it’s tempting to want that feeling of completion. Of doing your programming come hell or high water. Try to let go of that when adjustments are indicated. It’s not only OK to make intelligent modifications, it’s actually best. And if you are feeling particularly smashed after a workout – whether that’s because you got after it just a little too much or might be coming down with something – respect that and plan in advance to go easy in the next session or two as indicated.
We’ve been talking about general sensations and innate feelings. But all of these experiences can also be correlated with the objective data you may have available. HRV, sleep tracking, weights on the bar, speed performance, and other metrics will support your intuitions. If it’s not there, you won’t be feeling it.
Example time. I’ll provide two although I can honestly think of about 100 right now. A personal experience and a professional one shall be highlighted.
I was getting ready for the workout yesterday. I thought about heading over to the gym but my time was limited and the session requirements were such that using my small garage training space and equipment was fine. Got my tunes going and brought a glass of electrolyte beverage. There were some lifting and power applications per the T2 system. I wasn’t sure whether it was a green or “light yellow” day on the front end. My attitude was good but as I did the first couple primary exercises, I noticed a lack of “pop.” Maybe coming in a rep or two short of what I expected. No zip in the jumps. The nervous system wasn’t firing optimally on all cylinders. Subtle soreness in a few muscles that I didn’t pick up on before I started.
Nothing bad enough to abort the mission, but I just let go of the full send option and got it done. Survived. And because I did that, I feel great today. The scheduled workout for today is light anyway but I anticipate I’ll have a stellar experience (and result) in the next major session later this week.
I recall a specific event with a client I coach that happened not too long ago. He was an early adopter of the personalized coaching and training system I’ve developed here at TLA. Subscribed members in the App can access Personal Coaching Consultations for program design and 1-on-1 guidance. Any time they want but they only pay for what they need. No contracts, no dependency, and resource-rich, empowering support. On-demand coaching that has an open door to the virtual conference room…whenever you like. Anyhoo, this dude absolutely crushed a key session we put together to test his key performance indicators (KPI’s).
He hit a peak and produced some outputs that were a full 5-6% better than any of his prior norms. A jump of this magnitude is actually quite rare. Problem was, he felt so good he decided to add about 25% more volume to the session than what we had planned. When we met afterward and I reviewed his training log (free to all members), I acknowledged and celebrated his performance. Then I suggested we insert an impromptu 4-day deloading period just to ensure he fully recovered from the big day. He would have none of that. And I am not a dictator so I encouraged him to reconsider but he proceeded as he desired. He was a little tired but still elated as he hit the next workout…and promptly tore his hamstring. Probably could have been avoided with a little responsive autoregulation. Now I’m helping him through 8 weeks of rehab and a total change in annual planning having had to postpone and possibly omit the major goals of the year.
Such is life for the Lifetime Athlete. None of this stuff is perfect. You don’t always know when you need to tap the brakes or hit the gas. But listening to your body can pay huge dividends. Trust the wise one who resides within you. And you can always ask me for help if you need it.