Supercompensation in sport is used in situations where we want to prepare the body for increased effort - it is a state of increased efficiency of the body. Many athletes remember this and include it in their training plan to get the best results and break their own records. Read what is supercompensation in sport, how long it lasts and what its occurrence depends on.

Supercompensation in sporthelps to achieve the best results not only for professional athletes, but also amateurs who want to constantly improve their exercise capacity.

As with any work, we also need energy during training, which will be used during training. However, after physical activity, during regeneration, we can accumulate the lost "fuel" again.

"Compensation" is supplementing, and "super" means something more, thereforesupercompensationis called not only replenishing energy lost after exercise, but also accumulating its surplus when resting after body training prepares us for more.

Supercompensation: How does it happen?

During training, we exhaust the energy that we previously accumulated. Its main source is adenosine triphosphate (ATP acid), and the indirect ones: glycogen, glucose, phosphocreatine, fatty acids, amino acids and keto acids - these indirect sources are used to rebuild ATP.

In the period of post-workout regeneration, the body wants to return to its energetic balance, so it rebuilds the lost resources. If the training was very intense, the body regenerates to a level above the baseline - it stores energy "in reserve", expecting the next demanding effort.

This moment of ATP surplus and greater efficiency of the body is used by athletes to achieve the best result. If the training is after the supercompensation phase, the athlete will not notice much of a difference in their performance. However, when the next effort takes place when the energy reserves have not yet been replenished, the phase of supercompensation will shift and will occur only when the body is completely exhausted by a series of too quickly consecutive workouts.

When does supercompensation start and how long does it take?

A very important element leading toto achieve the best training results is to re-effort in the supercompensation phase - how do you know when this process has just started? The factor influencing the length of supercompensation in sport is the nature of training - the one in speed sports is usually more intense, but shorter, so regeneration will take place within a day.

It is different in the case of endurance sports and long-term training - this time will then be about 72 hours. In addition, there are individual factors: age, gender, how long we have been training, the training loads applied, etc. So these data are averaged, but combining them with the observation of your body's reactions will allow you to determine at which point your supercompensation occurs.

It is worth noting that supercompensation occurs not only between individual workouts, but is used throughout the training cycle. When developing your training plan, it is worth taking into account the fact that supercompensation itself in sport can be divided into three stages.

Stages of supercompensation in sport

  • Intensification- as the intensity of training increases, we feel an increase in power and efficiency. This phase lasts until we notice the first symptoms of training fatigue and stopping at a certain stage of performance, which, despite constant efforts, we cannot overcome.
  • Accumulation- in this phase we only feel fatigue and lack of progress even more. Make sure that this stage is not too long - frequent training will lead to body fatigue and it is definitely not advisable.
  • Transformation- the most pleasant moment - rest. When we allow ourselves to give up training or carry it out with much less intensity, our form increases. At the end of the transformation stage, we will achieve a higher level of performance than at the beginning of the first stage, so we can achieve better training results.

In training cycles, at the very beginning, the intensification phase lasts about 14 days, while the stages of accumulation and transformation - 7 days each. Later, they can be adapted to the body's own reaction, but it is worth remembering that the most difficult phase of accumulation should not be longer than 14 days, and the harder the training is, the longer it will take to regenerate.

Worth knowing

Diet and supercompensation in sport

It is also necessary to include a proper diet in your training plan. Supplementing simple sugars (bananas, carbo supplement, glucose) immediately after training and a diet rich in carbohydrates with a low indexglycemic stress during the entire training cycle is an excellent support in the process of supercompensation. These types of carbohydrates release glucose slowly into the bloodstream and do not disrupt the body's endocrine system. We should take 4-5 meals a day, 2-3 hours apart, and include fruit, vegetables, and rice. On the other hand, the low proportion of carbohydrates in an athlete's diet causes a rapid reduction in the amount of muscle glycogen in the body.

People undergoing reduction training should reach for a banana or an energy bar, preferably up to a few minutes after training. Thanks to this, they will prevent catabolism, i.e. the process of muscle breakdown.

Supercompensation in running

Supercompensation in running depends on the intensity of the run itself. For example, in the case of sprinters, the effort is short and intense, so glycogen builds up faster and training can be done daily. It is different in the case of longer and more tiring workouts, when the body needs about 72 hours to regenerate. However, it is worth remembering that a rest that lasts longer than the supercompensation stage, as in the case of strength training, will not bring any expected results.

You should also know that training at the limit of our exercise capacity will not increase better results, on the contrary - we will be exhausted, the regeneration of the body will take longer. What's more, starting another training session before its end will be ineffective, because in such cases the supercompensation process will not even start.

Supercompensation in strength training

The course of supercompensation in strength training depends primarily on the group of muscles exercised - small muscle groups, such as triceps or biceps, will recover within 24 hours after training, larger muscle groups, e.g. shoulder muscles or chest muscles, will be they needed about 48 hours to rest, while the thighs or back - even 72 hours. Usually, supercompensation begins when the soreness disappears. The aforementioned time ranges allow the replenishment of glycogen stores and the regeneration of the damaged muscle fibers during the previous training.

It is worth noting, however, that in the case of strength training, the breaks between training sessions are often longer than 3 days, e.g. in the case of split training, when it is necessary to have a 7-day break between one training session for a given muscle group and the other, and then unfortunately no supercompensation can be expected. On the other hand, exercising 3 times a week on all muscle groups will be too intense for them, so it is better to use this solution.cancel.

In any type of training, especially strength training, it is important to help the body replenish energy losses with an appropriate diet. Therefore, up to a few hours after training, you should consume the appropriate amount of carbohydrates and protein - 4-6 g of carbohydrates per kg of body weight and 2-3 g of protein per kg of body weight.

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