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The combination of strength\/power alongside endurance training is an integral part of training programmes for most sports. <\/strong><\/p>\n But, it\u2019s particularly true of multievent sports where the development of strength and power is crucial for performance and injury prevention.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This combination of strength\/power and endurance training at the same time is called \u2018concurrent training\u2019, and the pressure to deliver both determinants of performance simultaneously is heightened as we approach the competitive season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Experience and research have taught us that training for strength\/power at the same time (often on the same day) can have a negative impact on endurance adaptations, and vice versa.<\/p>\n This potentially negative affect has been termed the \u2018concurrent training effect\u2019 (CTE). Accordingly, much debate surrounds the question of how best to programme training to ensure optimal adaptation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Training results in fatigue, which, through a complex cascade of molecular pathways, results in positive adaptation following sufficient recovery (known as the \u2018training supercompensation model\u2019).<\/p>\n It would appear, though, that high-volume, moderate-intensity and frequent endurance training can alter the molecular pathways leading to a suppression of the adaptation to strength\/power training. And the same is true for the effect of strength\/power training on endurance adaptation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Of note, high-intensity interval training (HIIT<\/strong><\/a>) appears to minimise the negative effects of concurrent training (helpful during the pre-season and competitive phases). To that end, planning training to minimise the CTE is important if we\u2019re to optimise adaptation and performance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There are several rules which will help ameliorate the CTE. Firstly, if, on any given day\u2019s training the priority is to improve strength\/power, the resistance-training session should be performed prior to the endurance session and vice versa for endurance enhancement.<\/p>\n Of course, the priority of the determinant of performance will dictate the weekly frequency of sessions. E.g. improvement of strength\/power is often the goal of the \u2018winter phase,\u2019 which is characterised by a greater number of resistance-training<\/strong><\/a> sessions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In contrast, strength\/power maintenance is the goal in the competitive phase, which is characterised by as little as a single resistance-training session per week (supported by supra-maximal, power focussed, interval sessions<\/strong><\/a>).<\/p>\nHow to programme training to ensure optimal adaptation<\/strong><\/h2>\n
When should you perform resistance training?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
How many sessions should you do in a week?<\/strong><\/h2>\n