Being Fit is Never Bad

Research by Tim Gabbett has highlighted the significant correlation between acute workloads and chronic workloads in regards to injury rates in Australian football. Essentially, spikes in acute workloads (in relation to chronic loads) the athlete has experienced over the past will lead to greater injury.

However, exposing athletes to higher workloads makes them more injury resistant in season. Thus, an interesting conflict arises between understanding what is too much or too little (too little of work is significantly related to injury).

Readiness Test

Gabbett points out that an acute to chronic comparison is good, but it is not individualized. By adding an internal loading measurement and readiness test, a better picture of the athlete can be painted.

From there, one can begin to understand how to manage acute to chronic workloads much more proactively.

Not all people will respond the same to a given workout. The external load may influence the internal loading, which then may influence the readiness score and together, these tests can influence the coaches decision.

For example, in a given workout based on recovery habits and outside stressors, one athlete may be more ready than another. Thus, a small adjustment can be made to allow training to occur, but still within the means of the poor responding athlete.

Gabbett also brings up the idea that overall fitness plays a large role in the robustness of an athlete. For a given workout, an athlete with a better aerobic system may handle a given load better. The aerobic system may act as a “dimmer” and negate some of the negative external loading training effects (fitness versus fatigue). Therefore, being more “fit” allows you to respond better to training and become even “fitter.” This concept is related to the amount of load one can handle in season, which is also related to injury resistance.

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