Adaptation of the body to physical activity

Before considering issues related to adaptation of the body to physical activity and with its role in motor preparation, we should dwell on the general provisions about adaptation as a universal property of man.

Under adaptation is considered to be a process devices our body to external environmental factors or changes taking place in the body itself. The ability of various body systems to effectively adapt their activities to the variable conditions of our environment, and in particular to physical stress, is ensured mainly by the functioning of central regulatory mechanisms. The formation of regulatory systems in the process of human evolution led to the emergence of the ability to respond more subtly and accurately to the external environment. And also to increase the range of its adaptability without morphological and biochemical restructuring of tissues, adaptation through physiological mechanisms, changes in preparation functions, and optimization of responses.

All normal processes of human life in any given environment have adaptive nature. In other words, all physiological reactions at a particular point in time are either adapted to certain environmental conditions (physical stress), i.e., have undergone the adaptation process, or not adapted, i.e., are in the process of adaptation. Therefore, individual adaptation of a person in dynamics should be considered as a preliminary process, in which the main thing is the creation of new adaptive programs based on information about changes in the external environment (physical activity) and the subsequent state with the presence of developed programs that persist for a long time, mechanisms for their active search, on on the basis of which the body’s responses with the help of regulatory systems are brought to optimal levels.

In relation to motor training, two types of adaptation are of greatest importance: urgent (unstable) and long-term (stable). A manifestation of the first type of adaptation can be the response of an athlete’s body to a single physical activity. The nature of the reaction is determined by the strength of the load, the level of capabilities of the body's functional systems and their ability to effectively recover.

In unstable adaptive reactions, three stages are usually distinguished:

1. the activity of various functional systems and their components that ensure the implementation of certain activities is activated;
2. the activity of functional systems is carried out in the so-called steady state;
3. the optimal balance between needs and their satisfaction is disrupted as a result of the development of fatigue. It must be remembered that too frequent use of loads associated with the body’s transition to the third stage can negatively affect the stages of formation of long-term adaptation, and, consequently, the development of motor abilities.

With an increase in the level of motor readiness, adaptive reactions become increasingly specific, which must be taken into account when choosing means and methods for developing motor abilities. Thus, in people of relatively low preparedness, even highly specialized exercises cause an increase (albeit unequal) in several abilities at the same time. For those who are more prepared, this is observed much less frequently.

Maintaining the achieved level of long-term adaptation requires the systematic application of supporting loads. Cessation and significant reduction of training loads causes a process opposite to adaptation - deadaptation, which applies to all aspects of students’ preparedness, including physical. Deadaptation proceeds the faster, the shorter the period of adaptation formation, and the rate of decline in the level of development of various motor abilities and components of functional readiness is not the same.

How is the training process and the body’s adaptation to physical activity interconnected?

There are natural connections between the load and subsequent adaptation that need to be taken into account when programming the educational and training process.

1. The body's adaptation processes are activated only when external stimulation reaches the required level of intensity and a certain volume. Too much load without the required intensity does not lead to adaptation exactly like super-intense loads with scanty volumes. In general, the higher the level of load approaches the individually selected optimal indicator, depending on the abilities of the student, the faster the adaptation process lasts. Accordingly, the greater the deviation of the loads (in one direction or another) from the indicator optimal level, the lower the training effect. Too much load or an incorrect relationship between their components (volume and intensity) harms the body’s adaptive and regulatory abilities, thereby causing a decrease in its performance.
2. The adaptation process is the result of competent alternating physical activity and rest. In general, the load in the educational and training process initially causes fatigue as a result of the expenditure of strength and energy resources (usually called potentials), which for some time reduces the physical capabilities of the athlete’s body. This is the leading stimulus for adaptation processes, which primarily occur in the rest and sleep phases. From a biochemical point of view, this involves not just the restoration of waste energy sources, but overcompensation — restoration exceeding the original level. This overcompensation forms the basis increasing the functions of the body and its motor readiness.
3. In athletes with a low level of preparedness or when using new approaches to training and unusual loads for the body, overcompensation occurs quite quickly. For trained athletes, this process can last weeks or even months. It is reasonable to believe that any load close to optimal will cause traces of compensation. However, this is much more obvious only as a result of summing up the complex of training effects.
4. The adaptation process not only allows students to achieve a higher level of motor readiness, but also expands psychophysical abilities carry loads. It turns out that the previous loads are now easier to overcome than before and cause much less fatigue. At the same time, the training effect of typical loads decreases more and more, and soon they only help to maintain the previously achieved result. This is an inevitable and natural process.
5. Adaptation of the body always occurs in the direction regulated by the structure of the load. For example, a load with excessive volume but low intensity will contribute to the formation, first of all, endurance; the load is of small volume, but of peak or submaximal intensity - the formation of power and speed characteristics. In athletes with a low level of physical fitness, any load causes a more complex impact than in those who are more prepared.

1. proportionality (proposed by M.Ya. Nabatnikova, 1974);
2. The sequence of use of funds in a long-term training process should be based on the rule of “minimum costs - maximum results.”

When increasing motor readiness in certain components, one should keep in mind their proportionality, which determines the direction of the long-term educational and training process. Naturally, the ratio of means, methods, loads in the educational and training process completely depends on the involved set of exercises and the desired level of components. Consequently, the principle of proportionality dictates a ratio of components of motor abilities in which it would approach the optimal one. Of course, this ratio must correspond to the age and gender of the students, their individual characteristics and level of psychophysical state.

You should know that the foundations of proportionality are laid comprehensive training. Here, performing the exercises brings into play all the required components and, with repeated repetition, improves them. But, as you know, to significantly improve motor fitness, it is necessary to combine complex training with alternately solving problems of developing and improving individual components.

The principle of consistency in the use of means for the comprehensive education of motor abilities provides for use in long-term educational and training process products from softer to harsher with increasing volume and intensity. The conditional sequence of development and use of means in the process of long-term motor training seems to be as follows:

1. natural development of motor abilities;
2. increased physical activity;
3. organized directed, controlled motor activity (physical education classes);
4. specialized educational and training sessions (individual additional classes).