Principle of the effective stress stimulus
introduction
The principle of the effective stress stimulus is defined as the need for a sufficiently high training stimulus to trigger the desired adaptation.
In training practice, training goals are often missed because training is carried out with the wrong intensity (with the wrong training stimuli). The principle says that a training stimulus must first exceed a certain intensity threshold in order for it to trigger the desired adaptation.
Only a sufficiently high training stimulus ensures the desired training goal.
The basic principle of the effective stress stimulus
The principle of the effective stress stimulus is based on the principle of biological adaptation:
- Load ->
- Disturbance of the biological balance (disorder of homeostasis) ->
- Recovery (regeneration) ->
- Adaption ->
- increased functional status
Also read: Principle of exercise and recovery
The different stimuli
In practice, the training stimuli are divided into:
- no threshold - weak stimuli: subliminal stimuli have no influence on the biological balance and remain ineffective
- Over-threshold - weak stimuli: Over-threshold weak stimuli maintain the current level of performance. Thus, there is no improvement in performance, but the stimuli ensure that degradation processes (catabolic processes) are prevented.
- Over-threshold - strong stimuli: Over-threshold strong stimuli are the stimuli that are sought in training practice. These stimuli trigger physiological and anatomical changes.
- Over-threshold - too strong stimuli: Over-threshold strong stimuli lead to structural and functional damage.
What is a supra-threshold stress stimulus?
A supra-threshold stress stimulus is understood to be a training stimulus that is so great that the body is forced to adapt. Depending on the extent of the over-threshold, the body's adaptation reaction - in this case muscle growth - is larger or smaller. The supra-threshold stress stimulus is also the only natural way to get the muscles to grow.
Read more on the topic: Muscle building
What is a progressive stress stimulus?
The progressiveness of the load is a decisive prerequisite in muscle building in order to achieve continuous training success. Assuming that a person completes biceps curls with 30kg and a total of 40 repetitions throughout his life, this will lead to muscle building at the beginning. At some point, however, the muscle will complete its adaptation to this weight and it will be very easy for the person to move the weight. The muscle does not have to grow any further, as it can now cope well with the weight.
Compared to this, a person who increases weight or repetitions continues to build muscle. His muscles never achieve the status of being able to handle the weight well, as the overall strain on the muscle grew.
And that is exactly why the progressiveness, i.e. the increase, of the stress stimulus is so important for muscle building.
Read more on the topic: Principle of progressive loading
Stress stimulus when building muscle
The stress stimulus is the stimulus that our muscles need to do work. The different forms of the stress stimulus then decide what the long-term response of the muscles to this stress stimulus looks like. If the stress stimulus is not great enough, the muscles will be lost. If the training stimulus is greater than the normal load on the muscles, muscle growth occurs.
How do you achieve optimal muscle growth?
There is no magic formula for ideal muscle building. This depends on individual factors, such as the state of training, the muscle type and the willingness of the person exercising. In addition, there are various training methods that differ both in the use of weight, the number of repetitions and the number of training days on which a muscle group is exercised.
However, progression should be the stated goal of all training methods. This can then be done either by increasing the repetitions, the weight or the training days.
Read more on the topic: Building Muscle - Effective Exercises
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