SRA Curve

The Stimulus Recovery Adaptation curve shows the cycle the athlete goes through during the recovery process after training that leads to the beneficial adaptations. These adaptations are known as supercompensation.

When the natural timing of the SRA curve is interrupted we lose out on potentially beneficial adaptation. This can happen when we introduce a training stimulus to soon or by speeding up recovery through one of our recovery strategies. It may be advantageous to sacrifice potential adaptation at times. These include increased training frequency for technique focus over physical adaptations, and recovery intervention for when performance is prioritized over adaptation.

Before we can understand recovery strategies, we must first understand what fatigue is. Fatigue is the stress induced through training that causes a diminished ability to perform. There are different types of fatigue

Acute Fatigue is the fatigue that accumulates during the course of a workout. Example: Being able to perform 5 Pull Ups in a set at the start of a workout but only 2 at the end of a workout

Chronic Fatigue is the fatigue that accumulates over the course of a training block. Example:

Being able to perform 5 Pull Ups in a set on the first week of a program but only 4 in the third week

Local Fatigue is the fatigue of a specific area of the body.

Systemic Fatigue is the overall fatigue of the athlete

Non training fatigue will contribute to the systemic fatigue of the athlete. Examples of non

training fatigue can include: Sleep deprivation, Poor nutrition, psychological and emotional stress, Illness, and drug and alcohol use. Strategies for dealing with most non training fatigue will fall under lifestyle coaching.