REversibility
Reversibility means that if training is stopped, gains made by an athlete will begin to deplete at approximately one-third of the rate of acquisition. An athlete needs to maintain strength, conditioning and flexibility throughout the competitive season, but at a lesser intensity and volume of training. This can also be referred to as detraining, as the training is going in reverse.
An athlete will experience a reverse in training gains if they stop training during the on or off season of their sport, in the case that an athlete is injured, being the reason for their training stopped, the athlete still needs to maintain a level of training, they will need to find exercises that they can still complete that do not affect the area of injury. Detraining occurs withing a relatively short time period after an athlete ceases to train. Only about 10% of strength is lost 8 weeks after training stops, but 30-40% of muscular endurance is lost during the same time period.
A study was done on an athlete solely based on aerobic training who had been training consistently for a year. Then the athlete stopped training completely and withing a period of three months , researchers found that the athlete had lost about half of their aerobic conditioning. This demonstrates that over a period of approximately 6 months, a well trained athlete can have a complete loss in aerobic gains.
An athlete will experience a reverse in training gains if they stop training during the on or off season of their sport, in the case that an athlete is injured, being the reason for their training stopped, the athlete still needs to maintain a level of training, they will need to find exercises that they can still complete that do not affect the area of injury. Detraining occurs withing a relatively short time period after an athlete ceases to train. Only about 10% of strength is lost 8 weeks after training stops, but 30-40% of muscular endurance is lost during the same time period.
A study was done on an athlete solely based on aerobic training who had been training consistently for a year. Then the athlete stopped training completely and withing a period of three months , researchers found that the athlete had lost about half of their aerobic conditioning. This demonstrates that over a period of approximately 6 months, a well trained athlete can have a complete loss in aerobic gains.