Page 115 - Journal of Special Operations Medicine - Summer 2015

Table 3 Example of a Favorable Response to a Training Session Performed Once Weekly for 4 Weeks
Rate of Recovery Training Duration
Week Repetition Heart Rate Perceived Effort Heart Rate (min) Training Load
1 150 7.0 135 5 35.0
2 155 7.5 145 3 22.5
1
3 157 8.0 150 1 8.0
Total 65.5
1 150 7.0 120 5 35.0
2 155 7.0 130 3 21.0
2
3 155 7.5 135 1 7.5
Total 63.5
1 145 6.0 120 5 30.0
2 150 7.0 125 3 21.0
3
3 155 7.5 130 1 7.5
Total 58.5
1 140 6.0 115 5 30.0
2 145 6.5 120 3 19.5
4
3 150 7.0 120 1 7.0
Total 56.5

performance. Negative changes in training measures are understand how they are changed by training and other
often accompanied by poor sleep and mood, which may factors such as nutrition and sleep, which significantly
26
be the first sign of under recovery from work or training. influence hormone levels. 29,30
In conjunction with objective measures of internal load,
subjective information determined from personal logs Application of the Training Load Method
or questionnaires can confirm what is identified through
measures of HR and RPE. Subjective measures, in- Determining Total Training Load
18
cluding overall sense of recovery, muscle soreness from Total training load is the sum of the overall physical and
training, and quality of sleep, can be related to training mental loads placed on the body by each component of
load. Recovery scores, measures of muscle soreness, and training. SOF typically train many skills for their mis-
sleep quality (Table 4) can be combined with measures sions, much like a modern pentathlete, triathlete, or com-
of internal and external load to understand “accumu- bative athlete (e.g., wrestling, taekwondo). The training
lated fatigue” and whether the body is adapting to the load for each individual skill should be determined in-
total stress placed on it. dividually and then summed by day, week, month, and
training cycle to provide a full picture of how the total
Measures of hormones are considered advanced mea- and individual training loads are performed during the
sures of internal load that can be unbalanced when the training cycle. Monitoring each skill or aspect of train-
training load is sustained without recovery. During ing individually is necessary to ensure the training load
27
periods of high training stress, hormones such as testos- is not too high when attempting to improve a key skill
terone can decrease and, as a result, the body’s ability to or fitness component related to Operator performance.
recover is reduced; conversely, when the training load Examples of calculating the total training load by day
has been applied appropriately, it has been shown that for each skill and by day and week for total training
testosterone levels increase for SOF. Monitoring hor- load can be seen in Figures 1, 2, and 3.
28
monal changes in relationship to training can assist SOF
in determining the “ideal” dose of training, which will Periodization of Training Load
help promote career longevity for the Operator through to Improve Physical Performance
improving the ability to balance work stress, physical Monitoring the training load can measure training prog-
training, and the high operational tempo maintained ress, intensity of training, and most importantly can
by SOF personnel. Benefits from measuring changes in help design training to improve a skill within a specific
hormones require measurements to be done regularly to time frame and not cause the performance of other skills

Monitoring Training for Human Performance Optimization 105