Recovery-Centered Training: Cognitive Aspects

This is the third in a series of four articles on Recovery-Centered Training (RCT). This new model of human performance is based on the mechanisms of tissue recovery, adaptation, and development. Not only does it focus on optimizing the sport performance capacity of the athlete, but it also serves as a functional basis for injury prevention-based training. A schematic overview can be found below.

The second primary functional element of Recovery-Centered Training is the cognitive network. This includes the central nervous system, endocrine system, and immune system. The unified goal of these three systems is to maintain the body’s homeostatic mechanisms: the level of blood glucose, core temperature, and fluid balance. They work together to either facilitate or inhibit these metabolic processes.These systems have a direct impact on the body’s ability to adapt to the imposed demands of the environment.

The central nervous system is the “brains” to all of this – pun intended! The endocrine system produces hormones that help to regulate many systemic functions such as metabolism, tissue development, and tissue function. The immune system is responsible for the process of tissue repair and remodeling. Most people don’t think in terms of the immune system being responsible for their training adaptations.

A training plan should foster an environment in which the central nervous system, endocrine system, and immune system can do what they need to do, when they need to do it. By applying various cognitive loading strategies to these systems, we can facilitate the recovery and adaptation process. If we can do so successfully, we will in effect produce an anabolic (or “building”) effect, which is the natural goal of any training session. 

One of the biggest inhibitory factors is the presence of cortisol. Cortisol is a “stress hormone” that increases blood glucose levels, inhibits collagen formation, inhibits protein synthesis, promotes an increase in water excretion, decreases gene transcription, and produces immunosuppression. Cortisol is a significant limiter to recovery and one of the underlying mechanisms behind many disease processes.

Cognitive loading strategies can consist of anything that facilitates the function of the cognitive network. This would include autogenics, self-talk, visualization, relaxation, jacuzzi, sleep, yoga, massage, and stress management. These are the areas in which most training programs are deficient. Cognitive loading strategies, in the grand scheme of training, are at least as important as the mechanical loading strategies – if not more so.

Once again, in order to attain an optimal response, one must have not only the correct stimulus, but also the correct dosage and frequency of the stimulus. These critical parameters can be manipulated systematically in order to “turn on the gene” at the cellular level to elicit the greatest training response for a given training stimulus.

Training is only as good as our ability to recover from and adapt to the imposed training stimulus, thus the importance of the cognitive network. But if you don’t have the necessary building blocks – the nutritional loading strategies – then all of the good cognitive and mechanical loading strategies will still suffer. I will present these nutritional loading strategies in the final article of the series.

Photo credits: Wikipedia