The athlete is doing the training they need, yet movement feels heavy afterwards. When certain training continues, they cannot produce their usual force in competition.
At times like these, as well as the training content and the athlete’s sense of fatigue, the condition of the muscles after training is also a cue for review.
In Zeroka Seitai, we have shared the quality and distribution of muscle stiffness and the changes in movement we check in sessions with athletes and their staff, as input for thinking about training content, load and care.
Seeing how the same training shows up in each athlete
Even when muscles have become stiff, where the stiffness appears and what kind it is differ.
We compare the quality and response of stiffness described in A-2 with the training done, the movement afterwards and the athlete’s own sense. What we emphasise is not a single feel, but change before and after load and over the days.
Feedback flow for training
What matters is not only “is it stiff or not?” but what has changed, and how, compared with that athlete’s usual condition.
What we combine with the condition of the muscles
| Information we check | Cues for thinking about training |
|---|---|
| Quality and distribution of stiffness | Which muscles show what kind of change. Whether load is concentrating in a particular area. |
| Changes in movement | Whether, after training, there are movements that have become harder or situations in which force is harder to produce. |
| The athlete’s own sense | When and how tension, heaviness, fatigue and ease of movement changed. |
| Training content and load | After which training the change appeared. How the condition changes when load continues. |
| What happened afterwards | Whether it changes with care or over time. Whether effects remain into the next training session or competition. |
We do not diagnose overtraining or metabolic status from the feel of the muscles alone. We combine several kinds of information to think about the load on, and recovery of, that athlete.
How we use the responses we find in the next step
As well as responding to the condition at the session, we think with the athlete and their staff about whether the load and progression of that training suit the body as it is now. Our experience of supporting one specific athlete is described in C-3.
| What the body’s response suggests | Direction of response |
|---|---|
| When we interpret that muscle stiffness is getting in the way of subsequent movement | Provide the hands-on work needed and check changes in the muscles and movement |
| When the same problem recurs after a particular kind of training | Consider the training content, how load is applied and the response afterwards with the athlete’s staff |
| When we think it would be better to prioritise the usual recovery care | Ask that the everyday care, such as sports massage, be given priority |
| When the aim is to improve the ability to cope with a difficult load | Think from both sides: preparing the body’s condition, and training that develops the necessary capacity |
Adding information from the muscles to the trainer’s judgement
Trainers and coaching staff know the purpose of training, the volume of practice, the movements and how the athlete performs in competition. The athlete knows their own bodily sensations and the situations in which it is easier or harder to produce force.
Zeroka Seitai adds information about the condition of the muscles and the response before and after hands-on work.
Purpose, content, load and movements of training
Fatigue, ease of movement, ease of producing force
Quality and distribution of muscle stiffness, and changes before and after a response
Checks like these are relevant not only to athletes partway through a return but also to development and everyday training.
Checking what training is doing to that athlete’s body, and using it in the next step. We use the information available from the muscles to help with decisions in the field.