The 4 levels of Exercise Fatigue !
Pushing past mental walls to achieve big goals!
Whether you’re playing a competitive sport or pursuing your regular exercise program we are all familiar with the term “Fatigue”. It’s that time when we can’t seem to go one step further, our breathing is heavy and labored, our muscles ache under enormous stress and we are forced to stop and recuperate. At this point we can either totally stop or try to get our breath back, let our aching limbs take a brief respite, and hope to summon enough energy for another effort. Eventually though depending on our fitness level, exhaustion will set in and we will come to a complete stop.
Indeed in the words of US Army General George Patton “There comes a point where “Fatigue makes cowards of us all”
But what is fatigue? how do we recognize it and If not defeat it, perhaps work around it to perform better in our sport or get the most out of our exercise program ?
Rather than a lengthy, complicated biochemistry lesson on the Krebs cycle, Aerobic, Anaerobic energy pathways or referring to heart rates and other feedback measures, let’s look at everyday signs we can all understand when we face the fatigue that makes cowards of us all.
I recently attended a webinar conducted by the Imagery coaching group “Pushing past mental walls to achieve big things” The guest presenter was Dan Walsh team USA Olympic Bronze medalist rower at the 2008 Olympics.
As soon as I heard Dan was a rower I knew that this man knew about pain, let alone fatigue. Rowers are some of the toughest athletes in all of sports. Anyone who has even done a basic session on a land bound concept 2 rowing ergometer knows how hard rowing is and how it pushes the aerobic, anaerobic and muscular endurance components of fitness.
Assuming most of us aren’t attempting Olympic level Sports performance, like Dan Walsh let’s look at these 4 levels of fatigue and how they might apply to our exercise routine.
When describing each of the levels I will cite examples from 2 of the most high intensity group exercise classes 1) Boxing and 2)Spin/Group Cycling. I will also refer to an adapted version of the Borg Perceived exertion scale with 1 being totally easy to 10 being total exhaustion
Level 1: Loss or diminishing of Fine motor skills (Perceived Exertion 6-7) … at this level of fatigue you are past the comfortable walk and talk stage and starting to experience some tiredness and loss of coordinated movements.
In a boxing class your jump rope routines may start to become awkward and cumbersome with your feet entangled in the rope more often causing you to lose rhythm and coordination. Similarly your speedbag routine that requires quick reflexes and hand eye coordination now becomes stop, start rather than a quick flowing movement.
In a Spin class you may find it difficult to keep in time with movements that are off the seat, like jumps and quick change up and downs. However even with this loss of fine motor control the exercise experience is still fun for you, the endorphin rush and meditative aspects of exercise are still present.
Level 2: loss of long form thoughts (Perceived Exertion 7-8) when you take a leisurely stroll in the park your mind may wander and think about what is going on in your life, or ideally you become one with the elements and enjoy nature. It is here that the meditative aspects of exercise and the release of stress reducing endorphins make the experience very pleasurable. Similarly in a boxing class or spin class even with level one fatigue you are still enjoying the experience and feeling the rush of endorphins. But as you enter level 2 fatigue an increase in intensity t challenges your fitness level and you start to watch the clock and think, how long until this ends? Typical examples of this are when interval training challenges your limits and you concentrate on the movement rather than letting your mind wander. In a boxing session on the heavy bag or working with a trainer on the focus mitts you look to make your punches and movements as economical as possible not waste any energy to last the distance for your 15-30 second interval. In a Spin class you look at drawing on the full power of the quadriceps and hamstrings to push through the extra physical stress. You perceived exhaustion is around the 7-8.5 level. You are starting to feel exhausted and this no time to let your mind wander, you have to concentrate.
Level 3: loss of Emotional Control (Perceived Exhaustion 80-9.5): At this level of fatigue you find it hard to take directions either from your coach or team mates. At this point a good coach/instructor will make their instructions very basic concentrating on motivational cues with short motivational prompts. In boxing it might be “Stick with it, Jab, use your breath, relax your shoulders”. In spin the instructions will draw on visual mechanics your leg power and efficiency of movement, with cues like “push down, feet flat, draw your heel up to your butt” etc.
Depending on your fitness level, motivation and pain tolerance at level3 many of us may decide to stop and recover or decrease the resistance on the bike and free wheel get our breath back and ease the pressure on their legs.
Level 4: Gross motor skills fade into total exhaustion (Perceived Exhaustion 9.5-10)
At this point for Dan Walsh and his bronze medal crew they are likely totally exhausted and maybe even throwing up beside the boat. You are physically and emotionally exhausted.
Examples of this in a group exercise class are few and far between, because this type of intensity is reserved for Olympic level sports. If you do find yourself at this level of exhaustion, lie down feet elevated, preferably in a cool well ventilated space, and try to have water present for recovery,
What does this mean for us mere mortal not seeking Olympic glory like Dan Walsh but at the same time wishing to get the most out of our exercise program and achieve our own individual goals?
If we are aware of the fatigue levels we can become more attuned with our bodies and how they react to exercise and know when you push and when to back off the intensity level.
For the purpose of obtaining the most from our fitness program recent research indicates that we get the most training benefit both from spending 20-30 minutes of our time in the level 2 level of fatigue with occasional forays into level 3.
In terms of Heartrate response these equate level 2 or approximately 60-70 % of your maximum heart rate i.e if your Maximum heart rate is 200 this would be in the 120- 130 Beats per min range.
Level 4 fatigue is for highly trained sports people like Dan Walsh seeking superior sports performance. An even at this level pushing to total exhaustion would be used sparingly in training and reserved mainly for the day of the event.
Even with today’s high tech GPS monitors and watches that give feedback on our heart rate , body temperature, expiration level , speed distance etc. it is still worthwhile knowing what the visceral feel fatigue is like so that you can be aware of what is happening and get the most from your exercise program.
In our next Blog we will look at the use of Imagery and how you can train your mind to better adapt to the 4 levels of fatigue
Please hit, like and let me know if you have any comments or questions.
Keep punching.
Aussie Mike