The Principles of Training: SOAR
Training principles can be defined by the acronym “SOAR,” which stands for Specificity, Overload, Adaptation, and Recovery.
- Specificity: Training must be specific to the sport or activity.
- Overload: Muscles strengthen when they operate beyond their normal range of movement.
- Adaptation: The body and brain adapt to the training undertaken, which occurs during periods of recovery.
- Recovery: This is a period of rest, primarily after training, during which muscle fibers repair. Recovery is often the most overlooked element of training!
Each training session should focus on improving at least one component of fitness: endurance, speed, strength, flexibility, or coordination. Each component requires specific exercises tailored to the sport or discipline. The common elements that dictate improvement in a component of fitness are known as the FIT factors (Frequency, Intensity, Time).
- Frequency: The number of times to perform the exercise (repetitions).
- Intensity: The effort or pace of the exercise.
- Time: The duration of the exercise.
Understanding Training Intensity: Speed and Endurance Running
When training for speed or endurance running, determining the optimal intensity level for each session can be challenging. Coaches often recommend specific training paces based on race distances (e.g., 1k, 3k, 5k, 10k). However, many endurance runners may not be familiar with mid-distance race paces, and vice versa for mid-distance athletes.
The Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) Scale
An alternative pacing guide is the Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE), developed by Swedish scientist Gunnar Borg in the early 1980s. Borg introduced this scale to help athletes gauge the intensity of their activity, allowing them to adjust their exercise intensity to reach their desired range. Factors considered for perceived exertion include effort, strain, discomfort, and fatigue experienced during training.
RPE relies on an honest personal appraisal of one’s feeling of exertion, making it a subjective assessment that incorporates information from the brain and body: heart rate, breathing rate, perspiration, muscles, joints, etc. Only the athlete truly knows how hard they are working. This personal feeling of effort and exertion is crucial and should not be compared to others.
Borg’s Original RPE Scale
Borg’s original scale ranged from 6 to 20, as shown below:
- 6: No exertion at all
- 7: Extremely light
- 8-9: Very light
- 10-11: Light
- 12-13: Somewhat hard
- 14-15: Hard (heavy)
- 16-17: Very hard
- 18-19: Extremely hard
- 20: Maximum exertion
This scale helps athletes to self-regulate their training intensity, ensuring they are working within their optimal effort range. By using the RPE scale, runners can better understand and control their training intensity, leading to more effective and personalized training sessions.
An easier version has been introduced and is now widely used by many coaches.
The Borg 10 Point Scale
RPE | Description | What you’d think | Breathing | Talking | % max HR |
0 | Doing nothing | Resting | Relaxed | Normal | <60 |
1 | Very easy | Really easy | Normal | Normal | <60 |
2 | Easy | Easy | Normal | Normal | <60 |
3 | Moderate | Moderate | Comfortable | Easy | 60 |
4 | Quite hard | Sort of hard | Noticeable | Ok if necessary | 70 |
5 | Hard | Feeling this | Deep – steady | Conversation stops | 75 |
6 | Really hard | Hurting | Deep – rapid | Maximum few words | 80 |
7 | REALLY HARD | REALLY HURTS | DEEP RAPID | Utter 1 syllable | 85 |
8 | Very strong | Coach is killing us! | Very deep, very rapid | Incoherent | 90 |
9 | Near maximum | Can we stop! | Very deep, very rapid | No | 95 |
10 | Absolute maximum | OMG! | Breathlessness | Impossible | 100 |