What is Load Management with Dr. Catherine Logan

What is Load Management? 

"Load management" is the practice of resting players for entire games, even though they are healthy enough to play. The idea is that these players will get nights of crucial rest during the season so that they are healthier for the playoffs. 

How can a player achieve adequate recovery? 

There are many training principles that sports medicine and performance staff can employ to develop physical qualities, minimize injury risk, and ultimately enhance performance, including:  

Progressive overload, Specificity, Individuality, Variation, & Reversibility 

PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD 

Graded exposure to stress is a fundamental component of evidence-based training programs. In order to improve capacity, the training load applied must exceed the athlete’s current capacity, but not be so great that it results in tissue damage.[1] 

Progressive overload involves the systematic application of training stress and is the cornerstone of rehabilitation, return-to-sport, and performance training programs.[2] 

It is understood that athletes need to be exposed to high training loads to tolerate the high-intensity demands of game day,[3] the high training loads should be combined with low-intensity training sessions. Applying progressive overload training will result in long-term adaptations, enabling athletes to work more efficiently at higher levels of performance. 

SPECIFICITY 

This principle of training relates to the type of training performed – it should be specific to the desired sport or activity with attention to the conditioning and skill components most essential to that sport, for example, agility, balance, or muscular endurance. 

INDIVIDUALITY 

The principle of individuality states that athletes will respond differently to a given training stimulus. This explains, at least in part, why some athletes can tolerate large training loads (and others do not demonstrate the same tolerance. 

VARIATION

Variation – or changing things up - keeps athletes engaged, but also keeps the body guessing.  Variation, or changes, may be as good as rest. Participating in a completely different sport during the off-season will provide “rest,” yet also challenge the body in a different capacity. 

While load progression is important to grow capacity, at times, it is important to recognize when an athlete needs a greater recovery period to avoid excessive fatigue, pain, MSK dysfunction, reductions in performance, and increased risk of injury. 

REVERSIBILITY 

The challenge facing all sports medicine and performance specialists is to ensure that these resting periods in training load do not occur for extended periods of time, otherwise local tissue capacity and sport-specific capacity may be reduced.[4]

[1] Verhagen E, Gabbett T. Load, capacity and health: critical pieces of the holistic performance puzzle. Br J Sports Med. 2019;53:5-6. 

[2] Gabbett TJ. How much? How fast? How soon? Three simple concepts for progressing training loads to minimize injury risk and enhance performance. J Ortho Sports Phys Ther. 2020;50:570-573. 

[3]  Gabbett TJ. The training–injury prevention paradox: should athletes be training smarter and harder? Br J Sports Med. 2016;50:273-280. 

[4]  Gabbett T, Sancho I, Dingenen B, Willy R. When progressing training loads, what are the considerations for healthy and injured athletes? Br J Sports Med. 2021;55:947-948. 

Author

Dr. Catherine Logan, MD, MBA Catherine Logan, MD, MBA, MSPT, is a sports medicine orthopaedic surgeon specializing in complex knee and shoulder surgery at Colorado Sports Medicine and Orthopaedics (COSMO) in Denver, Colorado. As a former physical therapist & trainer, Dr. Logan provides a distinct expertise in sports injury, prevention, and surgical management.