What Is Supercompensation?

We all want to see results for the hard work we put into training, whether at the gym, with a personal trainer, in a fitness class or as athletes.

Understanding how the body responds to exercise is vital to reaching our fitness goals. General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) explains the long-term response, but today’s blog on supercompensation training focuses on the acute, short-term response.

What are GAS and periodisation?

In an earlier blog on Periodisation: What it is and how to use it, we explained how this form of training can help address the issues of general adaptation syndrome (GAS), combat plateaus in training, and ensure that clients continue to see results from their workouts.

Periodisation can be broken down into macrocycles, mesocycles, and microcycles, depending on the fitness goals of a personal trainer’s clients.

What is supercompensation?

Supercompensation is the adaptive response of our bodies to a training program. In other words, by training hard and achieving the right balance between work and recovery, you will achieve better results.

Each individual will have their own optimum level of exercise and recovery, allowing them to increase their base fitness level over time.

The four phases of supercompensation are:

Phase 1 – Lasts 1-2 hours following a workout. High stimulus results in fatigue.

Phase 2 – Lasts 1-2 days following a workout. Phase 2 involves physiological recovery and repair, which may include the onset of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS). Rest or active recovery sessions, plus good nutrition, will promote a return to baseline fitness

Phase 3 – Lasts 1-3 days following a workout. Supercompensation occurs as the body adapts and prepares itself for the next challenge. Any DOMS will fade, and energy levels will increase, along with positivity and optimism. A new stimulus applied now will return the client to Phase 1.

Phase 4 – Lasts 3-7 days following a workout. Gains will gradually disappear without further stimulus, but once you intensify your training, the benefits of supercompensation will resurface.

What does supercompensation mean for your training?

Fitness does not stand still; we are either training towards supercompensation or we are ‘detraining’.

To maintain your fitness levels in the right direction and ensure all your training counts, you need to strike the right balance between training and recovery.

One of the key responsibilities of a fitness professional or personal trainer is to ensure that each client maintains the proper work-to-recovery ratio. One size does not fit all, and a different training programme will need to be devised for each individual.

What else do I need to know about supercompensation?

In addition to the number of hours and days you spend training each week, the type of training is also likely to have an impact on supercompensation. Aerobic activity, such as running and cycling, involves a regeneration process at a deeper level than shorter, high-intensity anaerobic exercises, like weightlifting.

To obtain the best results from supercompensation, you need to ensure that:

1. Your training is at a level to cause fatigue and overload
2. The time you spend in recovery is long enough to allow adaptation
3. Your dietary intake is at the right level to support both your training and recovery periods.