What is "adaptation energy" according to Selye

Hans Selye, a smart guy who came up with the concept of stress, introduced the idea of adaptation energy.

Its concept looks like the following:

• it's not calories and not ATP, but a conditional resource of the body that is spent on adaptation to any stress - cold, hunger, training, infections, mental stress;
• this resource is finite: the more we spend it without recovery, the closer we are to the stage of exhaustion.

In the model of adaptation energy, the following stages can be distinguished:

1. Alarm stage - the body mobilizes, but at the same time spends part of the adaptation energy.
2. Stage of resistance - the body has adapted and maintains a new level of load.
3. Stage of exhaustion - the resource is depleted, and the system starts to fall apart (diseases, overtraining, burnout).

Selye was unable to demonstrate the "adaptation energy tank" to the public - it was a metaphor on his part. But the metaphor stuck, being surprisingly successful.

Modern view

The modern concept of adaptation energy in thesis form looks like this:

• there is no single "adaptation energy tank",
• there is a set of reserves:
  • endocrine system (cortisol, testosterone, etc.),
  • immunity,
  • nervous system,
  • muscles, connective tissue, mitochondria.

When we:

• sleep little,
• are constantly under mental stress,
• do intense training and under-eat;

• then we withdraw more than we deposit. There appears what is now called "allostatic load" - essentially, it's the chronic cost of adaptation. That is, we pay for it constantly, as if an additional tax was introduced specifically for us.

This is the same thing that Selye called the exhaustion of adaptation energy, just in different words.

"Chessboard" of workouts.

A competent training schedule, for example, in my case M / F / R / S / Off - is just managing adaptation energy:

• M-day (5 hours of climbing + deadlifts + burpees) - a huge withdrawal from the account (that's why M is for "grinder", and if you overdo it, you can't turn the minced meat back).
• F-day (finger training for climbing, but without total destruction) - local stress for ligaments/tendons, but systemically moderate.
• R-day (running 10 km or more at a light pace) - soft cash withdrawal, but with a bonus in the form of improved blood flow and recovery.
• S-day (strength training) - investments. They don't give an instant "cashback", but they increase the limit and reduce the commission on future M-days.
• Off-day - this is replenishing the account: food, sleep, mental peace.

When we say, like, "a 50% food deficit is not scary if we manage to make up for the deficit before the next hard training", we are using the same idea: adaptation energy is replenished if we give the body:

• time,
• food,
• a decrease in overall stress.

The chessboard of workouts is necessary for us in order not to burn out the resource with unsystematic loads and at the same time dose stress so that recovery not only pays off the debts but also increases the capacity for adaptation and reduces the cost of future workouts.

That is, the chessboard is not just about "not going broke", but also about making future M/F cheaper, and getting interest on "investments" (S).

And here it's very important: we don't pour "new energy out of thin air" into the tank with our training. Training is managed expenditure, which, with proper recovery, gives increased power and capacity. The "fuel" comes from sleep, food, and rest; training, in turn, is a way to make the engine better.

What happens with age?

Seemingly a little, but important and annoying:

• "interest on deposit" decreases: adaptation is slower;
• "penalty for overdraft" increases: blood vessels, joints, and CNS are no longer rubber.

That is, the bank is the same, but the tariff is bad.

Here, the theory of adaptation energy is especially useful - as a reminder that:

• you can't live in a trash mode indefinitely;
• you need not to be a hero, but to invest in the account: Off-days, R-days, S-days, calorie surplus, protein in food, sleep.

With age:

• volatility increases: the same M-day costs differently on different weeks - sleep, stress, and illnesses change the tariff as they please;
• ligaments and tendons adapt very slowly, so Deload and patience are necessary;
• you have to follow the bank's rule: if progress doesn't happen for 2-3 weeks - don't add trash, but reduce expenditure and increase account replenishment.

Link to the Central Governor Model theory

• Central regulator (brain) - the one who monitors the state of systems;
• Adaptation energy - a conditional resource that the central regulator tries not to completely drain.

Undoubtedly, the Central Governor Model is just a working model, without proof in the form of a button found in the brain by someone. Different schools explain the limitation of effort in different ways, but the practical conclusion is the same - the brain reduces power for the sake of safety.

When we feel on the grinder that our legs and arms can still go, but our head is already switching off the "power", it's our central regulator saying: "your balance is approaching zero - please top up your account by a method convenient for you".

Topping up the account is not just food and sleep, but also stress reduction + carbohydrates on the spot. That is, sometimes you just need glucose and water so as not to lose control.

A malfunction, in relation to the climbing gym, looks like this:

• deterioration of coordination and route reading
• sharp increase in the feeling of effort
• decrease in accuracy (misses in dynamics, "missing foot placements")
• irritability and tunnel vision
• "wooliness", frequent blinking, vision "swimming"
• heart rate and breathing not corresponding to the load (or vice versa, skyrocketing)

Sometimes we convince our brain, due to experience, motivation, and psyche, and thereby take on credit. If we take on credit too often, the regulator will start to cut power earlier and harder (like repossessing an apartment and a car for interest). Over time, there are persistent changes in regulation (sleep, mood, recovery), which can be partially reversible, but with age and duration of stress, reversibility, alas, decreases.

The chessboard of workouts allows us to live in the mode of a racing car, but with minimal burnout of the resource. Especially if it's already running low and we're scraping the bottom of the tank.

Influence of gym and equipment choice on the expenditure of adaptation energy

Thesis: the very organization of training in the gym, when we perform it comfortably, at an adequate temperature, with an adequate noise level, with the ability to drink water with carbohydrates in time, with comfortable and high-quality equipment - already reduces the withdrawal of funds from the adaptation resource account a little (or even a lot).

For example, in a climbing gym, we always have two types of expenses:

1. Targeted stress - what we came for: load on fingers, ligaments, muscles, CNS work in specific movements. This is the stress for which the body pays and then gives compensation (stronger fingers, better technique, more endurance). And we get pleasure from it.
2. "Trash" stress - everything unnecessary:
   • heat/cold,
   • noise, crowds, queues at the routes,
   • dirty holds/slippery shoes/ torn mats/children running around,
   • dehydration and hunger,
   • headache from light and music,
   • feeling of haste when time is pushing you.

A competently organized workout is:

• comfortable temperature;
• normal music and overall noise level;
• own drinking system (water+honey, for example);
• well-thought-out structure of training blocks;
• absence of unnecessary running around and nerves

All this greatly reduces the "trash" stress.

That is:

• the same mechanical and neuromuscular load,
• but less unnecessary physiological and mental tax.

In terms of adaptation energy: we spend resources almost entirely on adaptation to useful load, and not on fighting heat, chaos, hunger, and irritation.

A side bonus in the form of reactions from the central regulator:

• it sees fewer red flags (overheating, dehydration, "too loud/stressful"),
• it cuts power less and less often pushes towards defensive reactions (dizziness, "woolly" coordination, desire to bail from the gym or shove a brush for cleaning holds down someone's throat).

As a result: with the same, it seems, organization of training, we can get a completely different effect.