The Importance of SAID

I was talking to a client the other day and she brought up a point that is fundamental to the understanding of the body and how the body adapts to exercise. She came to me concerned about her level of overall fitness because while she felt that she was in good shape, when she went for a bike ride the previous day, she felt herself getting winded and her muscles becoming tired much quicker than she would have hoped. She had been putting in time not only strengthening her legs but also on the treadmill to increase her cardiovascular capacity, yet it seemed that none of this mattered when she was on the bike.

This is when I realized that many people do not fully understand just what happens as we exercise. There is a principle that is fundamental to how our body reacts to the work we do known as SAID. This stands for “Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands” and explains why you could spend hours on the treadmill and still become winded on the bike. As the SAID principle spells out, we adapt to the specific demand that we place on the body. Biking and running are two different movements, so the body will not have carry-over from one to another. This is why Lance Armstrong, one of the greatest cyclists of all time, had over 800 people finish in front of him in the Boston Marathon. It did not matter that he had great leg strength and endurance or that his lungs are some of the most capable in the world, because this just wasn’t an activity that his body was accustomed to.

Now, that brings up another point that goes right along with this principle. Many people think of cardiovascular ability as being synonymous with lung capacity. While the lungs do have a role, it is actually your muscles ability to utilize oxygen that will result in one’s ability to sustain activity. When you move your muscles, they require more oxygen, but if you are not used to using those muscles in a certain pattern, then they will not be efficient at using the oxygen they are receiving. This can be discouraging for anyone who, after all their training, finds that they are still winded after certain activities. But this is only your body telling you that you are doing something new!

The point is, we must train in ways that are going to get us to our goals the quickest. If you are a runner, you should spend most of your endurance training time with running (intervals I might add). If you are a swimmer, do the same. If you just want to lose weight, then the most important thing is actually weight training because we utilize the most muscle units and produce the greatest demand on the body when we move weight. So remember be specific and your body will adapt to those activities! Good luck and happy training!

Colin