Training background affects fatigue and recovery in resistance training - individualized programs deliver the best results
Different types of resistance training loadings place stress on the body in multiple ways - in the nervous system, muscles, metabolism, and hormone production. These stressors can be measured, for instance, as temporary decreases in neuromuscular performance or increases in blood hormone and lactate levels. Over time, such training stimuli drive long-term training adaptations, such as improved strength levels and increased muscle mass.
Kotikangas’ dissertation examined how training background affects the acute responses to different types of resistance training loadings and the recovery process over 48 hours. The participants included power athletes, fitness athletes and bodybuilders, and recreational exercisers without a systematic resistance training experience.
The results revealed that power athletes were able to push themselves harder during power loading, but as a result, their recovery was slower compared to other groups. In contrast, fitness athletes and bodybuilders tolerated fatigue caused by power loading better but they appeared to recover more slowly after heavy hypertrophic loading – the type of training aimed for muscle growth.
“Training background, and the resulting muscular and neural characteristics, determines the kind of stress a resistance training loading produces and how quickly the body recovers,” summarizes doctoral researcher Johanna Kotikangas.
These findings highlight why training programs should not follow a one-size-fits-all approach. Taking an individual’s training background into account helps coaches and fitness professionals tailor resistance training so that the training stimulus is effective, recovery sufficient, and progress is optimized. This also allows resistance training to be better integrated with other forms of exercise.
MSc Johanna Kotikangas will defend her doctoral dissertation in sport coaching science, “Neuromuscular fatigue and hormonal responses during and after power, maximal strength, and hypertrophic resistance training loadings: Effect of training background”, on September 6th, 2025, starting at 12:00, in the Hall S212 (Seminarium building) at the University of Jyväskylä. The opponent will be Professor Glyn Howatson (Department of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation, Northumbria University, UK), and the custos will be Academy Research Fellow Simon Walker (University of Jyväskylä). The public examination will be conducted in English. The event can also be followed online.
The doctoral dissertation is available at this link.
More information:
Johanna Kotikangas
Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä
johanna.m.kotikangas@jyu.fi
