What is Work Capacity

This is from my book the Athletic Development – The Art and Science
of Functional Sports Conditioning. I thought this would clarify
what I mean when I refer to work capacity.

“Work capacity is the ability to tolerate a workload
and recover from that workload. In order for an athlete to improve they must be
able to do a certain threshold amount of work. They must be able to work at a
level that will ensure enough stress to achieve an optimum adaptive response.
If they cannot do the work they will not improve. For example, a sprinter whose
general fitness limits their ability to do any significant amount of sprint
training would significantly limit their ability to improve. Therefore the goal
with this type of individual would be to build a work capacity base that fits
the specific demands of the athlete’s sport. This would get the sprinter fit
enough to do the amount of sprint work to improve his speed.”

“In the language of training theory work capacity
falls into the category of general physical preparation (GPP). There are three
components of work capacity: 1) The ability to tolerate a high workload – the
key word here is to tolerate. Many athletes are capable of doing an occasional
high workload, but cannot adapt to this workload on any kind of consistent
basis. 2) The ability to recover from the workload sufficiently for the next workout
or competition. This is closely tied to the first concept. If the athlete
cannot recover then they are risking overuse injuries or overtraining. They
will not be able to adapt to the training stress. 3) The capacity to resist
fatigue whatever the source. Fatigue is more than metabolic, it is the ability
to resist neural fatigue and mental fatigue. 4) It is the refinement of the
efficiency and coordination of the cardiovascular, metabolic and nervous
systems.”