Final answer:
A client's workout plan showing scheduled increases & decreases in exercise volume demonstrates the concept of periodization. This method of training involves varying exercise intensity to continually challenge muscles, leading to muscle adaptation and growth, known as hypertrophy. Lack of progression can lead to muscle atrophy or sarcopenia in the elderly.
Step-by-step explanation:
Understanding Training Concepts in a Workout Plan
When a client's workout plan entails scheduled increases and decreases in exercise volume, the training concept being demonstrated is periodization. This involves a pattern of physical exercise that includes short periods of vigorous muscular work followed by longer periods of medium and varied muscular work. Periodization is integral for effective strength training, as it helps in continually increasing muscle stimulation by varying the intensity and workload, thereby facilitating greater muscle adaptation and growth.
To achieve muscle hypertrophy, which is an increase in muscle mass, the training must regularly become more challenging. This typically involves lifting progressively heavier weights to overcome muscle adaptation. Conversely, a lack of progression can lead to muscle atrophy, where the muscle loses its size and strength due to disuse, a phenomenon also known as sarcopenia in age-related muscle loss.
Physical exercise broadly comprises both anabolic (building up) and catabolic (breaking down) processes. For example, muscle building exercises like weight lifting are anabolic, leading to hypertrophy, while endurance exercises that involve repetitive low-resistance activities are more catabolic, which can lead to muscle endurance rather than size.