The Irish National Rowing Championship is soon approaching (July, 2026), and a term that is gaining traction or growth over the last few years is supercomp. Traditionally supercomp has been a 2 week (sometimes longer) period of very hard training before the championship - but are coaches using a structured process, or is it a "work them to the bone and fingers crossed" approach? In this blog I unpack what supercomp actually is and provide a methodology for implementation.
Supercompensation - Zooming Out
Supercompensation is one part of the overall training adaptation process. In figure 2, we can see the original performance level, and the theoretical adaptation we would like to happen. When a training session is introduced, the body is fatigued, and in most cases cannot meet the demands set by the training session parameters. Once the body is given time to recover, it adapts and achieves a new fitness level. This can be seen in the pathway labeled A.
One would correctly assume that if a higher dose is given to the body then a bigger adaptation would occur. This is true to a point. Looking at pathway B in figure 2, if training continues without recovery, then the athlete ends up overtraining and/or exhausted. When we allow for recovery at the right time, we begin to see a bigger adaptation - in this instance, super compensation occurs (pathway C in figure 2). With the reintroduction of more training (and recovery) the body can repeat this process.
This is why periodisation plays such a key role in training plans. If we overcook the athlete with too much training we never get the supercomp effect we want. Think of it like making toast. When toasting our toast, we can always hit cancel in order to check it. If its not right then we can toast it more if needed. But if we don't check the toast we can end up with burnt toast. In athletes, we can always do more work if the toast is not toasted enough. But if we end up with burnt toast, this can take a long time to reverse/undo.
Phases of Supercomp
Understanding how you or your athletes respond to a training stimulus is key in planning your supercomp block of training. Figure three describes the timeline of the process which we dive into in more detail below.
Phase I: One to Two Hours Post Training
Right after exercise the body experiences fatigue. Catabolism describes the break down or metabolism of key tissues e.g. protein breakdown. Fatigue is multifactorial but for the sake of not insulting you its predominantly influenced by the following factors:
- Duration of exercise bout
- Intensity of exercise
- Neurological toll e.g. high rate rowing (40spm+)
- Muscular toll e.g. lots of breakdown from eccentric activity
- Fuel availability (carbs/fats)
Phase II: 24 to 48 Hours Post Training
Phase two begins as soon as the training phase ends. This phase, also called the compensation phase encompasses the following:
- Restoration of energy supplies like ATP (3-5min), PCr (6-8min), and muscle glycogen (20-24hrs)
- Increased oxygen consumption called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) and can last from 15 to 48hrs depending on the intensity
- Anabolism describes the rebuilding or growth in the body
Phase III: 36 to 72 Hours Post Training
Phase three typically displays the rebounding or supercompensation effect in performance:
- Force capacity has been restored to baseline levels by 72hrs
- Psychological supercompensation is seen here characterised by high confidence, feeling energised, positive affirmations, and being able to cope with the stress of a busy training programme
- Glycogen stores and fully refuelled by the end of this phase
Phase IV: 3 to 7 Days Post Training
If a training stimulus does not happen in this period then detraining occurs. This is also referred to as involution in the figures above. The stimulus you give an athlete has a big impact on how long supercomp may take:
- Endurance session - 6-8hrs for supercomp
- High intensity interval training -24-48hrs for supercomp
Planning the Sessions
Athletes who follow programmes with less that 24hrs between sessions do not get the supercomp effect because they are training before it can happen. However, the rate of improvement is better when athletes undertake frequent training sessions - as long as there is enough recovery (figure 4).
On the other hand, if the body is subjected to HIIT too frequently this can result in over training. This is displayed in figure 5. Being able to monitor your athlete's readiness is key during a supercomp block.
What's the Best Green Light for More During Supercomp?
As we can see from figure 5, if we do too much too quick we get a decline in performance. So how do we know when to pull back or to push more? One of the best tools for telling us how well the body has recovered is heart rate variability (HRV). Put simply, HRV tracks the time between heart beats. If there is high variation in this duration this signals a recovered or excited nervous system. If there is low variation in this duration then it's an indicator of fatigue. Where HRV is consistently low and dull this is a sign of chronic fatigue, overtraining, and possibly overreaching.
Using technology like Polar, Garmin, or Whoop, athletes and coaches can track their readiness for high intensity interval training. Coaches can use tech like athlete management software that pools this team info into one place.
In figure 6 we can see an example of an athlete who is bouncing back from approximately three tough weeks of training. In the red square we know that testing or competition would not be a good idea because the 7 day average is below the 30 day average. However, in the green box, we can see that HRV has bounced back favourably and the athlete is now in a better position to test, compete, or undergo high intensity interval training. Keep an eye on these numbers daily with your athletes during supercomp!
Using Lumin Sports with my athletes allows me to know how they are responding to training. This way I can push them hard or dial training back as needed. When it comes to doing a supercomp phase of training it's really important that you're getting feedback from your athletes about how fresh they feel, or how ready they feel for the next HIIT dose. A simple conversation or an RPE rating, to more technical HRV scores can be extremely insightful in preventing you from burning your toast.
If you think you could use my help planning this phase with a bit more attention to detail, why not get in touch with me for a no obligation call? Now that you are aware of the above, is supercomp already part of your current structure? The answer is yes! However, when you're upping the anti in the last few weeks, keep an eye on your work to rest ratios, and the recovery time between sessions. Allow your athletes some autonomy on the timing of the next hard session.
