Negative Characteristics of ECPs
Certain distinctive characteristics of ECPs appear to particularly violate recognized accepted standards for developing muscular fitness. For example, repeatedly performing maximal timed exercise repetitions without adequate rest intervals between sets fails to adhere to appropriate and safe training guidelines. This training paradigm, when coupled with insufficient recovery time between high-volume training sessions, can readily prompt earlier fatigue, additional oxidative stress, less resistance to subsequent exercise strain, greater perception of effort, and unsafe movement execution leading to acute injury, especially with multijoint exercises that demand precise technique (e.g., power cleans)or other advanced exercises requiring considerable skill, balance, and strength (e.g., kettle bells, suspended rings, or hand-stand pushups). Overuse, overreaching, and over-training are parallel risks. Moreover, a clear approach for initiating an ECP and safely building up to higher levels progressively, in many instances, is not well defined for the novice participant. In the beginning stages and throughout the program, in the absence of individual fitness- and experience-based guidelines, Warfighters can arbitrarily do as much as they want and feel they should. Consequently, recurrent unplanned overreaching can easily occur and result in marked deterioration of expected performance gains. That is, those who are new to an ECP may do too much too soon; and even more experienced participants often end up performing advanced exercises with excessive fatigue and undue injury risk. Exercise sessions also can be very competitive, where Warfighters seek peer approval by attempting to ‘‘keep up’’ with others who may be more fit and stronger. Thus, individuals are often encouraged to push themselves unknowingly to excess, with a greater potential for concomitant injury. It is difficult for a competitive Warfighter to ‘‘scale back’’ because of an inherent desire to be part of the team and reluctance to do less than their peers. Individual and more appropriate pacing and progression, though vital for effective fitness development are commonly perceived as showing weakness. All of these contributing factors, if unchecked, could arguably lead to undue overload, poor body control, and loss of safe exercise performance, which, alone or in combination, might notably exacerbate and augment musculoskeletal injury risk.
