Perspective of Dose and Response for Individualized Physical Exercise and Training Prescription

Abstract

Physical interventions are used to increase physical (sports) performance and considered as effective low-cost strategies in the fields of healthcare, disease or injury prevention, and medical treatment. In general, a considerable amount of evidence buttress the application of physical interventions in various fields as it has been demonstrated to contribute to the maintenance and recovery of physical performance, cognitive function, and overall state of health. To implement physical interventions effectively, it is essential to provide an appropriate exercise and training prescription. Exercise and training prescription are key for “dose” specification and for the individualization (personalizing) of physical exercise and training, precisely adjusted and controlled like medication. Since the physiological response to physical interventions is demonstrably individual and dependent on many influencing factors, individualization is an emerging approach aiming to maximize the efficiency of an intervention by accounting for the interindividual heterogeneity. The present brief viewpoint article aims to distinguish and to redefine between the terms dose and response in order to improve the understanding of practitioners, the methodology of study protocols, and to relate future findings to the actual biological (interindividual) variability of acute and chronic responses.