I’ve been debating on the subject of high intensity training vs lower to moderate intensity training otherwise known as  continuous training(click link training programs). There is a time and a place for both. Control the amount of intensity and you’ll be much better in the long run. High intensity interval training (HIIT) can produce to many mistakes that lead to illness,  injury and burnout. Sure, the majority of  athletes are time crunched. They have families, careers and other obligations. What happens to lost training time do to illness, injury and burnout?

The Pareto Principle is a good example of how to train. Spend 80% of your time below 70% max heart rate. Another way to look at it, and be on the safe side, is to take 180-age and train around this heart rate 80% of the time. How do you spend the 20%? That is the finesse part of training. There is a fine line between to much intensity.

Marc

Posted by admin as Training, intervals, performance, power at 1:36 AM MST

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Testing New Exercise Technique

A new type of weight training that is being developed through a partnership with American College of Sports Medicine and Sato Sports Plaza of Japan. This technique could reduce the stress on athletes and older adults whom have a limit on physical stress that can be applied to the body, such as joint problems.

This technique allows for a reduction of the external loads that need to be lifted from a traditional high load of 80 percent of a person’s strength down to 20 percent while maintaining all the benefits of the high-intensity programs.

Taken from Medicalnewstoday.com

Marc

Posted by admin as News, general, performance at 12:35 PM MST

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It’s Friday the 13th and what better way to start than with the truth about training and leave the superstition to story telling.

I came across a good review of some of the science of cycling that’s been going on for the past few years.  A partial summation of physiology and training that leads to performance gains can be found in these abstracts  part 1 and here is part 2 .

If you’re interested in the full article respond to this post or just drop me an email at marc at trainingtherightway.com .

Marc

Posted by admin as Physiology, performance, power at 6:00 AM MST

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If you pick up a magazine, follow your friends training program or follow a generic program for training this is an example of process driven. This type of program isn’t geared specifically toward you and your weaknesses. Everyone of us has our strengths and weaknesses. What you need to do is work on your weaknesses to become results driven. Even within the sports own discipline there are differences in the results driven process.

Mountain bikers really need to work on anaerobic type intervals, acceleration power, a stong upper body and technical skills. Even then, work on what you are weak at to become a better mountain biker. Short efforts such as 30 sec on/off’s.  A strong upper body is needed but not a body builders body so train appropriately. Techinical skills such as balance, technical ascents/descents.

A road cyclist needs to train a bit differently then the mountain biker. Road cyclist’s don’t need as strong of an upper body. They must work on being aerobic. Technical skills such as a smooth pedal technique, cornering or riding a straight line are what roadies need.

Just riding your bike without a plan is a good thing to do. It’s fun. Reality is you won’t get better without working on your weaknesses or become a safer rider. Spend some time in that parking lot working on cornering. Hit those trails if your a mountain biker. Even recreational riders should work on their weaknesses. So what are you? Process or results driven.

Posted by admin as Technique, performance at 11:06 AM MST

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Sydney Brown, one of the athletes I coach, is shooting for some good results this cross season. Her priority races are Jingle Cross and Master Cross Nationals. At Jingle Cross her goal is to podium while at Masters Cross Nationals, 35-39,  she wants to better her 2nd place in 2007.

Working with Sydney, prior to starting her training for cross season, we developed a plan for her to peak for these events. I used Training Peaks WKO+ Performance Manager Chart to plan her form. Her workouts are set for every day through out cross season. She can look ahead for the coming weeks and if a conflict in her schedule interferes with a workout it can be easily adjusted to keep her on the right course. This is a definite advantage working with a power meter. All data is can be scheduled, downloaded, and compared to the plan.

The below chart is Syd’s planner chart for what should be happening to her fitness, form and fatigue.  As you can see her form (TSB yellow line) should be just below zero. A positive number, and the number depends on the athlete, is an indicator of a good performance. This weekend she is racing a UCI event in Wisconsin called Planet Bike Cup. It’s an early season race and results are not all that important but it sure doesn’t hurt the confidence to do well. She needs to lay down the foundation of the program (drills, skills, training, technique) and where else to do that put at a quality bike event.  You’ll also notice that her form will be very positive on the weekend of 10/4. This is a race in Omaha, Ne. Again, she is still building a foundation but expects some good results because she now has some quality in her legs.

The next chart is Syd’s actual data from her power meter since 9/14/08. As you can see she’s right on course. All pun’s intended. Again, one of the advantages of working with a power meter and some excellent software from Taining Peaks WKO+.

Power and prediction are just a few aspects of racing a bike. Racing isn’t just about the data, though. There are many factors to doing well. Look for Sydney to overcome these factors on her way to having a great cyclocross season. Also, stay tuned as I’ll be giving more updates on her progress as the season progresses.

Marc

Posted by admin as Training, performance, power, power file at 9:06 PM MST

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Want to be a winner? Then follow these 5 steps:

1. Maximize your aerobic capacity (V02max) so that more oxygen, and thus energy, is available to exercise.

2. Raise your lactate threshold to a high percentage of VO2max, so that intense efforts can be maintained before energy stores are used up.

3. Become more efficient at carrying out the activity, so that less energy is wasted and hard exertions feel less stressful.

4. Boost yourself mentally so that training and competing become easier.

5. Get adequate amounts of rest for proper recovery.

1. Increase your aerobic capacity

This is probably the easiest of the 5 steps to do, since just going out and participating in your sport for long periods of time will increase VO2max or the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use. If you’re an endurance athlete, for example, 30 minutes of 70% maximum heart rate will be of some benefit, but 40-60 minutes are even better.

However, beyond a certain point, increasing your quantity of training no longer boosts V02max. There is a point at which the negative effects of long duration training have on breaking down and injuring muscle tissue that outweigh the cardiovascular benefits. Once that point is reached, intensity of training becomes the key factor: you’ll have to cycle, run, or swim at speeds which lift your heart rate to at least 90 per cent of maximal, for the event you’re training for and ride at least 110% of the distance, in order to push V02max as high as possible.

To make things more difficult, attaining such high heart rates for brief periods of time won’t work. If you’re really interested in sending V02max upwards, train at approximately 90% of your max. heart rate(85% VO2max ), but to much training above this level will increase the potential for injury. Intervals of four-to-five minute durations several times during selected workouts is what will raise your VO2.

2. Increase your lactate threshold

Increasing your lactate threshold, the point at which lactic acid accumulates faster than it is removed,is fairly straight forward. If you increase V02max, you will usually raise your threshold as well, since LT is a fixed percentage of aerobic capacity. Your LT limits your rate of maximal effort. Your effort can only be exceeded for a few minutes above LT before you build up to much oxygen debt. The more you exceed LT the more lactic acid that will build up and reduce your performance.Howe Training intervals of about 80-90 per cent of maximal heart rate for 20- to 25-minute periods will generally have an enormous effect on LT. In this day and age of cheap heart rate monitors, I highly recommend the use of one. Don’t train blindly.

3. Become more efficient

The key to improving your efficiency of movement is to recognize that each muscle in your body is composed of collections of individual muscle cells. In making a particular muscle stronger fewer of the individual cells within that muscle will be required to sustain a certain level of effort. In other words, more muscle cells within the muscle are allowed to rest while you’re engaging in your sport, and other muscles which assist your active muscle are less likely to be called into play. Since you’ll need to activate fewer individual muscle cells to pedal a bicycle, your overall energy demand will be lower and you’ll be more efficient! As a result, you’ll be able to achieve higher than expected levels of exercise intensity and conserve large quantities of muscle fuel.

To get more powerful and more efficient, you’ll need to do some intervals which are higher than your usual competitive intensities. Exertions in the ranges of 30-90 seconds. Then include some recovery durations that are equal to 30-90 seconds. This helps with lactate tolerance and the ability to sustain high power outputs. Even longer rest intervals allow more work to be done during each work interval. Sprinters will want to do efforts less than 30 seconds.

An additional way to become more efficient is to make use of what is called “fartlek” training. The idea is simply to do some “specific” training at your competition intensity. There is little scientific basis for this training and it benefits.

For example, the top-level runner who wants to sizzle through a 5K in 13:10 should complete some 1000m intervals in 2:38 each, the 10K competitor shooting for a 30-minute race should carry out 2000m intervals in six minutes, and the marathoner hoping for a 2:11 clocking should cruise through 10-miles runs in 50 minutes. In each case, these runners are practising the exact tempo which will be required for the race. Likewise the rower who wants to hustle a boat through the water at a particular cruising velocity, the cyclist shooting for a goal time, and the skier needing a specific pace to win a race, must all practise that particular intensity during training.

Competition is not just a muscular event. Specific training allows the nervous and muscular systems to come together in a synchronous way.

4. Boost yourself mentally

Your state of mind is also closely tied to your training and riding. Mental preparation is often undervalued. Focusing on what you’re doing right now and thinking positively have enormous benefits to your performance.

You also need to learn to “roll with the punches”. Don’t let a bad day training or racing get in the way of your objectives. Use it as an opportunity to learn more about yourself. This is where setting the proper goals come into play. Goals that are to lofty are a reason for disaster. Use mental images of how the race will progress and a successful outcome.

Finally, learn to stay relaxed but at the same time tense. Ready to leap into action when the time comes.

5. Learn how to rest

Hard workouts are necessary but rest is just as important. Rest is all too often missing from an athlete’s schedule. Thinking that more duration, intensity and volume will gain them a top performance most athletes are on the brink of overtraining. It’s not possible to reach top performances without proper rest.

Recovery comes in many forms. Nutritionally you must eat correctly to build that power house. Stay properly hydrated. Take easy recovery days at your sport or complete days off. Have a week of reduced training every 4-6 weeks. Yearly take 4-6 weeks of reduced or absolutely no training. The body likes small increases in training not drastic changes.

Not every athlete needs to reach the five goals. Sprinters, for example, don’t require high V02max levels or lofty lactate thresholds, and they may in fact lose some of their muscle power if they focus to much on V02max training. However, for athletes involved in activities which last for more than a few minutes, hitting all five steps will lead to a podium performance.

Marc Walter Rightway Performance

Posted by admin as Physiology, performance at 1:23 PM MST

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