In part I, of a two part series on the principles of training, I will be discussing the guidelines to developing an athlete. In part II I will be discussing the key to performance improvement and planning by load progression. This is a summary of Dr. Tudor Bompa’s ” Periodization: Theory and Methodology of Training” 4th edition book, chp. 2.
PART I
Physical education and sports have evolved lately into a precise science called Theory and Methodology of Sports. Training is based on the biological, psychological, and pedagogical sciences. These training guidelines are the principles of training. With these guidelines we develop increasing skill and performance.
Through active participation from the athlete the athlete can discuss his or her progress. When the athlete expresses subjective and objective feelings, example by using the daily metrics and athlete comments section in training peaks, I am able to relate performance aspects, what they need to do, and how to do it. Even active participation from the athlete in daily life such as socializing provides satisfaction but they must also know how to get adequate rest.
By setting goals, passing tests, individual training sessions and actively participating in the athletes objectives provides a means for the athlete to participate. A way to become accountable for their training. All this keeps the athlete motivated to achieve their performance goals.
Multilateral development is another means to expose athletes to a long term approach to sport and training principles. Many young athletes are trained to specialize in a sport before developing an overall conditioning program. With multilateral development, a young athlete does practice the sport they are interested in but they also develop other biomotor skills by participating in other sports. This prevents injuries, staleness and monotony in training. As the they get into junior level categories specialized training is emphasized. At maturation, this is where it all pays off in high performance. Each sport is unique in each of these three levels and when the process begins. With the proper timing and specific training development will occur into a high level of performance.
When I plan a program for an athlete I take into account that persons individual characteristics. Every athlete fills out a questionaire and a training program is based on their answers. A plan based on tolerance levels such as biological and chronological age, experience or starting age of sport participation, individual work capacity and performance, training and health status, training load and recovery rate and an athletes body build and psychology to the specific sport. All these aspects provide the training principles of an athletes program.
By providing variety in training, the athlete will become less bored and prevent overuse injuries. With cross training such as running, swimming, weight training and relating them to the biomotor skills of the specific sport and variety excercises can develop the athlete. Within the workout, for example by ending a weight session with cycling or basketball, monotony and boredom can be avoided. This principle to training is especially useful in the preparatory phase to develop certain biomotor skills that pertain to their sport. Athletes always need variety in training to work on their mental and psychological well being.
Modeling a specific event simulates the reality of what could occur. This type of training prepares the athlete, through exhibitions ect…, to prepare the athlete for competition. Emphasis is placed on the the objective, method, and content of the practice so that it is unique , reliable and sole to the event to limit variable of secondary importance. Thus the goal of the model is to achieve training that is identical to competition. In bike racing I like to consider training races or C category races as sessions to model a race. Simulate and learn what experiences occur throughout these and apply them to an event you’ll want to do well in.
Posted by admin as general at 5:37 PM MST
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This is a question that alot of people ask of themselves. For some it’s for fitness, competition, friendship, fun, health goals, or achievement. For me it’s to race. I enjoy setting athletic goals and striving to accomplish them. I like competition. I like to see myself improve year after year. To work on my weaknesses and turn them into strengths. To push myself to the limits.
Since I started coaching, setting goals seems to be a great motivator to keep my athlete working out. Short term goals keep people focused on the now of why they are working out. The next days workout is motivating enough to them to keep the long term goal in perspective. The greatest motivator is a goal. It’s not your coach but your own personal goals. A coach is there to help you achieve those goals.
One thing I like to recommend to anyone is to try a race . It’s a good goal to shoot for. It doesn’t matter if you’re slow or have never raced. Just lining up and finishing is a good objective. When I’m at a race it’s great to watch people finish. Every finisher has finished for their own reasons whether it’s for placing or not. The goal is to finish. It’s very motivating to then try another race and finishing with a better placing, just crossing the line, or saying that you did another race. This is a great way of keeping you going out the door for that workout.
Another reason I see for people to workout is friendship. Teaching spin class, I notice that people who have a common goal, such as working out, seem to want to workout. This provides a social aspect that keeps them coming back. Find a partner with the same goals and your workout will be more enjoyable.
To be able to push yourself to the next level is another reason people I train use to set their goal of working out. To be able to run further or faster. The do a 30 mile bike ride. To lose excess pounds. All of these great reasons and achievements. To be able to see how far you can go.
Posted by admin as general at 3:57 PM MST
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Train Movements, Not Muscles
Does your workout resemble a bodybuilding workout? If you break your parts up by training chest one day, back the next and then legs, you are not developing athletic ability.
I can’t recall how many times I’ve talked with people who are involved with endurance sports about how they want to get ripped and muscular. I usually end up giving them some advice on being sport specific in your weight training methods. This even goes for other athletes. BE SPECIFIC TO YOUR SPORT! We seemed to be more interested in looks than performance.
You should train large movements (squats, deadlifts, cleans, snatches, presses, rows, pull-ups) as you work the body as one cohesive unit. This was the way it was meant to function. You’ll also spend less time in the gym. You don’t break the body down when you play, so why would you do it when you train?
Always Focus on Posture
As soon as you lose your posture you lose a large amount of your power. So always focus on proper posture when weight training and in your skill training. As soon as it starts to go, it’s time to end your set. If you aren’t developing proper movement patterns (or habits) you are developing bad ones. When doing muscular strenght work slowly. Develop power. When doing a speed weight workout use explosive, quick movements.
To become a better overall athlete don’t focus on one rep max lifts as bodybuilders do. Instead focus on speed of movement. You will become faster, stronger, and less injury prone.
Keep on Training the Rightway
Posted by admin as general at 4:07 PM MST
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Every movement we make—from walking to driving—involves our muscles. Muscles are unique. They have the ability to relax, contract, and produce force. They are metabolically active, meaning that the more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism (amount of calories your body needs) at rest and during exercise. With appropriate exercise—strength training—muscles are highly responsive, becoming larger and stronger.
Strength training is an essential part of a complete fitness program. It’s so important, that it makes up 2 of the 5 Components of Physical Fitness: muscular strength and muscular endurance.
But if you don’t know anything about strength training, where do you start? Right here! This guide will tell you everything you need to know to begin and even offer a few tips for the experienced exerciser as well.
Definition
Strength training is the process of exercising with progressively heavier resistance for the purpose of strengthening the musculoskeletal system.
Other Names
Weight lifting, weight training, body sculpting, toning, body building, resistance training
Benefits
Regular strength training increases the size and strength of the muscle fibers. It also strengthens the tendons, ligaments, and bones. All of these changes have a positive impact on your physical fitness, appearance, and metabolism, while reducing the risk of injury and decreasing joint and muscle pain.
Muscle is metabolically-active tissue. This means that the more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism is while at rest. So, strength training is an important component of a weight loss program. Muscle also weighs more than fat. This is one of the main reasons your weight alone will not tell you everything. You can lose fat, gain muscle and tone, and have no overall change in weight, or even an increase in weight.
Without consistent strength training, muscle size and strength decline with age. An inactive person loses ½ pound of muscle per year after age 20. After age 60, this rate of loss doubles. But, muscle loss is not inevitable. With regular strength training, muscle mass can be preserved throughout the lifespan, and the muscle lost can be rebuilt.
Guidelines
There are four principles of strength training:
The Tension Principle:
The key to developing strength is creating tension within a muscle (or group of muscles). Tension is created by resistance. Resistance can come from weights (dumbbells or free weights), specially designed machines (Nautilus, Paramount, Hammer Strength, Cybex, etc), resistance bands, or the weight of your own body. Here is more detail on the three methods of resistance:
Calisthenics (your own body weight):
You can use the weight of your own body to develop muscle, but this method may be less effective for developing larger muscles and strength. However, calisthenics adequately improve general muscular fitness and are sufficient to improve muscle tone and maintain one’s current level of muscular strength. Examples: Push ups, Crunches, Dips, Pull ups, Lunges, Squats, Pilates.
Fixed Resistance:
These methods provide a constant amount of resistance throughout the full range of motion (ROM). This means that the amount of resistance/weight you are lifting does not change during the movement. For example, during a 10-pound curl, you are lifting 10 pounds throughout the motion. This offers the potential to strengthen all the major muscle groups in the body. Examples: Dumbbells (free weights), resistance bands and tubes, some machines.
Variable Resistance:
During exercises with variable resistance, the amount of resistance changes throughout the range of motion. This creates a more consistent effort of exertion throughout the entire ROM. For example, when lifting weights, it is harder to lift against gravity and easier to lower the weight down. Specially designed machines (like Nautilus and Hammer Strength brands) take the angle, movement, and gravity into account so that the release of a biceps curl feels just as hard as the lifting phase of the curl.
The Overload Principle:
This principle says that in order to train the muscles, they must work harder than they are accustomed to. This “overload” will result in increased strength as the body adapts to the stress placed upon it.
Everyone begins at a certain level of strength. To become stronger, you must regularly increase the tension (weight/resistance level) that the muscles work against, causing them to adapt to a new level. As the muscles respond to an overload, they grow in size and strength. There are two major types of strength overloads, each based on the type of muscle contraction involved:
Isometric means “same length”. This is a high-intensity contraction of the muscle with no change in the length of the muscle. In other words, your muscles are working hard but the muscle itself remains static. Isometric exercises are good for variety, and for helping maintain your current strength level, but they don’t challenge your body enough to build more strength. For example: Maximum effort against an immovable object like a wall, or holding a contraction in one position. Yoga poses and some abs exercises like “Plank” are two ways your muscles work hard without changing their length.
Isotonic means “same tension”. When you lift weights or use resistance bands, your muscles are shortening and lengthening against a given amount of external resistance. This challenges your muscles throughout the entire range of motion. However, the amount of force the muscle generates will change throughout the movement (Force is greater at full contraction/shortening of the muscle). Unlike isometric exercises, this type of contraction does help build strength.
The Specificity of Training Principle:
This refers to the fact that only the muscle or muscle group you exercise will respond to the demands placed upon it. By regularly doing curls, for example, the muscles involved (biceps) will become larger and stronger, but curls will have no effect on the muscles that are not being trained. Therefore, when strength training, it is important to strengthen all of the major muscles.
The Detraining Principle:
After consistent exercise stops, you will eventually lose the strength that you built up. Without overload or maintenance, muscles will weaken in two weeks or less! This is the basis behind why individuals lose muscle mass as they age—because they are detraining by exercising less frequently.
The F.I.T.T. Principles
When considering the guidelines for strength training, keep in mind the F.I.T.T. Principles (frequency, intensity, time and type):
Frequency :Number of exercise sessions per week.
Aim to train each muscle group at
least two times per week, and up to three if you have the time or are more advanced. One day per week may help you maintain your current level of strength, but it will not be enough to build muscle. It is important to rest 1-2 days in between working out the same muscle(s). Rest days give the muscles time to repair themselves from small tears that occur during strength training, and this is how you get stronger. For example, if you do a full body routine on Monday, do not lift again until Wednesday or Thursday (1-2 days). If you decide to split up your strength training (due to time, schedule, personal preference), and do upper body exercises on Monday and lower body exercises on Tuesday, it’s okay to lift two days in a row—because you are working different muscles. You wouldn’t lift upper body again until Wednesday or Thursday, or lower body again until Thursday or Friday.
Intensity: How much weight/resistance
This is a tricky one—and if you’re new to exercise, it will take some trial and error. The intensity of the resistance should challenge you. It should be high enough that as you approach your last repetition, you feel muscle exhaustion. Exhaustion means your muscle is so tired that you can’t do another full repetition in good form. Many people do not lift to exhaustion, mostly because they don’t know that they are supposed to. They tend to just lift the number of reps that they have subscribed to and stop.
For example, if you are going to do 10 reps of biceps curls, don’t merely stop on that 10 th rep if you haven’t reached muscle exhaustion. You could either continue doing reps until you do reach exhaustion, or take this as a sign that the weight you are lifting is too light. Increase your weight until you do feel exhausted on the 10 th rep. Remember, resistance comes in many forms, not just weights: bands and tubes, your own body weight, adding incline (such as a step), and other machines. How much weight/resistance you lift will work hand in hand with the number of reps you do (see Time section below).
Time: Number of Reps and Sets
Going from the starting position, through the action and back to the starting position counts as one rep. Most people lift somewhere between 8 and 15 reps. 8-15 reps equal one set. Most people do 1-3 sets with rest in between each set.
How many reps should you do? There are two approaches depending on your goals: whether you are lifting for sheer strength, or whether you are lifting for endurance/toning. If lifting for strength, experts recommend fewer reps (around 8-10). Because you are doing fewer reps, you will need a heavier weight to reach muscle exhaustion in that time, so that’s where the words “heavy weight, low reps” come from. If lifting for endurance (to help with your cardio workouts) or toning (smaller muscles), experts recommend more reps (around 10-15). Because you are doing so many, you’ll need a lighter weight.
No matter what your goal—strength or endurance—you still want to lift resistance that is heavy enough to exhaust you at the end of your set. So, while you may be able to curl 20 pounds and feel exhaustion in 8 reps, you may only be able to lift 12 or 15 pounds if you are doing 15 reps.
The ideal number of sets has been debated about for years. A good rule of thumb is 1-3 sets. Research studies have shown that performing 2 sets is not significantly better than one. And performing 3 sets is not significantly better than doing 2. The only significant difference is between 1 and 3 sets. As long as you are working to the point of exhaustion, you can maintain and even build strength by doing only 1 set. But unless you are crunched for time, most beginners start with 2 sets of each exercise.
Make sure you rest 30-90 seconds between sets. You can use this time to stretch the muscle you are working and catch your breath or get a drink of water. The longer you rest, the more strength you will have to finish out your next set just as strongly as the previous one—which will aid in your strength development.
- Another option rather than resting (especially for the time-crunched) is CIRCUIT TRAINING. While circuit training, you are resting the muscle you just worked, but instead of coming to a full stop, you just move on to your next exercise. You can circuit between two exercises at a time- bicep curls and tricep extensions, for example- and after your 1-3 sets are done, move on to two more. Another option is to move through your entire workout doing 1 set of each exercise and then starting at the beginning for your second and third sets. How you decide to do it is up to you. The idea is to keep your heart rate up (to get a bit of an aerobic benefit) and to save time.
Type: Activities that count
Exercise every major muscle group when strength training: arms, chest, back, core, and legs. Make sure you work opposing muscles, not just the ones you see when you look in the mirror (biceps, chest, abs, quads). The opposing muscles are the ones that work in opposition to those (in this case, the triceps, back, lower back, and hamstrings). Also be sure to work the sides of your body: obliques, hips, abductors and adductors (outer and inner thigh). The idea is to achieve balance. The same goes for the upper and lower body. Don’t neglect one or the other just because one is more important to you. This can create imbalance and set you up for injury and pain.
Strength training can be done with a variety of equipment such as resistance bands, a physio ball, hand weights or body weight. The Fitness Resource Center has numerous examples of these exercises for you to choose from.
Cautions
- Proper Form: Performing exercises in proper form is very important—not only to isolate the muscle you are trying to work, but also to prevent injury.
- Machines are best for beginners. They usually have detailed instructions and a picture on them, plus they show which muscles you are working. They are set up to put your body in proper form and isolate the right muscles. They are usually grouped together (upper body, chest, arms, legs, etc) in a weight room, so that you can easily move through them in a circuit and still hit every major muscle group.
- Free weights are more advanced. After you’ve had a good foundation with the machines (and you know something about what types of movements work which muscles), you can move into free weights. When using free weights, form becomes even more important because there is nothing to support you or make you do it properly. Lift in front of a mirror and use the proper benches whenever possible. For example, when doing an overhead press, sit on a bench with a back support rather than standing or sitting on a bench with no support. This will help protect your back and keep you in good form. Always watch the alignment of the joints and their relationships: shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles should be aligned. Your back should remain flat and your abs should be contracted to help support the lower back. Have a trainer assist you and have someone there to spot you if you are lifting heavy weights.
- Proper Breathing: There IS a proper way to breathe when strength training. People tend to hold their breath, which can be dangerous (increases blood pressure, etc.). Breathing is very important during exercise. We breathe harder and faster during cardio/
aerobic workouts, and we need to breathe more during lifting too. This helps deliver oxygen to the working muscles (which will also give you energy) and get rid of the waste products more efficiently.
- Exhale fully and forcefully on the exertion phase of the lift. The exertion phase is the hardest part: The curl of a biceps curl, the up phase of a push up—usually the phase where you are lifting the weight (as opposed to releasing it).
- Inhale deeply on the easier phase—usually the release or the return to the starting position: lowering the weight of a biceps curl, lowering back to the ground in a push up.
Try to keep this rhythm throughout every set. In the beginning, it will take some concentration, but after a while, it will become habit. If you have trouble keeping pace with your exercise (there is, after all, a lot to think about!), then just focus on breathing, period. Don’t hold your breath at any point!
Posted by admin as general at 9:32 PM MST
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