Strength and Conditioning part 2

I have been on my S and C development program for just over a month and I am happy to report that I am really feeling the benefits. Not only does my posture feel more stable when I run, especially under fatigue, but my foot strike feels more complete and powerful. I have been focusing on strengthening and activating my hamstrings and glute muscles with the aim  to become a more efficient and faster runner. I have been wanting to focus on gym work for a few years now, but never really knew what to do until I am came in contact with Complete Physio.

The S and C program I have involves 7 intense exercises that is a mixture of floor and weights:

1) Using a swiss ball, 2 feet on the ball, hips up and alternating each leg in the air a total of 15 times, doing it 3 times. Works the core.

2) With a thera band and focusing on the glutes. A series of 4 exercises performed straight after one another on each leg with the aim to fatigue the glute and increase endurance.

3) This is called the "crab" because when the exercise is performed you do look, embarrassingly, like a crab. By widening your stride, walking sideways and taking small steps with a thera band, your glutes will burn big time!

4) Adductor strengthening exercise. Using a block approx 30cm off the floor, on your side, top leg at a 30degree angle and dynamically moving your hips up and down in a controlled manner.

5) Nordic hamstrings - this is a killer. First time I did these I hurt incredibly the next day. This is a static exercise that turns into a dynamic ending. Really punishing, but over the 4 week period does become easier.

6) Single leg squats - I find these an essential exercise, not just for running but swimming and cycling. To be strong and stable on both legs is imperative to my development and feel this is one or is my most important exercise. I have to be careful of not wobbling my knee as I perform the squat and everything must be slow and secure.

7) Romanian Deadlifts - another killer hamstring exercise that ruins my legs. With a free weight bar, legs straight and rotating through the hip joint to really feel the burn in the hamstring.

After carrying out this 3 times a week I feel my stride length has increased and my foot turnover is quicker. I am looking forward to meeting up with Jarrod and Chris and hopefully showing them my progression from when they last looked at me.

Every time I walk in to the gym I am greeted by this phrase, see above. We all interpret things in our own way, but because this year is like a fresh start for me I feel more affinity with this phrase than normal.

Strength and conditioning part 1

I am very happy to confirm that I am being supported by Complete Physio (www.complete-physio.co.uk). It is very exciting to have the opportunity to be assessed and treated by them with the goal to make me into a much stronger and more efficient triathlete.

I have been competing in triathlon for a little over 4years and have enjoyed a lot of success. As soon as I started triathlon, I went into Eilte racing as I knew I had the potential and talent to mix it up with the best guys. However, what I did not realise was that talent can only take you so far - the right type of training, correct drills, timing of intensity training, recovery, nutrition and above all, strength and conditioning, are all key areas that will improve you and help you get the edge on our competitors. Unfortunately, I neglected all of these areas and more and have had to learn the hard way that triathlon is not all about hurting yourself, but being elegant in your training and making sure your body is prepared, nurtured and conditioned for the demands of Olympic distance racing.

Through a good friend of mine, Mark Golton, I was introduced to Complete Physio and after my first assessment it was concluded that there is a lot of strength and conditioning worked needed. After my first appointment, what was most notable was how weak my hamstrings and glutes were. These two muscle groups are paramount for efficient and fast running and to have this weakness highlighted is bitter sweet:

a) I have been racing on inactive muscles.

b) It is very encouraging to know where big improvements will be made.

From my first appointment a detailed strength and conditioning program was written with the aim to turn these inactive, sleepy muscles into fired up powerful muscle groups.

Over the coming weeks I will be documenting my progression, explaining what exercises I have planned, why I am doing them and how my progress is making me a better athlete.

Below is where all the excitement will be taking place; Powerbase, Loughborough, a very intimidating gym!!

How to train when feeling sick

I was on Facebook the other day and I stumbled upon a very interesting discussion topic proposed by world class triathlete, Simon Whitfield. He asked: " how much training should we do when we are sick?" These are my thoughts:

When we talk about being "sick" I am referring to colds, sore throats and blocked up sinuses. Any symptoms more debilitating than these, I believe, the obvious answer is compete rest. You can not possibly train as the energy just is not there, but with the above conditions the amount and type of training is a mystery.

Firstly, to get the balance right you need to ask yourself these questions:

1) How am I truly feeling? Do I feel I have less energy than usual or the same? Is it a struggle to do things? Does the sofa feel more inviting than ever?

2) If I train today what do I hope to achieve? If you are only training to fulfil the minds ego then rest, but if you believe that you can gain something then do it.

3) When getting changed to go training and you feel that you falling into a bad mood and you feel you "have to" train, then don't.

4) The amount and duration is very personal. Only you know how much you can or can't do, but never get to a place where you feel yourself pushing. Everything should be very gentle and relaxed. Any sign of discomfort, then it should be cut short.

To overcome illness quickly and successfully you must be brutally honest with yourself. Only you know how your body is feeling and if your mind and body are in tune, then recovery will be very quick. I believe one of the on going issues with athletes is their inability to rest and recover when the body is not working at 100%. The ego is incredibly powerful and the thought of not training is too powerful of an addiction to leave.

Alberto Salazar summed this up by saying: “You’ve got to have the mental toughness and confidence in yourself where you believe that you can take those days off and you can recover and you can run great.“A lot of what we see in athletes that just train all the time and never give themselves adequate recovery is often portrayed as toughness. What I’ve realised over the years is it really is a weakness. It’s an insecurity that you’re not good enough to recover like other athletes: I’m not good enough to do that; I need to keep training; I can’t take time off; I can’t take easy days.” 

Above all, be gentle on yourself when you feel these uncomfortable symptoms developing. It is just your body way to tell you to slow down. You should be grateful for this unplanned down time and use it to get yourself fully healthy again and therefore, come back to training stronger, fitter and faster.

Recovery - what it's really all about

The start of the new year and many athletes (depending on their schedule) would have completed their base training; they would have laid down the infrastructure of copious amounts of miles and conditioned their bodies for the next phase of training: lactate endurance.

In this phase recovery is paramount for any athlete looking to maximise their potential. To reach the top in any sport a systematic approach to training is crucial to guarantee the most beneficial gains. "Making every day count," "pushing yourself to the limit," "breaking down the boundaries," are all concepts that every athlete employs, but the stage where a lot of athletes fall is recovery. Recovery is not about "doing" and "pushing through," it is about putting the right nutrients back in, so the body can repair and rebuild itself. It is ultimately about being elegant and gentle with yourself and simply being able to relax into your training by keeping it very light once the hard sessions have been carried out.

In single sports, like swimming and running for example, if a hard training set was carried out then the next day will normally be easy and the muscles that were used on that hard day are given plenty of time to recover. However, triathlon caters for 3 sports and getting the balance of all 3 sports is crucial for a successful season and longevity in the sport.

The understanding should begin with the notion that we all "have one heart and a pair of lungs," so no matter what sport is carried out we are always stressing these organs and thus, need to realise that they need to recover just as much as the sport specific muscles. Most athletes know that after exercise and especially anything that is maximal, a protein/carbohydrate drink is essential to have straight away. The "window of opportunity" as lot of literature points out, is approximately 30min and it is in this time that the muscles are at their highest rate of absorption. However, what needs to be emphasised a lot are the effects on the neuro muscular system and how long it takes for glycogen to actually be replenished to its full capacity. The recovery drink definitely kicks starts this process, but how long until we are fully recovered?

 With 3 sports to train means you are 3 times more likely to get recovery wrong. When it goes wrong over training syndrome, chronic fatigue and lack of motivation are a result. I believe the main reason for this is that many triathletes do not know how to train the next day following maximal efforts. After ingesting plenty of carbohydrates, proteins and good fats, many athletes will believe that this is enough and wake up the next morning and try and do it all again. It takes about 48hrs to replenish glycogen stores and about the same or more time for all hormonal responses to settle down and become aligned with the body. By going out the next day and training hard will only disrupt this process and therefore, prevent the body from fully adapting. If this is repeated on a regular basis the chance to fully adapt will not happen, athletes will not be able to give 100% and ultimately, their potential will never be realised.

A reason why this could be the case is because there maybe consistent training in zones 3/4. These two zones are the "uncomfortable" zones where the heart rate is fairly high, you can not really hold a conversation and things do not feel relaxed. In these zones glycogen will begin to be used as the body is demanding more oxygen to supplement the muscular demands. It will feel like you are not pushing yourself, but are getting a "workout" nonetheless. The physiological gains at these zones are minimal when training with maximal sessions in your programme. The key is to train at fat burning zones 1/2 on recovery days. At these zones you can hold a conversation and in theory continue for a long time. The advantages of training at this intensity is that your glycogen stores will not be used because the amount of oxygen required to support the muscular demands are met. The added bonus is that you can still keep the training volume high while pushing yourself further. In your fat burning zones, an athlete is very capable of training 5/6hours the day after a maximal effort session, but only if they train at a very low intensity and listen to how the body is responding to the demands from exercise.

By alternating max efforts and fat burning into your training and taking 36/48hrs easy coupled with plenty of food and fluid, there is no reason why you can not reach your potential. I believe this is how the top triathletes stay at the top and how others get there and fall very quickly. By knowing your body and having the confidence to listen to it, you will know when to go hard and when to go easy. By training in this elegant way and doing the basics right, success will only be a matter of time.

2012 at last!

Finally 2011 has come to an end and I felt a breath of fresh air when the clock struck 12 on new years eve. To me it was closure on a roller coaster year and the beginning of another chapter. As much as this post can be a platform for some cathartic writing, I will save that for another time and focus on what is really important: solid winter training!

As I entered Xmas I was fortunate to have covered about 10 weeks of solid base training. This type of training was focused on the "hours" and the "miles." Without becoming to OCD with these two terms I embarked on a training plan to gradually increase my training volume to a point where I was regularly churning out 28hr weeks. The focus was to make sure I ran 70miles a week and bike about 12/14hrs. Fortunately, after a lot of perseverance through the cold patch in December, this was achieved.

As I enter the second phase of training where the aim will be introducing sessions while maintainsing the volume, recovery is paramount in my development as an elite triathlete and thus, maximising my potential. Many times I have fallen short at this hurdle: pushing too hard too early, not knowing when to rest and not listening to my body. This phase of training, I believe, can make or break you as an athlete. Everyone can do the odd session well, but only a few can recover and do it again week in week out at their maximal. I believe this is where the brownlee's shine and their recovery is incredibly effective.

Pictures and information on recovery to follow!