Training Programs

Attached are your cross training protocols for next week. If you can gain access to the bike, strive to keep each riding sessions to 15-20 minutes of skills and drills keeping your intensity levels within HR Z2 (no higher for any reason).

Over the last 37 years of working with athletes one of the most consistent mistakes I see is athletes who begin to doubt their fitness and relevant speed when their schedules become interrupted; this results in injuries and/or performance frustrations.  Here are four components of your program designed to make your training both productive and void of injury:

Establish Physical Weakness Profile – Maximize Your Training Efforts

“Strengthen your weaknesses and race your strengths” is the motto that I say to frequently, most athletes spend the majority of their time doing things that they are good at. It is for this reason that within your program, that we identify where you are NOT as strong and build from there.  Through our assessments, I am able to establish where you are physically lacking – muscular strength, endurance or speed.

Establishing Heart Rate Zones – Avoid Injury & Burnout

By knowing how hard you are actually training (verses perceived exertion), athletes reduce the risk of injury and burnout.  Monitoring your actual intensity levels with a heart rate monitor ensures that you are training within your aerobic zone for the majority (not all) of your early season efforts.  Please note that you need to update your heart rate training zones for each discipline with your weekly resting heart rate average at the end of every week.  This attention to details will keep you from going too hard or too easy during your workouts; when this happens you reduce your productivity and progress.

Establishing a Personalized Eating Plan – Determining What Works and What Doesn’t

The food you eat has both a long and short-term effect on your body.  An immediate influence of food is reflected in your energy levels, performance & mental clarity – the better the quality & quantity, the better you feel & perform!  A long-term influence of food includes the building and repairing of lean muscle tissue and bones.  Research has validated that the muscles, bones, connective tissue, and skin that is on you now, is the result of your food intake over the last six months.  By keeping a detailed food log and comparing it to your training log, provides you feedback of what is working immediately (i.e. energy levels to complete a high-quality workout or early season race) as well as the long-term (i.e. body measurements indicating increased muscle and decreased body fat).

Establishing a Soft Tissue Maintenance Plan – Maximizing Power & Endurance

Chiropractic and massage are two modalities that should be a part of every athletes’ routine for one simple reason: tight muscles pull bones out of alignment; misaligned bones keep muscles tight.  If you visit a massage therapist and the attachments of the muscles are out of line, it is the same as if you pulled the ends of a rubber band far apart, no matter how much you rub the center, the band is still tight.  You have to get the attachments of the muscles to the correct position before you will get the tension out of the muscle.  The reverse is true as well.  If you get an adjustment and the muscles are tight, the muscles will simply pull the bones back out of alignment.  Lining up the spine and removing tension within the muscles will result in better strength and improved endurance.

Your overall program is designed around these four components. When you add consistency and an awareness of fatigue (elevated heart rate, etc.), you are building a foundation of long-term health, wellness, and ultimately performance; all elements of Work Smart, Not Hard and Avoid Overtraining!

Yours in sport & health,

-Coach Robb, Coaches and Staff

Thought for the week:

“A clear set of goals, strong work ethic, and determination creates results that surpass any expectations of others.”