Training Programs

Attached are your active recovery protocols and nutritional guidelines for next week – please review each day’s workout durations, intensity levels and preparation notes closely.  A week of lower volume and intensity will catapult your overall health, wellness and ultimately performance if you will invest in the “off week” the way you do your quality “work” weeks.  Take the extra down time to complete things that you don’t normally have time for (movies, visit with friends and family, etc.).

Also, with the week being a low intensity/volume week, please recapture your body measurements and update your Body Measurement spreadsheet (Located in Initial Resources).  Ideally, you are putting on muscle weight (muscle weighs more than fat) but seeing smaller numbers where you hold onto body fat (fat takes up more space than muscle).  More muscle means more power, speed and endurance.  Less body fat means a bigger VO2 Max and better strength to weight ratios.

Chronic Dehydration

We discuss proper hydration and caloric intake on a weekly basis; however, chronic dehydration is without a doubt the biggest challenge when it comes to daily health and nutritional balance as it relates to performance.  The body has 3 layers of tissue (from the top layer down):

• Skin
• Fascia
• Muscle, tendons & ligaments

Optimum muscle function is a situation where the muscle, fascia and skin literally slide amongst one another (ideally with the least amount of friction and restriction).  One of the biggest catalysts for restriction and friction is chronic dehydration within the muscles and fascia.  When dehydration occurs, the fascia becomes sticky, like glue, to the muscles. This sticky environment requires more energy to execute the normal range of motion within a muscle and increases unwanted friction and internal heat.

When it comes to avoiding a soft tissue injury, there are three elements that have to be present every day:

• Proper hydration: half of your body weight in ounces per day plus replace fluid lost during training & racing
• Optimized range of motion achieved through isolated muscle stretching & trigger point therapy (click here for a video library)
• Optimized biomechanics to avoid muscular imbalances

If you can reduce the internal friction from the inside out, this is one more step towards Work Smart, Not Hard and Avoid Overtraining!

Yours in sport & health,

-Coach Robb, Coaches and Staff

Thought for the week:

“There is a time to let things happen and a time to make things happen.”