Speed work and Endurance Part 1

Speed work and Endurance Part 1

How speed work can help in therapeutic settings and in the gym

  

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I believe a very hard part of being an endurance athlete is learning how to train for high bouts of speed and intense work and then being able to recover but keep at a time trial speed.  For example, being on the bike and pedaling as HARD as you can, but after the 30 seconds is over, being able to continue at a very good steady state.  Training your body to excel at these high speeds is important if you plan on doing well in competition. 

Ok, so we have 2 types of muscle fibers, fast twitch and slow twitch.  No, these aren’t the muscles that make you twitch when you see your mother’s dance moves on a Saturday night, or really AGGRESSIVE PDA that you can’t get away from.  These muscle fibers help during long-term exercise and fast movements.  If we never practice in the gym how to recruit these fibers, then we will lose the ability to recruit them in competition or in common life situations. 

I work with someone who has Parkinson’s, and in order to prevent falls I have started some speed with him on an agility ladder. First, it’s different from anything he has ever done and not typical of therapy so he loves it.  Second, if he is on a curb on the side of the road and trips, he will be able to move his leg quickly out to the side to prevent the fall from practicing different directions on the ladder. 

NOW, FOR THE TRAINING!

1.)  Dry Land Training, Hurricane Training!

Using the Speed ladder for quick movements in multiple directions is great.  What I love about it is that it uses ankle mobility and prepares them for stress in multiple angles which is important for the run section of the triathlon.  Here is how I like to use the ladder. 

All performed 1 after the other with no rest, then 45 seconds of rest after the first complete set.

3 sets of 45 seconds on the ladder in multiple positions

3 sets of 12-15 Pull Ups

3 sets of 12-15 Kettle Bell squat overhead press

            This same technique can be used with sprinting.  Sprinting for 30 seconds up and down a track or sprinting in place with resistance using a large band are some other options. 

All performed 1 after the other with no rest, then 45 seconds of rest after the first complete set.

3 sets of sprinting for 30 seconds with resistance band in place
3 sets of 12-15 deadlifts
3 sets of 30 seconds of rotational movements for abdominals

My other favorite explosive movements are side jumps with a resisted band around the hips and the other end fixed to a solid point, since we don’t want any accidents.  In studies, vertical leap was tested in athletes who performed box jumps and forward movements versus athletes who mixed this together with lateral movements.  The results showed that lateral movements provided more progress in vertical leap rather than the group that exercised in one plane.

Satisfying the Sweet Tooth

Satisfying the Sweet Tooth

Working with clients who are morbidly obese is tough, because the answer is not to take things away.  It is to add and to satisfy the cravings they have so binging and compulsive eating habits don't occur.  I had a client who admitted they had a problem with sweets.  I wanted to make a low calorie snack for them, but I wanted it to be nutritionally dense!  I could have made a low calorie pudding, or a low calorie chocolate dessert, but if the idea is to add nutrition to someone who had been overeating but not receiving enough good nutrition...isn't that almost feeding the same problem?  

I have always spoken about chia pudding.  Chia seeds are magical.  They have protein, fiber, carbs, and good fats!  They slow down how rapidly our body converts carbohydrates into simple sugar which is important for diabetics.  The Fats send the brain signals that we are being satisfied and feel full.  

As I sat on the counter I was out with a note pad trying to figure out how to make each snack about 100 calories or less.  I new I needed to make it sweet to satisfy his sweet tooth, I knew he liked chocolate, and also fruit.  Almond milk provided a low calorie beverage to mix the chia seeds with.  Vanilla extract gave the mixture a nice flavor while the cocoa powder added extra antioxidants and flavor.

Mixing everything together was the easy part.  mixing 1/4 of a cup of chia seed with a cup of almond milk, a cup of blueberries and my other ingredients proved successful.  Here is the full recipe.  

1 cup of Almond Milk/Light Coconut milk

1/4 of a cup of chia seeds

1 cup of blueberries

1 tablespoon of vanilla

1 packet of stevia or preferred sweetener

1 tablespoon of cocoa powder (blend this with the liquid before anything)

Refrigerate for 2 hours or more.  Other recipes use agave, raspberries, making it then adding it to chopped bananas,  etc. 

Here was my end result.  Each of these was about 66 calories.  He ended up loving them.  I loved them too.  Delicious, filling, sweet, and healthy!

Week Three

Inspiration, Records, Hips, Gear, and Fails


Watching online youtube videos of the Paris Roubaix and these Sufferfest Videos has been crucial to my training.  Also, images like this have helped to keep me inspired while on my indoor trainer this cold January.  And with more snow on it's way, I think we will be friends for a while.  Just today I watched a race in Leadville Colorado thats 100 miles long and has more than 3000 vertical feet of climbing!  Great stories, moments, and the course is grueling!  

Working on the trainer has consisted of hour long paces at 130 bpm, interval training of 30 sec on 30 off, and also climbs for up to 14 minutes in some of my higher gears.  One tactic I love is taking one foot out of the clip and hammering your hamstring on that one leg thats still clipped in for 30 seconds or more.  Right now in my training I am concentrating on endurance and Speed skills.  Since my lactate threshold was tested around 154, I am trying to get accustomed to spending a lot of time in a 125-135 zone.  It seems like most of the time When I am kicking butt I am above that.  For Speed, my Sufferfest video has been great help.  Trying to hit a cadence of 100 plus on the bike for different periods of time has been grueling.  Here I use interval work, 10 on, 50 off.  20 on, 40 off.  30 on, 30 off. 

40 on, 20 off.  50 on, 10 off.  It's tough but a great work out.

As I have put miles upon miles on my indoor trainer this winter, I have noticed that some of the tar has come off my back tire and all over the wall.  At first I was angry...then I thought of it as an art piece.  Now, I am realizing it is a sign of hard work and determination.  

Here is the set up.  My friend Rick came over and helped me set up his tri bars so I could get my body adjusted to the feel.  I never though I would be so comfortable.  

My running this winter has really been a success.  It is all about pacing yourself and taking your time.  I learned the importance of breaking in a pair of shoes and also, wearing the correct type of shoes.  I have McDonalds arches, so it was important for me to have a neutral shoe.  Last year I ran 7 miles out of the gate in a pair of Asics which destroyed my knees for the rest of the season.  This year I am coming back in a pair of Saucony Fast Twitch 5 shoes that have been great.  I started off small at 2-3 miles every other day.  This past week I hit almost 8 miles with the 4th mile being my fastest!  My hip flexors tend to act up around mile 5 or 6, and in the beginning If I didn't perform active and dynamic stretching they would hurt more!  I've learned the importance of the Psoas muscles, the only muscle in the human body to connect the Upper extremities with the lower extremities.  Working on release techniques, static stretching, muscle energy, and the foam roller takes away any pains I might feel after a run.  I have come to the conclusion that my hip flexors along with my rectus femoris get so tight that it affects my knee, and my VMO (which affects the glide of the patella, Quadratus Lumborum (which is a hip hiker and controls the stability of the pelvis and low back) and glute medius (which keep the hip abducted) tightness all contributes to my supination and tightness felt in my knees after a run.

My Godmother and favorite Aunt gave me this water bottle right before she passed away.  It gives me so much power while I am on this bike and with this sport.

My new toy bought with Amazon gift cards.  I can't wait to use this.  It has been so helpful being able to see my cadence and my speed while on the trainer.  It hooks up with your iphone which can also mount to your bike.  Soon I'll be using the GPS feature to explore all of Western CT.  The Fail in this article being...I shattered the first one that I bought.  Good thing this company is so nice.

If you need some great advice on supplements or sports specific training, check out my man, Rick Steiger, and his blog 1010 Human Performance.  This blog has been really helpful through my training as an athlete and also for general knowledge.  Always something fun to read about.

http://www.1010humanperformance.com/

Prep and Build Periods in Training

Prep and Build Periods in Training

Pace yourself and take your time, this is important.

Finding a nice balance between pushing yourself, recovery periods, endurance, and other forms of training including threshold and speed I believe is a skill yet to be acquired by 95% of the gym population.  So often I see people at the gym injured whether it’s their shoulder, hip, ankles, etc.  I also see these same people sprinting on the treadmill, doing military presses with 45 lb dumbbells over their heads, and heading into an advanced TRX class which involves putting your feet into the straps and holding planks for about 10 minutes.  I don’t think people take the time to go back to the basic exercises and build up a base so that when they want to build themselves to a certain level, they already have a great foundation to build upon. 

Here is a client of mine that doesn't mind being an example.  He is a highschool baseball player who is at times running at high speeds and is chronically spraining his ankle.  can you see why?  Here he is at a slow jog, maybe 4.5 mph.

With my current triathlon-training program, courtesy of The Triathlete’s Training Bible, written by Joe Friel, I am in a strength training stage right now that is called AA, meaning anatomical adaptation.  This will get my tendons, muscles, and systems ready for greater loads a little later in my training.  The purpose of this though is to prevent injury!  Here, we are performing higher reps at either body weight loads or small weights.  Here we need to develop balance, core strength, posture, and stability.  I can’t tell you how many clients I see at the gym who can’t hold a proper plank.  Tucking the pelvis back and keeping their shoulder blades involved is difficult!  Performing a proper squat with the chest up, no increased lordosis in the back (meaning excessive arching) and excessive forward traveling in the knees is also very difficult for some people, but those same people are taking 35 lb. kettle bells and are doing thrusters!   Just now on the news on the Today show they are showing people at home how to hold a plank on your hands and do rows at the same time with dumbbells!  I see injuries in your future…which might mean I need to go to physical therapy school because business is booming. 

Back to explaining the prep period.  It’s time to get your body ready for training.  I have even decided to go back to the basics even though I teach an advanced cross training class with Olympic lifts and heavy weights. 

1.                    Nutrition: Make sure you are eating enough while you train.  Different philosophies will lend themselves to different ideas of how much protein, carbs, and fat you should be taking in.  Make sure you get in plenty of liquid, and If you are doing a lot of cardiovascular training and weight training I would suggest at least 1.2-1.4g/kg of body weight.  Many people cut out the carbs to lose body fat and weight, but you need those essential sugars for brain function, for your muscles to contract and relax, and also for recovery!  Fats are very important for aerobic endurance and also for hormone regulation and organ protection, also for vitamin absorption so if you want healthy strong bones, eat your fat!

2.                    Stretching: Many people don’t stretch nearly enough.  I will see people with low back pain and they only have 45 degrees of movement in their hamstrings.  If you don’t have movement here you can’t bend from your hips so you will take it from your back instead!  I see shoulder pain when the scalenes are so tight and thoracic back has no movement because of constant texting and forward head positions at the computer.  Especially after being on the bike or running, it is so important to stretch out the front of the hips, quads, external hip rotators and more.  I took a class with Charlie Weingroff who is a physical therapist and top trainer to NBA players like Lebron, Chris Bosh, and more on how important the hip flexors are to improved hamstring flexibility, leg health, etc.  I do his routine every day and after I run on the treadmill, my cool down is walking backwards for 5 minutes.  Do you ever see anyone walking backwards on the treadmill!!??    It opens up the front of your hips and helps the hamstrings and glutes to contract and relax. 

3.                    The Workout:  Right now it is a lot of body weight training with high reps and short recovery periods of only a minute or less.  I am performing 3-5 sets of 20-30 reps of all the basic exercises.  Pushups, Pullups, squats, hip extension, lateral lunges with furniture sliders, toe walking, rotator cuff exercises, YTM’s, dips, TRX exercises, and balance work.  It is possible to work up a sweat and to feel sore with no weights people!  Also, perform lateral movements, not just front and back.  You need to develop the muscles that support your hips and knees, and it wont be don’t by just moving front and back.