Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Lift Heavy Things (part 2)

In part one of Lift Heavy Things, I did my best to share with you why you should begin a weight training program during your off-season. Hopefully this helped you make the commitment to head to the gym and get started. But now you realize you have no idea what to do or how long it should take. Remember, as an endurance athlete your goal in the gym is to develop strength to be able to apply more force to the pedals, pavement, or water... that's it. Your training program should focus on the function of the muscle and as such here are a few things for you to consider as you get started:


  1. Use Multi-Joint Movements- in order to save time and hit as many muscle groups as possible use big movement exercises. These are three joint movements such as a squat and leg press for lower body or lat pulldown and bench press for upper body. When pressed for time or just starting out, do these four exercises first!
  2. Focus on the Muscles that do the Work- Don't go into the gym and start using machines or doing certain free-weight exercises that are not sport specific. You are wasting your time and all of your hard work will not carry over to improve your overall ability in your sport. Think about the biggest muscle that is used to do most of the work. If you are unsure ask a trainer.
  3. Copy your Movements- As you are working pay special attention to where you place your feet and hands. Try your best to put them in similar positions to the sports you are training for.
  4. Work on Correcting Imbalances- Throughout your season you work hard and push your body to its limits. As such, you train and race through soreness and even minor injury in order to meet your goals. But in doing so your muscles get out of whack just like the tires on your car do over time.
  5. Connect your Muscles- It is great to develop the strength of your upper and lower body, but if you do not also develop your core those forces will not get utilized. Your back and abs are your lever point when applying force and if your mid-section resembles a slinky then the forces get absorbed and not transferred into work.
  6. Pay Attention to your Time- Your time is valuable so don't spend all day in the gym... maybe an hour to an hour and half at most. Focus on big multi-joint movements to get the best bang for your buck and add in core work. Also, your weight training workouts are a supplement to your winter training endurance workouts... not in addition to. Don't get burned out before the season even begins. 


I hope this helps. Don't forget... if you are in the Roanoke Valley, you can start coming to my classes at the Gainsboro or Kirk YMCA in January. If you have any questions for me or are interested in joining me at the YMCA, feel free to email me at edward.h.shepherd@gmail.com.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Lift Heavy Things (part 1)

It is now getting crazy cold outside and you should be ready to start moving some of your workouts indoors. In my last post I shared with you some ideas for what you could get in to during the off-season. One of those very necessary workouts should be lifting weights. A lot of you don't care much for it, but it is a very important part of building a strong foundation to your 2014 race season.

You may be reluctant to head to the gym in the off season because you are unsure of what machines to use. This may be true, but it is not a good enough excuse to leave weightlifting out of your winter training plan. All good gyms have instructors that can help get you started or if you are in the Roanoke Valley you can start coming to my classes at the Gainsboro or Kirk YMCA in January. The point is, make it happen! Weight lifting is not going to replace your fitness or sport-specific training, but supplement it to (1) improve integrity of joints, (2) correct imbalances, and (3) improve muscular strength to help you sustain a larger workload over time.

A lot of people say they don't want to lift too much weight because they don't want to "bulk up." Well here is a news flash- that will never happen to most of us! As an endurance athlete, you will never be able to lift enough to counter the amount of endurance training you do to cause that to happen.
 
So why lift at all then? As an athlete, you want to recruit multiple motor units, which means more fibers are firing, causing an increase in force production and strength. As an endurance athlete, you can have a relatively small number of motor units, but with weight training you gain the ability to recruit more of those motor units in order to help with the workload. What this means is you don’t gain more muscle, just recruit all of the  units in the muscle you already have! By starting small and working up over the next few months you will be surprised at the gains you will see. All of the hard work in the gym will pay huge benefits when you are standing on the podium!
 
This is part 1 of a series I will be blogging about for the rest of December on the need to weight train. If you have any questions for me or are interested in joining me at the YMCA in January, feel free to email me at edward.h.shepherd@gmail.com.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Off-Season = Cross-Training


 As 2013 comes to a close, it is now time to keep your levels of fitness from diminishing in the winter months. I love to race, but as the season moves on I find myself wishing I could do something that is not sport specific to racing. That is why I love the off-season just as much and in some ways even more! Now is the time to have fun and experiment with new ways to stay in shape. Here are a few transition activity ideas you can try:
Head Indoors:
There are tons of opportunities for cross-training available to chose from at your local gym.  Don't be afraid to get a gym schedule and check some of them out. Guys, if you think these classes are easy or too "girlie" for you... get over yourself. I have just started attending a circuit class and it kicked my butt into humbleville! These classes have some of the fittest people in the gym in them and will give you a run for your money in the challenge department. If your gym has a pool and you are not already swimming on your own, check to see if they offer a masters class or a set time for free swim.
The winter months are also a necessary time for you to get into the weight room. If you were lacking some of the power you needed to really get a strong pull as a swimmer or push a bigger gear on the bike, now is the time to work on that. A lot of times this can be intimidating for endurance athletes because of self perception, but at the end of the day if you want to be a better athlete then here is where your off-season training must begin.

Misery Loves Company:
If you are like me, riding outside when it is cold is not a pleasant experience and one that I don't mind avoiding. Unfortunately if one of your off-season goals is to improve your time trial ability you will need to figure out how to train in spite of the cold. How about getting together with your buddies and have a group trainer ride? These can be just simple rides or structured training sessions using a video series such as those offered by Endurance Films. They offer a variety of videos that are challenging and in a group setting are a lot of fun!
Group trail runs are also a great way to keep up your running. I love racing on trails, but with some convincing from my run coach I stayed away from them for the most part this year. I did make an exception for the Into the Darkness race which almost sent Coach Pincus over the edge, but lucky for me I survived. Trail running in the winter is a good break from all of the miles pounded out on the pavement and a great change in scenery. Yes, your pace will be slower but in the off-season that is just fine. This will allow you to relax both physically and mentally. You can't go hard all the time so this is all about enjoying running while recharging your mental motivation to want to go hard when it counts in the spring.


Just do Something:
Ok... you worked hard this year to get yourself in shape and do the best you could at the events you entered. It would be a shame to let all of your effort go to waste and have to start all over again next year. Take your current level of fitness and try to carry some of it over to next year so you can come out stronger than ever. I am not saying you have to develop an elaborate winter training plan, in fact don't do that. I am saying just do something and have fun doing it!