Training
There is a time to rest-not halfway rest: Why Sammy Wanjiru takes Sundays off
Joe Vigil once told me essentially that if you’re not training, you’re detraining. He was making the point that every day off is a step back and preaching consistency. While I tend to agree that consistency is the most important thing, and I too have the innate obsessive compulsiveness of never taking an off day,…
Read MoreThe key to running fast on race day: Muscle Tension
Getting fit is rarely the problem. It does not take a genius to get an athlete in good physical shape. The problem arises when we need someone to be ready to race at a specific time. We’ve all experienced a race where we completely fell apart from the start of the race and felt completely…
Read MoreNon-Specific Lactate work: Why you need it!
I n the last post, I discussed the use of intervals in training and how intervals have been misconstrued to mean “anaerobic” training, no matter what. That is not the case as it obviously depends on the manipulation of the interval workout. The take away message was that you could manipulate at an interval workout…
Read MoreRevisiting Running once vs. twice per day
This is a sort of mini blog post. Dathan Ritzenhein (sub 13 5k runner for U.S.) posted an interesting blog about how his training has changed from his High School days until the present. It’s a good read and can be found below: http://dathanritzenhein.competitor.com/2010/01/16/different-training/ There are several things that stood out, but one comment he…
Read MoreBase training is NOT just easy running. Looking at Sprinter’s periodization
Long to Short/Short to Long: What we can learn from Sprinters regarding base building: For the endurance people reading this, you might not be familiar with what the title means. In sprint training, there is a constant debate over whether a long to short or a short to long program is best. A long to…
Read MoreRethinking Core Training: Is it a fad?
Rethinking Core Training: Is it a fad? Core training is all the buzz in almost every field of fitness. Search the internet and there have been massive amounts of literature written on the subject. As is a theme in my training, any time a ‘new’ thing becomes a fad, it is at first overemphasized until…
Read MoreAerobic Training is NOT the devil and the fallacy of muscle fiber type conversions
It’s time for another rant: First, watch Mike Boyle’s video in which he says Aerobic base training is useless: http://www.functionalstrengthcoach3.com/intervals.html The problem with this guy’s view: VO2max is NOT the measure for aerobic performance or capacity. I’ll post later on why his reasoning for intervals improving VO2max is faulty. I’ve got a whole paper on…
Read MoreEvidence for Doubling, training in glycogen depleted state
One of the topics that has generated a large amount of response on this blog has been on the debate over singles versus doubles. I thought I’d share some of the current research that may explain why doubles provide a benefit. Some researchers have suggested that training in a fatigued state may enhance subsequent adaptations.…
Read MoreIs 9mi once better than 4.5mi twice? Maybe not.
Singles vs. Doubles: Part 1- Introduction Part 2- Evidence for doubling: training in glycogen depleted state Part 3-Revisiting Single vs. Doubles: Evidence from Dathan Ritzenhein I’ve been dabbling around with this idea in my head for quiet some time. I’ve even mentioned it on this blog before. The question is how long should easy days…
Read MoreStrength Endurance Circuit Video
I’m posting a strength endurance circuit of the HS guys that they did in the tail end of this past summer. The idea behind this kind of circuit is strength endurance development obviously. What we are trying to do in basic terms is to force fiber recruitment and extend the endurance of those fibers. The…
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