As the season draws to an end, you may be celebrating a summer of success or wondering why all that training has not provided the race performances you expected. This is the time to sit down with a coach and discuss what you need to do to improve that race day performance in 2016.

You cannot escape the truth that winter training builds the foundations for your summer performance. If you do your race specific preparation and spring time speed work on a weak foundation your performances will suffer through injury and insufficient endurance. Look back at your past season, could you race strongly through the whole race or did you fail to match your potential when it mattered. Triathletes, were your run splits way off your run only personal best or were you beaten by athletes who are much slower than you at a shorter time trial? If the answer is yes you need to develop your engine and now is the time to do it.

Now the good news, your heart and lungs ‘the engine’ have no idea if you are swimming, cycling or running. They just respond to the bodies demand for oxygen and nutrients, like any other part of the body they will develop to match the demand placed upon them. Sitting on the sofa because it’s a bit chilly outside is really easy on the heart and lungs, they can cope with that just fine so there is no need to get stronger. Doing the odd fast and furious training session, football match, gym workout or cross country race is also quite manageable as other energy systems supplement ‘the engine’. Go through the winter like this and if you are lucky you will have maintained your current level of efficiency so when your spring training starts you are on that same wobbly foundation and your race results will be the same.

We previously dealt with planning your race season, you need to be just as careful planning your winter training. If you want to do the odd football match (take care for injury), cross country race or cyclocross/MTB race they will not do any harm and can be a fun way to develop athletic skills. Consider them an addition to your core winter training work which should be based on extended periods of aerobic activity, with some threshold work to boost that adaption process.

At the seasons end review the state of your body, be honest with yourself and seek the opinion of others you trust. Are you injured? That annoying niggle you have been carrying through the summer needs to be dealt with before it becomes a real problem. Are you too heavy, can you lose some body weight without compromising your health and wellbeing? Do you lack the strength you require in your arms, legs or core? Are you just a little burned out and suffering with poor motivation? Now is the time to take a little break, just ease back and let your body recover. Give that injury a chance to heal, concentrate on your swimming technique, relax and regain your desire to train.

Most athletes will only survive a couple of weeks ‘off training’ but triathlon training allows you to satisfy the cravings without putting undue stress on any injury you are letting heal. If it’s a sore shoulder, ease back on the swimming and concentrate on those long steady bike and run sessions. If your leg is injured get in the pool for long steady swims, concentrating on those technique and efficiency drills. If you are a single sport athlete consider trying another endurance activity which will give that injured area a break while still keeping active. Winter is the perfect time to introduce new techniques when your body and mind can adapt away from the pressure of competition.

Developing that aerobic base is not achieved overnight, it comes from sustained periods of aerobic activity, good nutrition and plenty of rest. That 3 hour group ride which is a bit slow for you normally may be just what you need to get some miles in without exceeding your aerobic threshold. Its sociable and the motivation of the group may get you out in weathers when a 45 minute intense turbo session seems much more suitable. The group ride will add to your base fitness, the turbo session is really too short to do much good. Get out and run long steady distance efforts, keep the intensity down to a chatting level, running with a partner or group will add interest and reduce the temptation to speed up to ‘get it done’. Choose an interesting route across the fields and tracks, run with the dog, run somewhere you need to go, but whatever you do maintain that steady aerobic level.

If you intend to build this solid foundation of endurance you cannot miss out the long steady sessions, however you can boost the adaption affect by stressing your body right up to its aerobic threshold. This is achieved by adding an effort session into your training. These sessions are not sprints or lung bursting hills, they will start with just short periods of effort where you add speed or resistance to get your heart rate up to its aerobic threshold. There are techniques to calculate this using heart rate graphs or more accurate blood testing, but for the average athlete a simple test is ‘can you speak’. Being able to hold a long conversation is too slow, only managing one or two words is too fast, aim for a level where you can say short sentences, a speed where you could continue at that pace for longer if you needed to, but the recovery period is still welcome. To stay near the threshold through the session you should have 3, 4 or 5 minute efforts, then a short active recovery of 1 or 2 minutes before the next effort. As you develop the skill of judging your threshold and your base fitness improves you can lengthen the efforts and reduce the recovery to just that needed to complete the next effort properly. Eventually you will be able to swim/bike or run continuously at your threshold pace for extended periods. These are taxing sessions which will take a couple of days to properly recover from, don’t do too much of it keep the majority of your sessions long and steady.

Follow this guidance through the winter and you will get to spring with a solid aerobic base on which to introduce your speed work. This will ensure you have the best chance to perform as you should next season.

Mark

Tri Harman

Pilates was created by a man called Joseph Pilates back in the 20^th century.   He claimed that in 10 sessions you would feel the difference, in 20 sessions you would see the difference and in 30 you would have a whole new body.  Now that’s quite a claim!  I came to Pilates in 2000 having attended my first class and was completely won over in the first hour because of the way it made me feel at the end of it.  I subsequently qualified and have been teaching it ever since.

I am currently offering Pilates classes in East Runton, and Cromer to which you can find details at www.triharman.com with exact times and days.

Many top athletes and dancers use Pilates to assist with their training.  For example, Darcey Bussell a well known and loved ballerina and now Pilates instructor uses this method to maintain her health and mobility.  In an interviewin the Evening Standard nearly three years ago she said:"I truly believe Pilates is such a good thing, especially if you have had children".

Pilates isn’t like other classes such as circuit training, weight machines or the gym as these types of exercise aim to increase bulk of the strongest muscles (the superficial muscles on the outside) , shortening and tightening them in the process.  Pilates achieves the opposite, concentrating on the deepest core muscles, (the abdominals) lengthening and elongating them giving the appearance of longer and slimmer muscles.  Consider the core muscles like the base of a pyramid, the wider the base or foundations the stronger at the peak the pyramid can be. This is the same with the body, the stronger the core muscles are the more support they provide for movement, stability and flexibility.

We all feel we have to go hard and fast to achieve the best results, to the point of exhaustion, experiencing muscle soreness and aches.  This soreness is caused by a build-up of lactic acid, little stretching and even tearing of the muscle fibres.   With Pilates the aim is not in the quantity of exercises but in the quality and therefore exercises are performed with very few repetitions, with precision and effectively.  In Pilates you should never feel pain. As I said before, excessive high intensity exercise causes muscles to tighten and shorten pulling bones and joints out of alignment and this is usually when you start to experience pain and a changed lack of movement.  Pilates will help you be aware of any weaknesses and postural problems and help you correct them.  Once you have learnt to stretch and lengthen the muscles posture will be improved bringing better alignment and balance to your body.

Pilates can help with spinal problems, neck and shoulder tension, promote core stability.  Having strong abdominal muscles will support your lumbar spine and will help you to maintain good posture and will hold the internal organs in the correct position.  Consider your core muscles.

Many of us will suffer from a back problem from time to time and is one of the biggest causes of lost working hours in the Western World.  Our current lifestyles, sitting at desks, driving long hours, are overweight etc. make you very vulnerable to chronic back pain.  Understanding the causes of back pain, when postural  alignment is consistently wrong puts more and more strain on the spinal joints resulting with  weakened muscles and poor posture.  Core stability is key to the body working correctly so it is crucial that we work the abdominals, pelvis, glutes and hamstrings to help us protect ourselves from this back pain.

Pilates is an all over body workout, it does not concentrate on one particular area but all your joints and muscles as a whole.  After all, in every day activity you use different muscles for different movements.  If the core muscles are strong and supportive, the superficial muscles will have a greater range of movement.  A good Pilates Instructor will work from top to bottom and from side to side including all the major joints of the body with gentle exercises and low repetitions.  The exercises will flow, be precise and aim to strengthen and lengthen the muscles.  All and everyone can benefit from doing Pilates even those with serious disabilities or mobility problems.

As athletes we often get carried away with always working very hard to achieve great results but will neglect that the body needs to be stretched and needs ample time to recover and repair itself.  Spending a minimum of 15 minutes stretching after exercising you will reap the benefits.  Doing at least an hour of Pilates a week the results will be tenfold. 

Consider doing Pilates for life, getting into the habit of doing Pilates and always thinking of correcting your posture without putting undue stress on your joints.  Doing Pilates regularly will improve your everyday life it’s just a matter of dedicating an hour or more a week to it.  You will see and feel the benefits within weeks as Joseph Pilates said, “In 30 weeks you will have a whole new body”.

Teresa Harman

Open Water Swimming Time Change

Due to daylight starting to become limited, as of the Thursday 3rd September, we will be bringing forward the session by 30mins to 18.30-20.30hrs, so you can still all get in 2hrs of swimming.

Don’t let rain stop training

Here’s what you need to remember about staying upright on wet road surfaces:

Nutrition and Lifestyle Choices.

Does success in your activity come from a healthy diet or is it associated with an active lifestyle where exercise plays a big part? It does remain very true that the vast majority of people do not take part in any exercise or lead a very sedentary lifestyle and added to that, eat very unhealthily and drink too much alcohol.

In order to make long term changes to our lifestyle a commitment to change is required. Time and effort to new activities must be manageable within the constraints of normal lives and the issue of weight management and fat loss can only be achieved by looking at the correct foods to eat.

To stay healthy our diet should include adequate amounts of nutrients, minerals, fibre, proteins, carbohydrates, fats and most importantly, water.

Protein is essential for the growth, maintenance and repair of the body tissues. We need to eat protein daily to keep our cells topped up with amino acids which are found naturally in lean meat, eggs, milk and cheese, cereals and nuts. However, although protein is needed for many functions of the body, it is not often used for energy production. A generalisation of how much protein is required is between 10-12% of your total calorie intake.

Carbohydrates main function is to provide energy to the body cells, carbohydrates are converted into glucose before being utilised by the cells and come in two forms, simple sugars such as sugar, jam and sweets and complex sugars such as starchy foods, e.g. cereal, bread, pasta, vegetables and rice. There is no real difference between the two other than sugar will leave you feeling empty whereas a complex potato will fill you up and provide energy for longer.

Fats are essential to the health of the body as it protects the internal organs and is a temperature controller. It insulates our nerve cells, which is vital for our nerves to conduct electrical messages and is responsible for our growth development and repair of the body tissue. In females, the storage and modification of reproductive hormones takes place in the adipose tissues, so if a woman’s body fat percentage drops too low, her reproductive function will be compromised.

There are two types of fat, saturated fats (which tend to be solid) which mainly come from animal sources and unsaturated fats (which tend to be liquid) such as olive oil. The total amount of fat that should be consumed should be no more than 25%, as this carries high amounts of cholesterol which potentially could cause the hardening of arteries or coronary heart disease (CHD) and obesity.

Fibre or roughage comes in two types, insoluble (wheat, bran and wholegrain breads) which hold water in the digestive tract thus increasing bulk. Fibre can prevent illnesses such as constipation, haemorrhoids and may even help in preventing colon cancer. The other type, soluble (oats, beans, fruit & vegetables) helps to lower blood cholesterol levels. The recommended dose to consume daily is 30grams.

Vitamins & Minerals are essential for a varied range of functions such as bone growth and development, regulating calcium levels in the body, vision, blood clotting and protection of the body tissues against chemicals. Most of our vitamins will be found naturally in the food we eat such as fruit and vegetables, especially the brightly coloured ones, eg. green leafy vegetables like broccoli and spinach or red and yellow peppers, carrots and apricots.

Calcium intake is essential for muscle contractions and nerve transmission and is the main component for strong, healthy bones and can be found in foods such as yoghurt, milk, cheese and cream.

The body requires adequate nutrition not just to keep healthy but in order to keep going throughout the day. Without adequate nutrients you can feel permanently tired, depressed, experience headaches and performance levels will be compromised. So in order for our body to provide all the energy to our organs and in particular our muscles, we need to look at output. In order for our muscles to contract they need a supply of a chemical called adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This is a high energy compound which when broken down inside the muscle cell to a lower level energy called adenosine diphosphate (ADP) will release energy. This allows myosin and actin inside the cell to slide over each other bringing about the shortening (contraction) of the whole muscle. Unfortunately, ATP cannot be stored in the muscles and has to be made fresh on demand. ADP can be stored in the muscle as long as there is sufficient fuel stored. This fuel can either be carbohydrates or a mixture of carbohydrates and fat. Protein is not normally used for energy except in long, endurance activities.

Another compound found in the muscle can be used to generate ATP, called creatine phosphate (CP). Whether CP, fat or carbohydrates are used depends on the duration and intensity of the activity. CP is used to make ATP only when an all out effort (100%) for a short period of time, eg. 5-10 seconds is required. Carbohydrates are stored in the form of glycogen in the liver and muscles. High intensity, anaerobic exercise of a fairly short duration will rely on carbohydrates, as fat cannot be used in the absence of oxygen.

Aerobic exercise will use a mixture of fat and carbohydrates depending on the intensity, but no matter how low the intensity or how aerobic the exercise is, the body cannot burn fat alone, it can only be used for energy alongside carbohydrates. For most people, under steady state aerobic conditions the ratio of fat to carbs used will probably be about 50:50 but this can be improved with training.

That feeling of hunger is a result of blood glucose levels falling and if ignored both the brain and the muscles will not have enough energy to keep going. So if the body has to exercise when glycogen stores are low, the results will be a lowered efficiency of fat burning, very poor performance and a break down of lean tissue. Glycogen stores will only last for approximately 60 to 90 minutes of moderately hard activity. Another point to remember is that if you wait until you feel hungry you end up eating bad calories of the wrong sort or larger amounts of food. Try to eat little amounts but often throughout the day.

Water is probably the most important nutrient our body requires as it is the transportation system moving oxygen, vitamins, nutrients and minerals to where it is needed and also takes waste products to the excretory organs. Water will regulate body temperature during activity transporting it to the skin surface to cool the body down. If not enough is drunk, it can seriously compromise the body’s performance levels and can even be fatal. The body’s metabolism slows down and therefore the energy generated to the muscles will be tired leading to low blood pressure and a lack of blood flow to the brain. Water can be found in the food we eat so eating plenty of fruit and vegetables will replenish a lot of this water loss, by drinking plenty you will stay hydrated and experience the benefits immediately.

Try to avoid too much coffee, tea or alcohol and sugary drinks as these contain a high content of caffeine and these can force water to leave the blood and enter the gut. Try drinking an isotonic drink which has the same concentration of the blood or hypotonic drinks which has a lower concentration. Remember, thirst is not an indication of fluid status as thirst is a response to dehydration, so by the time you feel thirsty, it’s already too late.

Choosing a healthy lifestyle is a personal choice but it can be achieved with the proper education, determination, commitment and lots of effort along with plenty of sleep. Try to do some form of exercise at least three to fives times a week and choose a well balanced diet and you will immediately start to reap the benefits.

Teresa Harman

Positive Sport