Firstly, no professional athlete trains the same way all year long, and neither should you. Not only would this result in mental burnout, but it would be difficult to achieve optimal gains. There are many aspects of a sport that need to be trained: strength, aerobic and anaerobic capabilities, as well as sport-specific technical movements and skills. Most if not all athletes have long realized that in order to tackle all of these aspects of training, the training year needs to be broken down, with a particular focus given to particular aspects at different times of the year.
Roughly speaking, many sports focus on general strength and low intensity activities further away from the competition period, and more intense, specific exercises closer to the competition period. Breaking up the training year in such a manner is called Periodization. For Biathlon, there are roughly four main phases to training:
Preparation Phase: This is when you start out slow, develop strength, and focus on low intensity cardiovascular, non sport-specific exercises (cycling, running, swimming, kayaking, etc).
To develop strength, shoot for three sessions in the gym per week. Sticking with the 10-12 rep range for exercises is a good idea. Compound exercises are also a good idea. These are exercises that recruit more than one muscle group at a time. Examples of these are squats, bench press, lat pull down, seated row. Don't neglect your core! Thinking about throwing in a pilates or yoga class once in awhile would not be a bad idea at all.
Many endurance athletes will tell you that you should avoid strength training because it will make you bulk up with unnecessary weight. This is garbage and these people don't know what they're talking about. Strength is critical to Nordic sports and the gym is where to make it happen. The benefits of strength training to Nordic sports far outweighs any weight that you may or may not put on. I will add another post specifically about this topic at a later date.
For cardio, try to get out at least three times per week for at least an hour. Using a heart rate monitor is a great way to gauge the intensity of your sessions. If you have one, try to remain in the 55-70% heart rate max for most of your time. Remember, these are low intensity sessions! To figure out your heart rate zones, you can use the Karvonen method.
The Preparation Phase lasts for about 16 weeks, and helps to develop the circulatory "plumbing" foundation upon which more intense training is built. Without this phase, the body could become overwhelmed by the intense training one moves towards later on in the season. Mentally, this is also a time to take a break from skiing and shooting all the time. Have fun, shake it out, but keep fit. With shooting, the focus is on foundation skills and precision shooting. Precision shooting means taking your time and developing good habits with natural alignment, good sight picture, and steady breathing.
Pre-Competition Phase: After a few months of strength and aerobic training, you should have a good solid base of strength and cardiovascular fitness. The goal of introducing intensity into your workouts is so that your body can withstand the rigours placed upon it during a race. It is critical for your body and mind to be familiar with the discomfort of intensity before race day! The Pre-competition phase usually lasts roughly 16 weeks or more, and is the time when you start incorporating more sport specific exercises as well as more intensity. You still want to be using half your time to do low intensity cardio workouts, but you slowly want to add in intensity.
Think about using a four week cycle where the first week is the least intense (in terms of volume or difficulty), the second week is more challenging, the third week is the most intense, and the fourth week is a recovery week with reduced intensity and/or volume.
What might a workout look like? Okay, grab your bike and hit the road. Aim for your usual 1-2 hour ride, but try throwing in some sprints that last 30-90 seconds, or some hills. This will challenge your heart, but the flat portions of the ride will give you time to recover. Recovery should be at least one or more minutes depending upon the length and intensity of the interval burst. Adding in several of these intervals into your ride would be a nice start. For something more sport specific, obtain some Nordic walking poles, or old ski poles, and bring them to your favourite hiking spot. Instead of a usual hike, try some ski striding. As with the cycling example, try some short 30-90 second intervals where you pick up the pace or tackle a steep section of trail.
If you have roller skis, this would definitely be the time when you would want to do most of your cardio workouts on roller skis. In this way, you will develop balance and technique, as well as an efficient heart.
If the intensity makes you feel sore or tired, don't be afraid to rest! Remember: your body gets stronger not from exercise, but from the recovery from exercise. Therefore, REST is one of the most critical parts of any training regime.
During this phase for shooting, you will want to add in some timed shoots, or low intensity cardio between shooting sessions to elevate your heart rate.
This is an optimal time to attend training camps. If there are any cross country ski camps or, [gasp] Biathlon camps, you must attend these! Getting together with like minded athletes to train will do wonders for your motivation and keep you going right up to race time.
Competition Phase: This is show time! Hopefully the diligent work you've put into your training will pay off here. During this time, it is also important to pay close attention to your body, and to give it rest when the need arises. As well, it is important to continue training. If the competition period lasts for several months, you will want to maintain your base by continuing to do low intensity workouts. What you have gained during the year you will not want to lose: this includes not only your base cardiovascular fitness, but also your strength.
Transition Phase: This phase is important physically as well as mentally. There is a good chance that at the end of a training and racing year, you might be fatigued in body and mind. Now is the time to take several weeks off, focus on other pursuits, take a holiday, and even eat all of those naughty foods you've been so good to avoid over the past several months! Why not - life is for the living!
**
And here you have it - a general breakdown of the training year in the most general sense. If what I have written causes a question of two, that's no surprise. Any one of these phases could be the subject of hours of conversation and planning. If you have any questions regarding these phases, or perhaps some suggestions for improvement, feel free to write me at waldverloren@gmail.com. you can also check out the Facebook page.
No comments:
Post a Comment