Fitness Training

Warm up and Cool Down

There is no doubt that time spent on warming up and cooling down will improve an athlete's level of performance and accelerate the recovery process needed before training or competition. As a result the coach must encourage the athlete to regard the warm up and cool down as an essential part of both the training session and competition itself.

Performance may be improved as an appropriate warm up will result in an:

• Increased speed of contraction and relaxation of warmed muscles
• Dynamic exercises reduce muscle stiffness
• Greater economy of movement because of lowered viscous resistance within warmed muscles
• Facilitated oxygen utilization by warmed muscles because haemoglobin releases oxygen more readily at higher muscle temperatures
• Facilitated nerve transmission and muscle metabolism at higher temperatures; a specific warm up can facilitate motor unit recruitment required in subsequent all out activity
• Increased blood flow through active tissues as local vascular beds dilate, increasing metabolism and muscle temperatures
• Allows the heart rate get to a workable rate for beginning exercise

Aqua Running

Aqua running, running in deep water, is a way of continuing your training while injured or an alternative form of training you can add to your training program. Aqua Running Technique Aqua running can be divided into the basic technique and advanced techniques. It is important that the basic technique is mastered before the advanced techniques are attempted.

The basic technique is similar to jogging (recovery running). The idea is to reach out with the leading leg and pull it through the water strongly and evenly. The trailing leg needs to be actively pulled forward (because of the increased resistance of the water) at the same time. The front foot should "land" in front of the body's centre of gravity. Keep the knees "low" and actively flex the rear foot at "push-off." Arm action should be as for land running.

Sports Coaching

Coaching Skills

In a coaching role you will initially need to develop the skills of: providing instruction and explanation, demonstrating, observing, analysing and providing feedback. In providing instruction and explanation you should think about and plan what you are going to say, gain the athlete's attention, keep it simple and to the point and check they understand. In providing demonstration make sure you are in a position where the athletes can clearly see you, focus on only 1 or 2 key points, repeat the demonstration 2 or 3 times (side, back and front view), ask if they have any questions and then let them practice the skill. In observing and analysing break the action down into phases, focus on one phase at a time, observe the action several times from various angles, compare the action with your technical model and if appropriate determine what corrective action is required. In providing feedback encourage the athlete to self analyse by asking appropriate questions, provide specific and simple advice, limit the advice to 1 or 2 points and make the whole process a positive experience for the athlete.

Coaching Styles

There are perhaps three coaching styles - autocratic (do as I say), democratic (involve the athletes in decision making) and laissez faire. The autocratic style could be broken into two types - telling and selling and the democratic style into sharing and allowing. There is little direction from a Laissez fair coaching style as this style allows the group to do what they want to. Coaches will use a variety of styles/types depending on the coaching situation.

Sports Science

Massage

Massage, applied skillfully, is the most effective therapy for releasing muscle tension and restoring balance to the musculo-skeletal system. Received regularly this may help athletes prevent injuries, which might otherwise be caused by overuse. A constant build-up of tension in the muscles from regular activity may lead to stresses on joints, ligaments, tendons, as well as the muscles themselves. These muscle imbalances may develop and often go undiagnosed until they are serious enough to cause the athlete discomfort or impede performance. The skilled massage therapist will be able to detect variations in the soft tissues and by using the correct techniques, help the sports person maintain a much healthier physical state. It may therefore be reasonably claimed that one of the greatest benefits of sports massage is in helping prevent injury.

Tapering

Most endurance athletes accept that tapering before a competition is beneficial, but few understand why. A trial was conducted back in the 1980's by a group of Canadian researchers at the McMaster University in Ontario. The trial was conducted for a one week period, with a group of experienced endurance athletes who all run approximately 50 miles a week in training. The athletes were split into 3 groups, with each group working a different training program for the week. At the end of the week the performance improvement for each group was checked.

"A" Level and GCSE

Personal Exercise Plan

UK Students undertaking advanced studies in Physical Education (GCSE) are required to produce a Personal Exercise Plan. The objective a Personal Exercise Plan (PEP) is to demonstrate application of knowledge of the theory of the general principles of training.

You are a keen rugby player but have been unable to compete as competitively as you would have liked. You have been able to test your anaerobic endurance through a simple test, the Running-based Anaerobic Sprint Test (RAST), and have identified that you have a high fatigue index. As a result, you wish to focus your PEP on improving your anaerobic endurance and hence lower your RAST fatigue index value.

First you must carry out a small amount of research to provide answers to the following questions

• How do the principles of training affect my program?
• What types of training will best suit the aims of my PEP?
• When will I need to test and measure my progress?
• Which tests should I use and are these tests valid?
• What frequency, intensity and time do I need to train for?
• What facilities and resources are appropriate for an effective training program?
• What would be a suitable warm up and cool down program for me to undertake?

Once these questions have been researched, the answers will leave you in a position to plan your PEP.

Minerals

Approximately 4% of the body's mass consists of Minerals. They are classified as trace minerals (body requires less than 100 mg/day), and major minerals (body requires more than 100 mg/day). Minerals can be found in water and soil and therefore in root plants and animals.

The trace minerals are iron, zinc, copper, selenium, iodine, fluorine and chromium.

The major minerals are sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, sulfur, cobolt and chlorine.

New Articles

First Aid for Sports Injuries - The Critical First 3 Minutes

A lot has been written over the years about sports injury management and ongoing treatment. There is a lot of information about what to do in the first 48 to 72 hours after an injury, and without a doubt, the most effective, initial treatment for soft tissue injury is the RICER regime. This involves the application of (R) rest, (I) ice, (C) compression, (E) elevation and obtaining a (R) referral for appropriate medical treatment.

Most people would agree that the R.I.C.E.R. regime is the first place to start, but what about those initial moments following the injury. Those first few vital minutes, before you even think about applying the R.I.C.E.R. regime.

Imagine this...

You are the sports trainer for a local "Under 14's" soccer team (or maybe you are a concerned parent). It is early on a cold winter's morning and the team has been on the field for only a few minutes. You turn your back for a second as two player's race for the ball and collide heavily. One goes down hard and groans loudly. You turn back to see one of your players lying motionless on the ground. You race onto the field, heading straight for the injured player. There is no time to waste, your 3 minutes has already started. What do you do next?

Preventing heel injury

One of the most common injuries that can develop as a result of recurring stress on the heel of the foot is plantar fasciitis (pronounced PLAN-tar fashee-EYE-tiss). It is the most common cause of pain in the foot, and is particularly susceptible to occur among athletes and runners. Although the treatment methods for this condition are usually relatively conservative, the pain that results from this condition can often greatly affect the athlete's performance and inhibit them from any physical activity.

Plantar fasciitis often develops gradually from overuse. The plantar fascia ligament attaches at the heel bone and runs almost the entire length of the foot. When weight is applied to the foot it causes the ligament to flatten out and become taut. With excessive, repetitive stress, the plantar fascia starts to pull away from the heel bone, which is when tears and inflammation can develop (plantar fasciitis). Chronic cases of plantar fasciitis can also lead to heel spurs, which are bony fragments that develop from the heel bone and can cause significant pain as they dig through tissue during movement. These types of injuries are particularly prone to occur among runners as well as other athletes.

Mach Sprint Drills

I am going to try to lend a bit of a historical perspective on the Mach drills. I must emphasize that this is my perspective and opinion based on discussion, observation as well as my coaching experience. I was first introduced to the Mach drills in 1975 by a group of Canadian athletes training in Santa Barbara Calif. They showed me the drills and gave me an article on the drills written by the originator of the drills, Gerard Mach who was the National Sprint & Hurdle coach of Canada. I was immediately attracted to the drills because I could see logic and a system to their application. (This logic and systematic approach to their application has been lost over the years, even in Canada). They did not appear that different from the drills that Bud Winter (Coach at San Jose State University and the coach of Tommy Smith, Lee Evans et al) had taught for years, but after reading Mach's article there was a logical sequence that was not there with the winter drills.

Why you need E-Lifts in your training program

If you have been in the gym during the past few years, you have probably heard these strength training strategies tossed around; light weight / high reps and heavy weight / low repetitions. The latest strength training strategy is Slow Reps, which refers to a slow moving weight lifting tempo. Think about doing a standard barbell curl in super-slow motion, and that is what Slow Reps look like.

I have been in the gym for 38 years, I have seen fitness fads, and gimmicks come and go. Moreover, I have even seen some training gimmicks reinvented under different names, as if they were new revolutionary discoveries. New training techniques can be positive, particularly if they evolve from an established and proven system of training.