Improving your Leg Strength with One-Legged Pedaling
During the winter months most cyclists are confined to the indoors and forced to ride on a trainer. It can be difficult to stay motivated and even more difficult to find new workouts that spice up your training. One drill many people often overlook or fail to attach much importance to is one legged pedaling. As you’ll see, not only is this drill great for adding spice to dreary winter months, but it also improves form and efficiency so you’re killing two birds with one stone.
When you pedal with two legs one leg is always pushing down, and for the vast majority of cyclists the opposite leg is doing next to nothing. Once you reach the top of the circle the other leg takes over and its opposite gets a break. This is very inefficient as it causes you to sway side to side and utilizes unnecessary energy. Perhaps over a short race you can get away with this kind of poor technique but for any of the longer you’ll be forced to correct this error if you want to seriously compete. The best way to improve this element is through one legged pedaling.
Basically what you want to do is leave both feet on the pedals but then choose one leg to do the pushing, just let the opposite leg travel along for the ride. A common way to do this drill is by riding for one minute with your left leg, one minute with your right leg, and then one minute with both legs trying to keep the same motion going as you were using in the one legged reps. If you continue to repeat this over time you’ll notice that your legs spin in a more circular motion, which is much more efficient, and both legs begin to apply an equal amount of pressure the whole way around.
Don’t be alarmed if in the beginning you have difficulties, it’s likely that you’ve been pedaling improperly for a long time and your muscles are probably well adapted to it. In short time though you’ll get the hang of it and I guarantee that pedaling in a higher gear and or at higher RPMs will take much less effort and will feel a heck of a lot better.
DS Carroll is a consultant for Biomedical Research Laboratories. Biomedical Research Laboratories market scientifically based nutritional supplements for endurance athletes including supplements for cyclists, runners, triathletes, and mixed martial arts. Visit http://www.epoboost.com to learn more about how EPO-Boost can increase VO2 max, running economy and endurance.
Patent pending EPO-BOOST ingredients have been shown to increase VO2 max and running economy in college athletes.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=DS_Carroll
Increasing Arm Efficiency in Swimming in a Triathlon
Swimming is said to be a technique sport, much like golf or tennis. Often times the biggest and strongest swimmer is not the one to win the race, it’s the person who has the best technique. With any stroke, but especially front crawl, if you can combine strength with proper form you will surely be a force to be reckoned with.
It may come as a surprise to hear that there are a few common errors that many athletes new to the sport, and even some who have been swimming for a long time, fall victim to. In this post we will discuss some errors people commonly make with their arms, and what you can do to correct them.
Overreaching
1. The most common error is overreaching. You see swimmers young and old bring their hands way out directly in front of their head, basically the 12 position on a clock. This is extremely inefficient and causes you to bob up and down in the water as well as puts you in an incorrect position to start the next as aspect of the stroke. The proper hand placement is at 1 and 11, or if you were to draw a line straight out from each of your shoulders your arms should enter somewhere on that.
Overextending
Very similar to overreaching, but no less common, is overextending. For some reason swimmers think that if they reach out as far as they can it will make them a faster swimmer. This is somewhat true but what people often forget is that you do not want to do all of the reaching in the air.
A proper entry position is about midway between your shoulder and your fully extended arm. From there your hand enters the water and then you extend the rest of the way about 5 inches under the surface. The reason you do not want to do all of the reaching above the water is because it causes your front half to drop and creates a lot of up and down motion, which is extremely inefficient.
These two techniques are a great place to start fine tuning your swim. If you consciously work on these each time you swim you will find your times getting faster but with less effort. Work on these for a few weeks and then check back here again for another set of pointers that will knock off even more time.
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DS Carroll is a consultant for Biomedical Research Laboratories. Biomedical Research Labortories market scientifically based nutritional supplements for endurance athletes including supplements for cyclists, runners, triathletes, and mixed martial arts. Visit http://www.epoboost.com to learn more about how EPO-Boost can increase VO2 max, running economy and endurance. Patent pending EPO-BOOST ingredients have been shown to increase VO2 max and running economy in college athletes. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=DS_Carroll |
Structuring Your Training Season for Runners
How to Structure a Training Season for Runners
Runners often have difficulty structuring a season because they do not really know where to start. It can be a foreboding task when you are six months out from a target race and looking to structure your season in order to meet your goals but as you will see it gets a whole lot easier when you divide the season into periods.
Many runners fail to reach their full potential because they waste much of their training time doing so called “junk miles.” Basically junk miles are runs where you are not really improving anything in your running repertoire. Running is dynamic; this means that if you are not improving then you must be declining in some aspect because your fitness is never static.
A successful training plan will insure that that you are improving ever day ever so slightly all the way up to the day of your target race. The best place to start structuring your season in this way is to use a concept called periodization. In the chart below you will find an example periodization for a four month training season with four weeks of racing.
Base Period 4-6 weeks
Build Period 4-6 weeks
Peak Period 4-6 weeks
Race Period 4 weeks
The base period is spent building your endurance and strength for your target race. So if you are training for a 10K then this will be spent progressively increasing your mileage each week until you feel very comfortable covering the distance or even double the distance.
In the build period you want to progressively replace your endurance mileage with progressively shorter but faster running. For the example listed above you might in the first week run 90% of your workouts at an easy pace and then 10% at or above race pace. Every week you will want to increase the fast running and decreasing the slow running.
In the peak period you will want to work on aspects of your running that are holding you back from achieving your goal. So you can run your target pace for the first 6 kilometers of a 10K but then with about 4 kilometers left you start to burn out. In the peak period you would want to concentrate on improving this aspect so perhaps you would structure a few workouts each week so that you fatigue yourself up to the point where you normally burn out and then from there begin repetition and interval training.
Finally, during the race period you are not going to improve too much and should concentrate more on resting and tapering for the target race. The key here is to keep your legs moving at a fast pace but not to stress them to the point where they are greatly fatigued. You are not going to lose much fitness over the course of three weeks to a month as long as you continue to do short bouts at or near race pace. It is better to rest up so that on race day you can run the fastest you have ever ran before.
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DS Carroll is a consultant for Biomedical Research Laboratories. Biomedical Research Labortories market scientifically based nutritional supplements for endurance athletes including supplements for cyclists, runners, triathletes, and mixed martial arts. Visit http://www.epoboost.com to learn more about how EPO-Boost can increase VO2 max, running economy and endurance. Patent pending EPO-BOOST ingredients have been shown to increase VO2 max and running economy in college athletes. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=DS_Carroll |
5 Ways to Prepare For Athletic Training Programs
Preparation for any athletic endeavor should include a good conditioning program. Stretching, strength training, elasticity exercises, endurance training, and nutrition are all components of good conditioning.
All athletes need to prepare themselves physically and mentally. The body needs proper nutrition, the right amount of hydration, and most importantly conditioning. Eating the right foods and creating the right diet consists of eating a balance of carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and minerals, even fats. A balance nutritious diet is key for any athlete and has tremendous affects on performance. Some athletes think they can eat anything they want because of the high calories they expend during exercise. This is a misnomer, proper nutrition is very important.
Athletes also need the proper of hydration to perform at their best. Not too much and not to little. There is a perfect balance.
In order to stimulate an aerobic conditioning effect, research has indicated that yo u must keep your heart rate at approximately 70 to 85% of the MHR for ten to thirty minutes. Maximum Heart Rate = 220 – Your Age. If you train at a higher level you may experience lactic acid buildup which will cause you to stop and rest. Aerobic conditioning is defined as one’s ability to take in, deliver and use oxygen. Improvement in aerobic conditioning occurs when your body is exposed to a prolonged increase in oxygen uptake and metabolism. One must work at a certain level of effort in order to stimulate the body.
Lastly an athlete needs to be mentally prepared. It helps with getting you focused on what you want to accomplish. Though physical training and conditioning are obviously important to performance, mental-skills training can often help athletes improve their performance. It helps with getting you focused on what you want to accomplish. Athletes often use visualization, goal setting, and refocusing to help them mentally prepare for important events.
DS Carroll is a consultant for Biomedical Research Laboratories. Biomedical Research Laboratories market scientifically based nutritional supplements for endurance athletes including supplements for cyclists, runners, triathletes, and mixed martial arts. Visit http://www.epoboost.com to learn more about how EPO-Boost can increase VO2 max, running economy and endurance.
Patent pending EPO-BOOST ingredients have been shown to increase VO2 max and running economy in college athletes.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=DS_Carroll
5 Wacky Ways to Spice Up Your Training For Your Next Marathon
Perhaps you are tired of waking up in the morning and going for just a boring old run. Maybe you are looking to spice up your training or get an edge on the competition. Well you are in luck because in this post we will be discussing some fun and exciting ways to spice up your training that likely are not found in a conventional training plan.
Sand Running
First off is sand running. There are a million different workouts you can do in the sand, one simple one is to mark of a short distance of about 200 meters and do a set number of repeats with a short break in between each. It is also wise to time yourself so that the next time you do the workout you can try and better your time.
Running Downhill
Another great workout to improve leg turnover is running on slight down hills. For this one it is best to have a distance of at least 100 meters. What your you want to do is gradually increase your pace until you are running at or even faster than your 100 meter race pace. This workout is great for getting you used to higher rotation speeds so that when someone starts to push in a race you will be able to answer back.
Ankle Weights and Bike Pulls
If you are looking to build strength two great workouts are running with ankle weights or pulling a bike. The ankle weights are pretty self explanatory. If you would like to try the bike pulling workout then you will need to find a friend who is willing to assist you with your training. What you do is tie a rope of about 6 feet to a bike and then tie it to a belt. Next you just put on the belt and run. In order for the workout to be of benefit though you want to make sure to never allow any slack in the rope. You can instruct your friend at the beginning to gently hit the brakes whenever there is too much slack in the line.
Tire Pulls
Lastly, another great workout is to attach a harness and run pulling a tire to simulate running in hilly areas. Typically, this is a great training for runners in flat areas. Start with a small tire and build up.
These are just a few examples of unconventional workouts that as a runner you can use to spice up your training and make you an all around better runner. Keep your eyes open and use your imagination because you never know when you are going to come across a new technique to incorporate into your training.
Most importantly, have fun.
Biomedical Research Labortories market scientifically based nutritional supplements for endurance athletes including supplements for cyclists, runners, triathletes, and mixed martial arts. Visit http://www.epoboost.com to learn more about how EPO-Boost can increase VO2 max, running economy and endurance.
Patent pending EPO-BOOST ingredients have been shown to increase VO2 max and running economy in college athletes.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=DS_Carroll
Endurance Training for Your First Triathlon
The goal of all serious endurance athletes is to one day complete an ironman. It is a grueling 3.8K swim, 180K bike, and then a marathon. Completely just one of these legs is no eas
y feat and requires plenty of training, but how in the world can you train for and complete all three?
Well first off you have got to set your goals. If you are just looking to complete an ironman, and I use “just” here loosely, your training is going to look much different then say trying to win your age group or qualify for the world championship. Once you have your goals in mind you then have to determine which ironman you will be competing in. The amount of time you will need to train will vary person to person but for most it is somewhere in the 20 to 30 week range. If you have lived a relatively sedentary lifestyle up to this point then you may need a little more time because you are going to have to strengthen connective tissues that have likely had little use.
Now that you have determined which race you are going to attend you can begin writing up your training plan. The average training time for most amateur triathletes is somewhere in the 13-25 hours per week range. If you are looking to complete an ironman it will be somewhere in the 13 range and if you are looking to compete in your age group or even overall then it is going to be on the higher side.
In the first 10-15 weeks you are going to want to get comfortable with the distances, building muscular and cardiovascular endurance, strengthening connective tissues, and working on overall body strength in the weight room. It is good to plan it out so that each week you gradually increase your training by no more than 10% up until the point where you feel comfortable completing the individual distances.
During the next 5-15 weeks you will want to begin combing the three sports together and working on any weaknesses. So perhaps one day you can swim and then bike, another day you can bike and then run, and then at least one day a week you can do all three.
Finally, you want to begin to taper about 2-3 weeks out from your target race. Basically you want to reduce the mileage but still train each day at your target pace. The goal is to get rested up without losing any fitness.
Completing an ironman is a challenging feat but if you set your goals, write up a manageable training schedule and stick to it there is no reason why you cannot achieve what you have set out to do. There will be times during the season where you will not feel like going for that 20K run or 100K bike ride but you have got to do it in order to achieve the ironman designation.
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DS Carroll is a consultant for Biomedical Research Laboratories. Biomedical Research Labortories market scientifically based nutritional supplements for endurance athletes including supplements for cyclists, runners, triathletes, and mixed martial arts. Visit http://www.epoboost.com to learn more about how EPO-Boost can increase VO2 max, running economy and endurance. Patent pending EPO-BOOST ingredients have been shown to increase VO2 max and running economy in college athletes. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=DS_Carroll |
Are You Pulling Your Tire? – Running Training Tips
Are you pulling a tire in your training program?
Hardcore runners are always looking for ways to improve their endurance. Pulling a 20 pound tire and running down the road is certainly a novel way to train. Whether you are running in flat terrain or running in a hilly area this technique has shown to be a good way to improve your performance.
One of our runners was actually pulled over by a police officer asking what he was doing… so be prepared for some stares, especially if you are train in a populated area.
One of the most important components of implementing tire pulling into your training regimine is to make sure you use the right technique. A rope around your waist will cut in and can cause injuries, similarly, improper posture can add an injury risk too. So if you are going to try it be very careful. Get the right harness. Train from short distances (100 to 200m) before going for 1000m.
Some suggest that your harness be attached high up on your back (parachute style), this will provide the resistance but the strain on your back can be better managed by having pull and angle of the rope in the correct place. Some like pulling from the waste… you will have to see what works best for you.
Tire size can also be important… try a smaller SUV tire. Some runners have shared less bouncing and still good training effects. What tips do you have to share about tire pulling?
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- 5 Wacky Ways to Spice Up Your Training For Your Next MarathonPerhaps you are tired of waking up in the morning and going for just a boring old run. Maybe you are looking to spice up your training or get an edge on the competition. Well you are in luck because in this post we will be discussing some fun and exciting ways to spice up your training that likely are not found in a conventional training plan. […]
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