Sports News

Recovery time for the body

August 19 - 25, 2015
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As the global sporting spotlight will fall on Bahrain again later this year, GulfWeekly has teamed up with one of the world’s top trainers to coach the island’s sports-lovers to prepare to take part. If you have ever fancied trying a triathlon there will never be a better opportunity. Your community newspaper hopes to inspire you to put your best foot forward and have a go.

Don’t be scared … Andy Price will help you every step of the way!

Here’s your WEEK 7 – 106 Days until Bahrain Challenge.

* Training programme for the week starting Sunday to August 29
Block one has finished and this is a recovery week aimed at allowing your body to recover from the last four weeks of training. That doesn’t mean we stop, rather the pace is reduced and we focus more on reduced, less intense sessions. If you remember back to week one and the eight golden rules, rest was Number 2.

For ease I will include a key to explain abbreviations each week:

  • F/S – Freestyle or front crawl
  • Alt – Alternative stroke. For most this should be backstroke, but for some breastroke
  • PULL – F/S with a pull float between your legs
  • KICK – F/S kick using a kick board
  • R – Rest (normally in seconds)
  • Z – Zones (1 – 4)
  • RPM – Revs per Minute
  • HRM – Heart Rate Monitor

*GENERAL – There are only another few days to sign up for the Bahrain Triathlon Club (applications close on September 10) and the first competition of the season is the Water Run organised by the Bahrain Road Runners (BRR) on September 18.

To date we have looked at bilateral breathing, stroke length and body position and head position. This week it’s all about putting them together. The pace in each session will be reduced to below race pace to give you the ability to focus on good technique rather than speed.

  • SESSION 1 - Pool
  • Warm up
  • 400m freestyle easy. Focus on stroke
  • Main set (all at Z2/steady)
  • 6 x 200m R60 after each 200m
  • 1st 200m swim
  • 2nd 200m kick
  • 3rd 200m swim
  • 4th 200m pull
  • 5th 200m swim
  • 6th 200m drills
  • Warm down
  • 6 x 100m Easy R45

Total – 2200m

* Session 2 - Pool

  • Warm up
    300m F/S with every 4th length Alt stroke R60
    200m F/S with every 4th length Alt stroke R60
  • Main set

  • 10 x 100m steady/Z2 R45
    10 x 50m steady/Z2 R30
  • Warm down
  • 200m F/S easy

Total – 2200M

* Session 3 – Open Water
• 4 x 500m steady R90 after each

Over Block 1 we have focused on cadence and rhythm, even power through the legs and the correct use of gears. This week, like swimming, put it all together and focus on steady, even riding.

* SESSION 1 - Indoors/Turbo trainer

  • Warm up – 10 minutes steady
  • Main set
    3 x 10 minutes steady with five minutes easy in between. Use your gears to change between steady and easy. Don’t push it on these sessions and focus on keeping your RPM even
  • Warm down - 15 minutes steady in easy gear.

* SESSION 2 - Outdoors (remember this is a bike to run)
• 90 minutes ride in Zone 2/steady but ensure you go further than last week followed by a 2km or 15-minute steady run (Zone 2)

*SESSION 3 – Outdoors
• 120 minute steady ride. You should be able to talk to your training partner through the whole ride. DON’T be tempted to push it. This is a recovery ride and the benefit will come from muscle recovery over time.

Unlike the last four weeks this week it’s all about steady and long. Don’t push it. Remember it’s all about longer term recovery. Double your warm up and warm down. Remember you want to feel like you could have done more at the end of each session this week.

• Warm up – Start off with some mobility exercise
Leg swings. Facing a wall or car, raise your leg to 90 degrees and let it drop down in front, repeat 10 times on each leg
Leg swings. As above but face at right angle to wall or car and raise outside leg to hip height and let if fall naturally behind you, 10 times on each leg
Walking lunge – take a short stride, go down on one knee, but don’t let it touch the ground, straight back and then take three steps and repeat on other leg. Repeat 10 times each then jog out 50m

* Session 1 – Steady run

  • Warm up before you start the run. Try to avoid going straight off.

Mobility stretches
200m Jogs

  • Main – 60 minutes at Zone 2 (below race pace)
  • Warm down
    4 x 200m strides (just above race pace)
    Dynamic stretches. Don’t push the stretches just hold for 20 seconds each. Work from your feet up stretching each major running group muscle.

* Session 2 – Intervals on a track if possible
• Warm up (get into a routine of doing the same warm up before each training session or race)
Mobility stretches
400m easy
Mobility stretches
400m easy
• Main set (at race pace)
8 x 400m R90
• Warm down

Dynamic stretches. Don’t push the stretches just hold for 20 seconds each. Work from your feet up stretching each major running group muscle.
Total distance – 4000m

* Session 3 - Bike to run
• Following your weekend bike give yourself 3-5 minutes rest as you stow away the bike then go for a 2km or max 15-minute run at a steady pace (Zone 2) whichever is the shortest.







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