 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Designing A Training Program:
"Breaking The Mould"
By
Dr Grant Wilkinson D.C, B.Sc, M.Sc *
Due to the nature of our sport, athletes in many clubs often have to rely on themselves and each other for training without a formal coach being present. This also means that one of the
athletes has to design a training program to follow each session.
The primary disciplines in surf life saving where this is the case are board and ski paddling and boat rowing.
Traditionally, many coaches and athletes who coach themselves have looked at doing long, slow paddles or rows in the winter months working mostly on building endurance and technique in the water and strength in the gym.
However, have you ever thought about doing 30second or 1minute efforts in the middle of winter and if not, why not? Learning to paddle or row fast takes a long time to perfect. In the case of board and ski paddlers
and as discussed in a previous article in Surf Sports Magazine, it takes time to develop the neurological pathways that allow us to be able to apply maximum strength to each stroke whilst still being able to maintain optimal
technique and "feel" for the water at a very high rating.
In boat rowing this becomes even more critical as the timing of all four rowers is crucial to get the boat running properly. If even one rower is out of time, misses the catch or doesn't apply equal amount of power then the boat does not reach its potential speed.
Incorporating shorter (sub 2minute in duration) efforts into early or pre-season training programs has a number of positive effects.
One, it can help develop the neurological pathways mentioned above that will allow a paddler or rower to learn how to paddler / row fast. Secondly, it also allows the athletes time to reset themselves and again focus on technique in the next effort as well as allowing them the chance to hold a much higher overall sustained intensity and pace than what otherwise would have been able to be achieved.
For example, if a paddler or rower set out to do a 20minute effort at 75-80% intensity, they could expect their technique to hold for about the first 5-10minutes of the effort before starting to fall away.
They could also expect for their intensity to drop off progressively especially in the second 10minutes of the effort and possibly finishing the 20minute effort at only half the initial intensity and with very poor technique.
With this is mind, a person deigning the training program may want to consider replacing the 20minute effort with, for example, 10 x 2minute efforts at 80% but with only 15-30seconds rest. This short amount of
rest is not enough time for the athlete's heart rate to fall by a considerable amount and so a set such as this within a session could be considered more of an endurance set rather than a sprint set. Again, the advantage
is that the paddlers get to stop every 2minutes reset themselves and re-focus on the next effort as well as lifting the overall intensity of the set.
That is not to say that a 20minute straight paddle or row doesn't
have a place in the overall program - it does!
However, when writing an overall training program you must remember that it is often not the duration of the effort that determines whether the interval is part of a sprint set or endurance set but rather it is the length of the rest period that is the most important factor. The duration of the rest period will also ultimately determine the level of intensity or speed that the athlete is able to maintain throughout the set.
Swimming coaches have used this underlying principle very successfully for decades. For those who have ever done any formal swimming training, you will know that it is not uncommon to be doing a set of 50m
Freestyle reps on a 45second cycle or even sets such as 20 x 100m on a 1.20minute cycle or even 20 x 200m efforts where the amount of rest is well under 30seconds between each effort.
For a swim coach to give a swimmer nothing but 800m, 1500m or longer easy swims each session all off-season with no shorter, 'sharper' efforts combined is unheard of. Why then, would we do it on a board or ski or in a boat? Considering that swimming in Australia is highly successful on a world stage, why not use this experience and knowledge and incorporate it into our own way of training.
Again, using long slow endurance type efforts still holds a key place in all training programs for board and ski paddlers and boat rowers when designing the overall program you should not discount the value of shorter,
higher intensity efforts even in early or pre-season training.
