This is week 2 in our yearly training plan. The focus on this week is strength assessments. I have talked with George Chiappa, a strength specialist in Ottawa, he has done work with functional strength and movement assessments with the Ontario Ski team and Nakkertok. I met with him and we walked through a assessment protocol that I think will give us some good information about the strengths and weakness in your body. These assessments will be important as I move forward into creating strength programs for everyone this summer. There are going to be three sessions where you will be able to be assessed. A maximum of 8 people will be assessed in each session. If we need to have another session I will talk to George about this. It is important that everyone in the summer program have this assessment done as this gives you and me good information for creating your training program for the summer. The cost will be about $25 and it will take about 1.5 hours to complete the assessment. Please sign up on the following Google Doc, https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aox4_kP-J7jtdDRMcGZ4Y1A3T29VLU5MWnlVYUZEVlE&usp=sharing The three sessions will be Sunday May 12 8:30 - 10am Junior athletes Sunday May 12 10am - 11:30am Juvenile and midget athletes Tuesday May 14 7 - 8:30 pm anyone who missed the first two sessions. Another session will be created if needed. Please be registered by May 9th, you will not recieve training plans until you are registered. I know that there are a lot of you on the fence because of other activities and sport programs. Here are my thoughts on this, being involved in many sports is a good thing and it is important for the development of athletically literate people, I personally have competed in many sports. For midgets the summer program will give you head start on training over those that begin in the fall and it will give you more time where you are in contact with me as head coach, where I can help you improve yourself as an athlete. For juveniles and older athletes summer training is very important about 1/3 of your training hours are done during this time, most of your strength gains are going to be met in this time and it is the training that your competitors are doing. You can do this training in other sports but it is not as specific. So you need to look at your goals and what you want out of sport. There are many good opportunities available and lots of fun activities and you need to ask yourself what your goals are and does this activity move you in the direction of your goals. If you want to improve your performance on the Quebec cup and at Nationals then summer training is very important. You have to remember that I am biased as a ski coach and I believe that there is no program that will make you fitter or stronger for cross country skiing, there are some that are equal but non better. We have a lot of fun getting fit and strong and we do a lot of different activities to make sure that you are never bored. In the end this is your choice and you need to make the best choice for you. Registration is open on zone4.ca follow link to register. https://zone4.ca/reg.asp?id=4768 Please follow the registration process exactly. It creates a lot of work to go back and fix errors. I have my top ten expectations for a successful practice, for some of you these are already part of your practice as you have been doing these for years for some of you midgets these might be new. I have listed them below. They are not rocket science but they are very similar to those that are training at the national training centres. Success in training and racing is about how hard you train but it is also how well you look after yourself and recover. You need to train to break down your muscles, deplete your energy stores and stimulate your nervous system. It is during your recovery that your body rebuilds muscle tissue stronger than before, creates faster nerve responses and causes your body to create better energy stores. If you are not recovering than all you are doing is breaking your body down, eventually you get over tired and sick. So have a read through my top ten and pick three points that you want to work on. When you get good at the first three than you will move on to the others. In order to get good at all ten of these you are going to have to plan your day and your time. Ten Tips to a successful practice 1. Come to practice having eaten a nutritious snack/meal at least 45 minutes prior to practice. This will allow you to have enough energy to sustain a quality workout. Things that you will want to eat will be high in carbohydrates and some protein, examples of this are fruit, breads, granola/energy bars, honey, peanut butter, nuts, dried fruit, eggs). You will want to stay away from junk food (ie high salt food, high simple sugar, high fat food), milk products can causes some people to have bloating and cramping during practice. My favourite is a peanut butter and honey sandwich as it is easy and fast and has all of the good things in it. Remember that food is very individual things that work for some are not good at all for others. Do not eat too much or to soon before practice as you will not be able to properly digest the food and you will have bloating, cramps and pain. We all have busy lives so you will have to be organized so that you have a snack with you before the start of practice. Remember this is your job not your parents they are busy enough driving you from place to place. 2. Come to practice well hydrated. Have a water bottle, full at the beginning of practice and empty at the end of practice.You need to be hydrated through out the day. This means you need to drink 2-3 litres (more if it is hot and you are active) of water continuously throughout the day plus drinking your water bottle during practice and continuing to hydrate after practice. Do not drink a litre of water 10 minutes before practice this will not hydrate you properly and you will experience bloating, cramps and pain. Being well hydrated at the beginning, middle and end of practice reduces the amount of recovery time (time where your body is tired). For early morning practice you should drink 2 cups of water as soon as you wake up to allow your body to be hydrated for practice.This should be a part of your morning routine everyday. If you are well hydrated it is easier to wake up. 3. Come to practice prepared with all of the equipment, in working order, that you need for the day (running shoes, skis, roller skis, helmets, gloves, boots, poles, clothing, watch etc,) Having the wrong equipment sucks because you will miss out on practice. 4. Mentally prepare yourself for practice. Sit for a moment and center, slow your breathing, breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth. Make sure that you are breathing to your stomach, you should feel your stomach going in and out with every breath. Take ten breaths like this. Focus on being positive, having good technique, excellent focus and willingness to listen and have fun through out the work out. When you focus on positive outcomes you release endorphins into your body which help you feel happy, stronger, and less pain. This is the runners high that people talk about. 5. Be confident and motivated for the days training. The most damaging thing to your performance and training is low confidence, low motivation and low self esteem. If you do not believe that you can be faster, stronger and better then your progress will be very slow and if you do not want these things than it will not happen at all. You need to believe in your self and your ability. It is you who wants to do intervals, volume, technique work and get stronger, faster smarter, this is why you come to practice. Do your best in every practice. Your best is different every week as you get stronger or as you respond to stress in your life. Sometimes your best is amazing and sometimes your best is not very impressive. There are usually good reasons for this you are tired, sick, stressed but this is still your best given the situation. If you focus on doing your best you will show improvement over the long run. 6. Support your team mates. Practice is always more fun when you are supported and having fun with your team mates. Being able to train with others makes training easier as there are others to push and motivate you. Make sure that you support the people who are faster than you and the people that are slower than you. Life is always like this, there are always people faster and slower than you and performance is about your personal best. Sometimes this is difficult but remember that it feels good to be supported and encouraged no matter how fast you are. 7. Listen to your body, and push to an appropriate level of intensity. If we are doing Long Slow Distance keep your heart rate low, if we are doing intervals push hard. Always remember that pushing too hard or too hard while you are tired, sick or injured could mean getting over tired, sicker or more injured. Talk to your coaches if you are feeling tired, sick or injured. Remember that there is no training benefit to being over tired, sick or injured. 8. Eat a snack right after practice and a meal within an hour of practice. After practice your heart rate stays high for a certain amount of time, 20 to 60 minutes. This depends on the practice intensity and how tired you are. If you eat while your heart is high you are replacing sugars/energy, protiens and nutrients in your body faster because your heart is moving your blood around your body faster. 9. Make sure that you have extra clothes so that you are warm and dry after practice, change your clothes, shower as soon as you get home. If you are clean, dry and warm soon after practice you will feel better and be happier about practice. If you are sweaty, stinking and cold then you will not feel as good about your self and your practice. 10. Record your training on sport log. It is a way for me to see what is happening with you and how you are responding to training. When you record your training leave good comments and ask good questions. This means that you are thinking about your practice and training. Thursday May 9th Activity: Extreme Frisbee Golf Location:Camp Fortune Time: 6 to 7:30pm Sunday May 12 Juniors Activity: Strength testing, come dress to work out please sign up on the google doc link is listed above. Location: Center for Strength and Athlete development, 1665 Russel Road, Ottawa see map for directions https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=218069458309771083118.0004dc3770547c8828b89&msa=0&ll=45.408966,-75.635805&spn=0.008044,0.013797 Time: 8am to 10am Sunday May 5th Midgets and Juveniles Activity: Strength testing, come dressed to work out. Please sign up on the google doc link is listed above. Location: Center for Strength and Athlete development, 1665 russel road, Ottawa, see link above Time: 10am to 11:30 Tuesday May 14 Activity: Strength testing (for those that have not done their testing) come dressed to work out. Please sign up on the google doc link is listed above. Activity:For those that have already done their strength testing we will meet a the NCC for a pacing drill. Location: Center for Strength and Athlete development, 1665 russel road, Ottawa, see link above Time: 6-7:30pm Wednesday May 15 Activity: Strength Training for older than 1997 Location: Chelsea Gym, Meredith Centre Time: 6-7:30pm Thursday May 16 Activity: 3km and 1km running time trial, this will be used as a benchmark and we will be doing this test once a month through out the summer. I will need one parent to help me with timing. Location: Philemon Wright School see map for directions https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=218069458309771083118.00049261ad44408e50bd9&msa=0 Time: 6-7:30pm |
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