In a world of conflicting advice and exercises, how do you find the best way to optimise your training and who you can trust? In this article, we investigate the type of training you can do to enhance your performance in different areas. For example, what exercises should you do to increase explosive energy? Before we go on to look at this, let’s reflect on optimisation.
What does optimising your training mean?
It means refining the process to improve results. It is the most effective use of a resource to improve efficiency. In fitness, we seek the most improvement from the most efficient input.
How can someone optimise their performance?
By setting realistic goals, you can develop your performance effectively. Putting your plans for the days and weeks ahead helps too. To optimise your training, you must include evaluation and ways to increase/improve your training difficulty, strengthening your performance.
What makes a successful training session?
Success will look different for everyone. Most would agree that a successful training session leaves you with a shortage of energy and fatigues muscles, meaning you have pushed yourself beyond your comfort zone. You should be exhausted but feel good.
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“Nothing will work unless you do.”
– John Wooden.
“The pain you feel today will be the strength you feel tomorrow.”
– Livin Paleo.
“It’s not the will to win that matters – Everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare that matters.”
– Paul “Bear” Bryant.
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What are the five phases of training?
There are five defined phases in training. These can are summarised as follows:
- Phase 1: Stabilization Endurance.
- Phase 2: Strength Endurance.
- Phase 3: Muscular Development/Hypertrophy.
- Phase 4: Maximal Strength.
- Phase 5: Power.
An example of optimised training
The Olympic Athlete Harry Aikines-Aryeetey is a British Sprinter. Harry is widely admired for his unbelievable shape and has more muscle than most Athletes in the sport, not a typical physique. Harry’s training compensates for this, it is super-optimised to allow his heavier frame to move quickly.
As a sprinter, Harry focuses on bursts of energy, the explosive muscle fibres that allow him to react quickly and at pace. According to a source at Mirafit, Harry trains on Plyo Boxes, Sleds, Squat racks, GHD and Hyperextension machines. He builds muscle through hard work and using suitable machines to support his exercises.
Plyo Boxes – Provide explosive muscle development, jumping on and off with weights.
Weight Sleds – Running with resistance helps strengthen the muscles at a greater level. It allows explosive exercise under resistance, which makes for an improvement in strength.
Squat Racks – Give resistance and power to the quads and calves. They also help with the lower back and mid-back.
GHD Machine – This develops the hamstrings and backward movement.
Hyperextension Machine – Ideal for strengthening the lower back, critical for speed work and runners. It supports the core and lumbar region of the spine.
Using resistance and explosive training for athletes like Harry strengthens tendons and other important structural muscles and fibres. This means his legs and leavers are in optimal shape, poised and ready to fly!
How do you decide your plan for optimising your training?
First of all, you need to identify your goals. What is it you are trying to achieve? The best thing is to consider this from a sporting perspective. Are you trying to run faster, run longer or jump higher?
If you identify the need, then you can work back from it and create your plan and then update and optimise it.
If you are a long-distance runner training for a marathon, your end goal is the time you are aiming for. In order to achieve the goal, your approach can be tailored to you. If you are new to running, then you must start slow and build up incrementally over a longer period; if you are a regular runner who can bash out the miles, you can certainly optimise your training to build yourself up for the race with a mixture of shorter and longer runs to ensure that you have time in your legs. The preparation will obviously be more challenging for a non-runner as opposed to a seasoned short to mid-distance runner. Part of the process for a non-runner is gently stiffening up and strengthening joints, lower back and leg muscles. As a seasoned runner, your will be able to optimise and move into this more easily.
How do you optimise training recovery?
A popular way to aid and optimise your training recovery is to use an active recovery, where you perform low-intensity exercise following a strenuous workout. The muscles benefit from blood, proteins and other essential amino acids passing through them, repairing and rebuilding the fibres.
Why does it matter how recovery is performed?
The primary benefits include; eliminating muscle toxins, reducing soreness, increasing blood flow and maintaining flexibility. Typical active recovery activities include swimming, yoga, jogging, and cycling.
What is an example of training recovery?
As a social runner, you might like to push your miles out and do a 15-mile run. Most would highly recommend a 5k walk soon after to help with muscle fatigue and recovery. This keeps your legs moving and lightly works the muscles. The result is a much faster recovery, less pain and inflammation.
To Recap
We have explained what optimisation in training is. We have also looked at the types of equipment you would use to train in certain ways and give an example of an athlete. To conclude, optimising your training is especially useful. If you are a specialist like Harry, you can isolate the areas for improvement and then work on this, impacting your overall performance. In many ways treating your body like a machine. Tunning it up for top performance. We hope that you found this interesting and can refer back to our tips for your own planning.