Training and conditioning

Chapter 1 Training and conditioning



CHAPTER CONTENTS



Aerobic training


Training zone

Maximum heart rate

Aerobic testing

VO2 max testing

Bleep test

Types of aerobic training


Interval training

Fartlek training

Conditioning games

Heart rate monitors

Anaerobic training


Strength training


Principles of training

Specificity

Strength

Power training

Hypertrophy training

Endurance training

What equipment to use?


Free weights

Weight machines

Injury prevention



The conditioning of athletes is an area which has become very popular and that has made significant advances in recent years. It is an ever-changing discipline because there has been a much greater emphasis placed on athletes being at the peak of physical condition for their sporting event, whether this be by having a greater cardiovascular capacity or being ‘fitter’ or by being stronger. This has led to strength and conditioning coaches being widely employed in most sporting disciplines to devise training programmes to ensure that the athletes are at the peak of their physical condition so that they are able to compete at the best of their ability in their competitions or matches.


It is, however, an ever-changing area with new and different concepts being devised all the time in an attempt to push the boundaries of physical performance and give the athlete an edge over their competitors. This is achieved by the strength and conditioning staff analysing the specific demands of each individual competitor. The physical demands obviously differ between sports but they can also differ between team mates who play in different positions on the same team. For example, the strength and conditioning programme for a prop in rugby will be quite different to that of a winger on the same team because of the different physical demands placed on each of them in the game. Therefore, it is very important to remember that the programmes need to be tailored to the individual and should be sport-specific for the greatest benefits to occur. For example, a cyclist needs to cycle and sports which are running-based, such as football and rugby, need their athletes to run and so on.


This chapter will discuss some of the different training techniques that are being employed and give some examples of useful sessions for some athletes.



AEROBIC TRAINING


Aerobic training is simply where oxygen is present and is used to generate energy when the glycogen stores in the muscles are broken down to produce glucose and hence allow muscle contractions to continue. It is the most common type of training and that done by members of the public who are trying to ‘keep fit’. This is because it has been shown to have numerous health benefits:



• It improves the efficiency and strength of the cardiac (heart) muscle itself. This causes hypertrophy or enlargement of the heart, which leads to increased pumping efficiency and consequently a reduction in the resting heart rate.


• It strengthens the respiratory muscles which facilitate the flow of air into and out of the lungs.


• It increases the number of red blood cells to which oxygen binds and hence aids its transportation around the body and to the muscles.


• It improves the efficiency of circulation which helps reduce blood pressure.


• It can help in reducing stress as the exercise triggers a hormonal release which is involved in controlling anxiety and alertness levels.


These factors have been shown to help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and hence produce significant health benefits. Consequently, aerobic exercise in a variety of forms has grown in popularity in the non-elite sporting population to maintain health and keep fit.



Training zone


The training zone is the heart rate that needs to be achieved by an athlete for the benefits to the cardiovascular system to be achieved. The individual needs their heart rate to be between 65% and 85% of the maximal heart rate for between 20 and 40 min for a cardiovascular benefit. This needs to occur regularly for these benefits to be maintained and improved further. This should be at least three times per week in the non-elite population.



Maximum heart rate


There are a number of ways to calculate a person’s maximum heart rate for training purposes. The simplest way to calculate it and to easily recommend to athletes is as follows:



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For a 30-year-old, the training zone is as follows:



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Therefore this athlete needs to keep their heart rate between 123 and 161 beats/min for the duration of the exercise of at least 20 min for a training effect to be achieved.



Aerobic testing


As the conditioning demands on athletes have changed, coaches and conditioners have continued to search for ways to objectively measure fitness so that they can ascertain how an athlete is performing, but also to monitor the effectiveness of their training programmes. If athletes have baseline fitness tests conducted and then they are re-tested, improvements in cardiovascular fitness can be measured.



VO2 max testing


VO2 max testing is the gold standard or most accurate test of aerobic or cardiovascular fitness. Its definition is the athlete’s maximum capacity to utilise oxygen in a graded exercise test. The testing procedure is not readily available as it requires the athlete’s ventilation to be measured very accurately with the concentrations of oxygen and carbon dioxide of inspired and expired air being measured while the athlete performs the graded exercise test on a treadmill or static bike. An athlete’s VO2 max is reached when their oxygen uptake remains constant even though the intensity of the exercise test increases. It is measured in litres/minute (L/min) or millilitres/minute per kilogram (mL/min/kg) of body weight. A score for an elite athlete who participates in an aerobic event such as a rower, long distance runner or cyclist should reach approximately 75 mL/min/kg.



Bleep test


The VO2 max test is not possible for the majority of athletes, so other tests have been devised to give an objective measure of cardiovascular fitness. The bleep test is perhaps the most common test. It is simply a running-based test which comprises a 20 m shuttle where the athlete has to complete the shuttle inside timed bleeps on a pre-recorded audio tape or CD with the bleeps gradually becoming quicker, thus increasing the intensity of the test. The athlete achieves their score by the level of the test they reach and the number of shuttles in that level. The test goes to Level 21, but an elite athlete should be able to reach at least Level 14 on the test.

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Jul 18, 2016 | Posted by in SPORT MEDICINE | Comments Off on Training and conditioning

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