One man season will soon be starting in Hawaii and I see it has already started on the mainland. I was hoping we could start a new thread about what everyone is doing as far as training goes. Some of the earlier threads here have been very informative especially with Alan C's input. So lets share what we're doing.
Here's what I am doing: First, working backward, my goal is to peak in April for the State Championships. For now I am doing a lot of base work. During the week my paddling workouts are all between 60-70% MHR averaging 1-3 hours. I am also running a lot more than in previous years. I have been running from 45 minutes to an hour 3-4 times a week. I have also been lifting 3 times a week but not real heavy workouts. Mostly targetting paddling muscles. On Sundays if there is wind I'll do a HK run but if its flat I'll do a long low-HR practice.
In previous years my practice sessions consisted mainly of paddling on an ergometer with a paddling adapter. In retrospect I think the scope of my training was too narrow. My theory this year is to spread the training out a lot more and not concentrate so much on paddling. The running seems to be helping a lot.
As the season progesses I plan to increase the intensity of my workouts to peak in late April.
Submitted by Oldman on Mon, 11/21/2005 - 5:07pm
I'm all about peaking in time for states. I too work on an ergometer and while it is no substitute for the real thing, I think it will definately help especially if circumstances forbid getting out on the water. My erg workouts are 2-3 times a week cuz they are pretty brutal and can be boring cuz you go nowhere. I like to get my heartrate as close to max as possible on five, 5 minute pieces with 5 minutes of rest. If I have time, I'll go 3*20 minutes with 5 minute rest at 80%HR or I will do a exercise similar to Luke's where you go as hard as you can for 250 meters, check your time, and try to improve on the time it takes to get to 250m or keep it the same. On the weekends it's usually 10-12 miles on both days if possible but you know how that goes. My intensity also will increase as the season goes on. I try to add running and core exercise when I can although the erg can be good for a transverse ab workout. Hopefullly I will peak at the last oc-1 race, dunno cuz only been training this way for 2 years so I'm not sure what a peak feels like. It's been different every year during states.
Speaking of which, is there ever down time inbetween preseason distance, sprint, and long distance leading to Molo? The preseason and sprint season was mostly intense one man training to see who gets a shot at first crew in the distance season and it was only then, did I consistently train in the six man. I know this past year I was so glad that Molo was done and over. It definately felt like overtraining and now I am sitting on my ass glad that I'm not killing myself although it will be different once the season starts up again. What do you do to give your body rest?
#1 Mon, 11/21/2005 - 5:31pm
Thanks for the reply.
As far as rest goes it seems like most people take a rest after Molo. When to start again depends on how ambitious you are in your one man goals. :) After training year round for a number of years I finally just took a whole year off.
I agree the erg training is boring. I finally set up a DVD player and a TV next to my erg for days when the workouts are long. For sprint days I have some upbeat music.
#2 Mon, 11/21/2005 - 7:43pm
Rest after the six man distance season is very important to me.....last year I think I burned myself out by starting my training too early. I felt like I was burned by the time Molokai relay came around!! For now I've been doing low intensity water training (paddling 60-90 min, swim 500 meters and a lot of surfing). As for weights, tendon and core strength is what I've been doing about three to four times a week. The weights vary depending if it's core or muscle/tendon strenghening workouts. I haven't started running yet cause I'm trying to put back on some of the weight I lost during six man distance....
I'll be picking up the pace starting tomorrow as far as paddling goes, probably 90 min 60-75% MHR. I like to "active rest" days during the season. I mean I give my body some other means of exercise so I don't plateau. Maybe I'll go play basketball or surf on a day I would usually paddle, run or swim. Supplementation is a big part of my workouts also. I did my own study on my performance with and without supps, I found that I did substatially better with supplementation. What do you guys think?
#3 Mon, 11/21/2005 - 8:01pm
What kind of supplements?
#4 Mon, 11/21/2005 - 8:48pm
Surf waves and drink beer 4-5 times per week, depending on the waves. If it's flat, then usually I'll go easy with only a 12 pack or something. Rest on sundays. Oh, and eat steak and shoyu poke during and after every session.
#5 Mon, 11/21/2005 - 9:06pm
The main supplement would be the multi-vitamin....Nobody gets enough nutrients just from foods we eat and a decent multi will give us those nutrients. Then there are the muscle strength and recovery supps like creatine and a good branch chain amino. Other stuff I take are meal replacement drinks like myoplex and muscle milk.
#6 Tue, 11/22/2005 - 2:47pm
i have recently c hanged the way i eat and it does wonders. nutrients are definetly a plus.
#7 Mon, 11/28/2005 - 8:33pm
Who would have thought that not eating Jack in the Box every night for dinner would help. :)
#8 Mon, 11/28/2005 - 8:52pm
Some thoughts in response:
A Canadian study - cycling - with three groups - moderate, in between and peak speed. The striking fact: the moderate group with 5 days x 2 hours at moderate speed had exactly the same fitness as the high speed group with three times per week 6 x 30 second runs at all out with 4 min moderate speed in between. In other words same effect with three times 1/2 hour or 5 times two hours.
The beneficial effect of training on your body happens actually after your training session, once you have set the stimulus, during recovery, less during training itself. Very important thought.
Supplements: its all right to take some vitamins, what is much more important is to eat and drink while you practice and after/ in between your sessions. What you need is what I call ' liquid cereal' containing sugar, salt, potassium and proteins.
Every training session I finish quite exhausted because I do not have enough basic nutrition with me. So before looking at the fancy stuff, we have to cover the basics.
To the topic: I like the idea of setting shorter stimulus more frequently, for younger people at least 8 hours apart, once you get older up to 12 hours apart.
After 2 1/2 hours no major additional effects are gained, so that is my upper limit.
Currently: paddling x3 or x4/ week, my favorite medicine ball - all throwing and catching against gravity x3/week to develop explosive strength and I am looking for a stationary bike to test the Canadian study mentioned above.
#9 Mon, 11/28/2005 - 11:33pm
Uh what?
#10 Tue, 11/29/2005 - 9:25pm
THERE IS NO WAY THAT IS TRUE!!!! Your body is going to adapt to the type of stimulus that you put it through....It is a combination of training and nutrient intake that helps the body get physically stronger. I totally diagree that the real action takes place after the actual workout, the stimulus is what the body adapts to in order to get better....I said that you should take supps in addition to eating....NO ONE PERSON IS GOING TO EAT ENOUGH FOOD TO GET ALL THE NUTRIENTS THAT THE BODY NEEDS.
So eckhart, if I do sprints and another person runs 10 miles a day. Does that mean our fitness levels are the same? Will I be able to run a marathon and keep up with him? Or will he be able to run as fast as me in a 100 meter dash? Absolutely not....you know why--you cannot "measure" people's "fitness levels".
#11 Fri, 12/02/2005 - 9:24pm
I agree with Kdawg, that the quality and type of the training stimulus is what sets the type of exercise adaptation in motion during recovery (rest). This has been known for many, many years now as stimulus-response theory and the sport specificity of training.
You can however measure fitness and exercise physiologists and biomechanists have been doing it for years, but the measurements are just strong indicators of "potential" i.e. VO2 Max, Lactate clearance, strength/power. Measuring personal will power or determination and skill/technique is another story and also has to be factored in to the equation.
A marathoner is not a sprinter and vice versa (they are also not built the same physically...just compare the distances/athletes at the Olympics - i.e. 100M-400M to milers). Some degree of overlap will exist as each type of athlete will perform sprint and distance training to certain degrees, but the more specific the type of training (sprint vs. distance) that athlete performs the more specific the physiological and neural adaptations occur to make them better suited to perform well for their specific events (sprint or endurance).
Mahalo,
Dan
#12 Sat, 12/03/2005 - 2:31pm
Aloha, I read about the resistance training using a bungee or rope around the hull. If I paddle 4-5x/wk and race appr 2x/mth, how often can I or should I be doing this to benefit without "killing" myself? I already do weights.
#13 Fri, 12/09/2005 - 5:17pm
Hey OC girl, I think that resistance training in canoe is another awsome way to train. Anything that you to make your body adjust to is going to help your paddling....but the trick is to itegrate it properly into your workout program!!! I would recommend using it both in sprinting and you endurance training regime....as to exact placement of the training totally depends on the kind of program that you are doing....
#14 Fri, 12/09/2005 - 8:59pm
Right now it's "longer" pieces, 30min etc, to the shortest being about 9min or so. Today we did 8min pieces . I have about one more week of the longer pieces and then should start doing the shorter stuff with the longest being about 10 min. So when you start the bungee workouts, how long do you keep it on, a whole workout? Or just for part of it?( A normal paddle is 1- 1 1/2 hr)
I really appreciate all the info since I'm still pretty new to this...like most rookies I have a tendency to overtrain... :)
#15 Sat, 12/10/2005 - 8:50am
If you are new to using a resistor in training, and you are either newer to paddling [i]and / or[/i] an adult [i]and / or[/i] have a history of shoulder problems, be very careful you don't overdo it and risk injury to your shoulders. I would recomend you start by introducing the resistor into easy paddles with a thin bungee (<1 cm diameter) for only 1-2 minutes out of every 10 minutes.
While a resistor will build strength, it does so at lower rates and hull speeds, which can adversely affect your "normal" speed / rate paddling technique. It will simulate paddling into the wind or current. While this is a good technical skill to learn, most paddlers have more trouble paddling at faster hull speeds rather than slower hull speeds.
Alan
www.eascoaching.com
[url=http://eascoaching.blogspot.com/]weblog[/url] for coaching/training tips
#16 Sat, 12/10/2005 - 10:44am
Here's another study that discusses short intense workout comparing to longer moderate workouts. Very interesting.
It may not replace the long workouts necessary for races, but if you're short on time, why not?
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=10576
#17 Mon, 12/12/2005 - 9:35am
Thanks guys! I think I will try the resistance training. Wouldn't it be nice though if there was a schedule to follow...without paying the high cost of "eascoaching".
Good luck out there and I'll see you on the water!
:) Mahalo!
#18 Mon, 12/12/2005 - 2:21pm
oc-girl there is no easy schedule unfortunately to follow. Every training program should be tailored to the needs, time commitments, goals and current ability of the particular athlete. You get what you pay for with expert coaching and planning that EAS (Alan) provides. It just depends on what you want to spend and where you want to go.
If anyone wants to see what a periodized training routine is like for Olympic level paddlers (mostly sprinters in Kayak/Canoe) there is a good reference of a six month training plan at the ICF (International Canoe Federation) here http://www.canoeicf.com/devprogrtrprg.php . That is for those of you that have the time to train twice a day 6 days a week ;-)
Mahalo,
Danno
#19 Tue, 12/13/2005 - 10:35am
Danno,
Excellent link. Thanks for sharing that. That will help a lot as I plan for the coming months. Of course, I will have to modify a little........
Mahalo
#20 Tue, 12/13/2005 - 12:56pm
Danno, many mahalos!
What an awesum site! Now I have something to go by.
#21 Wed, 12/14/2005 - 9:30am
i for one definitely want to throw a shout out to alan at EAS for all the in depth knowledge he throws down- for free in these forums... very enlightening and much appreciated.
#22 Thu, 12/15/2005 - 4:47pm