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JANUS FINANCIAL EXECUTIVE
CHALLENGE COACHING TIP #5: CYCLING
AND RUNNING DRILLS
Neural training is very
important year round. What is this
neural training? Drills or short
bursts of speed specific to each sport that teach the muscles and motor
neurons to contract fast and efficiently thus increasing the ease of
doing the movement/ sport. The
drills are short enough that there is no metabolic cost (10-30 sec in
length so you don't go anaerobic) so you won't feel fatigued after the
drills, but will gain a better and smoother feel for the movement. These are VERY important to do and are
necessary year-round. Some
examples for cycling and running are listed below.
CYCLING
DRILLS
SLD- Single leg drills
These
drills are exactly as they sound. The goal of this drill is to make your
pedal stroke more efficient. In order to do this, we need to isolate each
leg while remaining in a normal riding position (no leaning sideways or
funky postures!). Try to make sure that the foot rest (options include:
used milk crates, waste baskets turned upside down, tied stacks of
newspaper, or simply resting your foot behind you on your trainer's
mounting brackets - without catching your feet in the spokes or fan
blades) on either side of your bicycle is at least bottom bracket
high and out of the crank/pedal rotational path. When working one leg,
try to be smooth, feel the entire circle of the pedal stroke, and try to
keep your rpm's above 80-90. Maintain the position you race in and note
the difference in power when sitting up (torso-femur angle open) compared
to when in your aero position (torso-femur angle more closed). This may
indicate what might be a faster, more powerful, and more comfortable
(but, perhaps, not as "aero") position. Initially, you will
likely use your smallest (easiest) gear for single leg drills but, as you
consistently practice this drill over time, you will improve to the point
of using bigger gears and/ or sustaining the drill for a longer period of
time. The main point to remember is to be as smooth as possible (try to
get your turbo trainer to hum rather than making a voom-voom-voom sound).
Pedal in circles, not squares.
Big Gear Intervals
As the name implies, these intervals are
performed in a big gear at lower RPM's than normal. This is like strength
training on the bike. It teaches you to efficiently push a bigger gear,
thus developing strength that will help you with time trialing and seated
climbing. Stay seated and work the entire circle of the pedal stroke.
Many cyclists feel they can generate more power when sliding slightly
toward the rear of the saddle. Experiment with different positions on the
saddle. Most big gear intervals are performed in high zone 2 to low zone
3 (these are not anaerobic threshold workouts).
Fast Spinning Drills
Higher than normal RPM intervals teach your
cycling muscles to fire at a higher than normal rate. This will translate
into greater economy at your normal cadence and make harder or faster
riding less stressful. After performing spinning drills at 120+ RPM"s
a cadence of 90-100 feels effortless and makes you efficient at a wider
range of pedaling cadences. Spinning drills should be performed in your
smaller gears with little resistance. Maintaining even pressure on the
pedal at higher RPM's and low resistance develops fine neuromuscular
motor control. Follow each effort with easy spinning at a comfortable
cadence. Since the goal of these drills is efficiency and economy, you
don't need to worry about your heart rate. It may go up briefly, but due
to the short duration the effort will be alactate (very little lactic
acid will be produced).
Check out the CYCLING SECTION online
for more details on the Cycling Drills.
http://multisports.com/janus/cycling.shtml
RUNNING
DRILLS
Many runners complain of their lack of leg speed and
general poor efficiency in their running mechanics. Although one's bio-mechanics are
inherited to a certain extent, there are some things that can be done to
improve both speed and efficiency.
What if you were told that there was something you could do a
couple of times (one to three times) a week that:
§
only took fifteen to twenty
minutes
§
wasn't "painful" (in
the anaerobic sense of the word)
§
combined
with consistent moderate running (no intervals), would make you a faster
runner?
"Strides
/ accelerations and drills" are best done at the end of an
average distance, moderately paced run (not on your "intensity"
or "long run" days).
Many athletes do these as part of the warm-up or cool down for a
track workout and, if this is the only opportunity to do them, then one
must take advantage of the occasion.
Since intensity and longer days provide enough specific stress by
themselves, it more useful to do strides and drills on days when one's
legs are warmed up (at the end of a run) but the necessary focus and
energy can be given to performing these exercises optimally.
During
a "normal" moderately paced run, athletes fall into their
customary stride length and rate.
Over time, the motor neurons that enervate the running muscles
(and the muscles themselves) become entrenched in this one rate / range
pattern. Considering the total time spent running at this pace,
it's easy to see why "changing gears" becomes difficult for
many athletes. One's natural leg
speed never gets trained to its potential and, subsequently,
diminishes. Even when doing
intervals as short as 400 meters, one's stride rate isn't close to one's
pure speed potential. Strides and drills enable an athlete to
lengthen their normal stride and fire the motor neurons involved in
running at a much faster rate than they are accustomed to. With
consistent practice, the pure speed component that lies latent within
everyone becomes trained and made available for use in running at all
paces.
Check out the RUNNING SECTION online
for more details on the Running Drills.
http://multisports.com/janus/running.shtml
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