Archive for the ‘Training’ Category
Flexibility is the ability of a joint to move in its normal physiological range of motion. Laxity is the ability of a joint to move that is more than its normal physiological range of motion. Laxity is asymptomatic, as opposed to instability which is symptomatic.
Flexibility is dependent on the muscles, soft tissue and a little bit upon tendons. Laxity, however, depends on ligaments and the joint capsule.
Muscle flexibility is due to an interplay between the muscle intrinsic properties and the sensory apparatuses that are active in the muscle: Golgi bodies and muscle spindles.
Flexibility training should reduce tendon injury and reduce the occurrence of delayed muscle tenderness. Flexibility training allows athletes better achievements. However, flexibility training is not only for athletes. Flexibility allows better range of motion that can prevent injury and improve independence of most everybody and especially elderly persons.
Flexibility training exercises include stretching and mobilization. Flexibility exercises should be slow, gradual and repetitive.
When training an important factor to know about is the maximum heart rate. The maximal heart rate is not something one can change by training or nutrition. It is a factor of age and genetics only… This can be quite frustrating for some athletes, because theoretically increasing the maximal heart rate should also increase the cardiac output. Increasing the cardiac output should in turn improve achievements.
The maximal heart rate of a particular person can only be measured if the person is put through an exercise test (treadmill or cycling are usually used). For those who can not perform an exercise test, the maximal heart rate can be estimated by reducing the persons age from 220:
Maximal heart rate = 220 – Age
For example: A 25 years old man is estimated to have a maximal heart rate of 195 beats / min (220 – 25 = 195), while a 45 years old person will have an estimated maximal heart rate of only 175 beats / min (220 – 45 = 175). It is customary to say that the estimated maximal heart rate equation is not perfect but is good enough for most recreational athletes. The maximal heart rate should be measured directly, however, in several instances:
- If the athlete has any pre-existing medical conditions (especially, but not exclusively, cardiac problems)
- if the athletes wish to fine tune their training program to their specific needs exactly
Some people can achieve a very high maximal heart rate. These people are sometimes referred to as “the two hundred club”, because their pulse can go up higher than two hundred beats per minute (200/min !). This might sound like a lot, and it is, but on the other hand if these persons are in good physical condition, this elevated heart rate can help them improve results.
People who engage in sports should know that it is all about output. Cardiac output, to be exact. Put simply, the cardiac output is the amount of blood pumped around the body at a given time.
The cardiac output is a product of the heart rate and the stroke volume. This means that the faster and/or harder the heart beats, the higher the cardiac output. Mathematically the cardiac output can be symbolized in the following equation:
Cardiac Output = Heart Rate X Stroke Volume
Is this equation important for a person practicing sports? Of course it is… If your goal is to increase the cardiac output, you should know what its components are. In most people one of the rate limiting factors for their achievements is the limitations of their heart and cardiac output. This means that a person can not raise his or her pulse for ever or increase the volume of blood coming out of the heart with each beat as much as they would like. There is a limit to ones cardiac output and this limits a persons achievements.
Cardiac function and cardiac output are usually the limiting factors in a person’s ability to perform physical activity. In most cases a person will have much more respiratory reserve than cardiac reserve. Of course, in person’s in whom there is a lung disease (acute or chronic) this may not be the case, and the lung function may be the limiting factor, but this is not true for healthy people.
It is important for athletes to know how much effort they are exerting during exercise for several reasons:
1) Avoiding sports injury – over training or training above ones limit is a sure recipe for injury.
2) Over training or Under training both cause a lessening of your ability. The trick is to train just right.
3) A weekly training program should be tailored in such a way that on the one hand is not too easy but on the other hand does not pose a too difficult challenge for an athletes certain ability level. If one knows exactly how much effort they are putting into a training cession, then they can build an effective weekly program.
Training at an appropriate effort has many advantages for an athlete
There are two very easily applied, free, non – invasive ways to measure effort during exercise. These are the Borg scale and the Talk test.
Borg scale
The Borg scale is a 15 point scale (between 6 and 20) that measures the intensity of an aerobic physical effort. The easiest effort is given a score of “6″ while an effort so difficult one has to stop is deemed “20″.
Amazingly enough, the Borg scale is so accurate that it has been proven that there is an excellent correlation between the subjective perception one has of an aerobic effort and the true effort he/she is exerting as measured by objective means. What this actually means is that if one feels how hard an effort is for him/her they do not really need anything more in order to achieve any physical goal. The Borg scale is actually as accurate as combining a high tech heart rate monitor and a measurement of ones own anaerobic threshold (lactic acid threshold).
The Borg Scale:
6 – 20% effort
7 – 30% – Very, very light effort (rest)
8 – 40%
9 – 50% – Very light (easy walking)
10 – 55%
11 – 60% – Fairly light
12 – 65%
13 – 70% effort – Somewhat hard, steady pace. This is getting close to the anaerobic threshold
14 – 75% – Exercising somewhere between 13 and 14 by the Borg scale should be just under the anaerobic threshold
15 – 80% – Hard effort
16 – 85%
17 – 90% – Very hard
18 – 95%
19 – 100% effort – Very, very hard. The person is exercising “all out”
20 – Exhaustion
How is the Borg scale used in training?
It does not take too much effort to get acquainted with the Borg scale and train by it. Training between 13 – 14 should be close to ones personal anaerobic threshold
Advantages of the Borg Scale:
A) By using the Borg scale and not an external heart rate monitor, one gets more in touch with their bodies and this might help plan further training and prevent injury.
B) The Borg scale prevents the need for an external measuring device.
C) The Borg scale helps one to use generalized training programs and tailor them for themselves.
Talk test
Another easy to use method to test for the difficulty of an exercise is the “talk test”. An easy exercise allows you to sing while performing it (for instance strolling down the park). During a moderate level of exertion you can talk comfortably and during a difficult exercise you can just breath and smile… There should be no pain in your chest or during breathing.