Trap 8: Terrible Toos - Recovery

To get better you need to train. Fundamentally you need to train regularly and consistently. 

Your ‘Smart Training’ (see Trap 2) plan will you have training hard and performing hard training sessions. To take advantage of your hard training, you need be able to recover, and allow your body to adapt - make more-or-less permanent changes in structure or function – to perform best when you ask it to. Poor performance, performance plateaus, loss of motivation, ill-health and injury result when this balance is askew for too long. Recovery – whether passive, active, or involving your easier sessions is vital.

·      Too little taper before key races, and long races.

Get out: rest up. All your hard work should be done before the last 1-3 weeks of your race. Take confidence in this.

Prevention: tapers come in different shapes and sizes. Try different ones, yet keep the taper basics: Progressively reduce your volume; keep some (race-pace) intensity; emphasise ‘easy’; keep your training frequency until the last few days; sleep, eat and drink well; try nothing new; use methods to promote recovery

·      Too little physical and mental recovery after key races or the race-season

Get out: take a well earned physical, mental and emotional break, particularly after key/priority and long (15km/10mile and beyond) races. Revisit family and friends

Prevention: schedule post-race down-times in your plan. Do not rush back into formal nor structured training, particularly after a bad or break-out race.

·      Too much recovery after key races or the race-season: On the other hand too much time off can make it a long tough journey back, especially through Winter.  Don’t let tendons, base-fitness and weight or body-fat ‘deteriorate’ too much while recovering.

Get out: have a scheduled date and activity to start being active again. Find a partner or friend to help. A walk or casual basketball, squash, gym or mountain bike session will help fill the hollowness and tip the inertia in your favour

Prevention: learn from your past, and from others. Formal or hard training doesn’t need to be your entry back, so plan for this. Listen to your body and mind, and progressively build your way back.

Is too much or too little recovery a trap for you?

Trap 7: Terrible Toos 1 - speed

As endurance athletes, we runners are meant to endure: endure effort, time, fatigue and the elements. Sure, various continuous, fartlek, interval and repetition based training sessions help us improve performance (and feel better), and in various ways for different length races or events. 

Running faster in and for training helps to improve. Yet, tipping the balance towards 'too fast', 'too much too fast' and 'too fast to soon' sets the scales toward the risks out-weighting the benefits: establishing bad training, motivational and technique habits, plateauing, an early peak, race-season frustration, poor results and injury.


The main challenge comes in the freedom that running faster often provides. It also makes us feel good. The early metabolic changes that allow us to run-faster (say, during intervals) from week-to-week outpace the adaptations our muscles, tendons and bones need to make for us to be able to cope with the increase load, stress and shock of running faster. It's not our metabolic machinery that often breaks down, it's the musculoskeletal support and movement systems.

How much, how fast, how often is very much an individual thing. If you're not certain, err on the side of caution.

Be wary the Speed Traps:

·      Too many hard days, with too few easy days and ‘unloading’ weeks.

Get out: Don’t confuse high volume ‘moderate’ training with true hard sessions. 
Prevention: Done properly - specific to your capacities, plan and races – you’ll need the easy days to recover, and lighter unloading weeks to adapt. Work your plan.

·      Too little general preparation or base training per macrocycle.

Get out: hold your nerve – patience, persistence and passion is power.

Prevention: A large proportion of your training time should be spent doing lower intensity training particularly through your general preparation (base and build) phases, even during the race season, and certainly when  recovering from races, ill-health or injury.

·      Too fast too soon during general preparation or base phase, and too much race-specific training too soon - particularly for novice, intermediate and those returning to running after a long lay-off.

Get out: Ensure you establish your base or foundation.

Prevention: Give your body time to adapt before increasing the volume of your more intense work.  There’s no need to rush. Learn from the previous macrocylce/year. Revise your log/diary/journal, and revisit your plan

·      Too much fast (intense) training, and too fast during easy sessions.

Get out: easy sessions are meant to be that, easy. Have the courage to execute them. If your hard/fast sessions are truly that you'll need the easy sessions.

Prevention: Patience and consistent regular training are keys to your ultimate success. Revisit your plan.

·      Executing (work) intervals and sets too fast and too short, and having too much rest between them.

Get out: There’s little to be gained from going much faster than your current 5km (run) time-trial or race speeds - particularly through your preparation phases as they approximate your VO2max, a level you’ll rarely perform above. 

Prevention: In a cyclic manner, aim to build the volume of these intensities from 2 to 8% of your total volume, with 1:1 to 1:0.25 work-rest intervals for, say, 3-5minutes and 30sec-2mins intervals respectively. Of course, these are dependent upon your capacity, experience, future race distance/s and strength & weaknesses. Leg speed ‘sets’ (eg. strides, accelerations) and ‘drills’ for neuromuscular efficiency can be used smartly all-year.

·      Training faster than one’s current level of fitness, in “hope” of some distant grandeur goal.

Get out: Don’t get ahead of yourself. Work in the here and now, with an eye to building to your future

Prevention: Revisit your previous race/year reviews and your plan. Use current and relevant metrics or results. Use current levels of fitness (eg. time-trial or ‘key session’ results) to build your fitness and performance (base).

Be active, exercise, workout or train...?

Let the beast out...

Running Trap 6: Is More Better?

Through 2010-14 I have held discussions, meetings, race and program reviews, and constructed strategic performance plans with over 700 runners and coaches (and 350+ triathletes). Here are the Top Ten Run-training Traps as a summary. There’s also a cure or ‘get-out’, and a long-term prevention strategy for each.

Remember, what works for the pros and what are promoted as “the best”, “the most effective”, “the ideal”, “the latest” or “short-cuts ” are rarely what they are made out to be. They simply don’t work for most. Perhaps these are your traps?

Trap 6: ‘If some is good, more is better’:

With the accumulation of experience and training volume (and appropriate footwear), without an endurance background, you’ll improve for your first 2-3 years regardless of what you do. Unfortunately, there is no universal truth to ‘if some is good, more is better’. Most runners learn this the hard way, yet experience is often a great teacher. Just ask 2012 Hawaii Ironman World Champion Pete Jacobs, too. It took him a few years to figure out “for me, it’s best to train less than everyone else”.

Doing more – there is a time and place, and it changes. Sometimes, little and less is more.

Get out: Avoid aiming to simply do more each week or session. Indulge true hard training occasionally, and easy training more often. Respect all your commitments: time, energy and emotion, and balance ambition with (current) ability

Prevention: aim to find your individual “sweet-spot”. Not all training plans and programs, volumes, intensities and sessions work the same way for all people. They don’t even work the same way for you the next and the next and the next time around. Strategic and systematic variation and progression over time will allow you to find your own “sweet-spot”

Too much of the same type of running (or structured routine) too early. Running is an economical, efficient and effective way of getting fit. Running for health and fitness, is necessarily different to run-training for performance – although ‘good’ programs for each are based upon the same principles. The same type of running, on the same terrain (flat), on the same surface/s (even, hard), at the same speed/s, in the same patterns teach and train us to get better at that. Running hill repeats makes you better at that hill, not necessarily a better hill runner. Your body adapts to routine and habits (and your mind to myths, fallacies and beliefs) too, not just training

Get out: Learn and use other speeds, surfaces, terrains, hills, structures and even time of day., even if initially as warm-up and warm-down. They’ll add spice, variety and options to training. Think about some non weight-bearing (pool, bike, elliptical), and targeted or functional strength training too.

Prevention: See a run coach. Record your running. Ask & find out the differences between run mechanics, technique and form. They’re not the same things, and too many people and lay magazines and books use the terms interchangeably. Review, analyse and train to improve them. They’ll improve your “feel”: feel more comfortable running; feel of running; and feel how changes in your posture, stride, head position, arm-action, pace, and breathing can and need to be catered for in different run-situations. Use ‘Other Run’, ‘Medley’ and ‘Strength’ blocks or cycles in relevant phases of your multi-year and year plan(s) to guide your program and sessions.

For the record 'doing better is better', not necessarily 'doing more is better'.

Which are you better at? 

Running Traps 5

Through 2010-14 I have held discussions, meetings, race and program reviews, and constructed strategic performance plans with over 700 runners and coaches (and 350+ triathletes). Here are the Top Ten Run-training Traps as a summary. There’s also a cure or ‘get-out’, and a long-term prevention strategy for each.

You want training to be what you want it to be, and effective. Yet, amongst the technology, self-professed gurus, and Coach-google, basic training errors are still made: many out of running’s present culture, some out of habit and ego. Are you trapped by these?

 So far, we've looked at:

Trap 1: Training Habits - as your, goals, capacity and experience change so your planning, and training should.
Trap 2: No Plan - plans provide direction and guidance, and shouldn't be confused with your program nor weekly routine
Trap 3: No Log, Journal or Diary - they're different things. Construct your own (by hand) and use the the feedback to feed-forward to plan, train and run better.
Trap  4: Lack of Athletic Intelligence - develop your smarts for, of and from your running, training, races and performance. Become a smarter, better runner.

There some traps that relate directly to your training, and are good follow-ons from Traps 1 & 2...

Trap 5: The Mish-Mash, Hodge-Podge or Bitsa training week: 

An interval session, a tempo or threshold run and a long run per week don’t make a run program. A swim session or deep-water session here, an elliptical or cycle session there, don’t make cross-training; a cross-fit workout here a boot-camp there, don’t make purposeful or targeted functional strength training. Training sessions organized as a weekly routine aren’t a program, nor a plan. They are simply a smattering of varied sessions – bits-of-this and bits-of-that,  ‘in hope’ of getting better:

• Get out: Train with purpose, flexibility and enjoyment. Appreciate that not all types of sessions need to be done each week, nor given the same emphasis each week of your program or plan. Avoid the same session that your entire squad does week-in week-out

• Prevention: Are you caught up in run-training culture and can’t see the forest for the trees? Construct or revisit your plan, and work your plan. The nature, structure and content of your sessions should be individualised, progressive and cyclic, and change (become more race specific) as you move through your development and season or year.  

     If you do little bits of everything you're likely to achieve a whole lot of not much. 

     How does your week, program and plan look? Bits of this and bits of that?

Why I don't watch 'Biggest Loser....

I choose to watch some TV programs and,  even if only by exclusion, not others - such as 'Biggest Loser'.

Rather than whinge about the show, I change channel or find something more exciting or entertaining to do - like watch night arrive.

Confession,  I did see 20-30minutes of one episode in it's 2nd season, and occasionally see/hear a snippet or ad.

Given my line of work - sports coaching, fitness coaching and Physical Education teaching - I'm asked what I think about BL. "Not much!" is my double-gilded reply.

I'm not saying the show is good or bad, or shouldn't be produced nor viewed.
I'm simply explaining my reasons - right or wrong - for choosing not to watch it.
If it floats your boat or 'inspires' you...great!
If it makes you feel good about yourself, well, umm...errr, good for you too.

Me though, "I choose not to watch it because..."

Ethics:
I find it difficult to see individuals, families, parent & child or towns taken out of their 'normal' contexts, put through a series of exercise, nutrition and weigh-in charades, and compete for money in front of cameras and crowds. 
And...then have it portrayed as REAL. 
REAL(ity) TV, bahaha.

"We're changing the world" I've heard one of the trainers say.
I  passed out laughing, "yeah, right, but you have no idea how!"

What of those who don't make it through the screening process -  for entertainment, current or past emotional wellbeing, or health reasons? Why are some chosen and not others? Is it because some are likely to be a better story or show than others? Who has the right to say that those "reality TV" show are more-or less real (or deserving) than others - TV producers, scriptwriters, production designers, and sponsors? Not in my world. REAL life is neither screened, edited, scripted, post-produced, marketed and sold. It's usually what we make of it.

What about the liability waivers, exclusivity rights, and back-room sponsorship deals and editing? Oh sure, the story-telling makes it more "real". Life changing, huh?

And the scales? In the 21st century is weight still the cornerstone of "health"? Is this the same television station that, in other productions (shows) aims to discourage the focus with thinness, wellbeing, advertising magazines, models as messages sent to youth? What messages does BL send to youth about health, weight, exercise and 'shame'? Maybe BL is a synonym for hypocrisy.

What about  blood cholesterol, triglyceride and glucose blood levels, and blood pressure as indicators of cardiovascular health;  coritsol and urea levels - indicating the enormous catabolic and physical stress their bodies are going through? And the injuries, and puking, and feinting?
Not one off success-cases...ALL participants.  Where are those "real" results?

I'd like to know the REAL figures on how many apply, then screened are rejected - yup that'll make them feel great about themselves! And, how many successfully maintain their weight loss, and lifestyle change. I'm tipping those figures aren't too high, maybe inversely proportional to ratings.

Sure, aspects of Western/consumer culture is competitive and, unfortunately, people are exploited - some knowingly, others unwittingly. That doesn't mean I have to or should watch it on TV.

Exploitation:
 I'm appalled by what I've seen and heard in the manner and tone in which the trainers push, prod, cajole, force, undermine, embarrass and ridicule the participants - both to their faces, and in personal interviews - all under the guide "don't be a failure". Finish that rep, climb that step, do it with pep and make money for the TV station's owners, shareholders and advertisers.
No wonder they're called "trainers". Give them a whip and send them off to the zoo - apologies to all animal lovers, and m my pets.

Money, entertainment and careers are being made on the participants' waivers, sweat, ridicule, life history, emotional wellbeing, and shame - all where exercise has come to be viewed as excessive "working out" and accepted as normal.

When is it okay to shame, bias, discriminate and exploit by race, creed, religion or gender? But it's okay to do it by weight and fatness and emotional fragility, on public television? Hmm.

I'm sure the trainers are doing well for themselves too. Good luck to them. Like all of us, they have a right to make a living, and rub shoulders with celebrities. I hope they feel good and sleep well at night exploiting the participants the way they appear to, and undermining the good work many health professionals do in instructing and educating about sustainable lifestyle choices, habits and routines by exploiting the myths, misperceptions and fallacies about what is 'appropriate' and 'normal' exercise and nutrition for individuals.

And what of the viewers? Exploited too. Sponsors? Ditto.

Professional Prostitution:
The BL exercises, activities, motivational strategies and nutritional practise are neither mainstream nor professional. They're for drama and ratings. Don't view and accept this as standard practise by most certificated PTs or by more appropriately trained and qualified health, exercise and nutrition professionals

First and foremost the most important principle of (fitness/exercise/sport) training is individuality - what suits, works for and is effective and sustainable for some, isn't for others. Arguable, some will say specificity is most important. Ok, sure, be specific to the background, current capacity, lifestyle, motivation and goals of each participant.  

For supposedly professional PTs on a national television show, where is the individuality? Activities and exercises are "one for all" on BL. That is neither ethical, professional nor effective.

For years, organisations have worked hard to improve the qualifications, experience and application of professionals who work in health, exercise and fitness- related areas. ACHPER (the Australian Council for Health, Physical Education & Recreation) is one, albeit predominantly aimed at 3 and 4 year graduates and those who practise/teach in schools.
I wonder what ACHPER members think of BL?
I'd assume health and PE teachers would use BL as a great resource to be 'critically examined' with students.

ESSA (Exercise & Sport Science Australia) is another, promoting 3-4 year trained graduates (as a minimum part registration requirement) to work predominantly with health-related issues and allied practitioners as different to sport science, sports conditioning and generic fitness.
ESSA members must (or, should) shake their heads in BL disbelief.

Then there are the Personal Trainers who may complete a weekend, 20-40 hour, and/or online course to become registered. I'm sure some PTs do a great job, yet I see EVERY day - in gyms, parks, pools and beachside - PTs explaining, prescribing and instructing things that, well - to be kind - probably should be modified. Yet, I digress...

That said, the "in your face", "attitude", "bad ass", "one more rep/step", "failure now means failure forever", "you're fat, lazy and dishonest" approaches that seem to dominate BL practise are not the way most PTs, PCs or coaches practise. Be wary assuming and accepting that it is.

The exercise routines, circuits and activities of BL are certainly not standard practise either. Of course, most are devised with drama, the story, viewers, and ratings in mind.

And the dominant  motivational tactics of shame, ridicule, embarrassment, isolation, peer pressure and failure is shocking.  I know who the Big Losers are.
Yet, the reps must be done, the food shunned, and the drama must rate!

Similarly, although areas overlap, PTs, Instructors, Teachers, Coaches and Educators aren't the same things, nor strategies used. Aim to be educated, not trained.

Does anyone know if the doctor/s and nutritionist/dietitians, who support these charades, have never shown their faces and/or real names? Surely, given the risks the participants go through, there is professional medical and nutrition advice?  If they don't exist, how do you spell 'liaBiLity'?

Dramatisation:
From an ad. 

On the possibility of a 20+yo being evicted, a teary participant says, "this opportunity means the difference between life and death for me".

Puhh-leeez...that opportunity presents itself EVERY time we all sit down or drive-through to eat, snack, binge or drink; say 'no' to exercise, find the closest car-park to a destination, or take the escalator instead of the stairs; or, won't consider getting 'real' and professional help.

I've already commented on the motivational shenanigans the trainers use to dramatise the compulsion that the participants "must do one more rep, or one more step, or be a failure for the rest of your life".

Choices. First, honesty. Second, professional help and guidance. Third, moderation, Fourth, persistence and patience. Limit the drama.

Misappropriation:
(noun) to put to a 'wrong' use.
'Wrong' comes in various shapes, sizes and guises.

That said, from my perspective(s), I feel what is portrayed as professional, normal, respectful, and just is simply not indicative of "real life" for those who may be challenged by health, emotional, and discriminatory issues associated with weight, body fat, and exercise.

In some ways this encapsulates the reasons why I won't and don't watch BL.
In one sense I wonder who the Biggest Losers are - the participants for losing weight at the expense of drama and being shamed and exploited; the viewers for accepting that it is real and what is being done is professional, safe and standard practise; the PTs for their "do it my fail or fail forever"  portrayal of health, exercise and professional practise; the producers and sponsors who may simply make ratings and dollars from exploitation, dramatisation, professional prostitution and call their entertainment 'reality TV'.

Maybe I'm the Biggest Loser. 
Maybe I've got it wrong, and am missing out by not buying in.
Maybe.
Yet, I choose not to watch. 
And, now you know why.

Running Traps 4

Through 2010-14 I have held discussions, meetings, race and program reviews, and constructed strategic performance plans with over 700 runners and coaches (and 350+ triathletes). Here are the Top Ten Run-training Traps as a summary. There’s also a cure or ‘get-out’, and a long-term prevention strategy for each.

Remember, what works for the pros and what are promoted as “the best”, “the most effective”, “the ideal”, “the latest” or “short-cuts ” are rarely what they are made out to be. They simply don’t work for most. Perhaps these are your traps?

Trap 4: Lack of Athletic Intelligence. 

Smarts comes in all shapes and sizes. 

Information and knowledge are easy to find now days. Just ask Coach Google or Doctor Google. 

Intelligence, though, requires reflection, analysis, evaluation and then application in context. Few aim to understand why they do what they do, how long they do it for, how it effects their body and mind (and habits) for the next day, and an accumulation of many days. 

Race-smarts is tactical intelligence. 

Street smarts is accumulated experience and know-how; yet, not always constructive or positive.  

Science smarts is often limited in statistics, context and application. 

The best smarts is figuring out what works best for you, and leaving the crowd, the squad, the trends, and the backslappers to do what they do:

•  Get out: Don’t be a dummy. Ask good questions. Ask many, trust few. Avoid trends. There are no short-cuts. Measure what you can - properly. Use it. Listen to your instinct, or ‘gut’. Use it too. Work them into your plan.

• Prevention: Become reflective and analytical. Educate yourself about yourself, about running and about training. Understand and apply the difference between training hard and hard training - for here is the heart of Smart Training and Athletic Intelligence.

    How do you use your athletic    intelligence to advantage?