Tag Archive for: training program

Theory & Practice: 5 Golden Rules of a Proper Training Program

Your training program is one of the most important parts of your training regimen. Training process is a very individual thing and, as logic follows, training programs are always very individual masterpieces. Or, at least, they should be.

So what is a training program? A training program is a specific structure of volume, intensity and exercise used in training, distributed over days and weeks of the cycle, allowing to achieve cumulative effect at the end of the cycle in a selected direction (exercise, distance, event). A knowledgeable and experienced coach can skillfully lead his/her athlete to a better performance level, better health, better results and a longer career in sports. Majority of people, however, do not have the luxury of working with a professional coach and are left to make training decisions on their own.

Obtaining a good training plan is one of those decisions and choosing the right training program, or at least finding a legitimate one, is not the easiest of tasks.

  • How do you decide what should be in your training plan?
  • How do you judge the quality of an available training program and its effectiveness?

There are no simple questions here and there are no simple answers. However, there a few golden rules that serve as a foundation for all proper and effective training programs and in the absence of a coach, keeping these basics in mind will help you make better choices and eventually get better results.

It should go without saying that any training regimen simply must include technique work of your chosen sport. Whether you’re running, swimming or cycling – you must regularly do technique drills. Sports like football, basketball or baseball, however, would require technique work for running AND throwing. If that was done right, there would not be so many ankle, knee & shoulder injuries. Your biggest improvement and progress will be the result of your technique work. It is a gateway that allows you to unlock your full potential. You might be built for speed or endurance but if you’re constantly injured you’re not going too far or too fast.

Here are 5 golden rules that will help you stay on the right track.

1. Training Program Must Have a Proper Duration + a Sufficient Number of Rest Days

Majority of people start looking for a training program when they decide to enter a race. Others want a training plan to simply have a good regimen to follow to stay fit instead of doing something on some days hoping to get some kind of effect. So you will need to decide what your goal is and then figure out the time frame that it gives you. If you’re working with a particular target date – your training plan should be aimed at that date locking you into a certain time frame and giving you a particular number of days/weeks/months to achieve your goal. Your entire plan – its structure, volume and type of training involved should be based around that main event.

It is also important to keep in mind, that training doesn’t mean doing something all the time. There has to be a proper balance between your training and rest days. Too much action and not enough rest time is a bad formula and is a one way ticket to exhaustion. Majority of people do well with 3-4 days of training a week, some professional athletes need up to 7 days of training per week and sometimes twice a day. Whatever number of days you train right now, if you experience any of the signs listed in this article – reduce your training volume right-away, you’re overtraining.

2. Training Program Must Have a Warm Up & Cool Down

Any good training session starts with a warm up. It’s an important part of the overall training process and is a necessity, it cannot be treated as an option. It is smart to start with a warm up and get your body and mind ready for a good focused effort. Obviously it only makes sense to wrap up with a cool down to let yourself get back to normal, to let all your systems slowly adjust. Cooling down part of training is a very good time to do some flexibility, by the way. A training program without a cool down part is not a complete training program.

3. Training Program Must Have Speed Work

All improvement in running training has to do with running the same distance faster than before. While running longer and at a slower pace has its limited purpose sometimes, it won’t improve your performance or run time when preparing for a race and it should never be the foundation of your training program. Speed work is essential if you hope to run your next long distance race faster. And isn’t that the purpose of the entire exercise?

4. Training Program Must Have Strength & Flexibility Included

These are not fashionable or trendy things that were popular last summer. These must be included in training regimen on regular basis. Without adequate and proper strength developed you will be subjected to injuries and mediocre performance. Developing and maintaining flexibility helps extremely well in achieving better performance results also. Work on your technique, strength and flexibility should be regular and balanced, but with emphasis on technique.

5. Training Program Must be Updated Regularly

A lot can happen in just one week of training and whatever it is, it will require an adjustment to your training regimen. It is recommended to review the original training schedule against the actual training done and results accomplished, and then implement changes on weekly basis to achieve best results. This is one of the most difficult parts of working with training programs and I recommend doing it with a coach, but you could also try to make your own adjustments and switch around some numbers, repetitions, etc. We have a video that provides instructions on how to adjust your training program.

I would like to recommend you try my training plans that can now be ordered and downloaded online for $10/month of training. And if you would like to kick it up a notch, try my app that is now available to all iPhone users. Compared to my downloadable plans, the app allows data input after each training session so you can have a constantly updated training plan for $9.99/month.

As a rule, I always recommend training with a coach and obtaining a proper training plan whether you’re on a mission preparing for a race or not. You might just be pleasantly surprised with your results and achievements!

About the Author

Dr. Nicholas Romanov is the developer of the Pose Method®. A passionate proponent of higher level of education in athletics, Dr. Romanov dedicated his entire career to sports education, scientific research and coaching. An Olympic Coach and a bestselling author, Dr. Romanov has taught on all continents and visited almost every country in the world.
[ Click here to learn more ]

CONTINUING EDUCATION + LIVE SEMINARS + LOCAL CLASSES

Pose Method® 2-Day Educational Seminar is approved for 16 contact hours towards continuing education for Certified CrossFit Trainers and Physical Therapists. Athletes and parents of school age children are encouraged to attend.

The Pose Method® system is a combination of online learning, live seminars and local classes making it the most effective solution available to health and fitness professionals as well as anyone who enjoys an active lifestyle.

Training: Warm-Up & Cool-Down for Runners

From my own experience I know that very often small yet very important elements of the training session structure, that is, the beginning, which is called warm-up, and the end, which is called cool-down, are ignored and neglected by majority of runners. Reasons (or we may say ‘excuses’) given for this are always numerous: from efforts to save time to just admitting plain neglect. In general, the attitude towards those parts of the training session is as if neither carry any significance so why bother. That’s a mistake. But then again, it’s only a matter of personal responsibility. If you think you don’t owe it to yourself to do things the right way and not the lazy way, then what can I say.

The Warm-Up

So, what kind of role does the warm-up play in the training session? The answer is obvious – to warm-up the muscles, ligaments and tendons, and, here’s the part that not many consider- to prepare the nervous and cardiorespiratory systems for the specific workout. Normally an athlete would spend (depending on the upcoming workout, outside temperature and his/her own body condition) somewhere between 5 to 30 min on this task.

Warm-up should consist of all blocks of preparation:

  • biomechanical
  • physiological
  • psychological
  • mental and
  • spiritual

In Pose Method we use specific running technique drills to get the body into the right biomechanical structure of movement. Those drills also serve as a psychological and mental tune-up for the upcoming workout. Be mindful when following this progression. All these parts should be performed on a conscious level with an understanding of why we are doing it. It is foolish to train, or do anything for that matter, under the assumption that mindless motions of doing something will give you the results you’re looking for.

If you normally train by yourself and run alone, simply make sure to structure your sessions so you cover the above mentioned aspects. However if you train in a group and/or do group running sessions, make sure to set time aside for yourself to maximize your results. You can (emphasis on can) manage your busy schedule, keep your group runs and enjoy the social aspect of running. A little bit of effort and discipline goes a long way.

Here’s a good warm-up set of drills and exercises for a session that can become your regular practice. To put together a more extensive session, refer to the vast collection available in the original book The Pose Method of Running if you have it, and the Beginner’s Guide to Pose Running resource.

Key points:

  1. Warm-up is about getting ready for the training session
  2. Make it simple, quick but get your mind into it completely.
  3. Emphasis on drills and elasticity exercises.

We should not do flexibility exercises in the warm-up part of the training session too often. That should be mostly saved for after the workout, for the cool-down part of the training session or for a separate training session altogether. But sometimes it is needed in which case make sure to do a warm-up flexibility routine before the actual warm-up and always keep your focus on moving your joints instead of stretching your muscles. Intentionally stretching your muscles is not a good idea. Muscles will do what they need to do when you focus on simply bending your joints. Correct intent and focus produce correct outcome.

The Cool-Down

The cool-down part of the training session has its own specific role as the process that should return your body to its normal condition, including its biomechanical, physiological, psychological, mental and spiritual conditions. When your training is done, it is very important to return all the “blocks” and levels of the body to their norm. This means recovering muscle strength, relaxation, tone, your technique and coordination, and proper perception of movement, and of course your mental state, emotional and psychological conditions.

So, cool-down is a multidimensional set of exercises and should be treated as seriously as the main part of the training session. Time-wise this part is not time consuming similar to the warm-up, but it could be a little longer if needed, because returning to the norm could be a more demanding process than getting going. There are more chances here to lose technique, perception, proper muscle condition and mental focus. So it’s a good idea to give more time to this part of your training session.

In the Pose Method we, again, use special running drills for cool-down with the purpose of recovering the specific conditions related to running technique and our focus should be on the main elements of running. But through these exercises we must also return our body’s strength condition, unless you want to wobble around on shaky legs for the next day or two. So, we additionally use special regimes of strength exercises to recover muscle tone & strength, tendon and ligament elasticity and coordination.

If the main workout was difficult with a load on the cardiorespiratory system, then we must use a light run (we are talking about a mile maximum for the majority of us) to recover these systems to the norm. Keep your eye on your form, just because it’s a light run to recover it does not mean you can drag your feet behind you.

Another thing to keep in mind about the cool-down is that it is not only the final part of your current training session, but it is also your preparation for the future training session, and that requires your mental and psychological focus and effort. Training is a non-stop process of moving from one training session to another.

Key points:

  1. Cool-down is about recovery
  2. Make it longer than warm-up
  3. Emphasis on strength exercises (lighter load, less reps)
  4. Wrap up with a flexibility routine (focus on moving your joints)

So, these seemingly simple parts of training, as you see, are not so simple at all, and they require your full attention and skill development, as any other part of your training. Start from this point and consciously build up your understanding of the deep meaning of these parts of your training process and it will take you to the next level of your training. I guarantee that. Enjoy this process of self-discovery and the newly found excitement that it will undoubtedly bring.

About the Author

Dr. Nicholas Romanov is the developer of the Pose Method®. A passionate proponent of higher level of education in athletics, Dr. Romanov dedicated his entire career to sports education, scientific research and coaching. An Olympic Coach and a bestselling author, Dr. Romanov has taught on all continents and visited almost every country in the world.
[ Click here to learn more ]

CONTINUING EDUCATION + LIVE SEMINARS + LOCAL CLASSES

Pose Method® 2-Day Educational Seminar is approved for 16 contact hours towards continuing education for Certified CrossFit Trainers and Physical Therapists. Athletes and parents of school age children are encouraged to attend.

The Pose Method® system is a combination of online learning, live seminars and local classes making it the most effective solution available to health and fitness professionals as well as anyone who enjoys an active lifestyle.