How long should a training be long in time terms?
I have noticed that my trainings are so long.
Usually i start at 14 o clock
1 Hour of warmin up,stretching,drills
1h30’ hour of track
1h for weightlifting (long rests,usually 3-5 minutes)
1’ for therapy and so on(ems,massage,shower)
4h30minutes.
Is too long?
I am speaking about an high intensity day.
In low intensity usually i need 1h30m for the warm up,training and cooling down,shower. And another 1 hour for the massage(deeper).
2h30minutes
that doesnt seem to bad, however I wouldnt lump in your recovery stuff with your training. you could do 4 hours of recovery a day and it wouldnt wear you down, so your training day is really 31/2 hours, sounds normal enough
Agreed, some of our pro athletes do two sessions a day for about 2-3 hours each but most of it is low intensity or rehab/prehap/regeneration related.
The one problem with CFs work for a lower level athlete is the time it takes to complete. But in these circumstances they will probably use shorter rest periods anyway because they arn’t running at such high intensities.
Tell me about it, I sometimes find myself out on the track for 3 hours, and that’s not even with weightlifting. I don’t mind too much, but the other people that follow my training with me start to fatigue a lot (they’re not as conditioned) and get bored even. How short can I make my recoveries to avoid this? For example, at one point charlie has a rest of 4.5 minutes rep and 10 minutes a set on a 40m hill, can I bring that down to maybe 3 and 6 respectively and not feel too much of a difference?
This is an impossible question to answer. I base my recoveries on how I felt on the last repetition. Hill work is not as taxing on the CNS therefore, long recoveries aren’t as big of a factor.
Sorry, I should’ve phrased it better. When I bring the rest down to 3 and 6 minutes respectively, I don’t feel too much of a difference as opposed to a rest of 4 and 10 minutes. Is it OK to do this?
Look at the drop off in times. I general you want to keep the recoveries enough so the drop off isn’t massive. If lots of fatigue starts to occur then just finish early.
The large recovery breaks are required to permit absolute maximum intensities to be achieved but this probably isn’t tha necessary during GPP and the beginning of SPP…
Of course if you want maximum results work with what CF says but for lower level athletes I can’t see it being a problem.
Although this is true and a pretty good guideline for most of the cases, it again depends on the nature of the athlete (e.g., prove he/she can finish the session strong even if some of the previous times have been slower) and/or the state of the athlete (e.g., times getting faster and faster).
I would say that the opposite is also a good practice, i.e., if a PB has taken place and without waiting for a drop off, switch to something else and/or deliberately drop the intensity.
You are correct to say that they typically have shorter rest periods. Nevertheless, I am curious as to why exactly you think it is a problem for lower level athletes if the workouts take longer?
fulkrum, are your athletes getting any nutrients during their workouts or do they eat inbetween sections or before therapy? This should only take a couple minutes.
Hey Herb nice to see you posting again. Its not a problem for the lower level athletes physiologically at all its just that in general (the ones I train) only have about 1.5-2 hours at the track at one time (this is when the track is booked for) and thier parents etc arn’t usually up for 5 hour sessions like some of the more committed higher level athletes. Therefore, I can either cut recovery or cut volume. I find that cutting a bit of both generally tends to happen. I’ve experimented and for the lower level athletes it doesn’t seem to make much difference to overall performance times during sessions if the recoveries are cut by almost 40%. Once they reach about 11-11.2 the affects do seem to become much more noticable but by then they are usually very committed and will do whatever is needed.
Nik, so much the scientist (!) you always point out the flip side. Thanks for keeping me and others informed of the counter arguement!
cant believe what some of you are telling…
For me, it sucks if i train 3h(and it was kind of hard to getr it down…). You cant train 90min just track workout, what are you doing?
And if you wont loose anything-split it into 2 sessions a day.
I agree with what the rest say. If there’s little drop off, then shorten recoveries.
I don’t follow a structured speed workout with set repetition and recovery times. I adjust recoveries based on how I feel. If I notice that I was a bit sluggish on the last rep, I will take a 10-15 min break before I run anymore. And then I’ll re-evaluate recoveries based on how I feel on my next set.
Herb.
Yes
during track supplement
beetween track and gym some supplements
after gym again supplement and nutrients.
the supplementation and nutrition is nfar from being perfect but,i am trying to do the best.
IMO, a 3 hour session is too long. If your goal is to gain speed, you need to raise your intensity a notch, and lower your duration a notch. Speed work should be concise, deliberate and efficient. Hormonally, start researching cortisol and how different intensities affect its release during your workout.
Try to keep in mind that intensity and duration are inverse properties. What race distance/s are you training for? If you are training for 60-100m your workouts are WAY TOO LONG.
Try to seperate your recovery definition from your workout definition, i.e. stretching, massage, hydrotherapy, and the like do not count as a workout, they count as recovery modalities.
Its a good idea that your workout should either end, or take longer rest periods if your performance decreases. If it consistantly decreases, end your workout, you are no longer training speed.
Don’t agree on hormonal aspect.
Intensity can be quite high,but rests are very long…that’s why we have up to 1h30’ of track…adding proper supplementation i won’t be so alarmed on the hormonal side.
If he starts at 14 and ends at 1830 even if the last hour is of regeneration…he is not home,not free for all this time…he is not relaxed for all this time.It can be pressure over him thinking he would finish at 1830, even if the last hour is of regeneration.
Also i don’t think at all at the time.
I start planning volumes and recoveries,so if it needs 1h…if it need 1h30 …well i am not so worried about.
I am asking feedbacks and thoughts (so thanks for everybody,like you ,posting here)
No Prob, We all have our own methodologies. I know my workouts are much more productive when I keep everything short and to the point, much like my races:) Different strokes for different folks:)