enforma.org ptonthenet/ Conditioning for Duathlon by Leigh Brandon Duathlon is an event of differing distances that involves a run, a bike and then another run. The big event in the UK is the London Duathlon, which takes place in September each year. The first run is 9km, the bike ride is 20km and the final run is 5km. The most grueling duathlon is believed to be the Powerman Zofinger in the Swiss Alps, which is a 10km run, a 150km bike ride, followed by a 30km run. Duathlon Runner Designing a Conditioning Program As with most endurance events, the duathlon will require a high level of aerobic capacity, a high lactate threshold and some anaerobic capacity for hill climbs and sprint finishes. Before you are able to design your athlete’s program, you will need to discuss with them (and their coach if they have one) what events they will be doing and which is the main event they wish to peak for. With this information, you will be able to plan goals for each training phase and each training session. Duathlon Programming Option Off-Season Conditioning The priority for the phase when your client is not competing is to build the aerobic base and improve muscle balance and core stability, with a lesser emphasis on lactate threshold training. The length of time spent in this off-season phase will depend on the fitness of the athlete and the length of the event. Obviously, the less experienced the athlete and the longer the event, the more time will be required in this phase. Improving muscle balance (and therefore posture) is more important for running than cycling. A thoracic kyphosis will reduce the ability to breathe during running, which will affect oxygen intake and therefore performance. A weakness of the core musculature along with tight hip flexors can lead to a pronation pattern in the lower body, which can cause injuries such as anterior cruciate ligament sprains, medial collateral ligament sprains, meniscal tears, chondromalacia patella, runner’s knee, shin splints, ankle sprains and plantar facsiitis. Improving muscle balance will improve performance for the run and the bike due the maximization of cross-bridging of the actin and myosin filaments within the sarcomere of the muscle. This will allow for the greatest potential of force production. You will see that I have included “brick sessions.” Brick sessions are when you complete a run-cycle or a cycle-run back-to-back. This can save you time and also help you practice the transition, which can potentially lose you a lot of time in the race. Pre-Season Conditioning Pre-season is the phase just prior to competition where training will become more intense and some competition will be introduced. The pre-season conditioning should emphasize maintaining the aerobic capacity, with more emphasis on improving lactate threshold and increasing strength and power. Some less important races can be included in this phase. Races are a good chance to monitor progress and perhaps adapt the training plan. The gym sessions should now be progressed to building strength and, towards the end of the phase, you may wish to include some plyometric sessions to maximize power for the hills and sprints. To improve running speed, gym work should include exercises such as lunges, squats, single-arm cable pushes, single-arm cable pulls and cable wood chops. Plyometric exercises could include bounding, single-leg hops and hurdle hops. To improve cycling speed, gym work should include lunges, lower-body Russian twists and staggered stance double-arm cable pushes. Plyometric exercises could include jump lunges, single-leg push-offs and squat depth jumps. In-Season Conditioning The in-season conditioning should focus on maintaining all the fitness elements listed above and a focus on training at race pace and tapering for the priority events. Volume of training is reduced and intensity is increased. An extra rest day is added to aid recovery. Tapering should last from one to four weeks. The longer the event or the bigger the athlete, the longer the tapering period needs to be. Source: Fitpro Network
Posted on: Thu, 08 Aug 2013 23:01:37 +0000
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