Posted In: Blog Discussion
Around this time of year, the bulk of my track and field athletes are in the middle of a 3-6 week transition phase. Following the conclusion of the training year I have my athletes take off completely from training for 2 weeks. That’s right…no training for 2 weeks. Not even active rest. Then I recommend they do about 3-5 hours of non-structured training per week for 2-3 more weeks. This trainin
ELITETRACK Founder
I have a group of sprinters that didn’t start training until March. Two of them did the GPP with me back in the fall (during September and October), stopped training to play basketball (November 1 – February 15th). From that point, they ran outdoor track (until May 28th), then trained during the summer for another 5 weeks (until July 2nd….also ran in a meet on June 26th and 27th).
Since they technically did not train for an entire year (stopped to play basketball), after the 2 weeks of complete rest should they still do 2-3 more weeks of non-structured training?
Also, I have another group of girls that played soccer last fall, did absolutely nothing from the end of soccer until the beginning of outdoor track season in March. From that point, like the others, they trained until July 2nd. Should they take an extra 2-3 weeks to do non-structured training as well?
I’ve been off for two weeks now, I hate it!
My season lasted from early august 09 to july 1st 2010 and my body was just tired.
Because of all the training I have this odd knee pain which I think could be Chondromalacia Patella, but thats a story for a different thread..
Hi Jay-
I’d still probably have them do 2 weeks completely off and then 2 weeks of unstructured training (perhaps a hybrid where it’s 2-3 days of structured practice and 2-3 days on their own).
For the soccer girls I’d probably just go with 2 weeks off and then resume training as usual if you have that luxury.
Dave-
What you’re feeling is exactly what I’m looking for. I want people to be dying to return to training after the extended break. That’s when you know that the mental batteries have been recharged and they’re ready to go.
ELITETRACK Founder
Hi Jay-
I’d still probably have them do 2 weeks completely off and then 2 weeks of unstructured training (perhaps a hybrid where it’s 2-3 days of structured practice and 2-3 days on their own).
Could this hybrid be done by having them do structured training 3 days/week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday), and have Tuesday and Thursday COMPLETELY off?
Dave-
What you’re feeling is exactly what I’m looking for. I want people to be dying to return to training after the extended break. That’s when you know that the mental batteries have been recharged and they’re ready to go.
Mike-
I have an athlete that was feeling just like this. On the very last day of the season (after we were eliminated in the regional finals) she wanted to start back up on the following Monday. She took 2 weeks completely off (she actually participated in open gyms with the basketball team on Sunday’s), and was still dying to get back to the track. I haven’t talked to her about this in a few weeks, but I imagine she’s feeling the same way. Would you agree?
I actually just talked to Boo about something similar. After the high school season I had my better two younger jumpers take two weeks off then they threw the shot, discus and javelin for two weeks to get ready for the dec. I got them back on the track the fifth week and they looked the best and fasted I have ever saw them. It really did show me that the rubberband does get pulled really far back during the season and we just need to let it snap back sometimes.
Is always tough to get athletes to take this much time off. We feel like we’re getting out of shape, worry that someone else is training harder, etc.
What are your diet guidelines during this period? IE – If a 200 lb athlete was taking in 3500 calories a day to maintain energy, preserve muscle, and avoid weight loss – how many calories should they be taking in during the total rest period?
I actually just talked to Boo about something similar. After the high school season I had my better two younger jumpers take two weeks off then they threw the shot, discus and javelin for two weeks to get ready for the dec. I got them back on the track the fifth week and they looked the best and fasted I have ever saw them. It really did show me that the rubberband does get pulled really far back during the season and we just need to let it snap back sometimes.
Sound like they were over-trained.
[quote author="tkaberna" date="1279321138"]I actually just talked to Boo about something similar. After the high school season I had my better two younger jumpers take two weeks off then they threw the shot, discus and javelin for two weeks to get ready for the dec. I got them back on the track the fifth week and they looked the best and fasted I have ever saw them. It really did show me that the rubberband does get pulled really far back during the season and we just need to let it snap back sometimes.
Sound like they were over-trained.[/quote]If they “looked the best and fastest I have ever saw them” as tk said, how do they sound over-trained?
That was my question for Boo. I was wondering if they were myself. They could have been. Another thought he gave was that with younger athletes it can take longer times for adaptation time frames and we may have trained them well but it just took longer for them to see the benefits. It is so complicated who really knows.
That was my question for Boo. I was wondering if they were myself. They could have been. Another thought he gave was that with younger athletes it can take longer times for adaptation time frames and we may have trained them well but it just took longer for them to see the benefits. It is so complicated who really knows.
So is that to say that they are NOT supposed to look good or be running fast at the beginning?
I think different athletes have different adaptation time frames. I just never saw them that fast before. They were already considered above average sprinters for freshman but I just feel like with the two week rest and the cross training of just throwing it either allowed the training we had been doing for the 18 week season to catch up or we were overtraining them. Both could be a possibility. With freshman never going through a whole season it could be easy to think they could handle 18 weeks of training straight but in reality they have never gone through that.
Perhaps I’m just not seeing what you’re seeing. Or maybe I simply do not understand. Because it would seem to me that if they were looking that fast, then there must’ve been sufficient adaptation to your previous years’ training.
I just read an article on Jodie Williams, the rising star 16 year old from Great Britain. This is an exerpt taken from the article, quoted from Williams’ coach, Mike Macfarlane. You can read the entire article here.
“She’s going to take some time out, two weeks or so, and get herself together. If she’s up for it we’ll start training and do a couple of tests and see how she is then we’ll decide when we’ll run again.”
My question is, what kind of tests would he/could he administer to determine when it is appropriate to run again? I guess I’m asking, other than taking two weeks complete rest, and additional time for light training, how do you determine when it time for the athlete to come back, or whether they should take more rest and recovery?
I think one point that has already been mentioned is the desire to get back to training. Towards the end of the season the repetition and routines and of course the emotional drain that is competition (whether it be a PR or a poor result) can really start to take its toll. So when they are desperate to get back out there and train again then psychologically speaking they are probably ready to.
A second factor, all be it obvious is niggles / injuries. Anything you carried / managed during the season you would want to have completely healed up before you go again. No point starting training just to have to be taking prolonged rest one month later for the knee injured that you finished the outdoor season with.
A combination of talking with your athlete and finding out where they are physically and mentally should give you all you need.
I think one point that has already been mentioned is the desire to get back to training. Towards the end of the season the repetition and routines and of course the emotional drain that is competition (whether it be a PR or a poor result) can really start to take its toll. So when they are desperate to get back out there and train again then psychologically speaking they are probably ready to.
A second factor, all be it obvious is niggles / injuries. Anything you carried / managed during the season you would want to have completely healed up before you go again. No point starting training just to have to be taking prolonged rest one month later for the knee injured that you finished the outdoor season with.
A combination of talking with your athlete and finding out where they are physically and mentally should give you all you need.
OK I see. So he wasn’t necessarily talking about physical tests (i.e. workouts, etc.). He simply meant making sure she was good to go psychologically and that she was injury free and that’s it?
Anyone?
Should this be less then 70%?? >>> “lifting above 70% of a 1RM level”
Nope….it says that lifting above 70% and serious running workouts are the only things that are off limits.
ELITETRACK Founder
Nope….it says that lifting above 70% and serious running workouts are the only things that are off limits.
Haha, I see it…