Before you get started:
1) Make sure you completed last weeks
Training Journal. If you have not, stop what
you are doing and finish it now.
Remember to record the following in your
journal:
-
- Your goals (Go
here to
learn how to develop short, intermediate
and "dream" goals.)
-
- Everything you eat along with their
calorie and protein content.
Here's
a great place to figure out how many
calories and how much protein you are
eating. Just type your item into the
search box and it will bring up the
stats.
-
- Check off how sore you are and how
fatigued you are.
-
- In the comments section or your
Training Journal, you may want
to record anything you feel might be
important such as wind speed (when
you've skated outdoors), temperature,
humidity... how long you slept last
night, etc... You'll also record
performance times here.
Next, copy over last weeks Training Journal,
change the dates and use it for week 2. If
it's easier for you to just download another
copy of the Training Journal, download it
from
here.
(Excel format) If you do not have Excel you
can preview a page from the Daily Journal
here. Simply copy the information into
another format or you can hand write the
daily information down manually in a tablet.
Record these every Monday only
- do not measure and record these every day.
2)
Do not weigh yourself this Monday!
You will weigh in and record your weight
every 2 weeks only. I know you might be
anxious to see what your weight is but be
patient... you'll find out next week.
3) We will not make any adjustments to your
diet this week. We will wait until next week
to see what your results are before we
suggest any changes.
4)
What should you do if you missed some of
last weeks training?
Here's my suggestion: Determine how much
training you missed (estimate). If you
missed more than 20% of last weeks training,
do the week over. For example, if you were
doing the adult (2x a-day ) training plan,
there were 10 training sessions to complete.
If you missed more than 2 of these training
sessions, you should complete week 1 again
before you proceed to week 2. If you
participated in a competitive event and had
to taper your training yet you completed all
training prior to the taper, go ahead and
proceed to week 2. It may be a little more
demanding but that's okay... at this time of
the year it is not so demanding that I would
expect anyone to overtrain (click
here to
determine if you are overtraining).
5)
I was very sore last week... what can I do
about it?
Hopefully, each weeks training sessions will
make you sore... that's something we want to
occur. If you've ever been to a practice
(indoor or outdoor) and you are not sore
afterwards... my guess is your training
session did not challenge you enough. You
might be tired or fatigued but rarely sore.
When you are sore afterwards you have
actually challenged your muscles to the
point that they have been "taxed" to the
point that fibers have been broken down and
must now get a chance to heal and repair
themselves. In effect, you are building new
muscle that will make you stronger. Don't
get me wrong... there are training sessions
that are designed to work on technique,
endurance, VO2 max, etc that will not make
you sore, but this early in the season you
should be sore more times than not after
practice. We concentrate on strength and
power these first few weeks then we will
begin to transition into technique and
proprioception training beginning as early
as the 2nd week. Sore is good...
here's some tips
on what you can do to reduce soreness.
Beyond these tips, I would recommend the
following advice:
-
- Drink Accelerade or
Cytomax before, during and after
exercise. It is somewhat of a "magic
potion" that will not only give you more
strength, stamina, endurance during
training, but it it specifically
designed to help you recover quickly.
IT ABSOLUTELY WORKS! I cannot
stress this enough. Replace your
Gatorade or Propel... you may have to
acquire a taste for them but you
WILL be one step up on your
competition by switching.
Get your Cytomax online
here...
it's much cheaper than the local health
stores (it takes about a week to
arrive).
- Use
ice therapy...
ice therapy is a great tool to use to
help with sore muscles.
6)
What should I do if I did not meet all of
last weeks goals?
It's okay... maybe. If you set your goals
too high, you may need to re-evaluate what
you are realistically able to achieve and
set new goals for week 2. If you set very
achievable goals last week and you simply
did not follow thru because you were too
tired or you got lazy, you need to evaluate
your level of commitment. Read about how to
establish and evaluate achievable goals once
again
here and
make any necessary adjustments. One of the
most important things when setting goals is
that you must discipline yourself to follow
through. This is the #1 reason why most
folks fail to achieve their goals... lack of
follow thru. And, this will be the
main difference between the skater
that wins versus the one that loses.
7) What if I had a difficult time following
the menu? Simply put, do the best you can.
If it's because you could not afford some of
the things on the menu, make whatever
adjustments you can. If it's because you
lacked the willpower to follow through,
that's another story! Remember, lack of
commitment and follow-thru is the #1 reason
for failure! Don't be a slacker... commit
and follow thru!
Review the suggested menu
here. Make
a shopping list and get the items you will
need before you actually need them... be
prepared. If you cannot get these items, get
something similar in nutritional content...
if you are broke and can't get any of these
items, do the best you can do. We've all
been broke at one time or another... we just
have to do the best that we can with what
we've got. Always think about other great
athletes such as the Kenyan runners...
they're among the best in the world yet have
very little in the way of training aids,
nutritional diets, etc.
8) Remember how week 1's training went...
were you prepared each morning? Did you lay
your clothes out the night before? Did you
get up on time? Did you allow enough time
for breakfast? Organize your lifestyle around your training
plan. Lay your training clothes out the
night before when you're scheduled for early
training sessions... set your alarm clocks,
wash your training clothes every day so you
don't run out, etc... organization is the
key to following this plan.
9) What if I have an indoor or outdoor
practice scheduled with my team and the
schedule shows I should be doing other
training that day?
Always skate your scheduled practices...
they take precedence over the training
listed in this plan when they conflict. You
can adjust this plan to fit your schedule.
For example, you can move your rest day...
it does not have to be on Monday as it is
listed in the plan. In most cases, you will
simply replace an afternoon Encompass
training session with an indoor or outdoor
practice... that is okay.
10) What if I can't keep up with the plan?
Build up to it. You may have to perform the
same week twice in a row. Only exercise
within your own ability. However, do not
skip training just because you are sore. If
you are hurt, that's another thing but don't
let the soreness keep you from progressing.
Coach Steve
