Sunday Story…On to Zone 5!

 

The corollary to Zone 2 training is Zone 5 training. This type of training is all-out. A dead sprint if you will. Something you can hold for 10-30 seconds. When was the last time you went all out? Really all-out? As fast as you can run/row/bike/ski and when you are done you absolutely need to stop and recover? Think of a 100-meter foot race. Can those guys just turn around and do another at the same speed?

Your heart needs to deliver blood and oxygen to your muscles. Your muscles…the fast-twitch ones…are sucking as much oxygen as they can get, and lactic acid is filling the spaces. Your lungs are bringing in as much air as possible. And then it’s over.

We’ve talked about the decline in fast twitch muscle as we age. This is partly because we aren’t using them and partly because it is the nature of being human. However, we are always operating under the rule of “if you don’t use it, you lose it.”

Guess what? All that Zone 2 work…3 or 4 times a week at 45 minutes or more? It helps preserve your fast twitch muscle as well! It will be there when you call upon it. Now we can’t train this often and don’t need to. A few times a month is all. But most of you (my audience) do some training in Zone 4. This Zone is a 2–5-minute zone before you run out of gas. So, between Zone 4 and 5 we spend 20% of our training time, while Zone 2 is about 80%. Doing this will help preserve both slow and fast-twitch muscle mass.

So next time someone says “Let’s race” fire up your inner sprinter and get after it!

 

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

 Sunday Story…Circling Back

 

To Long Slow Distance. I am getting a lot of questions about the whys and wherefores of LSD. Here are several of the benefits:

1.   Your heart is a muscle and just like your biceps or hamstrings it is going to benefit from being stronger and better conditioned. The way to build a solid base of strength in that muscle is with LSD.

2.   With a solid base, you can build the upper end of performance. In other words, your ability to work at a higher heart rate longer will be enhanced.

3.   When your heart is stronger it will recover faster from exertion. So, your rate will return to your base level quicker if it is in better condition.

 

Although LSD may look boring on the surface it really isn’t. You must monitor your heart rate as you work. And every modality is different, so you need to mix it up…row/bike/run/ swim/ski/jump rope/??? Stay with one until you get a solid 45 minutes in Zone 2. Then try another.

You watch your beats per minute as you work and if you cross the threshold, you MUST stop or slow down until your rate returns under the threshold. So, you need to pay attention!!! Guess what? Once you manage to get the BPM handled then you can go faster!!

And maybe your zone 2 will go up as your vO2 max improves! Woot Woot! There’s a hidden benefit!

 

More on vO2 max next week.

 

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Story…More Strength

You must lift correctly…we’ve covered that. If you don’t know how, aren’t sure, or just want to ensure it’s right…get one of us to look. But once your compound lifts are dialed in, it’s time to increase the intensity!

There is an old saying…If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you. It really is that simple. In terms of strength training, that means you must lift heavy. Now, heavy is relative. My heavy and yours are two different things. My heavy today is different from my heavy on a different day. The bottom line is this: you need to challenge yourself when you are strength training.

This principle is called “progressive overloading.” In other words, we add weight a little at a time. This does NOT mean we are constantly trying to get to our 1 rep max lift. What this does mean it we are always trying to improve. Maybe today the improvement is to squat lower. And the next session I am trying to go slower in some portion of the lift or more reps with the same weight. All these examples will increase the weight you are lifting over time. And we are concerned with a very long timeline…it is measured in decades not weeks.

Small changes done consistently reap huge rewards. Those of us shooting for the “centenarian decathlon” know we must show up regularly and put in hard work and that means putting weight on the bar!

You’ve learned to do it right…that means you’ve earned the right to challenge yourself.

 

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com    

775-338-2412

 

 Sunday Story…3 Rules!

 

The first rule of training is…don’t get hurt! We avoid injury by maintaining consistent mechanics over the course of our workout. Consistent mechanics means our form is spot on from the first rep to the last. Under fatigue? Consistent mechanics! When our form is correct the chance of injury is minimized. If you don’t know what the form is supposed to look like, get a coach to show you, watch you and call you out on it! Maybe you hurt yourself in a previous incarnation doing something like what we are asking of you. Let one of us know and we can deconstruct what happened and then reconstruct the movement to avoid the error.

The second rule is a corollary to the first…never increase intensity without consistent mechanics. That means you don’t add weight until the form is correct. You don’t go faster, you don’t add reps, and you don’t go longer (all forms of increasing intensity) without outstanding form. Don’t be afraid to take a step back and retool or solidify your technique. Ask about accessory exercises to strengthen or improve positions and mobility exercises.

The third rule is to follow the plan. You can change the weight percentages, and even fiddle with the rep schemes, but the program works because it is designed to get you more physically prepared…Prepared for life, prepared for the next 10-20-30 years of active vital living. 30 years from now you will be glad you did the work today, this week, this year.

 

Live longer better!

 

John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

www.crossfitodyssey.com

775-338-2412