Sport Insights > performance
How to overcome L'Etape du Tour
L'Etape du Tour's 25th edition is a big commitment and challenge but it's totally achievable...
5 Tips for Increasing Your Cycling Miles
It’s frustrating to hit the same mile without seeing much improvements. We understand the struggle...
How Strava Helps Cyclists Improve Their Performance
Are you looking for more ways to improve you cycling, Apps like Strava can really...
How Weight Training Can Help Enhance Runners Performance
If you have been running consistently and still struggle to increase your pace or distance...
5 Core Exercises That Improve Cycling Performance
Enhance your cycling performance with better bike control and stability, with these 5 core exercises.
How to Increase Power Output in Your Legs for Longer Bike Rides
A step by step guide on what you can do to increase your cycling distances...
The Definitive Guide To Increase Speed And Distance For Runners During Winter
Winter is a great time to establish a solid foundation for increasing running speed and...
How to Train for Longer Slope Time While Skiing This Winter
With winter approaching, it’s time to get fit and enjoy longer slope time while skiing....
3 Ways to Improve Your Performance for Endurance Sports
With the barrage of obstacle course events; half, full and ultra-marathons and growth in cycling and triathlons in the UK and around the globe; it is no surprise that people want to improve their endurance and mental fortitude. Events can vary from “short” sprint distances through to herculean courses that will test the toughest of athletes. When training for these events, a lot of people will focus solely on cardio routines like cycling or running. This shouldn’t be the case though, building in some power based routines will help build your lactate threshold, tolerance and mental fortitude as well. These 3 attributes are the keys to improving your endurance alongside your normal cardio routine: 1: Combine Strength Training Days with Cardio The more muscle tissue you get working, the more it will test your cardiovascular system and your heart. Rather than developing cardio-only workout routines make sure you integrate training days incorporating power based exercise as well. Most people will have one day for power based training, and another for endurance based cardio. Why not combine the two? You can start a routine with a bench press exercise, quickly linking with pull-ups and straight into a 1km run as hard as you can. Alternatively, you could try using a skipping rope for 60 seconds, followed immediately by leg squats, into an overhead press and finally sit-ups. Keep repeating the routine until the point of failure. Intense exercise takes a lot of energy and is a good test of your strength, endurance and mental fortitude. The more intense exercise you build into your routines, the quicker you’ll see improvements in your performance. 2: Try Fast-Paced, High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) Interval training can be done in the gym or outside. The harder you train and the more muscle groups you activate, the more it will raise your heart rate and work the cardiac muscle tissue, which will help your endurance. A great general interval training session is a fartlek training. Fartlek is Swedish for “speed play” and as the name suggests; you intermix a long run with preset periods of flat out sprinting and then a slower paced recovery zones. For a gentler fartlek route, you can use pre-set distances to define where you sprint and where you rest. To make things harder, you can work with times (i.e sprint for 30 seconds every 1 km) as this will ensure that you are always working harder each session. Similar sessions can also be done on a bike or in a pool. To target specific muscle groups, you are better off basing your interval training in a gym. Combine routines to make a hybrid workout, intermixing different exercises to meet your goals. For example, combining an overhead press (“thruster”), bouncing pull-ups, and bicep curls are excellent hybrids. HIIT training is also excellent at boosting your metabolism where as a cardio-endurance only routine can actually reduce it as your body will try to conserve energy. *statement about why a boosted metabolism is good for endurance* To achieve this, you will still need to make sure that you are consuming enough energy and meeting your nutritional needs. We suggest reading our "article how to improve your running with HIIT", this can be used in any sport. 3: Cut Down the Break Between Sets When training with predefined rest periods, in the gym between sets for example, you will often see rest periods prescribed of 30 – 60 seconds, longer if doing a longer set of exercise like a 1km row. As you get stronger and your endurance improves you can look to reduce these rest times instead of just increasing the weights. At the end of a session you should be exhausted, you should be sweating and out of breath. If you aren’t then you need to look at your routine. Reducing your rest periods is one thing that can be done to make the workout harder again to push your body further. Add these three elements to your training routine and you will find your performance improving with the work that you put in. Subscribe Today!
Improve Your Running Goals with HIIT
Want to improve your running goals, well, have you considered how HIIT training can help...
How Cross Training can help you with your sport
“How Does Cross Training benefit my marathon preparation?” Finally, a question we can really get our...
Eating for performance & weight management: Part 2
work out your macros to make sure that you are hitting your weight targets without...
Eating for performance & weight management: Part 3
work out your macros to make sure that you are hitting your weight targets without...
Eating for performance & weight management: Part 1
Managing weight while maintaining optimal performance is never easy. In Eating for performance & weight...
Fitness goals; the key to your success
It’s true- fitness goals are key to your success. Without them, you would have no target to reach. You would be training for something that doesn’t exist. It’s like walking out your front door without knowing where you’re going. By having these goals, not only will you be focused on beating your last session, but also you’ll be able to compare your previous results, to help you set your next goal. Setting yourself fitness goals are a brilliant way to keep yourself on track. We’re not talking about 2 years ahead here; we’re talking about ongoing goals. One-upping yourself. Start with something easy, and gradually increase these goals as you go. For example, if you’re a runner, start off by setting a distance you wish to reach in your session. For your next session, make it quarter of a mile longer, then half a mile, then a mile and so on. Before you know it, you’ll be running miles further than when you started. It’s psychological. Long-term goals are just as important however, but we tackle these goals by focusing on short term first. You might find that by working short term, you beat your previously set long-term goal. It’s about keeping things interesting too If you’re competitive, it can be a lot of fun too.I’m sure we all love to hear that we’re doing better at something than we were, it links back to our serotonin levels. We’re happier when we know we’re making progress, so setting sensible goals is important. It’s not about challenging yourself to beat the Olympic record on your second session. It’s about taking it one step at a time, to build up to that perfect time.
Notice:
Any reference to pain relief, in any update does not apply to the U.S. market