Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ e . ~ Brad Lackey's ionshi traini ng program By Dean Miller and Len Wee d This and future installments are exce rp ted from Ch ampionship Training, featuring Brad La ck ey, by Brad 's personal tra in er, Dean Miller, and L en Weed, AIL first person co m men ts are by Dean M iller. Be aware that man y areas of sports m edicin e, train in g, and nutriti07J do no t offer black -and-wh ite ans wers. Tra in in g is as much an art fo rm as it is a scie nce . In man y wa ys, preparing an athlete is si m ilar to tuning a racin g engine. It's part study, part experim ent , part dreaming up n ew approach es, part trying di fferent com binations . It 's putting past results and pr esent ideas togeth er, search ing fo r so me th ing that works better. R esearch often suggests an sw ers but co nclusive ev idence ma y be lack ing. And conti7 lUing research so me ti mes quest ion s or invali dates pr in ciples and approach es pr evi ousl y accep ted. Diff ering views, where app licable, will be men tion ed alon g with indic atio ns of new research th at m ay change preuailing vieurs. The motion system The bodv utilizes different kinds of tissue to f~nction a s a motion m achine: Bones fo rm th e sketetal svst em of the body. Bone size is ge netic bu t, to some ex tent , bones can be strengthened or at least made more resistant to frac ture wi th proper nutrition and exercise. Mu scles, by contracting a nd re laxing, ac tivate mot ion . T hree ki nds of muscle a re fou nd in the body: skeletal , ca rdiac, a nd smooth organ. The predomi nant type is skeletal m uscl e which makes the bones move aro und th eir joints. Ten do ns are co n necti ve tissues that jo in m u scle to bo ne . Tendons do n't move bones, th ey a llow co ntracting muscle groups to pull on them. Ligaments are co nnective tissu es th at h ol d two bones together in a joint. A lar ge capsular liga ment usu ally surrou nds a joint. Cartilage, a to ugh, spongy, shockabsorbing tissu e, is present in many joints to keep the bo ne en ds from grindi ng o n each other. Fasciae are p rotective tissu es tha t enve lo pe ot he r bod y tissues. Fasciae (singular: fascia ) hel p absorb pressure on joints and muscles. Skin is th e o u terenvelo pe , th e surface tissue th a t keep s the package togethe r an d p ro tects it fro m o uts ide ele me nts . Sk in th ickness ranges fro m one-thirty-second to one-eigh th o f a n in ch . There are two main layers, th e surface epidermis and th e dermis. The av erage body's skin weighs from six to 10 pou n ds a n d covers an area o f abou t 20 sq uare feet. The ski n also h el p s regu late bo dy tempera ture , offers sensory perception , and allows per spira tion a nd body oil (sebu m ) to be relea sed. 10 Bones Th e human body co nta ins 206 bones, di str ibuted as foll ow s: Sku ll - 29. Ribs a nd breast bon e - 25. Verte brae - 26. Sh oulders, arms , a nd han ds - &1. Pel vis, legs, an d feet - 62. Some bo nes, such as th ose of th e skull, rib s, pelvis help pr otect o rgans while others, such as those in the arms a nd legs, p ro vide leverage [or mo tion. Bon es also sto re minera ls. mostly calciu m and phosphoru s. The bo ne ma rrow within some bones als o p rodu ces bo th red and whi te blood cells . Muscle o Muscl e consists of abou t 22 per cent protein, 70 percent water, and eig ht perce nt lipids (fats) and other tissues. o Mu scle accou nts for 40 to 50 percent o f body weigh t in th e average adu lt ma le. The figure is about 25 pe rcent for femal es. o T here are three type s of muscl e. Skel etal muscle co ntractions creat e lever m o tion by the bo nes at th e joints. Cardia muscle pumps bl o od . Smooth organ muscl e co ntrols movem ent in th e ingestio n and processin g systems such as digesti on, circu la tio n, and respiratio n . o T he bodv has over 600 muscles. More thin 400 of th em a re skeleta l. o The avera ge body co ntains an estim at ed six bill ion muscle fibers. o Each muscle fib er ha s an ability to su p port up to 1000 times its o wn weigh t. o The thickness of muscle fib er ranges fro m approxi ma tely on eten th to one-h undredth of a mill imeter. o T he lon gest muscle in th e body is about 30 cen timeters (a bo u t 12 in ch es). o The number of muscle fib ers in ea ch body is beli eved to be ge netically fixed. T he body can no t genera te new m uscle fiber . it can on ly increase the strength an d en du rance o f the give n fiber. (Recent resea rch indicat es that new fib ers may be ge ne ra ted by th e di vision of exis ting fibers.) Musc le is co mposed o f hair-like Iib ers, orderly strips o f protein. Each fi ber co nsists of numerous filaments. Eac h filament co ntains two ki nds of m yo fibr il s - actin a nd m yosi n a rra nged in a n alternati ng paralle l pa ttern with th eir en ds o verl apping . Dark bands or stripes (kno wn as stria tio ns ) ar e for med wh ere th e m yof ibrils overla p. Du rin g co ntractio n , the myofibrils slide ove r eac h othe r in a telescopic manner , a chemica l ratch et ac tion th at shorte ns a nd thi cken s th e muscle. Fast and slow twitch fiber Two major types of fiber are round in skeleta l muscle - fast and slow twit ch. Fas t twitch fi ber is burst muscle. It co ntracts as much as 10 tim es qu icker tha n slow tw itch muscle. H ow ever, because it util izes fuel supplies within the muscl e itself, fast twi tch fibe r fatigues quick er. . Slow twitch fiber is en d urance mus- cle. Ir' s slower to co ntract but, beca use of its capaci ty to u se oxygen , is m ore fatigue-resistant. Athletes with a hi gh percen ta ge of fas t tw itch fiber are best suited for speed a nd stre ngth activi ties. Sprintin g . Lift in g weights. H itting a baseball. Any short duration, h igh intensity activity. A sprinter may have more than 75 percent fas t tw itch m uscle fiber. Athletes with a h igh percentage o f slow twitch fi ber tend to tak e up or at least have a better chance for success with endurance sports. A di stance runner ma y have as much as 80 percent slow twitch fiber. Slow twitch fiber is o ften referred to as red fib er (beca use it contain s m ore muscle sa rcoplasm which is reddish in co lo r) wh ile fast fiber is referred to as white. H owever , th is simple white/ red cla ssificat ion is not universally accept ed. Some resear ch indicat es th ere may be a t lea st a third type of fiber - fast twitch but more fatigue-resistant. Other studies in dica te severa l variations of fat igue-resistant fast twitch fiber. At least one study suggests ei gh t or m ore class ifica tio ns of muscle fib er. Muscular contractions Contraction signal s from the central nervous system to th e muscle

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