Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Brad Lackey's cha ionsh·p training program By Dean Miller and Len W eed Th is and [uture installments are excerpted from Championship Train in g . featurin g Brad La ck ey. by Brad 's personal trainer, Dean Miller. and L en Weed. A ll f irst person com me n ts are by Dean M ill er. Be aware th at man y areas of sports medicine, train ing , an d nutrition do not offer black-and-whit e an sw ers. Tra in ing is as m uch an art form as it is a science . In man y w ays, pr eparing an athlete is sim ilar to tuning a racin g engi ne. Lt's part study , part ex pe riment. part dream ing up new approach es, part trying d ifferent co m binations. It' s puttin g past resu lts an d present ideas together, searching fo r somethi ng that wo rks bett er. R esearch often su ggests an swers but conclusive evi dence m ay be lacking. And conti nuing research so m et im es q uest ions or inva lidates pr in ciples and approach es prev iously accepted. Differing views, w here ap p licable, will be m entio ned alon g with in dic ations of new research th at ma y change prevail in g v iews. Nutrition: M ajor nutrient groups Food is fuel , and just lik e hi ghoc tane p rem ium in a racin g m otor, qualit y fuel co nt ribu tes to quali ty performance. And average or bad fuel cont ributes to less than maximum performan ce. If yo u' re serio us about competition , you 'll tre at yo ur diet with as much respect as yo u treat you r gas tank. Nothing but th e best. Wh y sabo tage all those hours of train in g with bad fuel ? Good nutrit ion o ffers m an y ben efits. T hese incl ud e: o Great er ene rgy for both sho rtterm a nd lon g. term effon. o Th e a bi lity to inten sify tra ining efforts for both strength a n d end urance . o Weight mainten ance, loss, or gai n. The p roper di et a llows a n ath lete to lose body fa t and add pou nds of useful muscle. o Improv ed mental a lertness and feeling of well being. o Improved a ltitude about th e bod y and train ing. o Improved a bili ty to handle ph ysical and mental stress. O,A reduction of trai n in g time lost because of illness. o Improved abilit y to recov er quicker from injury. o Improved chan ces o f li ving a longer, healthier lif e. The Four Food Plan 22 The Four Food P lan wa s developed during World War II by the National Academy o f Scien ces for use by th e U.S. Department o f Agriculture as a di et guide. It wa s updated in 1956. The guideline was developed to offer a simple understandin g of nutrition and to allow jhe pl anning an d maintenance of a balanced diet that meets recommended dail y allo wances. T he four basi c food s are: o Fruits and vege ta bles. o Cereal s a nd gr ains. o H igh protein. o Milk a nd milk p roducts. Fru its a nd vegetabl es are rich in mineral s. vi tamin s. a n d ca r bo h ydrat es. T hey a lso tend to co nta in less ca lo ries , a co ns ide ra tio n for th e weig h t-co nsci o us , The cereal and grain gro up in cludes cerea ls, bread. and baked goods. Grain fo ods a re hi g h in ca r bo hy d ra tes. vitamins. and mineral s. and a lso o ffer some protein a nd minimum amo un ts of fat. Hi gh p ro tein foods in clude meat . fish , poultry, eggs . nuts, and legumes (bea n s, peas, peanuts). Milk a nd da iry p roduct s in clude cheese and yogu n . Da ir y pr od ucts are rich in p ro tein, calci u m, an d riboflavin. Because of co ncern over fat co ntent, low-fat or no-fat m ilk is preferred by so me individual s. G en erall y, four daily servings fro m th e fruit- and-vegetabl e a nd cerea lan d-grai n gro ups plus two servi ngs from th e high pro te in a n d da iry groups will provide a balanced, nu trition al di et. Major nut rient gro ups More than 50 different nutri ent s can beclas sified into six major groups. T hese gro u ps include: o Wat er. o Protein. o Carbohydrates. o Fat. o Vitamins. o Mineral s. Proteins, carbohydr at es. and fat s co ns ist of various co m bina tions o f carbo n, h ydrogen , a nd n itrogen th ree of th e most essentia l life elements. Two micronutrients, vitamin s and minerals, ar e necessary for ene rgy metabolism. And wat er , of co u rse . is th e most im m ed ia te ly essentia l nutrient. Water Wat er acco unts for about two-thirds o f the body's weight. About 56 percen t o f th e bod y's wat er is found in side the cells , an oth er 37 percent is located outsid e th e cells. The rema ining seven percent (more th an a ga lIon ) is in th e blood. Th e body receives it s water by drinking a n d ea ti ng a nd from ene rgy metabolism. This water is used to sta bilize th e statu s quo between fluid input and output (urinat io n, perspiration , and respiration ). Water is a lso important in both th e lymph ati c (i m m u n ity) system an d th e nervous system . Athletes tend to have both a greater blood volume a s well as a higher wa ter co n ten t in th eir bodi es for intern al cooli ng n eeds. For this reaso n, ath letes sho u ld increase fluid intake. Stud ies su gg est th at an athlet e burning 3000 calories per da y shou ld dr ink up to three quarts of fluids daily. Prote in The bod y breaks protein down into amin o acids that are used a s building blocks to maintain and grow cell s for body tissu e. Protein is also used to produce horm on es, enzymes. a nd antibodies. Protein in ta ke sh o u ld be pl anned thoughtfully - th e quantity as well as the so u rce. an ima l or pl ant. Onl y 20 percent of the bod y's protein demand need be su pp lied by

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