Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Brad Lackey's cham ionship training program By Dean Miller and Len Weed Th is an d fu t ure install m ents are excerpted from Championship T ra in in g. fea turing Brad La ck ey. by Brad 's p ersonal trainer, Dean Mi ller. and L en Weed . ALI firs t person co mments are by Dean M iller. Be aware that ma ny areas of spo rts m ed ici ne. train ing. and nutrition do no t offer black -and-white answers. Tra in in g is as m uch an art fo rm as it is a science. In many ways. p repa ring an ath lete is similar to tuning a raci ng engine. II 's pa rt study, part ex perimen t. p art dreaming up new approach es. part trying different com bi nations. It' s p utt in g past results and presen t ideas tog eth er, searching fo r so mething that works bett er. R esearch ofte n suggests answers bu t conclusive evidence may be lack in g . A nd continuing research so metimes q uest io ns or invalidates principles and appr oaches previously accepted. Differing views. w he re ap p lica ble, will be mentioned along wit h in dic ations of new research tha t ma y change prevailin g views. Co ld weather tips 28 D Respect rhe win d -ch ill fact o r a com b ina tion o f a m bien t tempera ture a nd wind vel oc ity . Keep the ski n covered 10 avoi d drain in l{ bo d y h eat n eedl essly. (A sig n ifica m a mou n t of body h eat is lost warming co ld air aft er inha lation. ) D Acclimatize. if possib le. D Guard agai nst hypoth errnia, a drop in interna l bod y temperature. H ypo ther m ia ca n kill. A on e-degree d rop in bod y temperature slurs the speech . A twode gree drop makes th e fingers numb a nd induces sh ivering. A three-degree drop ca n turn th e legs to rubber and a four-degree drop ca n affect th e senses a nd rea soning ability. An yone suspe cted of suffering from hyp o th ermia should be put in dry clothes and warmed rapidl y. D Keep ex tre m ities wa r m to guard aga in st frostbite, th e damage of body tissue by freezing. Severe fro stbite can permanentl y damage the fingers or toes a nd ma y even require amputation. P lace th e aff ected hands or feet in h ot wat er ( 100 10 108 de grees ) until th ey th aw. P reserve body heat with blankets to improve circulation. D La yer clothing. if possible. Air tra p p ed betw een layers is an excelle nt insu lator. Rem ove layers whe n you anticipate burning more energy. Add la yers during periods o f red uced ac tivity. D Keep th e h ead warm. Wool caps offer ex ce lle nt co ld weather prot ection. _ D Keep the ski n as dryas po ssible to reta in co re body h eat. Remo ve wet clothing as soon as possibl e. D Wear cotton agai nst the skin 10 a bsorb sweat. D Cons ide r wool en garmen ts as middl e o r o uterwear. Wool. beca use it d ri es from th e in side o u t. helps bod y in sulat ion . D Keep do wn garme n ts dry. A wa terrepellent o u t la yer prese rves down 's abili ty to preserve bod y warmth . D Con sid er a br eathin g windbreak er tha t prevents wa ter pen etration while allowing swea t 10 eva pora te th rough th e pores of the material. Tra ditiona l windbreak ers block air £low and induce swea ting. D Fa vor a hi gh carbo hyd ra te di et. This ass u res su fficien t fu el for th e working muscles as th e bod y burns more fu el 10 keep it self warm. D Avoid a lco ho l. Not o n ly is it a depressant. but its use accelera tes h eat loss by widen ing blood vessels near th e sk in surface. Wh ile the alco ho l dr inker m a y feel warmer . h e ac tua lly subjects hi s fingers and toes to in creased frostbite ri sk because he becomes less sen sit iv e to d an g er s igna ls. Alcohol can a lso m ak e th e user less aware o f warning sig na ls of inj ury. D Keep m oving . Treat ment With an y inj u ry. if yo u 're undecided about seein g a doctor. see o ne. For o ther injuries, let yo ur trainer (if you have one) advise and treat you or trea t the inj ury yo urself. Use th e RI CE met hod for most minor injuries. Th e RICE meth od ( I) Rest. (2 ) Ice. (3) Compression. (4) Elevation. R est . P reven t an v furth er stress o r pressure on th e injured area . Use crutches or a sling. if necessary. '. Ice. T he application of ice na rro ws blood vessels in the immediate area. This reduces internal bleeding a nd swellin g wh ich ca n retard the healin g p ro cess. Icing al so relax es muscle i n the inj ured a rea and reduces pain by slowi ng nerve ac tivi ty. Apply ice with an ice bag or to we l for th e fir st 48 to 72 hours a fter t he injury. Don 't ice th e ski n di rectl y. An elas tic ba ndage ca n be u sed to hold th e ice in pl ace. Alterna te time pe riods w it h a nd without ice. Eac h icing session shou ld last about 20 min utes. At firs t th e ski n will feel co ld , perhaps painful. th en beg in to ti ng le a nd ge l warm er. Evemuall y it will redden a nd th en feel numb. Rem o ve th e ice upon numbn ess to p ro tect th e ski n. Ice ma ssag e is a recent varia tion. As its name impli es. th e injured area is m assaged with ice wrapped in a towel for up to 10 minutes o r until num bn ess occ urs. Generall y. a fter 48 to 72 h ours, a sw i tc h from ice to he at is recommended to stimulate blood £low whi ch in crea ses deliver y o f o xygen and n u trients needed for repair and h ealing, H eat a lso tends to relax th e muscles. Wet heat see ms 10 be th e most effective. An al gesic balms are p robabl y o f limited value because th ey do not p rovide deep heat. They may also irritat e the skin . I pe rso na lly avoid using h eat after the 72-h our per iod because stu dies show that co ld pen etrat es deeper into tiss ue th an heat. I co n ti n ue ici ng pa st th e 72-hou r peri od. if necessary. until th e pa in a n d swee ling a re gone, I feel the au to ma tic. natural warming th at fo llows th e remo val o f ice is more effective a t delivering th e healing chem ica ls a nd nu trients in th e bl ood. Cryokinet ic th erapy incorporal es stre tc hi ng a n d m ovement o f th e inj u red a rea preced ed a nd foll ow ed by icin g. For exa m p le. with a sp rai ned ank le. the area is iced until it is red a nd nu mb . th en exercised 10 preve n t a trophy a nd to a id recover y o f ran ge of motion. Positi oning th e ankle so it doesn't bear an y wei ght all ow s i t to be m oved up a nd down , point ing th e toes, without stressing th e injured area , Co m p ressio n. Wrapp in g a n inj ur y sn ug ly reduce s possible swe ll in g . Icing ca u ses th e he art to in crea se circu lat io n (fo r warmth ) so co m p ressio n is need ed to deter swe ll i ng in th e inj ured a rea , El evat ion. Ra isin g th e injured area recruits g ra vity to help reduce bl ood £l ow to th e inj u red area and bleed ing in to h ealth y tissu e, Curling a weight requ ires flexion a nd extens io n act ivit y by th e involved muscl es. These. however . a re n ot th e o n ly roles played by va ri ous muscles: D Fle xion . A flexor muscle moves tw o co n necti ng ' bon es to wa rd each o the r. D Exten sio n.An ex tensor muscle stra ig h tens th e a lig n me n t of two co n necting bones. D A bduc tion . An a bd uc to r muscl e moves a limb a way from th e center o f th e bod y. D Adduct ion.An adductor muscle moves a limb toward th e cen ter of the body. D Rotation. A rotator muscle turns a bone in a circular m otion at its joint. Some muscles serve more tha n one fun ctio n . For examp le. th e thigh muscles stra ig h ten the leg at the knee (k nee exten sio n ) and bend th e upper leg (h ip £I exio n ) toward th e body. Th e abilit y of a limb to move in various direct ions depends upon joint sh a p e and co n necti ve tissue. For exa m p le. th e shou lder joint a llo ws a variet y of m otion in different planes while the kn ee joint is restrictive, A knee joint with th e same variety of motion as the shou lder wou ld co mp licate standing or wa lking, Injury prevent ion and hot weat her suggestion s Avoiding and min im izing injury An a th lete shou ld a lways be aware o f injury po tential durin g co ndi tion ing o r co mperirio n. A healthy respect fo r rather than a fear o f in jury serves to motivate the co nditioni ng th at m ak es th e bod y mo re inj ury resista nt to sudde n tra uma . D Use ap propriate protective eq ui p me nt. Mak e sure th at clothi ng a nd gear fi ts properl y to ass ure bo th co mfort a nd p rot ect ion. D Warm up. Stre tch a nd do sportrelated mo vem ents. Adjust warmups to temperature. \\'arm up lon ger o n co lde r da ys. Don 't cool o rr co m p le te ly dur ing r es t pe ri ods. D Consider taping your ankles . es pecia lly if th ey are injury prone. Consid er wearinga lig h tweight ra cing kn ee brace. D Avoid su d den moves. tw is ts. stops, and jerks. Sudden stress is a major ca use of injury. especia ll y before an a th lete is fully warmed upor when he is fatigued lat e in co mpetitio n . D Cool down before showerin g. Stretch tens e, tir ed muscles. Walk arou nd until swea ting sto p s and yo ur pulse rat e lowers to within 15 beats o f normal. Activity after exert io n helps reduce blood poolin g in th e extrem ities. Muscular co ntractions ge ne rally p reven t or min imize bl ood poo ling in the veins du ring exert io n, bUI a sudden s t~p o f activity may allow blood to remai n aro und the workin g muscles. This accu m u la tin g blood ca n deprive th e brain a nd heart of o xygen a nd a lso co n tribute to muscl e soreness . (So me baseball pitchers have th eir ar m s ma ssaged or "m il ked" a fte r a ga me 1 relieve bl ood pooli ng .) 0 D Set shower tempera tu re no higher th an bod y temperature, then prog ressi vely low er it. H ot water en la rges blood vessel s near th e skin. T he resulting accumulation of blood n ear the skin (p lus possible blood pooling in th e limbs if th e exercise r hasn 't coo led down ) ca n ca use faintness o r even an irregular heart beat if th e brain and h eart are deprived o f too much o xygen, (In rare instances. fatali ties have been a ttri bu ted to hot showe rs a fter heav y exertion.) D Don' t o vertra in . This su bjects the body to stresses it ca n' t handl e. You ca n overtrain by not resting enough between workouts as well as by doing too much wh en exercising. Mak e both exe rcise and rest co m pa tible to yo u r level of co ndi tio ni n g. Don 't increa se the work load too qu ickl y. Don 't in crease intensity too quickl y. Graduallv work into new exercises. giving yo ur body a cha nce to ad apt to th em. D G et pl enty o f sleep, seven to 10 hours, Follow yo ur bod y's signals. The proper a moun t o f rest allows th e body to repair minor tissue damage. Sleep also affects mental freshness. a lertness . and moti vation. (T he d eep-sleep phase, the most beneficia l for the body, is thought to be d irectl y proportiona l to the energy expe nditureduring the day.) Avoid overs leeping. T his creates slugis h re sponse. (Some s t ud ies suggest that overs leepers have a tenden cy to be higher ris ks for heart a tta cks a nd strokes. ) D Maintain a balanced diet which includes servings from th e four basic four groups. Include suffi. cient £1 uids. Make sure the d iet

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