Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

• Brad Lackey's mpionship training program By Dean Miller and Len Weed Th is is th e final ins tall me n t exce rp ted from Cha mp io ns h i p T rain ing, featuring Brad L ack ey, by Brad 's pe rso na l train er, Dean M ill er, and L en Weed. A II firs t pe rson comments are by Dean M iller. Be aware that m an y areas of sports medicine, train in g , and nutrition do no t offer black-an d-white an sw ers. T rain in g is as m uch an art fo rm as it is a sci ence. In many ways , pr ep aring all ath lete is similar to tu n ing a racing engine. It's part stu dy, part experimen t, part dreaming u p new ap proaches, part trying differen t co m binations. It' s p uttin g past results and present ideas together, searchi ng fo r so me thing that wo rks better. R esearch often suggests answers but conclusive evidence may be lacking. And con tinuin g research sometimes q uestio ns or inval idat es principles and appr oach es pr eviousl y accep ted. Differing views , w here app licab le, will be mentioned along with indica tions of new research that m ay change prevailing views. Use it or lose it D Decrease protei n intake. Excessive protein in take increases Iluid loss. Unfortuna tely, muscles are not li ke m oney. You ca n wo rk hard, dep osit yo u r dollars in a bank , co llec t interest, a nd use yo ur cas h a t any time in th e future. With muscles, h owever, the depos ito r loses h is p ri n cipa l. Rath er ra p idly. Lack o f stress leads to m uscu lar a trophy , the loss o f blood vo lume an d con trac ti ng proteins. T his m us cle sh rin kage ca n begi n after fou r da ys of inactivity. In a year's tim e, totally inactive m u scle ca n lose as much as 75 percent of it s volume. Anyone who h as ever looked a t a limb j ust removed from a cas t is well a wa re of the effec ts of mu scul ar at roph y. It is esti mated th at a two-m onth la yoff ca n h arm the effo rts o f yea rs o f train in g . That 's wh y ser io us a th letes a re ur ged to use so me form of offseas on tra ini ng to m ainta in muscl e tone or m inimize atrop h y. Muscle may sh ri n k, but it does not turn to fa t. Mu scle is muscle. H owever, more fat may be sto red above shrin ki ng muscle, especia lly if a n a thlete doesn 't reduce hi s ca lories as h e red uces h is exe rcise. Training while sick Sho u ld you ig nore ill ness and keep train in g? O r reduce your workouts? O r la y orr completely? Lis ten to wha t yo u r bod y tells you . Conti nue trai ni ng if it doesn' t mak e yo u feel worse, bu t don 't force yourself to keep going. Us ually, wit h a h ea d co ld , you ca n co nti nue a t your reg u la r pace or a slightly reduced pace. Do n't intensify your wor kouts thinking you can swea t ou t a co ld . Yo u can 't. Generally, it's best to lay off until a sore th roat dep art s. Chest co lds also warran t red uci ng or suspending tra ining for aw hi le.' Stop trai ning if you have a typ e o f virus tha t ma kes yo ur muscl es ac he. Stress ing hea rt muscle whi le yo u have th is type o f virus can be da ngerous or even fat al. A ge nera l rul e for ill ness is to tak e off two days from trai ning for each day of fever. Don 't resu me yo ur n ormal program im medi a tel y. Ease bac k, . . in to It. Co nsu lt yo ur docto r if yo u are taki ng a ny medi ca tion s. Wi th many drugs, it is be tte r n ot to get overh ea ted wi th exercise. Avoi d anti hista mines if yo u are co m pe ting in hot weathe r. It is ge nerally bel ieved that they increase the possibili ty of heat stroke. Be aware that ill ness may be yo u r body's way o f indicati ng overtrai ning. Your immunity system becomes less resist ant beca us e of train i ng stresses. Heat cramps Flu id lo ss, accelerated by h ot , h u m id wea th er, a lso speeds, the loss o f mineral s the m uscles rely on fo r contractions . T h is loss mak es crarnsp (o r fat igu e seizu res) mo re likely. D Don ' t ta ke amphetamines. They create a false sense o f accomplish m ent and a lso mask wa rning signa ls o f pa in a nd poss ible heat stroke. Athle tes on amphe tam ines have die d d uring en dura nce co mpe tition because th ey co u ld n' t 1f'f9S~ LIl8SRW eI: Ii~~~~~!.:. c Muscular growth chem istry :. ( I) Stress . Co n trac ti ng m uscle ~!" , 5~W - i\!\t· lj,ln'fklJlj ~a l. res p on se t ha t s ti mu la tes futur e growth. i t is belie ved th e in creased prod uctio n of creatine p hosphate triggers the product ion of addi tional co ntraction p rot ein with in th e fiber. (2) R est. Recover y time a fter stress a llows fo r th e repair of mi nor tissu e damage an d th e grow th o f th icker fiber (hypertrophy) . (3) Nutrition , a bal a nced di et provides the nu trients necessary to bo th fuel the stress exercise and nourish muscle growth . Thi cker m uscle fiber is stronger muscle fiber, just as a n inc h-th ick rope is stro nger th a n a half- inc h rope. T he ca pi llary n etwork wit hi n th e muscle a lso grows, in creasing th e local blood su p p ly. Muscular grow th a lso sti mu lates a n in crease in myog lo bi n (use d for oxygen p ickup) as well as the storage of muscle glycoge n . Flexibility Trai ning Flexibili ty refers to th e ra nge and ease o f movement of a jo int or combin a tion of joints. Increa sing the range o f motion u su all y pe rm its the safe ge nera tio n of more skeleta l force. (Nu merous stud ies h ave shown that Ilexi bi li tv train in g en ha nces ra ther tha n interferes with strength train ing.) Fl exibilit y, alo ng wi th jo int tissu e stre ngt h, ma y prevent or a t least m inimize sudden-stress injuries. Brad and I bo th feel hi s £Iexibil it y a nd s tre ngth tra in ing h elp red uce th e risk of injury or at least mi nimize injury fo llowing a su dden getoff. (However, stud ies indicat e no co ncl usive evi deuce th at improved Ilex ib il ity prevents inj uries.) Ot he r benefi ts of Ilexibili ty tra in ing include impro ved circ u la tion, G!iruui.an, 2'fBal' r luvlv , •• imnro. .i~ . ~~ ~~ ..... aware ness, a n d a red uc tion of muscu la r ten si on. An ind ivid ua l's Ilexib ili ty depends on several eleme nts: D J o int geometry. D Co n nective tissue. D Muscle gro up strengt h, co ntracted and ex ten ded. D Bod y proport io ns . D Body fat dis tribution . Resistarire exercises pe rformed over a fu ll ra nge of motion impro ve Ilexi bi li ty. Na util us equipment offe rs thi s be nefi t. Free weigh ts are no t partic ularl y useful for Ilex ibilit y trai ni ng. Stretching is th e best way 10 in crease £lexib ili ty..T he various ele me nts of a joint resp ond different ly to stre tchin g . Mu scles and fasciae stre tch easily; tendons don 't . Ligame nts, o nce stretched , resi st returning to original len gth . Often overlooked in th e pas t, stretch ing is no w emphasized i n many trainin g p ro gra m s because o f th e benefi ts it o ffers - increased Ilex ib il i ty and red uced st ra ins a nd sprai ns . (Interes tingly, a st udy by the In sti tute of S po rts Med icin e a n d Tra u ma se lected a Ilexibil itv-ori en ted a th letic activi ty as th e mos t ph ysica ll y dem an ding , Basketball , soccer, football , a nd baseba ll, in th at or der, were allran ked beh ind ba llet danci ng.) T he re are tw o d iffere n t stretch ing techn iq ues: D Static. D Dyn amic. Static stretching, relaxed and susta ine d with out bo uncin g movement, is recommended. Done properly, sta tic stretching avoi ds ac tiva tion o f a m uscle reaction ca lled stre tch refl ex which occurs when am usc le group is stre tched beyond its limi t. T he nervous syste~1f,~~~i~IJf!.

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