Winter training resumed last night with our first session at Parliament House for the year. In cool conditions - but not too dark to stop us seeing our way around the maze of construction work - we did our warmup and stretching, talked about a couple of different hamstring stretches, and then did a tour of the fitness circuit.
I am going to get the group to do at least 2 sets of chinups, pushups, dips and situps each Monday night for the next few weeks. The chinup challenge - can you increase the number you can do; up to eight the target! The situp challenge - how many bent legged situps can you do in 90 seconds?
I also showed them what an eccentric stretch for the calf looks like; and challenged the group to train as hard as younger people train; BUT ensure proper rest and recovery is built in to the training regime.
After the tour everyone sprinted a lap or two of the circuit, doing their chinups etc on the way. Not too many could do even one chinup; a bit of an eye opener. Really, a good middle distance or cross country runner needs to have a high strength/weight ratio, and as is often observed, weight reduction should not be overdone! Strength improvement is the real answer. Also, you cannot have muscle strength if there is little muscle mass.
It was good to see a new face in Katie join the group; and Gaby had her first run with us at the Parliament House venue.
See you all next week. For those starting then, there will be another tour; for everybody else, it's all systems go!
I am going to get the group to do at least 2 sets of chinups, pushups, dips and situps each Monday night for the next few weeks. The chinup challenge - can you increase the number you can do; up to eight the target! The situp challenge - how many bent legged situps can you do in 90 seconds?
I also showed them what an eccentric stretch for the calf looks like; and challenged the group to train as hard as younger people train; BUT ensure proper rest and recovery is built in to the training regime.
After the tour everyone sprinted a lap or two of the circuit, doing their chinups etc on the way. Not too many could do even one chinup; a bit of an eye opener. Really, a good middle distance or cross country runner needs to have a high strength/weight ratio, and as is often observed, weight reduction should not be overdone! Strength improvement is the real answer. Also, you cannot have muscle strength if there is little muscle mass.
It was good to see a new face in Katie join the group; and Gaby had her first run with us at the Parliament House venue.
See you all next week. For those starting then, there will be another tour; for everybody else, it's all systems go!
