Ron Lugbill Whitewater Slalom Racing Blog

Bring high focus to your practice sessions.

Going Through the Motions in Practice

You want to have high-quality, focused practice sessions.  You don't want to just be "going through the motions", lacking intensity and enthusiasm in practice.  Every practice should be focused.

Here is an article about the issue of athletes just going through the motions in practice:

http://www.educ.msu.edu/ysi/articles/lauerpracticeintensity.pdf

The going through the motions syndrome has various causes.  Sometimes the athlete is tired.  Sometimes the athlete is uninterested.  Sometimes there is something else going on in the athlete's life that is distracting and lowers the focus.  Often, the athlete is over-trained and tired.

In order to avoid going through the motions syndrome, try to do practice races as often as possible.  Also, vary the workouts- don't just do the same thing every time.  Try to get feedback in your workouts, such as having a coach, getting timed and scored, and getting videoed.

And avoid over-training.  Do active recovery training.  Get a good night's sleep.  Emphasize the quality of your sleep by making the room dark- put dark covers over the windows, keeping the room cool, and most importantly, by having white noise, such as a fan going all night. 

It is better to skip a day of training than to do a low-focus, poor quality workout.  Because your practices establish habits.  You don't want to establish poor habits by having poor quality workouts.  Practicing bad technique does so much harm that it is better to just skip the workout altogether and get a good night's rest and come back tomorrow with a better attitude towards training.

Sometimes coaches unwittingly foster conditions under which the athletes are more likely to be just going through the motions.  Coaches should emphasize the focus of the workouts, rather than emphasizing telling the athletes about a particular energy system that is being developed during the workout.  Coaches should hold frequent race simulations.  And coaches should keep the workouts varied to keep the interest levels high. 

If you keep moving from one type of training to another during the workout, it helps keep the athletes focused and interested.  For example, do 10 minutes of stroke technique, followed by 10 minutes of gate technique, followed by a timed and scored short course for 15 minutes, followed by a timed and scored 60 second course for 20 minutes.  This is more interesting than just doing one hour of all stroke drills or one hour of all sprints, for example.

Having a group to train with also helps avoid the going through the motions syndrome.  It is much more interesting to train with a group than to train alone.  The social support of the group helps keep people motivated and enthusiastic about training.  And you learn from others- you watch their runs and figure out how to do your own run better.

The best athletes have the best practices.  They bring a high focus to practice sessions.  The practice sessions are well-planned to keep the interest high.  Then, the best athletes simply use the good habits they have developed in practice on race day.

Here is the link to the article:

http://www.educ.msu.edu/ysi/articles/lauerpracticeintensity.pdf

Radical change in training methods.

Race-pace Training

This is an article about swimming, but is very relevant to our sport.  I recommend it very highly.  It is a call to a radical transformation of swimming training:

http://coachsci.sdsu.edu/swim/bullets/energy39.pdf

The athor says that since in swimming, the body is supported by the water, that the running research is not relevant.  Likewise, in our sport, the body is supported by water.

He advocates race-pace training with short intervals and short rest periods.  Please read this article:

http://coachsci.sdsu.edu/swim/bullets/energy39.pdf

Younger racers should watch the good women boaters.

Watch the Women Boaters

Many younger paddlers tend to watch the fastest, most powerful paddlers and try to copy their moves.  Thus, we often see botched pivots and missed offsets as the young boaters try to pull off the moves they see the world-class athletes do.

Pre-pubescent boys (cadets) generally have less power, strength and speed than the top international racers.  Rather than trying moves that they won't be able to copy, they should be watching the moves of the less powerful boaters and trying to make those moves.

For example, they need to learn to set up well for offsets by getting the boat turned well ahead of time and having cross-stream momentum before you go through the gate, rather than just muscling it out and taking the most direct line.  The time difference is minimal if you take splits on it, but it makes the move doable, instead of risking missing the next gate or having to paddle back up for it. 

Likewise, on upstreams, the pivot head-duck move should be off-limits to the under 14 crowd until they have the strength and technique to do it consistently well under pressure when tired in race-like conditions.  I have seen too many good runs spoiled because a young racer lost time or 50'd a very easy upstream gate trying to be a hero by doing a move he had not consistently nailed in practice.

Races are not times for experimentation.  There is plenty of practice time when you can try new moves.  Races are times for solid runs doing moves that you can consistently make well.   You can't go down the course taking risks because at some point you are bound to miss the move and ruin an otherwise good run.

If you know under 14 racers or beginning racers, have them watch the women racers.  I particularly like to watch the C-1Ws because they don't have the power or speed and have to get well-lined up for every move.  They use the water instead of just relying on muscle to overpower it. 

They have to plan every move well in advance and use the river's forces to their advantage.  They will do reverses on hard offsets and they know how to do reverses, unlike some of the young men who try to do every move direct either because they are unskilled at reverse gates or they haven't appropriately weighed the options and done a risk-benefit analysis. 

I also like to watch boaters who learned to paddle before reaching puberty.   Boys build a lot of muscle during puberty.  If paddlers learn when they are older, they can sometimes muscle out moves.  But if they paddled before they were big and strong, they had to learn to work with the water.  Those guys really know and understand the water and work with it, not against it.

Anyway, it may seem counter-intuitive, but rather than just pointing to the top male boaters as examples, it may make sense to point to the better women boaters, whose strength levels are probably closer to the young racer's levels, but whose skill levels are much higher. 

Learning a skill isn't enough.

Learning a Skill is Not Enough

You feel that you know how to do ups.  You have done excellent reverses in practice.  You pull off some great offset moves.  But then you blow it in a race.  Why?

Learning a skill is not enough.  That is just the first step.  After learning a skill, you have to be able to do it very well- step 2.

But even learning to do it very well is insufficient.  You have to do it very well at speed.  Doing a skill slowly won't win the race for you.  Doing the skill very well at speed is step 3.

Performing the skill perfectly at top speed won't win the race for you either.  You have to be able to do it under fatigue, at the bottom of the course when you are breathing hard, and your arms are feeling like lead weights.  Step 4.

So, now you can do the skill well, at top speed when you are exhausted.  That is still not enough.  You have to be able to do it under pressure.  Not just something you can pull off on a whim in practice.  You have to be able to do it well, at speed, when you are under psychological pressure and you are exhausted.  That's step 5.

Not suffient though.  You need to be able to do it under competition conditions.  Not at your local practice course.  You have to be able to do it when there are thousands of spectators, international judges, loudspeakers blaring, at an international venue like Augsburg or Seu d'Urgel.  That's step 6.

But step 6 won't win the race for you either.  Because there is one more step.  That is, you must be able to do the skill well, at top speed, under pressure, under competition conditions, while fatigued, AND you have to do it consistently.  Not just once in a while.  But given all these conditions, you have to make the move 10 times out of 10. 

Because if you go down the course and for each gate, there is a 1 in 10 chance that you won't do it right, you will make 2 mistakes on the course on average.  That will keep you out of the medals.  You have to be able to do every skill well, at speed, under fatigue, under pressure conditions, in a competetive environment and consistently.

Some people think they "choke" in races because they have the skills in practice, but don't do it in the race.  It may be because they haven't gone through each of these steps and have just stopped at learning a skill while fresh, at low speeds on their local practice course and can only make it 8 or 9 times out of 10.  It's not so much a question of "choking" in a race, but of insufficient preparation for the race by not doing the skill under race-like conditions.

So, just being able to pull off a move in practice does not mean that you will do it in the race.  I recommend doing race simulations and racing frequently to ensure that you can make these additional steps, assuming you know the skills.  By doing more race simulations and racing frequently, you can learn to make the moves well, at speed, under fatigue, under pressure conditions, in a competetive environment and consistently.

Here is the link to the article:

http://www.sportscoachingbrain.com/sports-skills/

Release natural steroids by sprinting, weight training

Release Natural Steroids to Build Muscle, Cut Fat

Here is a link to an article about how you can build muscle and reduce fat:

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/article009.htm

The recommendation is to do weight training with large muscle groups and sprint training ( running less than 30 seconds) so that your body produces its own natural steroids to build muscle and cut fat. 

Our sport is mainly an upper body and core strength sport.  However, I don't believe it makes sense to ignore the legs and glutes in your training because they are large muscle groups and doing sprint training and weight training and plyometrics can help your body produce natural steroids that help in muscle growth and fat loss.  By the way, I firmly oppose taking steroids or any other banned or illegal drugs.  But your body will produce natural steroids if you train it properly.

So sprints and weight training, such as Olympic lifts, squat, deadlift, bench press, french contrasts, and plyometrics can be beneficial to slalom racers even though they may seem to be training different muscles than the ones direcly involved in our sport.  Yes, training needs to be specific, but it should not ignore major muscle groups because by involving major muscle groups in strength and sprint training, you produce hormones that help your muscles develop.

You won't develop excessive bulk because you won't be training like a bodybuilder.  Bodybuilders do many different isolation exercises, slow lifting, and they do lots of reps and other techniques designed to build bulk.  Strength training for athletes is very different.  If you are doing fewer reps, faster lifting, plyometrics, sprinting, etc. you won't be building bulk, just strength and power.  You will look athletic and be strong and lean, but won't look like one of the guys on the bodybuilding magazine covers.

It's fast and powerful movements that help release hormones in your system to build muscle.  So, your paddling training should be fast and powerful (30 seconds or less and fast).  And to supplement it, you should do some weight training and some sprinting (running 30 seconds or less) to get more of your body's natural strength hormones flowing to build muscle and reduce fat. 

Here is the link to the article:

http://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/article009.htm

 

Train with a group.

Train With a Group

Here is an excellent post from Canoe Slalom World about why you should never train alone:

http://canoeslalomworld.com/news/311/never_train_alone

Having a group to train with benefits you in many ways.  You can learn from each other.  Without someone to bounce ideas off of, you do not grow. 

You can watch others and this is a form of feedback, just like coaching is a form of feedback and timing is a form of feedback and video is a form of feedback.  It's usually best to vary the forms of feedback to learn more.  You learn something from each type of feedback.

People are social animals.  It is more motivating to train with others.  I like to help develop a good group atmosphere so that when the athlete goes to the workout, he knows he is going to see his friends.  If an athlete feels that he needs to leave his friends to go workout alone, then he is less likely to want to go.  So, not only should you have a group to train with, but it should preferably be a group that gets along with each other and likes each other.

In some areas, the one boat per country for the Olympics rule can create an atmosphere where everyone feels they are competing against each other, instead of cooperating to help everyone get better.  In these types of situations, it's good to make deliberate efforts to develop positive energy within the group, such as going out to eat together after workouts, organizing parties together, team uniforms, having athletes help coach each other, etc. so that there is a more supportive environment in which to train.

Most of the top athletes come out of group training situations.  Few champions train in secret isolated environments and come out to win international races.  Most top racers have seen the other top racers paddle numerous times and have learned things by watching the others.  If you don't, you may miss out on technical innovations in the sport.

Having a group to train with helps make the whole journey worthwhile.  You have someone you can share your ups and downs with.  And after your racing career is over, paddling partners sometimes remain lifelong friends.  Their children end up paddling together in some cases.  This all comes out of the group training experience- we all know and understand and care about each, which gives it all greater meaning and purpose.

Do technique workouts in difficult sections of the course.

Stay Fresh and Improve Technique While Training Twice/Day

During the summer months especially, racers are often at good whitewater courses and racing on the weekends.  There is a dilemma- should I train hard during the week to improve and (possibly) to get to know the course better, or should I cut back on training so as to peak for the race on the weekend?  Standard peaking advice is to cut the volume in half, while maintaining the same intensity for 2 weeks prior to a big race.  But, if I cut back that much, will I be wasting possible valuable training time on this great whitewater course I'm at?

Here is one approach so that you get top-quality training and profit from the great whitewater course, yet stay fresh for the race so you won't be burnt-out.  Do technique sessions on the difficult sections of the whitewater course.

Plan a 4-5 gate challenging gate series and work on getting consistent, clean runs on it.  Carry back up each time and repeat.  You won't get overly tired because the course is short- 20-30 seconds and there is a long break between runs when you carry back up. 

Most paddlers don't like to do this.  They either want to stay in their boats to do lots of short courses where they can paddle back up, or they do full-length runs.  Few do short courses and then carry back up.

But by doing more runs on the difficult section of the course, you are improving your technique without getting so tired from doing full-length runs.  Running drops is very important and sometimes neglected because people prefer to stay in their boats and practice on the run-outs below the drops.  Instead, try to get more runs in on the drops, where the moves are difficult and improve your technique on the difficult sections.

If you have a coach or someone who can video you or some other paddlers that you can watch doing the same move between runs, that will improve the quality of your practice session.  Just set a 4-5 gate sequence in a difficult part of the course and try it repeatedly until you can consistently make the move well.  Then, you can change the course.

This is a very good method when you are traveling to different race sites and traning there during the week and then racing on the weekend.  Do a tough section of the course and then carry up and do it repeatedly.  This way, you will learn the most difficult section of the course very well, so you will be ready for race day.  But you won't be too tired out so you will still be fast on race day.

Your friends are unlikely to want to do this.  They will either do full-lengths or do short courses at the bottom of drops.  Let them do this if they want to- they will tire themselves out and they won't learn the difficult part of the course as well as you and you will beat them in the race.  Good luck!

Protein Supplementation Improves Strength

There have been some discrepancies in this area for a while- does protein supplementation help increase strength and muscle mass?  Some studies have shown that there is no effective, but others show some improvement.

Here is a link to a research article showing that protein supplementation does increase both muscle mass and strength in both young and older subjects:

http://www.jamda.com/article/S1525-8610(12)00383-0/fulltext

Older people usually lose substantial muscle mass every year.  Interestingly, in the study, the older subjects who did the resistance training 3 times per week did not increase their muscle mass unless they also took the protein supplement.

However, we are not as concerned with older subjects as they are more likely to be interested in general health and fitness, not performance, and are not likely to be competing for top spots on national teams in their sport.  With the young people, both muscle mass and strength were significantly improved with resistance training and the addition of a protein supplement over those who just did the resistance training and took a placebo.

Whey protein is often favored as a source of protein supplementation because it is quickly absorbed.  20-30 grams of protein is usually recommended within 20 minutes of exercise.  So, after a paddling workout or a weight workout, it would be good to consume some protein.

This could be in the form of a supplement, available at health food stores, or more naturally, such as in milk or eggs.  Chocolate milk is sometimes recommended because of its mixture of protein and carbohydrates (although older people should skip the carbs and just take the protein). 

It's good to have it handy before the workout so that you can consume it right afterwards.  By the time you shower and change and drive home and get a meal ready, a lot of time has expired.  Better to consume the protein within 20 minutes of the workout.

Here is the link:

http://www.jamda.com/article/S1525-8610(12)00383-0/fulltext

Do plyometric pull-ups to increase your power.

Plymetric Pull-Ups Increase Pulling Power

Here is a video of an interesting exercise, the plyometric pull-up or plyometric body-row:

http://www.globalbodyweighttraining.com/plyometric-body-row/#comments

The idea is you pull yourself up on a bar while lying facing up.  It's a horizontal pull-up, but you let go of the bar just before reaching the bar and then catch the bar again on the way down and then lower and pull back up.

It increases the power aspect of the horizontal pull-up, so it's not just a strength move, but a power move.  This is the converse of the plyometric push-up.

Pulling is a motion that is very important in paddling- that is why I thought this exercise was important enough to warrant a post.  Being able to pull with maximum power is what we are looking for in our sport. 

However, our sport requires other movements and general strength also.  So, you should exercise other motions and do core, abdominal, shoulder and other exercises to become generally strong, powerful, and to avoid injury.  This exercise does seem to be a good one to include in your routine though.  Check out this video of it:

http://www.globalbodyweighttraining.com/plyometric-body-row/#comments

Protein supplementation makes you stronger

Do super-short courses for technique and acceleration

Speed is a Skill

Here is a link to an article by a track sprinting coach about "Speed is a Skill":

http://myathleticlife.com/2011/10/the-3-laws-of-speed-development/

His approach is that speed is a skill.  First, you have to teach the appropriate skills and movements in sprinting in a systematic way- hand and arm movements, forward lean, foot positions, etc.  In a sport that seems more simple than it is, his idea is that the sport is first and foremost a skill sports.

He starts people out with 20 meter runs.  He says you can't move to 30 meter runs until you have mastered the skills at 20 meters.  After 20 meters, you can get coaching feedback and improve your next run.  If you do longer runs, you are practicing wrong technique and have fewer opportunities to improve your technique because there are fewer runs.

Once, you have good technique at 20 meters, you can move to 30 meters.  Then, once technique is good at 30 meters, go to 40 meters and so on.  It's a short to long approach, but one that is based on technique.

Every sprint is an opportunity to improve your technique, so it's better to do more but shorter runs, rather than fewer, but longer runs.  And longer runs can lead to worse technique, since you are practicing while tired, rather than practicing while fresh off the start. 

Also, the starts are crucial, both in sprints and in canoe slalom.  With shorter runs, you practice the start more, whereas with longer runs, you do fewer starts.  Starts are practicing acceleration, which is an important aspect of our sport, because unlike track running, we frequently slow down on a turn and then have to reaccelerate.  This requires good acceleration.

In running, 20 meter sprints are less than 4 seconds long.  Paddlers rarely practice this short of a distance.  We think that 30 second courses are short courses.  But perhaps we should do more very short courses.  We could improve our technique and our acceleration by doing super-short courses.  With every run, you improve your speed and you get feedback on your technique.

Here is the article about track sprinting:

http://myathleticlife.com/2011/10/the-3-laws-of-speed-development/

 

Best Strength and Conditioning Programs

Best Strength and Conditioning Programs

If you want the best strength and conditioning programs available, go to this site:

http://www.xlathlete.com/

It's made for athletes and coaches.  It is state of the art, top of the line strength and conditioning information, including hundreds of programs for all different sports.  If you want to see how to do an exercise, just click on it and they show you a video of it.

This site isn't for bodybuilders.  There are no ads for supplements.  No ads at all, I think.  It's just for serious athletes who want to learn the latest, greatest strength and conditioning workouts. 

Cal Dietz is the head strength and conditioning coach at the University of Minnesota.  He has designed hundreds of programs for many different sports.  He uses the triphasic system, where you progress through phases of eccentric, concentric, isometric and power training.

Many of the workouts center around the squat and the bench press.  However, he puts a twist in them, using "french contrasts".  In french contrasts, you first do 4 or 6 reps on the squat or bench using about 80% of your max.  Then, you move to a plyometric move- plyometric jumps or plyometric push-ups.  Then, you do the squat or bench with a lighter weight, but very fast.  Then, you go to plyometric move again.  Rest and repeat 4 times or so.

The workouts are very complete, including warm-ups, strength and power training, conditioning and prehab exercises to prevent injury.  They have been designed for the college athletes at the University of Minnesota, the website is designed so that you input your max for different exercises and then it will calculate the percentage and tell you how much weight to use for each exercise.  So, if you are a coach, you can put each athlete's max. in the site and then print out workout sheets for the athlete to use.

No, there aren't workouts designed specifically for whitewater slalom racers.  However, you can take the workouts designed for other sports and adapt them.  These workouts are not for the faint of heart.  They aren't likely to be in the popular magazines advertising "Great Abs in 10 Minutes a Day!"

These are serious workouts, complex in design, but there is purpose and reason and thought and research in it all.  It's not just designed to tire you out or make you feel like you did a great workout.  In fact, the idea is to do the exercises as prescribed, not to "go to failure".  The concept is to improve athletic performance and prevent injury.

These programs are at the same time, based on research, and also based on experience with hundreds of athletes over years of training.  If you are looking for information on strength and conditioning and want to see what top college athletes are doing,  take a look at this site:

http://www.xlathlete.com/ 

Prevent Injury With Prehab

Prehab For Paddlers

Prehab is the term used for exercises that prevent injuries.  Instead of getting injured and then having a physical therapist tell you to do the exercises, you do them ahead of time and avoid injury.  It's pretty much the same exercises for rehab and prehab.

Many sports have frequent overuse injuries and now their coaches are advising athletes to do the prehab exercises.  These are different exercises than the ones that coaches prescribe for conditioning.  They aren't meant to make you faster or stronger at your sport.  They are meant to keep you from getting injured.

Paddlers often get shoulder injuries from overuse with the rotator cuff muscles.  That is often because of a muscle imbalance when we develop one set of muscles, but don't really develop the other muscles.  Doing exercises with small, light weights or elastic bands that exercise the rotator cuff muscles in other ways are good preventitive exercises to do.

Also, core and abdominal exercises are good to do to strengthen the core so you are less likely to get injured, such as a back injury.  Planks and other body weight exercises help develop the core and abdominal muscles.

Daniele Molmenti did a video on the ICF website, which can be found here:

http://canoeicf.com/icf/Aboutoursport/Canoe-Slalom/Canoe-Slalom-Development-Program.html

Scroll down the page to see his video about the backpack workout that he does without weights, just bodyweight exercises and elastic bands, so he can exercise when he is on the road.  Many of the exercises he demonstrates are prehab exercises, designed to keep the athlete from getting injured.  It's a mixed workout without some strength and plyometric moves, core exercises, and core exercises.  There is also a document attached- "weights don't lie- slalom is adaptation" that you can open to find out more about Daniele Molmenti and how he trains.

It's important that you differentiate between prehab exercises designed to keep you healthy and exercises designed to make you faster, stronger and more powerful.   You should be doing both, but not confusing the two.   You will be disappointed if you think that doing lots of planks and shoulder exercises will make you faster in your boat.  Do both, but if you had to choose between the two, I would go with the prehab exercises because they will keep you healthy and keep you on the water.

There are other You Tube videos that show rotator cuff exercises.  Lots of athletes in other sports also have shoulder problems.  Doing the rotator cuff and core exercises are good ways to prevent injuries in paddlers.  I recommend getting a short prehab routine of core and rotator cuff exercises to do frequently- daily, if possible, in order to avoid injury.

Here is the link to the ICF website with the Daniele Molmenti video and interview:

http://canoeicf.com/icf/Aboutoursport/Canoe-Slalom/Canoe-Slalom-Development-Program.html

Quality practice = brain development = top results

Talent or Brain Training?

Genetics or environment is the question that we are always asking in terms of what makes a person truly great.  Is a person born great or does his environment influence him to become that way?

Here is an interesting article that states that it isn't talent that matters in developing top athletes- it's training the brain through a process called myelination:

http://xlathlete.org/blog/articles/entry/the_making_of_talent_myelination

Much of the research in this area is not with athletes, but with other types of learning, such as academics or music.  As the person learns more and more, his brain develops in a certain area to store all the knowledge he has learned so that it can be applied to future situations.

It is this brain development, through practice that causes the improvement in athletic performance.  Top athletes are differentiated by the fact that they have undergone many thousands of hours of training and this has caused myelination in their brains.

The author emphasizes that athletes should be more aware of the effects of unfocused, poor quality training on their brains.  By rehearsing poor technique, their brains are not developing to their full potential.  It is vital that all practice be focused and high quality, avoiding bad technique.

The author's thesis is that apart from cases where the person is clearly not physically capable of performing at a high level in a sport, it is practice, not genetics that makes the champion athlete.  He says that you obviously can't make a jockey into a great football player and vice-versa. 

But except for these obvious physical differences, what really sets apart the top athletes is not genetics, but practice.  Do lots of quality practice and your brain will develop to the point where you will be a top athlete.

Quickness Training

Quickness Training

Quickness is another important part of our sport.  Quickness is slightly different from power.  Power is moving a heavy weight quickly.  Quickness is moving quickly when there isn't so much resistance.

For example, starting the boat from a standstill requires power.  Moving the paddle from side to side in the air at high speed requires quickness.  Here is an article describing quickness:

http://www.skillteam.se/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Quickness-and-Velocity.pdf

Athletes in other sports do quickness drills.  Think of basketball drills where the feet move quickly or playing table tennis.  Likewise, in canoe slalom, we should do quickness drills.  The paddle should be something light in your hands, not something heavy and sluggish.

I like to do quickness drills where you do a slow stroke and quick recovery from side to side.  Gently pull the paddle back, then slice it out to the side and move it quickly to the other side in the air.  This is a drill, not a prescription for how your stroke should be.  However, your paddling should be heavily influenced by this type of quickness drill.

This type of drill should carry over to other types of paddling.  There needs to be a feeling that the paddle is light and moves quickly, not heavy and slow-moving.  That way, you can make the quick moves necessary in our sport.

It is easy to get into a pattern of slow, sluggish paddling.  Instead, do quickness drills and try to use this quick approach in all your paddling.  This does not mean to slap at the water.  You need to plant the paddle before pulling.  However, the paddle should feel light in your hands and appear light and quick to a bystander, not heavy and slow.

Work on your quickness in drills in order to be quicker in all your paddling.

Four Ways to Get Faster

Four Ways to Get Faster

Acceleration is very important in canoe slalom.  We are constantly having to reaccelerate the boat.  At every turn, the boat slows down.  Every upstream means some loss of boat speed, although we try to carry as much speed as possible through every turn.

Much of the time difference between boaters is due to acceleration, not top boat speed.  So, to get faster, we should try to improve our acceleration.  Here is a link to a study that compared 4 different methods for improving acceleration in running:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21912294

The 4 methods studied were: 1. free sprinting 2. weight training 3. plyometrics. and 4. resisted sprint training.  Each of the methods improved times from 0 to 5 meters and from 0 to 10 meters in a range of 9-10%.  In other words, they all work to improve acceleration.

There wasn't a group in the study that combined the different methods of improving acceleration.  It would be interesting to find out if doing 2 or more methods improved acceleration more than just doing one method.  In any case, we know that doing any one of these methods is better than doing none.

However, if you train by just doing loops or just doing full-lengths, you aren't using any of these methods.  Your acceleration is unlikely to get better unless you add at least one of these four methods. 

You can vary which method or methods you use during different times of the year, but you shouldn't neglect acceleration training for very long.  I suggest doing more of the weight training and plyometrics during the off-season, and more of the sprint training and resisted sprint training during the on-season. 

However, I recommend doing at least a maintenance level (once/week) of each of these methods year-round.  It is good to emphasize general strength and power during the off-season and then use that general strength and power to get really fast by doing more sprints and resisted sprint training during the on-season.

 

Which type of weight lifting is best?

What Type of Weight Lifting?

There are many different types of weight lifting.  One type is Olympic lifting, which uses 2 lifts- the snatch and the clean and jerk.  Olympic lifting is good for building strength and power, however it requires extensive training in the proper technique.

Another type of weight lifting is powerlifting.  Powerlifting has 3 lifts- squats, bench press, and deadlift.  Powerlifting is really a misnomer because it builds strength, not power.  It is a good way of developing strength and then power can be developed later though.

Also, there is bodybuilding.  People lift weights in order to increase their muscle mass and for esthetic reasons.  Bodybuilders often use lifts that isolate muscles in order to increase each muscle's size.  They also do many more lifts that Olympic lifters and powerlifters and they do more reps and sets in order to pump up the muscle and grow in size (hypertrophy).  Much of the "gym culture" is based upon bodybuilders because most of the people in the gym are mostly interested in looking better.

Then, there is general physical conditioning training.  Programs like Crossfit, P90X, and Insanity fit into this broad category.  The idea is to work various muscles and also build cardiovascular systems and generally the level of all-round balanced fitness, with no specific sport in mind.  These are one-size fits all programs that work towards helping the person become more physically fit.

If you have read this far, you know that we have different goals than any of the above programs.  Our goal is sports strength and conditioning and performance enhancement.  We aren't focused on looking good at the beach or winning a powerlifting competition or making the Olympic weightlifting team.  We are interested in specific sport performance, not just general conditioning.

So, our strength training program should reflect that.  If you just do the same thing the other guys in the gym do, they probably have very different goals or even if they have similar goals, they may not know how to best achieve them, and they might just be going along with the crowd at the gym.

That does not mean that we can't draw on some of the techniques and lifts that people with ot.her goals use.  Many athletes use Olympic and powerlifting, for example.  And some of the general conditioning programs are also helpful.  However, we need to keep in mind that we have different goals.  Here is a link to an article that has 2 different sports coaches discussing which is better for athlete strength and conditioning- Olympic lifts or powerlifting:

http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/a-debate-between-powerlifting-and-olympic-lifting-as-the-main-athletic-training-method/

Both Olympic lifts and powerlifting are used a great deal by athletes who are developing their strength and power.  I do not recommend the Olympic lifts unless you have a good coach who can teach you the techniques though.  They are excellent lifts to develop strength and power though.  Powerlifting is excellent for developing strength, but then the power also needs to be trained also. 

In summary, we are athletes who are trying to improve our performance.  For optimum benefit, our strength and conditioning program should reflect that goal and therefore, the program should be different from what you see most of the other people in the gym doing.  Our program should be more like the programs that other athletes are using, not like the programs of people who are mainly interested in how they look at the beach.

Typical Training Program is Ineffective

Typical Off-Season Training is Ineffective

Typically, an athlete might do the following sort of training in the offseason.  Some resistance training a couple times per week, doing standard bodybuilding exercises in 3 sets of 10-15 repetitions.  Then, for aerobic base, some long distance paddling, for example 30 minutes flatwater paddling.  Some loops, for example, 5 x 6 minutes on gate loops.  And some long running, such as run 4 miles at medium pace.

The idea behind this is to build an aerobic base and to get stronger and in good general condition and then in the spring, during the pre-competition phase, do shorter and more specific work, such as 1 or 2 minute loops.  This is what many racers throughout the world do for their training.  And it is ineffective. 

Here is why it doesn't work: 

First, it does not empasize the major requirements of the sport such as skill, technique, speed and power.  You waste a lot of your time working on things that have little relation to your event and spend a great deal of time doing things that don't improve your technique, don't make you faster and don't make you more powerful. 

There is very little speed work, when speed is crucial in our sport.  Speedwork should be done year-round.  The endurance training actually keeps you from increasing your power.  Power cannot be built if you are doing endurance training at the same time. 

So, there is no power or speed development, what about technique?  The emphasis on the workouts is generally on a physiological principle (aerobic, anaerobic, etc.) rather than a technique emphasis.  Rather than saying, this is an upstream workout or this is a reverse workout, you say, this is an aerobic workout or this is an anaerobic workout.  Thus, the mindset is that of just training a particular physiological principle during the workout with little regard for the quality or technique involved. 

Furthermore, notice that there is little if any feedback during most of the year.  Little, if any coaching, videos, timing of courses, counting penalties, planning, etc.  Most of your workouts should have varied forms of feedback, such as coaching, video, timed runs and penalties counted, watching other boaters, etc.  If you aren't getting feedback, it is likely that your technique is stagnating, not improving.

Moreover, it is not specific enough to our sport.  Yes, general strength is important and doesn't have to be specific.  However, much of the training is done at speeds that are slower than race pace and therefore, the training isn't very specific.  Also, the conditions are not very specific to our sport.  Much of the training is done without gates and/or on flatwater instead of working on whitewater or at least moving water gates.

Third, the resistance training is probably the most effective part of this typical plan, but is still not ideal.  It employs bodybuilding exercises which target isolated muscles, rather than functional or complex exercises that use multiple muscle groups and train the central nervous system.  It builds excessive bulk, rather than strength and power.    It keeps the same type of workout over months, rather than using a varied, undulating program, so the athlete is likely to stagnate after a month or two and stop developing strength.  You should be constantly changing your resistance training to avoid stagnation. 

Also, the resistance program uses weights that are too light and repetitions that are too high.  This type of workout builds muscle size more than strength.  You don't want muscle size- you only want strength, so the reps should be much lower- more like 3-5 reps.  Increasing size just gives your boat more weight.  The goal should be to increase strength without significant weight gain.

And the resistance program is somewhat negated by the concurrent endurance training.  You can't build power at the same time you are doing endurance training.  So, with no power training while you are doing resistance training, you are likely to actually lose power with this plan.  This typical resistance program is also deficient in that there should be some power training as well, such as in-the-boat resistance training, ergometer, plyometric exercises, compound lifts, complex training or medicine ball exercises, which are more dynamic and faster paced so as to build power.

Additionally, the typical program does not really include active recovery as part of the program.  Active recovery is not just an afterthought.  It is important to help the muscles rebuild between workouts.  Between workouts is when the muscles get stronger.  Training breaks down muscle and without sufficient recovery, they stay broken down rather than rebuilding stronger than before.

The running part of the typical program could be considered active recovery if it were a little shorter and slower, such as running a mile at a jogging pace and then shower and then stretching.  This is a very effective form of active recovery.  If you go too far or too fast though, the run isn't really active recovery, but endurance training for running.

If you do the typical sort of program, you will have the typical sort of results.  However, if you can improve your program and develop more speed, power, and technique in the off-season, you will have improved results in your races.

You can either do the same sort of typical training as everyone else to fit in or you can do higher-quality training in order to stand out.

Triphasic training is a cutting-edge method to improve your performance.

Triphasic Training

There is an exciting new approach to strength and power conditioning called triphasic training.  Here is a link to an interview with Cal Dietz, who is strength and conditioning coach at the University of Minnesota:

http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/by-the-coach-for-the-coach-triphasic-training/

 

Cal Dietz developed these programs and used them with athletes from various sports- basketball, swimming, track and field, baseball, football, etc.  The concept is to develop 3 types of strength- concentric, eccentric, and isometric.  Concentric is the type of training that people do most of- it is the upward movement of the weight.  Eccentric is emphasized less often- it is the downward motion of the weight.  Isometric isn't used as much either- it is holding the weight steady, such as when you hold your body still in a plank.

So, triphasic training incorporates all of these types of training in a complex, systematic, periodized way.  Triphasic training also emphasizes that the goal is enhanced performance.  You can get very strong at lifting weights, but if the strength isn't translated into better performance, it misses the goal.

Some other types of training are aimed at bodybuilding.  Some are aimed at general fitness.  Other programs are aimed at looking good or losing weight.  Triphasic training is aimed at helping elite athletes improve their performance.  It isn't designed for beginners to weight training. 

If you are serious about improving your athletic performance, triphasic training is state-of-the-art.  Based on both research and on practical application with college athletes at the University of Minnesota, all the programs have been used for at least 2 seasons.  They have been fine-tuned to produce the best results.

It is not a simple program- it uses undulating periodization and different phases and various exercises.  There are complicated charts to show you what exercises to do, what percentage of your 1 repetition max you should use and when you should move to the next phase, etc.

Here is the link to the interview with Cal Dietz about triphasic training:

http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/by-the-coach-for-the-coach-triphasic-training/

http://rlugbill.typepad.com/my-blog/

Complex training builds strength and power.

Complex Training

Complex training is a type of resistance training where you first perform a heavy lift, then do a similar plyometric move.  For example, you do 3-4 reps of bench press at 80-90% of your max, then do plyometric push-ups ( or clap push-ups).  Or, do squats at 80-90% of your max, then do plyometric jumps.

Here is an article reviewing some of the research on complex training:

http://www.jssm.org/vol1/n2/2/v2_2pdf.pdf

This type of training is advanced and should only be done by those experienced in strength training and already in great shape.  The research shows that it is only effective for those who have already developed their strength a great deal.

It is a good technique for improving both strength and power simultaneously.  Some experts recommend first developing strength, then developing power.  Others recommend training for strength and power simultaneously, but on different days.  Complex training is aimed at developing both at the same time, however it is important that you first train for strength before attempting complex training.

Some of the internet videos show the athlete doing the heavy lift, then moving directly to the plyometric move.  The research does not support this and instead indicates that a substantial rest period is beneficial between the heavy lift and the power move.

There is some research to support complex training among athletes who are already very strong.  Perhaps it's a technique that will help break through plateaus.  If you already have a good base of strength training and are looking to develop your power, it is well worth trying.  Here is a link to an article about complex training:

http://www.jssm.org/vol1/n2/2/v2_2pdf.pdf

http://rlugbill.typepad.com/my-blog/

Excellent strength training program

5 x 5 Strength Training Program

Here is an excellent strength training program to build maximum strength.  You do 5 reps of 5 sets of 5 different exercises.  This is a variation of a popular internet strength training program.  I like to include exercises that work the following muscles: 1. pulling 2. pushing 3. abs 4. torso rotation and 5. legs. 

You rotate between workout A and workout B for a month.  Then, you switch to alternating between workout C and workout D for the next month, then back to A and B for a month.  That way, you are never doing the same exercises on the following workout.  And, you avoid a plateau by changing the workout each month.  Keep increasing the weight on each exercise every time you do it and keep the repetitions at 5 each time.  If you can do more than 5 reps, increase the weight.

It's important to maintain proper technique.  Keep the back straight and the head in line with the back.  Lift with the legs, not the back.  The rudimentary instructions in paranthesis are only meant to describe what the exercise is, not to describe perfect technique.  To learn the proper techniques for these lifts, I suggest you work with a strength and conditioning coach.  

These exercises are meant for those who are already in good shape.  If you haven't already been doing some strength and conditioning, I suggest that you start with doing one of the other routines on my blog, such as the bodyweight exercises or the machines or dumbbell exercises.  

These workouts are designed to build maximum strength.  I use dumbbells rather than barbells for these lifts, but you can do it either way.  You should have at least a day of rest between workouts. 

First Month: 

Workout A (alternate with workout B for odd months)

1. Deadlift (while standing, lift weight from floor and lower to floor)

2. Overhead Press (aka military press.  While standing, lift weight from shoulders to full extension)

3. Bent Rows (Standing, but bent over, lift weight to chest and lower)

4. Bicycle Crunches (lying on back with hands behind head, touch left elbow to right knee and alternate)

5. Rotational Leg Throws (lying on back with feet straight up, move your legs from side to side)

Workout B (alternate with workout A for odd months):

1. Squat (Stand with weight on shoulders and squat down, like you are sitting down and rise back up)

2. Bench press (lying down, raise weight straight up, then lower to chest)

3. Pull-ups (hang from bar and lift body to bar and lower)

4. Superman (lying on chest with arms in front, lift arms and legs from ground and hold as long as possible)

5. Standing Torso Rotation (hold dumbbell at arm's length in front of you and swing from side to side)

Second Month:

Workout C (alternate with workout D during even months):

1. Deadlift (lift weight from floor to thighs with back straight and head up)

2. Dips (with hands on bars below you, lower body and push body back up)

3. Horizontal pull-ups (lying on back, lift body while keeping it straight, raising chest to bar)

4. Seal (lying on stomach with arms at sides, lift legs, head and arms and hold as long as possible)

5. Lying Torso Rotation (lying on back, hold weight straight up and rotate from side to side)

Workout D (alternate with workout C in even months):

1. Lunges (standing while holding weight with one leg in front of the other, squat down and rise back up)

2. Narrow push-ups (do a push-up with hands in a triangle under you)

3. Lat pull-downs (pull bar down on a pulley system with bar in front of you)

4. One-Arm, One-Leg Planks (lying on toes and elbows, raise one leg and opposite hand and hold)

5. Sitting Torso Twists (while sitting with legs apart, hold a dumbbell at arm's length and swing from side to side)