Sometimes whimsical analogies are useful in understanding how cross country coaches go about their work. To that end, today we will consider a workout ingredient list. When it comes to cross country coaches, it seems there are both cooks and chefs. The cook chiefly wants a step by step set of recipes for several different…
Archives for cross country athletes
Middle School Training for Cross Country Runners
Middle school training for cross country runners are not just miniature versions of high school runners. Yet, many middle school coaches talk to high school coaches when setting up a training plan and just “scale down” the high school daily sessions for their plan. That works to a point with some types of work, but…
General Adaptation Syndrome and Cross Country Training
In 1932, physiologist W.A. Engelhardt, for the first time introduced the definition of the training process as a physiological breakdown that serves as a specific stimulus for the subsequent adaptive recovery process. While Engelhardt’s experiments worked with laboratory animals, injected drugs, and introduced stimuli far above what the animals were accustomed to, this idea became…
Functional Endurance Strength in Cross Country Training
Strength is one of the five primary physical components (speed, endurance, flexibility, strength, coordination) that defines athleticism. Cross country runners, like all athletes, benefit from the improvement of all five physical components to the degree to which their particular sport demands. Strength training must always be focused on training the movement, rather than the muscle,…
Two Peaking Workouts You Must Do with Your Cross Country Athletes
A cross country runner that has a training age of two or more, and who had a pretty good summer of running, can expect about a five percent improvement over the 14 week fall season in their 5k time from start to finish. Those with a training age of less than two years, or who…
Measuring Velocity as Meters Per Second in Cross Country Training
Most cross country coaches have a top training group within their team, whether they actually label it that way or not. This group typically consists of about a dozen runners on bigger teams, but maybe just four or five on a smaller team. These are the runners the head coach keeps the closest eye on. …
When to De-emphasize VO2 max Training in Cross Country
Since the early days of exercise science testing and experimentation, it has been accepted that aerobic power development is one of four training domains used in preparing distance runners. Consider the combined energy zone events of the 800 meters through the 10,000 meters; including both short and long cross country competitions. Improvement in the anaerobic…
The Variety of Personalities on a Cross Country Team
A team is a collection of individuals attempting to accomplish like goals. On a cross country team, the coach is responsible for providing the leadership skills necessary to bring individual personality traits together into a functioning unit that has selective group goals. Goals vary between cross country teams under an array of context situations and…
Utilize ‘Check Your Gauges’ Cues to Positively Influence the Cross Country Runner During the Race
Attending a cross country running meet is an exciting experience. Parents, siblings, teammates, friends, and fans are screaming and cheering nonstop as the runners go past them. Cross country meets are also a place of work for the coaches whose teams are participating. A race is a test for both athlete and coach as to…
Training Camps for Cross Country Runners
Physiologists have shown that it takes about 25-27 weeks to establish a peak in aerobic development for a novice or emerging cross country runner. Since exhaustive performance in the five kilometer race has been shown to depend on 92% of the necessary energy particles (ATP) to be produced in the aerobic energy system, full development…
Growth and Development Issues in Distance Runners
Most cross country coaches’ work with athletes that have not yet reached absolute physical maturity and awareness of growth and development issues in their distance runners. Many of these same coaches have teams with both boys and girls on them, which raises the concern of different rates of development. Even coaches that have a program…