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…
Archives for endurance
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,…
An Endurance Training Session for Middle Distance Athletes
A training session is a block of dedicated time containing various units of work that pertain to the specific demands of the track and field event that the athlete participates in. For a middle distance runner, a session more often than not contains a high degree of endurance work. Thus today we will discuss an…
The 3 Most Important “Fuels” For Successful Distance Running
The ability of skeletal muscle to re-synthesize adenosine triphosphate (ATP) during exercise and recovery after exercise ultimately depends on the diet of the cross country runner. Today we will focus on the 3 most important “fuels” for successful distance running. Fat and carbohydrate (CHO) provide the majority of the metabolic fuel for ATP re-synthesis, with…
Periodizing Special Endurance 2 Workouts: Middle Distance
Periodizing Special Endurance 2 Sessions: Middle Distance Multilateral training done in planned balance is the general theme of modern middle distance training. Much has been learned over the past couple of decades about the value of concurrently training all five of the primary physical components to achieve a better runner. Sport scientists working with sizeable…
Endurance as a Primary Physical Component in Cross Country
Endurance as a Primary Physical Component in Cross Country It can be said that a high level of endurance is the most important of the five primary physical components found in a cross country runner. The danger in making such a statement is that it may diminish the importance of the other four: speed, strength,…
The Athlete Profile – Part 3
Training science, like all science, is about replication of procedure to attain the same data sets. Yet each runner is a unique person. Track coaches use sciences of physiology and psychology to develop successful athletes in hopes of replicating data from person to person and season to season. This can be difficult in part because…