“Why do we plan? It gives us control!”

 The optimal training program would be one that maximally stimulated positive adaptations, while minimizing the cellular and systemic stress that can cause overtraining and injury.

 What are the fundamental basic concepts we need to know to design our own programme?

 General athletic fitness  Sport- specific fitness  Sport- specific skills

 History  Current Situation  Goals  Needs Analysis

 What is the athletes age?  What is the athletes experience doing similar sports?  Ability?  Injuries?

 Time/Energy to train  Commitments  Health  Current Level of Fitness

 S.M.A.R.T.E.R  Performance ‘vs’ Outcome  Checkpoints (staircase)

 Components of Fitness  Muscle Groups  Energy System

 Endurance  Strength  Speed  Power  Flexibility  Balance/Agility  Body Composition

SportComponents of Fitness Tennis Netball- Centre Rugby- Winger

 What do we need to develop?  What is the priority?  When do we need to develop them?  For how long?  In what order?

 Knowledge of anatomy.  What are the muscle groups used in Triathlon?

 3 ENERGY SYSTEMS - Immediate ( < 10 sec) ATP-CP - Short Term ( 10sec- 3min) Anaerobic lactate -Long Term (3min onwards) Aerobic Energy production with oxygen and carbo (glyco) + fat (lipo)

 How often (when?) would you use each system in Triathlon? ATP- PC Anaerobic lactate Aerobic

 Individual Differences  Adaptation  Overload  Progression  Reversibility  Specificity  Recovery Super-Compensation

 There is a minimum threshold for intensity and duration of stress that must be exceeded for adaptations to be triggered.  The better adapted to training the harder it is to trigger adaptations  Elite athletes may train 3-4 hours a day in order to improve 1%

 Frequency  Intensity  Time (Duration)  Type (Discipline)

 Resistance  Continuous  Interval  Flexibility  Circuit

 Planning for competition  Recognises that athletes can’t maintain the highest level of performance all year round- allows athlete to peak for certain events  Develops components of fitness at desired stage of season  Plans for Super-compensation to occur.

LOW HIGH TIME Recovery- Regeneration Period Build Up 1 Build Up 2

 Traditional Phases - General - Specific Preparation - Pre-Competition - Priority Competition - Transition

 General -Endurance (high volume) -Technique Focus  Specific Preparation -Sport Specific Technique Increases -More Variety -Intensity increases -Flexibility, mental skills, nutrition

 Pre-competition -Specialised training -Emphasis on intensity -Speed & Power -Competition starts dictating training  Priority Competition -Maintain fitness through intensity -Taper -Tatitcal & mental focus

 Transition -Active rest -Psychological regeneration -Attend to chronic medical problems -Analysis of past performances & planning for next training year.

 Macrocycles  Mesocycles  Microcycle

 Traditional Approach -Base (endurance) -Strength -Speed -Power -Taper In -Race -Taper Out