FITNESS Base training during winter

Base training during winter


Personal Trainer
Paul O'Brien

The long, hard season is over. Early winter usually marks a slight lull in training as the body recovers from the rigours of the past months and the mind unwinds. This down-time is an important part of your training calendar and should not be neglected.
It’s the time to lay a solid base for the season ahead, to address any areas of concern or that may need development. It is a time for planning and rebuilding. This training phase is known by several names, but I prefer to call it base training. During base training, there are a number of areas you will want to address.

Aerobic endurance
After a layoff to recover, this type of training will be your meat and potatoes. Almost every field and endurance sport requires a high level of aerobic endurance. This can be loosely defined as your body’s ability to utilise oxygen during training.
Without a good foundation here, you cannot optimise your athletic potential. It is the cornerstone of the more specific and explosive work you will do later, for example speed and power.
You should design an aerobic-endurance training schedule based on your present conditioning, your goals and the demands of your sport.

Muscular endurance
All sports demand some level of muscular endurance, which governs a muscle’s ability to perform work (repeated contractions) over a period of time. Training will and should vary from one sport to another, as the demands vary.
Stability and mobility
Stability concerns controlling your centre of gravity, while mobility concerns your freedom of movement. Stability and mobility can be seen as pre-requisites to aerobic and muscular endurance training. The most obvious consequence of ignoring stability and mobility training is injury.
Bio-mechanical inefficiencies
Any movement pattern you execute when training or competing becomes hard-wired into your muscle-memory over time. If the pattern of your training is incorrect, you are training to fail, quite possibly heading for injury along the way. Base training is the perfect time to analyse your bio-mechanical movement and correct any inconsistencies. This training can be tedious at times, but the dedication is worthwhile. Remember practice does not make perfect, only perfect practice does.

Putting it all together
Hiring a qualified and experienced coach or trainer is a fast-track to piecing your base training requirements together. Don’t be afraid to ask a coach about his/her background and ask many questions about the structure and purpose of the training regime being prescribed. All training regimes should begin with an analysis of where you currently stand in relation to the areas listed above. Knowing where you are going and why you are training a particular way will also help your motivation levels.

Paul O’Brien is a personal trainer and life coach based in Westport.