HOW TO IMPROVE - The final part of Mike Pott's tech stuff.

Article 4 - Cross-Training and Sports Magazines

Cross-Training is not a method of improving your temper. It is, in fact, a method of gaining and maintaining fitness by exercising in different ways. Some of the key benefits are reducing the possibility of injury, keeping fit whilst you are injured, and stopping you from getting bored from just doing the same sport all of the time.

An example of cross-training would be weight training a couple of times a week as well as running at club - the strength gains from weight training in a nice warm gym will help you gain running strength without pounding the streets in the cold and the wet! The ultimate in cross-training is a multi-sport event, such as triathlon, where you compete in 3 different but complimentary sports: swimming, cycling and running.

We've already mentioned weight training (or resistance training to give it its proper name) and this can help in all sports, particularly if you gear your sessions towards your primary sport. This is pretty obvious really - doing appropriate leg exercises will help your running. It is also important to exercise your 'core' - your back and abdominal muscles - in order to give your leg muscles a solid 'anchor' to attach to and to help maintain good posture. You can also improve your cycling and swimming through resistance training too. In fact, it's probably a good idea to do an all-body workout in the gym, exercising all of the major muscle groups. See a trained gym attendant if you want to develop a programme and make sure you are shown how to use the machines properly and safely.

It doesn't have to be weight training though: cycling is an excellent way to keep fit and has a much lower impact on your legs than running, mainly because you are not pounding the ground and your body weight is supported by your bike. It's a great way of keeping fit when an injury means you can't run - 'shin splints', for example, are my current affliction and prevent me from running on hard surfaces but cycling causes no pain or discomfort. You will probably find that you have to spend longer on your bike to get the same workout benefits as a run precisely because your body weight is supported - as a rule of thumb, you should double the time on the bike so a 1 hour bike session at a reasonable intensity will be approximately equivalent to a 30 minute run. Because, as runners, we use mainly the hamstring and calf muscles, these muscles will develop at the expense of others. Cycling can help redress the balance by strengthening the quadriceps and shins. You don't have to go outside to benefit from cycling - try an 'aerobike session' at the Springfield Centre and you'll be surprised at what a good work-out you get. In the winter, mountain biking is also a cracking way of getting out into the country for a few hours and is great for building strength and good pedalling and bike-handling technique.

Swimming is an outstanding cross-training exercise as it puts very little stress on the body as you are supported by water. However, it exercises nearly all of the major muscle groups and helps with flexibility. Most runners neglect their upper body and core strength and swimming can address both of these. Also, it's great aerobic training as you have to learn to breath properly and to be economic with the oxygen you can take in. As swimming is primarily technique orientated, you must get some form of stroke coaching if you want to get the best from your exercise without hurting yourself.

As well as those mentioned above, aerobics, racquet sports, roller blading, in fact, just about any activity that will raise your heart rate to a beneficial level, can be a part of your cross-training programme.

You need to be careful though that you do not spend all of your time on other activities and expect to make huge gains in your primary sport (ie, running) - this is down to something called 'sport specificity'. Basically, if you want to get good at running, the best way to do it is to run. Swimming may help but does not replicate the running action very well; cycling is better but still not perfect. What you need to do is mix and match your activities to get the best overall performance in your primary sport.

So, cross-training can be highly beneficial if you do it right: it reduces the chances of injury, prevents boredom, and allows you to train your whole body, not just your running muscles. How about this: instead of your long slow Sunday run, you could try a 3-4 hour bike ride at a relatively low pace. The benefits will be very similar in terms of training your body to burn fat in preference to carbohydrates but you will reduce the risk of leg injury as well. You will be able to cover a greater distance and see some different scenery, and if you go out with a club, it can be a very social experience too. Remember, variety is the key.

Sports Magazines

I've been looking a couple of running/training magazines and picked out what I think are some pretty good articles that treat some of the subjects I've already covered in either more depth or in a different way. While I'm at it, I'll also give those of you who don't subscribe to or regularly buy running and fitness magazines an idea of what I consider are the strengths and weaknesses of the most popular available titles:

Runners' World (£3 per issue or £35 per year subscription)

The granddaddy magazine - it's been around for years and is a stalwart of the fitness magazine trade. Most people get into Runners' World because of the marathon training schedules and the Runners' World pacing runners who seem to come to most of the really good, heavily-subscribed races like the London Marathon and the Bath Half. It does the London Marathon training schedule every year and is usually pretty good. However, it is an international magazine so occasional articles come from the US edition - it's a matter of taste as to whether you like reading the american articles as they have a different style to the UK writers. There is an enormous and comprehensive race listings section which is ideal for helping you plan your season, and stacks of adverts for cut price trainers and clothing. The 2 articles in particular that caught my eye in the January 2002 edition (out now) were:

a. 'Model Behaviour', page 23. This explains in more depth the idea of supercompensation using Yakovlev's model - the diagram I used in my first article.

b. 'Hard Works', page 47. Basically, all you ever wanted to know about speed training with lots of sample sessions for all standards.

Running Fitness (£3 per issue or £31 per year subscription)

Running Fitness is a lot newer than Runners' World and is an all-British magazine. Although, as the name suggests, it is primarily about running, there is usually a good spread of articles on multi-sport and adventure racing. In fact, there is a lot more emphasis on cross-training (using different sports/exercises to reduce the risk of injury and get an all-body workout), although you also get the obligatory London Marathon training schedule in the January to April issues. Whilst the race directory is perhaps not as comprehensive as Runners' World's, they have a good shoe and gear review section. They have also just started a 'Club Register' and are profiling UK running clubs. There were some excellent articles in the December 2001 issue (out now):

a. 'Improve your running with two wheels', page 46. This article is all about using cycling to improve your running fitness and stay fit when injured. An ideal introduction to the concept of cross-training and some interesting facts on the intensity needed to make cycling sessions worthwhile too.

b. 'Training the aerobic system', page 72. A really good explanation on how the aerobic system works and how your body uses fat and carbohydrates. In particular, there is some good stuff on how the aerobic system works on runs up to 60 mins, 90 mins and 120 mins.

c. 'Hill Running', page 80. Some ideas on different hill training sessions.

d. 'The body in action', page 84. A step-by-step guide to how the body works during a run.

220 Magazine (£3.25 per issue or £32.50 per year subscription )

220 Magazine is another British magazine but is focused on triathlon. There are usually feature articles on races and athletes, and training articles for swimming, cycling and running. If you're only interested in running but have limited time to train, the articles can be very good as triathletes have to fit training sessions for 3 different sports into their free time; this means that running sessions have to be maximum gain for minimum time and there will be very little in the way of 'junk mileage'. If you took part in the Bath Half in 2001, you may be interested in an interview with Annie Emmerson who won the women's race.

Websites

Again, here are some good sites for training articles I have used. There are many more on the internet but these are particularly useful and are well worth a look. If you know of any other good sites, let me know and I'll ask Brian to add them to the website.

www.triathletes-uk.org - Includes a superb Excel spreadsheet on turbo training which also has a heart rate calculator to adapt the programme to your level of fitness.
www.xtri.com - Triathlon website with stacks of articles on all sorts of things.
www.tridu.com - Same again.
www.kjerag.com - Multisport site.