7 Tips For Maximum Results on the Court

Getting your basketball fitness routine sorted out to include games, practice sessions, weight training and stretching is tough. When I was playing competitively, all I wanted was for someone else to tell me exactly what I should be doing and when to do it, so I could be my best. So here is how I would structure a week to include basketball practice and strength training.

1. Train hard in the off-season with weights and some speed training if that area of your game is lacking. Your goal should be to get as big, strong and fast as you can get in the off-season, so your body is ready to go during the season. If you didn’t go hard in the off-season, you probably should have. It’s the best time to get the fastest results from your strength workouts.
2. Do full body workouts 3 times each week for beginners and intermediates, or 2 upper body workouts and 2 lower body workouts each week for advanced weight lifters. Bodybuilding workouts will not cut it, and can make you slower and more likely to get injured. Doing a basketball specific weights program will be far more beneficial for you.
3. The aim of lifting weights during your season is to maintain the muscle that you built during the off-season. Because you are doing so much basketball training and playing as hard as you can, your body does not have the capability to recover from the games and hardcore strength training. Train smart and maintain what you have got.
4. In-season strength training should consist of 1-2 full body weights workouts each week, depending on how much training you are doing and how much playing time you are getting. You will have to see what works for you.
5. Don’t skip weights altogether during the season, as this will lead to a loss in strength and muscle mass and will affect your conditioning especially toward the end of the season and during finals. It’s not uncommon to see a player who has skipped their strength workouts lose 5 kilograms during a season and not dominate like they did early in the season.
6. Don’t lift weights on game day. You want to be able to put everything into your game. If it’s a tight match and comes down to the last minute to decide the winning team, you want to be the fittest person on the court, not burnt out from a morning weights session.
   • Most players will have one or two basketball practices each week. For highly competitive players it may be even more. These are probably the best days to lift weights on. Either before practice, after practice or whenever you can fit a weights session in will work. If you have a day off practice or games, you could fit the training session on that day. Just find a time which works into your schedule that you will actually do, no blow off to go to a party.
7. Eat enough food. This may seem unimportant, but it is vital to your success with strength training and your performance on the basketball court. You should be getting the majority of your energy from good carbohydrate sources including wholemeal bread and pasta, brown rice, white or sweet potatoes and oatmeal. You will also need to eat your vegetables to keep enough nutrients pumping into your body. You need the nutrients for muscle repair as well as normal bodily functions. If you can’t get enough vegetables you should look at taking a multivitamin supplement as well as trying to increase your vegetable intake.

If you get these 7 things worked out, you can continue to get stronger for basketball while fitting it into your training schedule. It takes a bit of planning and a lot of hard work and discipline, but is definitely worth it in the long run if you want to take your game a long way. Michael Jordan did. Lebron James did. Will you be next?

Travis Sawyer is the Author of “Strong Baller – Basketball Strength for High School & College Athletes”

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Travis_Sawyer

As a result, the safety issue has also become much more important. The days of sparring without wearing some form of protection are long gone. Now, many competitors will have to kit themselves out from head to toe, not just to meet Tournament rules, but to abide by the Insurance Companies rules for Martial Arts sparring.

Head guards, hand protectors, shin and instep guards, forearm guards, body protectors, gum shields and, of course, groin protectors are very much the standard kit required if you are going to enter into Sparring competition.

Is all this necessary? Well, in the opinions of many great teachers, yes. Whilst teachings will demonstrate how to defend yourself, through proven defensive and attacking techniques, is it really the aim of a competition to inflict as much damage on your opponent, or even yourself?

Products have developed significantly to provide the sort of protection necessary to allow competitors to ‘go for it’ whilst ensuring that injuries are minimized. In 1995, the UK signed up to the European Directive on Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), which clearly states that all intermediate PPE must be fully tested in accordance with British Standards (harmonized across Europe), and carry the CE mark of approval.

The CE mark ensures that all products are not only impact tested, but also tested for toxic or noxious chemicals. Unfortunately very few suppliers are taking this responsibility seriously at the moment and continue to sell sparring equipment that has not met this basic safety requirement.

Why is this? Well, simply put, to have your products CE tested and certified does cost money, and many believe that this is not necessary, despite the fact that it is the law! So what are the Trading Standards doing about this? Well, very little is the answer, because it is such a difficult market to police given their resources. Therefore many suppliers can flout this Law without fear of any action against them.

Fortunately, many Insurance companies are now becoming aware of the apathy amongst suppliers, and are now insisting that all Clubs must use CE Approved equipment if their insurance is to remain valid.

Of course, some have already adopted the attitude “It won’t happen to me”, unfortunately, one Instructor has actually been sued and lost his house and business as a result of not complying with Insurance requirements and using non-CE approved gear. So ask yourself, is it really worth it?

About the author: Steve Turner is a 1st Dan Black-Belt in WTF Taekwondo, an assistant WTF Taekwondo instructor, and Managing Director of Black Eagle Martial Arts Equipment, one of the few UK manufacturers and distributors of martial arts equipment pro-actively pursuing CE marking on their sparring equipment.

Helmets

There are different types of helmet for different purposes. Players of American football wear helmets to protect their heads during collisions with other players. Cyclists and rock-climbers wear helmets to protect their heads in case of a fall, whereas canoeists wear them in case they capsize and bang their heads on rocks under the water. Amateur boxers and other martial artists where head guards to reduce damage to the brain.

Footwear

Correct footwear is important even for people who do not do much exercise. Shoes or boots need to fit well and provide some cushioning. Many people get blisters on their feet from footwear that does not fit properly. You need to select carefully the shoe that is appropriate for your activity rather than choosing a shoe because it looks good. Footwear that has been worn a lot will not offer the same protection or cushioning as it did when it was new. The amount of wear will depend on how much the footwear has been worn. Old, worn-out shoes need to be replaced.
Many sports require good ankle support to prevent twists and sprains.

Gum shields / mouth guards

These are mainly worn in sports such as hockey, rugby and boxing, where there is a risk of being hit on the mouth. It is important that the gum shield fits properly, so ideally you should consult your dentist.

Protective padding

In cricket, football, hockey and American football, players use various forms of padding to protect them from injury. Cricketers wear leg and arm pads, gloves, a helmet and a box guard to protect them when batting or wicket-keeping. Footballers and hockey players wear shin pads. Hockey goalkeepers also wear leg pads, body pads and helmets to protect them. It is important that the equipment is worn properly and kept in good condition for it to be effective.

Safety equipment

People who take part in outdoor activities use extra safety equipment to protect them. Canoeists and sailors wear buoyancy aids or life jackets in case they fall into the water. Rock-climbers and mountaineers also wear harnesses with ropes attached for safety in case of a fall.

General equipment

Equipments such as rackets, hockey sticks and cricket bats need to be carefully maintained. Blisters and splinters can be avoided if the equipment is given proper care. Goal posts in rugby and fixed posts in netball need to be covered by protective padding in case a player collides with them.

Medical help should be sent for immediately if:

• an injured person is unconscious
• a fracture is suspected
• a back or neck injury is suspected. In this case the person should not be moved.

If in doubt as to what to do, it is better to do nothing and send for help immediately, rather than do the wrong thing. Some common injuries that you might come across in relation to physical activity are explained below.

Bruising

Bruises are caused by internal bleeding from blood vessels that have been damaged, often due to impact. Bruising may occur hours or days after the injury, but if it occurs soon after the injury then there may be a deeper injury. Applying ice to the injury will reduce the flow of blood to the area and reduce the amount of internal bleeding and bruising.

Cuts

With any cut there is a risk of infection from dirt or germs entering the wound. In the case of a minor cut, the area around it should be cleaned and a sterile dressing applied until bleeding stops. The cut should then be covered with a plaster. If bleeding is severe, the body part should be raised and supported to reduce the flow of blood to the area. A clean dressing should be applied, with gentle pressure, to try to stem the flow of blood. If the wound is large, stitches may be required so the casualty should be taken quickly to a nearby hospital.

Sprain

When damage occurs to a ligament, the injury is called a sprain. Ligaments join bone to bone in a joint and provide it with strength and stability. When a joint is forced beyond its normal range of movement, the ligaments are overstretched and a sprain occurs. If the ligament is torn, the casualty may have heard a snapping sound. This can make it difficult to know whether it is a torn ligament or a fracture. If in doubt deal with it as if it is a fracture.

Strain

When a muscle is partially torn, the injury is called a strain. This can occur as a result of over-stretching a muscle. The injury is usually painful when touched and flexibility may be reduced. You should not try to force the muscle to stretch as this could cause further injury.

Fracture

A fracture is a crack or break in a bone. Fractures can be caused by a direct force, such as a heavy blow, or by an indirect force. With an indirect force, the force may travel from the point of impact through the body and fracture a bone somewhere else. A sudden twist or wrench is also an indirect force that may fracture a bone.

There are different types of fracture and some are more serious than others:

• Open fracture – the broken bone has pierced the skin and it may be sticking out.
• Closed fracture – there is no damage to the skin hut, there will often be bruising and swelling.

The casualty may have heard a snapping sound or felt a sharp pain. They will have difficulty moving the limb and this will be painful to do. The limb may be distorted, bruised, swollen or all three. If you suspect a fracture, you should not try to move that part of the casualty’s body. It may need to be immobilized by use of a splint. The injury will need to be treated by a doctor so you should send for an ambulance.

Dislocation

In a dislocation, a bone comes out of its normal position. This may be due to a strong force or muscle contraction wrenching the bone out of position. Dislocations occur most commonly in the shoulder, thumb, finger and jaw. As with fractures, the affected area should not be moved and the casualty should be taken to hospital.

Head injuries

The brain is a very sensitive organ. Any damage to the head could affect the brain, therefore it can be potentially dangerous. A person with a head injury should not continue the activity, but should be checked by a doctor. If the casualty loses consciousness, this may be due to damage to the skull, the brain or blood vessels inside the brain. You should place the casualty in the recovery position and send for an ambulance.

Concussion

Concussion is a brief loss of consciousness, usually caused by a blow to the head. When conscious the casualty may feel dizzy, have a headache and even suffer loss of memory. If they regain consciousness quickly, they should not continue the activity, but you should watch them carefully and make sure they see their doctor. If the casualty remains unconscious you should place them in the recovery position and send for an ambulance.

RICE

The RICE procedure is a simple method of treating bruises, sprains and strains. The aim is to reduce swelling and pain. This may be the only treatment that is required for minor injuries but further medical attention may be needed:

• Rest – the injured part should be rested, so the activity should not be continued.
• Ice - apply ice to the affected area. This will help reduce swelling, bruising and pain.
• Compression - apply gentle, even pressure to the area. Cover the area with a thick layer of cotton wool and keep it in place with a bandage. Be careful not to make it too tight.
• Elevation – raise and support the injured part. This reduces the blood flow to the area and will reduce bruising.

Skin infections and disorders

Skin infections can be quite common among people who take part in physical activity:

• A verruca or plantar wart, is a wart that occurs on feet. It is contagious, which means it can spread from one person to another very easily, so great care must be taken to avoid this. There are creams available to treat a verruca but you may need to consult your doctor.
• Athlete’s foot does not just happen in athletes, but it is common among them. It is a type of fungus that grows on the feet and causes itching and broken skin. Like verrucas it is highly contagious.

If you have athlete’s foot or a verruca you should not walk around in bare feet or share your towel with anyone else, in case you pass the infection on to them. Creams and powders can be used to help treat the area. Learn how to cure athlete’s foot.

Any open wound or burst blister needs to be kept clean so that infection does not set in and make the wound worse. A blister is caused by something rubbing against the skin or by a burn. You should never burst a blister as this could lead to infection. Some blisters will burst naturally. These should be covered to reduce the chance of infection. Attention to hygiene can help avoid some of these problems.

Environmental injuries – some injuries are caused by weather conditions such as temperature, cold winds or snow. These can happen to anyone who is exercising outdoors. However, those involved in mountaineering, climbing, sailing and canoing are more likely to encounter these problems.

• Hypothermia sets in when the body temperature falls below 35°C (normal body temperature is 37°C). This may be caused by being outdoors in cold weather for a long time, but may also affect people in the home, particularly the elderly or very young.
• Hyperthermia is the condition when the body temperature gets too high. This can happen when exercising in the heat. If the body is unable to get rid of the extra heat being produced, the body temperature will increase. This can result in heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Heat exhaustion can build up gradually and results in feeling dizzy, with headaches, sweating and cramps. The casualty needs to be cooled down and rested. Heat stroke is more sudden and the body starts to overheat dangerously. Body temperature exceeds 40°C and medical attention is needed.

Current health

It is always advisable for people with a specific health problem to consult a doctor before taking up an exercise programme. During exercise your body has to work harder to cope with the demands. For people with certain health problems, exercise of the wrong type or intensity could make their condition worse or put them at risk of further problems. People with asthma, diabetes, heart problems or those who are obese may need to consult a doctor before doing certain physical activities.

Fitness

Whether you are exercising for health or performance reasons, it is important that you do not try to do too much exercise too soon. If you have not been very active, you should start with gentle exercise so that your body can become used to it. As your fitness improves you can gradually increase the intensity or amount of exercise that you do. In this way you will be able to increase fitness without putting too much strain on your body. If you do too much too soon then you may be injured.

It is especially important to remember this when joining fitness classes and martial arts classes after a period of inactivity. A good instructor will remind you to work at a rate that is comfortable for you, so do not feel pressurised into working at the same rate as other more experience people in the class, as this could lead to injury.

Even if you have been active you may need to improve your fitness before you are ready to take on a greater physical challenge. Often people decide to take up an activity to get fit, when they really need to be fit before they start that activity. In sports where there is physical contact between players, you could easily be injured if you come up against someone who is physically fitter and stronger than you. In outdoor activities, you need to know your limits of fitness and work within those limits. For example, if you tackle a long rock-climbing route without having the necessary level of fitness, you are more likely to fall. Although the safety rope will save you, you may still be injured during the fall.

Once you have considered these factors and have decided to do an activity, you need to think about a different set of constraints.

Jewellery

In some activities such as walking and swimming, it does not matter whether you wear jewellery or not. However, in most other activities it can be dangerous and put you or your opponent at risk of injury. In any activity where you come into contact with another person or are at risk from an injury, you should not wear jewellery. Many sports have rules which state that all jewellery must be removed. If you are injured and are wearing jewellery, it may cause problems.

If you hurt your finger and it swells, a ring could cause further problems and may have to be cut off. In contact sports a watch or other jewellery could cut or injure another player. In dance, jewellery could get caught on another dancer or on an item of clothing.

Warm-up

A warm-up is an important part of any physical activity. It helps you prepare your body physically and mentally for the activity you are about to do.

Physical state

In some activities you may need to tie long hair up or cut your nails short before participating. In netball, the umpires must check the length of the players’ fingernails before a match. This is to prevent players being scratched or cut by each other’s long nails.

Rules

It is important for physical activities involving a number of people to have clear rules and guidelines and to be well controlled so that everyone can participate safely. If everyone sticks to the rules and plays fairly, unnecessary injuries will be prevented. The officials in a match or competition have a responsibility to ensure that players abide by the rules and that the activity is safe. In contact sports it is important that opposing teams are matched according to age, body size or level of experience. That is why there are age groups for children’s activities, weight categories for martial arts and leagues with different divisions.

Traumatic injuries

These injuries occur suddenly and you can usually feel that something has gone wrong. There may be immediate signs of injury such as swelling, pain and bruising. The injury may be caused by external factors, such as a collision with another person, or by internal factors, such as a pulled muscle. Internal factors are not related to another person and may not have an obvious cause.

External causes

Depending on the nature of the activity there could he a variety of external causes of injury. Impact injuries occur as a result of a collision with another person or a piece of equipment. These are more likely to occur in sports than in outdoor activities, dance or swimming. All contact sports, such as rugby and football, involve impacts between players. This means that players have a greater chance of being injured in this way. In a sport such as boxing the main aim is to hurt your opponent, so the risk of an injury is very high. In these activities it is essential that players are physically fit enough for the competition. The contest should be between similar groups. For example a schoolboy rugby team should not be expected to play against a good adult club side, because the differences in physical size would make injuries to the schoolboys very likely.

Collisions with equipment may also result in injuries. This may happen when a player runs into a goal post, is hit by a hockey stick or injured by a football boot. Gymnasts may collide with equipment if they miss-time the execution of a move. Bruising and cuts are the most likely result of an impact, but more serious injuries such as dislocations, fractures and concussion may occur.

Playing surfaces may cause injuries when a player falls on or slides across the surface. This can result in cuts and grazes from tarmac surfaces or friction burns from an artificial surface such as Astroturf. When playing on uneven surfaces such as a rough patch of grass, a player may twist an ankle by landing awkwardly. On some surfaces, such as Astroturf, ankle injuries occur when someone tries to stop suddenly and there is no slip in the surface. This means that the player’s foot does not slide, even slightly. Sometimes just a little amount of slide helps the player not to go over on an ankle.

Equipment – minor injuries may occur as a result of using a piece of equipment even though it is not faulty.  Blisters are common, particularly when you are using new shoes or a new racket, for example. Even if the equipment is not new, if it is used for a prolonged length of time an injury might occur.

Accidents – the main aim of any safety precautions is to reduce the likelihood of accidents. However, no matter how many precautions you take, accidents will still happen. Some activities carry higher risks of injury than others. In dancing or ice skating, there is always the risk of slipping or of one performer dropping the other. The person doing the lift needs to be strong enough to hold the other person. Such accidents may be rare, but preparation is still an important part of minimizing the risk.

Some activities tend to be more risky than others. Outdoor activities such as rock-climbing, canoeing and skiing have an element of risk involved, which is why they appeal to many people. They like the challenge of the activity and get a great deal of satisfaction from overcoming the elements. However, participants have to be aware of the risks and make a decision as to whether they wish to take the chance of having an accident. The more risks they take, the more serious the injury is likely to be if something goes wrong.

Internal causes

An injury may occur without prior warning during any physical activity, and it may be difficult to know what caused it. The most common type of injury is a sprain or strain. The injury may be due to over-stretching or twisting in an awkward way. A lot of back injuries occur when people try to lift an object the wrong way. Fatigue, illness, stiffness and pain are all warning signs that must be heeded. The chance of internal injuries occurring is greater when you are feeling like this.

Over-use injuries

These injuries build up gradually over time, and that may make them harder to diagnose. They are often a result of doing a certain activity or action over and over again. Some of these injuries could be avoided by structuring training programmes, competition schedules or activity sessions appropriately and by taking adequate rest between sessions. There are several common overuse injuries.

Tennis elbow is a common injury among tennis players but can occur as a result of other sports or even from everyday activities. It is a strain of a tendon on the outer side of the elbow and is usually due to over-working or straining the muscles of the forearm.

Golfer’s elbow is a similar type of injury to tennis elbow but affects the tendon on the inside of the elbow.

Shin splints is a general term to describe pain in the front and side of the lower leg. It is often associated with running or walking long distances. Correct footwear may help avoid this injury.

Stress fractures occur as a result of an increase in the workload on a certain bone. Runners may suffer stress fractures in the leg if they do too much running or wear incorrect footwear. Stress fractures may also be caused by muscle or tendon injuries that pull at the bone and cause a fracture to occur.

It is important that any of these injuries is treated early, to prevent more serious damage. Continuing to do an activity when you know you have an injury will make the situation worse and may put you out of action for longer than necessary.

Jenson Button, Spanish Grand Prix, 2009

Formula 1 drivers are amongst the fittest sportspersons around. To drive an F1 car at high speed for two hours non-stop requires a very high level of muscular endurance and core strength. Jenson Button is certainly in great shape, as the many photos of him reveal.

For F1 drivers the key area to work on is the core, from the waist up to the neck. A strong core helps to prevent injury during crashes. A strong neck is vital to withstand the G-force pressures when cornering at high speed, and accelerating and braking quickly.

There are three core exercises that F1 drivers such as Jenson Button need to concentrate on in addition to low impact endurance training. The low impact endurance training is to prepare the body for 120 minutes of torturous driving. For this, drivers generally either run or cycle. The runners cover about 10 miles per day. Cycling places less stress one the joints, and cyclists may cycle over 30 miles per day. British F1 driver was such a well trained cyclist that his coach believes that he could compete professionally if he was to stop F1.

This workout format is followed by many F1 drivers, including Lewis Hamilton, Mark Webber, Rubens Barrichello and Massa.

The F1 Core Strength Workout

1. Swiss Ball Press Ups

This is one of the best core strength exercises. Having your feet balanced on a Swiss ball while do press ups ensure that you engage all supporting muscles. It is the equivalent of doing free weight bench presses instead of using a Smith machine.

2. Swiss-ball balancing

Sounds simple enough. Sit on a Swiss ball, and then lift one foot up. You engage hip and lower back muscles to remain seated. Pushing your forehead against a partners palm also builds neck muscles, and teaches your body to keep muscles engaged without over tensing.

3. Over-arm pull ups.

The classic back and forearm strength builder. The main purpose of this is to build a strong grip. Two hours gripping a F1 steering wheel quickly starts to burn without proper preparation.

Lord Coe’s Running Tips

1. Buy a good pair of running shoes. Simple and obvious, unless you plan to run bare foot. For race day you need to have run your shoes in. New shoes are no good, but then neither are old ones.
2. Diet is important, but should not be made the most important element for running. But, in the days running up to a race you need to start to eat more carbohydrates and less protein.
3. Drink less alcohol. No need to give up drinking, just drink moderately. One or two beers at the weekend is not a problem, and a pint of ale after exercise does aid re-hydration.
4. Keep drinking plenty of water in the days running up to the race to ensure that you are well hydrated.
5. Get your mindset right. Being mentally ready for the run is very important. Being physically ready makes being mentally ready much easier.
6. Make sure that you are physically ready for a half marathon with some good length practice runs. Before the race day you should have covered about 10 miles in a few runs. Ideally you will have run the full 13 mile half marathon once or twice beforehand. The last big run needs to be at least 10 days before the race.
7. After he race, just enjoy yourself, enjoy the feeling of competing a race or raising money for charity.
8. Do not wait too long before running again. The hard work as been done, just keep running to stay fit and then when the next race comes up, you will be able to prepare with relative ease.

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

1. Keeping your weight down so that you have less to carry
2. Building lean and functional muscle
3. Increasing muscular endurance
4. Flexibility and agility

Being fit helps in two ways. The first is obvious, you need the strength to climb. But also you need to be able to stay mentally alert so that you can climb intelligently. When our bodies tire, our problem solving skills start to suffer, and this can result in not being able to find the next foothold to work your way up the rock face.

Full Body Circuit Training

The best way to prepare for rock climbing is to do full body circuit training workouts combined with some weight training. The circuit training will provide the muscular endurance and ensure that all muscles are worked. To build upper body strength various forms of press up is recommended, plus dips and pull ups. To be able to lift your bodyweight and hold it, such as with a pull up, is highly advantageous. There may be times when you cannot find a good foothold and need to pull yourself into a better position.

Plyometric training is also very useful for climbers. Climbers often require short burst of power to propel themselves upwards, and this is where box jumps and other plyometric workouts can really help.

Strength Training Exercises for Rock Climbing

The most important strength training exercises for rock climbing are:

• Lateral pull downs. While seated use a cable machine to pull a weight down from above your head to your chest. Use a wide grip with palms facing forward.
• Pull ups. Use either a pull up bar or a cable machine to pull a weight down from above your head to the top of your chest. These are done with a close grip and your palms facing you.
• Dips. Bodyweight dips work the triceps and shoulders and are essential for those tricky situations when you need to push yourself out of a crevice. Work on endurance as well as strength. For endurance perform 3 or 4 sets of 10 reps. For strength add weight to your waist.
• Lateral Raises and Pull Downs. These exercises require you to keep your body and arms straight while either pulling a weight up and across your body or pulling one down in front of you. They work the shoulders.
• Bench Press. These work the triceps and chest. They help to maintain some balance when exercising also.

Strong Legs Will Lift You

Do not forgot to train your legs though, as strong legs will lift a climber with far greater efficiency than strong arms. Bodyweight squats and lunges are the key with plenty of repetitions to build up muscular endurance.

Some climbers like to do isometric resistance training exercises, as these can mimic the work you have to do at times just to maintain and hold your position. With isometric workouts you apply constant pressure to an immovable bar rather than lift weights. Bruce Lee was a great fan of isometric training, claiming that it increased strength without adding additional muscular bulk, which climbers can do without (big muscles are heavy).

Strong and Flexible Legs are Essential

Training Forearms and Fingers

Training the forearms and fingers is also a popular past time of rock climbers. Increasing grip strength is important, but remember that the strength of the fingers comes from the forearms. Fingers have no muscles! Barbell deadlifts can benefit climbers here as the deadlift strengthens the core, lower back, legs and also the forearms. One of the best ways to improve forearm strength is to just hang on a bar. If you are serious about rock climbing then you should have regular access to a bar that you can use for pull ups, chin ups and static hangs.

Fingerboards are very useful tools for climbers. They are small boards designed to mimic a variety of rock surfaces that you can attach to a wall. You then simply hang on the boards, often one hand at a time, to mimic the strain of climbing. Regular training on a fingerboard can increase finger and arm strength. Usually the biggest problem is that the exercise can get a bit boring after a while.

Monkey Around for Greater Strength

Just “monkey around” on the bar and you will benefit. If you have access to monkey bars then these can really help, as you increase strength in the fingers, forearms, shoulder and back. Although the fingers may be the first to fail when climbing, the shoulders and biceps also need to be very strong to help take some of the pressure of the forearms and hands. You may find monkey bars in your local park in the kids play area. Just go along early in the morning or in the evening when the children are not there.

Yoga Exercises for the Climber

There are various yoga postures that are excellent to help climbers. This is because yoga helps to increase flexibility, balance and strength, all of which are essential. Practicing the sun salutation 5 times a day will help to improve flexibility.

V-Fit SC1-P Training Cycle

Chris Hoy collected three gold medals for Great Britain in the Beijing 2008 Olympics, proving himself to be one of the worlds finest ever track racers. Hoy became the first British Olympian for 100 years to claim three golds at one Olympics in the 2008 Games in Beijing. This came when he won the keirin, the team sprint and also the individual sprint.

Chris Hoy’s training regime is very varied, as well as incredibly intense. We shall look at just one part of his sprint training here, the V02 Max Intervals.

V02 Max Intervals

VO2 max, also known as maximal oxygen/uptake or simply aerobic capacity, is the maximum capacity of an individual’s body to transport and utilize oxygen during incremental exercise. This reflects the physical fitness of the individual. The name is derived from V̇ – volume per time, O2 – oxygen, max – maximum. So, what does this mean? Basically, when sprinting oxygen is quickly depleted in the muscles, and aerobic exercises turns to anaerobic. As soon as this happens, lactic acid builds up, and muscle fatigue starts. VO2 Max training aims to increase oxygen capacity, in order to increase aerobic efficiency.

This workout can be done either on the road, on a turbo trainer or on an exercise bike. Training on an exercise bike is often recommended as you can control the workout and focus on cycling without having to concentrate on traffic.

For this workout, train on either a slight incline, or equivalent resistance on a machine. Warm up for at least 20 minutes, starting easy and building up effort slowly to the point that it becomes difficult to speak. Once warmed up, perform three full intensity sprints of 20-30 seconds, with a 2 minute recovery between each one. This completes the first stage of the workout.

The second stage is the full interval training. Each interval should be a three minute long sprint. Pedal at 90-95rpm for three minutes, with effort spread evenly over the three minute period. Ideally by the end of the three minutes you should only have enough energy to go for another 10 seconds before hitting the wall (failure). You do not want to collapse at the end of the three minutes, but close to it. You need to be able to recover to repeat the workout after a rest.

After the sprint cycle gently for five full minutes. Lengthy recovery is essential to give time for your muscles to recover their oxygen levels. Once the recovery cycle is complete, perform another three minute sprint. Focus on completing an interval properly, i.e. without failing. This means that you have to carefully choose the gear/resistance and speed at which you cycle. It is better to perform only one good sprint interval than a few poor ones.

This training type requires that you build up your stamina over time. It is generally recommended to perform this type of interval training just once or twice a week over a period of three weeks, with easy, steady cycling for two days between each VO2 session. Try to increase the number of intervals completed in each session to a maximum of five. Once you can do five, aim to increase work rate, i.e. sprint faster with higher resistance, rather than increase the number of intervals.

If you are competing in any form of event, stop this training at least two weeks before, to give your body chance to fully recover. Over training is easy to do when performing such intensive exercise. Ensure that you eat well and consume plenty of fluids, especially post workout energy / protein drinks.

Hoy Facts and Oddities:

• Hoy was inspired to cycle at age six by the 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.
• Before track cycling, Hoy raced BMX between the ages of 7 and 14 and was ranked 2nd in Britain, 5th in Europe and 9th in the world.
• Hoy rowed for the Scottish junior team, coming second in the 1993 British championship with Grant Florence in the coxless pairs.
• He also played rugby as part of his school’s team.

Chris Hoy Bio:

Christopher Hoy MBE was born on 23 March 1976 in Edinburgh. He is a track cyclist representing Great Britain. He is a multiple world champion, and Olympic Games gold and silver medal winner. With his three gold medals in Beijing 2008 Hoy became Scotland’s most successful Olympian, and the first Briton to win three medals in a single Olympic games since Henry Taylor, in 1908. He is also the most successful Olympic male cyclist of all time.

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