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Event preparation..........enjoy the process enjoy the event!

Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Event or experience…….lets help you enjoy the day! (Experience could be a tramp or ride that isn't race i.e. Old Ghost Road.)

When it comes to events we spend a lot of time focusing on the event, the outcome and then rely on our result meeting our expectation to say we were successful or at least happy with how it all went!

I would like to share from my own experience and from speaking with others, some take home tips on what I’ve learnt from my event/experience preparation and races.

1) Prepare well, train well……avoid what I call grey area training which is training with mid to high intensity and frequently but not for race duration. Is your race 3 hours long but all of your training sessions are tiring 1 hour sessions…….? You may be adding a lot of fatigue without improving fitness that you can use. Look at doing longer more moderate intensity work for the time you expect to riding/ running for and then short high intensity repeat efforts for strength and power gains. Check out the map/course of the event and find some comparable ground/ elevation so you’re not surprised when it comes to your race.

2) Prepare well! Same as point 1, but we will focus on looking after yourself and recovery. Eat well and eat enough, under eating will lead to under recovering which will have a big impact on your performance and increase the risk of injury. Hydrate well to allow your body to load and move well, you should aim for 30% of your bodyweight in water intake daily….more when exercising. Eat something easily digestible in the 30mins post exercise and a good meal in the 3 hours following.

3) Adapt your training to where you’re at……each day your body will respond differently to training which is why it is important to have a plan and avoid training too hard. It's also important to adapt your session each time if you’re not 100%
Here is a few questions to ask yourself…
Have you had 6 hours sleep last night?
Have you had water in the last 90 mins?
Have you eaten something nutritious in the last 5 hours?
Have you had a stressful day?
Do I have any aches, pains or niggles?

All of the above will have an impact on your ability to perform, if you’re finding you’re always getting the wrong answers then work on the behaviour change needed so you arrive at your training time ready to go!


4) Connect in training: Train with a friend or like-minded person who enjoys doing what you do, they don’t need to match your fitness level but avoid judging yourself on their performance when you know they are fitter than you. We know when we change the emotive response you get from exercise, we change performance, enjoy your training and you will enjoy the process not just the outcome! You will find an event or experience is a great way to get your kids healthy and fitness focused.

5) Don’t build up your expectations, enjoy the day……..I’ve done this to myself, put too much pressure on myself on the day and raced my race in the car on the way to the event. Worrying, stressed , trying to control everything I can’t control and raced at a speed I can’t maintain because I had under trained! All of the above will equal a performance that doesn’t meet your expectation.

Set a realistic goal that’s based on your own training, fitness level, experience in the event and preparation; then enjoy the challenge. Focus on the process and you will enjoy the outcome! Don’t forget to admire the scenery as often your event will cover some of the best area’s our country has to offer.

Completing an event can be the most invigorating experience and can be the start of a great journey. It’s always motivating to have a goal with your fitness, being able to have the feeling of accomplishment as you sit around after discussing war stories from the day is a feeling I would encourage you to experience.

My challenge to you is to find something (event or experience) you feel would challenge you and lock in your spot!

Asking the right questions

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

We constantly ask ourselves questions......or question our decisions.

Questions around exercise are no different, with our often short term focused mindset its easy to hesitate or doubt that we are on track when results don't occur as quickly as we would like.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

1) What really makes me happy? We often have a desired outcome in mind, that idea of when we achieve that "GOAL" we will be successful therefore happy! This often leads to a focus on the outcome not the process/es that are needed to be successful. Find out what makes you happy.......enjoy your exercise and success will follow because the behaviour change needed for success will occur without effort.

2) Am i focused on the process? I like the term "process orientated" Its easy to weigh our entire motivation on the end result when in reality creating motivation around the day to day behaviour change needed to see the end result is a better use of our energy.
Its likley that the habits you will need to form to be successful in your fitness or health related goals will need to remain long after you have achieved the goal you set out to achieve at the beginning. Focus on the process and set goals based on the behaviour change!

3) Is it pleasure or pain? Our brain will always drive us towards pleasure but what will override this is the drive to move away from pain. Is your exercise filled with pain physical or mental/emotional pain, a lack of enjoyment or a frustration that no progress is being made? If we have to create pain to succeed we will be in a constant fight with ourselves and of course be questioning our decisions constantly.

Change your language and mindset and success will follow.

If you would like help asking the right questions talk to one of us.

Why is my hip sore

Monday, January 25, 2016

Soreness in the muscles around your hip can mean a few things, you may be in need to some imagery and medical advice if you have a serious issue or you may be suffering from a common imbalance in strength and movement.

We spend a lot of time in repetitive movement patterns whether it be a weekend exercise pursuit or a regular gym routine your movement can look very similar even if you have a range of exercises in your programme.

If you had a imbalance in strength or an ankle or hip the moves differently to the other side then you can easily develop a compensation and feed into it on a daily basis.

Common issues I see are anterior (front) hip discomfort or pain and tension in the side of the pelvis and into the lower back.

We will always test to see what range the pain occurs at and if unsure refer to a specialist of sports doctor to make sure there isn't some underlying issue that needs to be repaired. In saying that 90% of the time we see one of two issues that is easily treated.

1) an ankle that has limited Doris flexsion ( forward movement knee over ankle)

2) weakness in the Glute muscles on the other side of the body ( and we often both issues occurring together)

Treatment can be straight forward with a little extra awerness and if nothing is done then you could risk long term knee and hip injuries on the dominant overworked side!

Treatment looks at a combination of ankle mobility and strength work on the weaker side of the hip. We will add in some release work to the sore side to keep in happy and in a matter of days.

I'll post a video over the next few days to show you how to work your sore hip!

If this information sounds like it could help you simply see how you feel standing on each leg, a wobbly leg = a lack of control and we could be onto something!

Email your examples and I'll see if I can help
paul@advancedfitness.co.nz

Cheers
Paul

Ankle movement for improved performance and pain free running Part 1

Tuesday, December 02, 2014

Are you like me and enjoy a bit of running or are you looking for an event the week after your last half or full marathon?

If you fall into either category or have experience niggling or reoccurring pain in ankles, knees, or hips and lower back then please read on.

Your ability to move well within the joints that make up your foot and ankle will determine how your body distributes force and whether or not your muscles handle the stress you’re putting on them.

Pain that just occurs from repetitive stress (running) and isn’t caused by an impact or fall should be a warning sign something isn’t right. The answer could be as simple creating better movement within your feet.

Here is a couple of things to try to see how you match-up:

  1. Stand with your feet about 2 inches back from the wall, can you slowly move your knee’s over your toes and touch the wall?
  2. Can you stand on both feet with your weight evenly distributed over both and lift up your big toe with lifting the remaining toes on each foot?
  3. Face a mirror and stand on one leg, have a look in the mirror top see if you need to lean or compensate to stand without losing balance.

How did you go? If you found one or all of those challenging there may be something we can work on. See the videos below for more info on each test. I will go into more detail in part two of this article  Running is a great to improve your fitness and unnecessary pain and injuries with only add to your frustration.