[정보] Skating alone and technical limits
2007.05.09 09:09
스피드 온 스케이트(Speed on skate) 의 저자, 베리 퍼블로우의 글입니다.
Skating alone and technical limits (by Barry Publow)
In many years of meeting, speaking to, and observing skaters in their training I have been asked many questions and experienced a number of interesting things. When certain topics recur on a frequent basis a pattern begins to form. And this pattern speaks to the overwhelming theme that most skaters fall prey to one or more of a distinct set of training-related pitfalls. Often this is caused by simple ignorance, while other times it is the result of a systematic and widespread propagation of misinformation. It never ceases to amaze me some of the things skaters believe, what they have been taught or told, or the ways they go about trying to improve their performance. Over the next 5 weeks, I hope to set the record straight on a number of issues.
1. Skating alone too often
Aside from your own individual technique the most important skill you can develop as an inline athlete is the ability to be comfortable and efficient in a pack. This means drafting close and being able to deal with the dynamics of a group. Skating alone does absolutely nothing to foster this particular talent. The only way to get good at something is to practice it, and it is painfully obvious which skaters regularly train on the own versus those who train with a group. Make the extra effort to skate with others, even if its with only one other person.
Skating with others also helps to make your workouts go by faster, enhances motivation, and helps you become a more well-rounded athlete. Since no two skaters are exactly alike, your technique will require subtle modification in order to draft different individuals as closely as possible. You will find that you prefer to follow certain people, and hate to follow others. A skater may kick back too much, their stride may be too long, or they may not wash their skinsuit enough. Whatever the case may be, skating with others is an effective way to develop greater versatility on skates.
2. Skating beyond your technical limits
I am a big believer that all skaters should learn to skate well before they learn to skate fast. This basic tenet is something we preach at every one of our workshops, and skaters are often hesitant to accept it. We’re all in this sport because we love to skate, and we speedskaters love to skate fast. The problem is that many skaters possess strength and raw talent that far outweighs their technical aptitude. Most skaters can perform well at low to moderate speeds, but as soon as they exert themselves beyond a certain point technique falls to pieces. Skating beyond this ‘redline’ too often will not only impede one’s technical improvement, but can foster bad habits that may stick around forever.
There is much to be gained by skating within your technical limits. Those with the patience to learn proper mechanics and the all-important timing of the weight transfer will be rewarded down the road. Technique, and the practice time you spent developing related attributes, is an investment! Invest now if your form and once you are solid and stable then you can train your body. Remember, balance and body alignment are the first skills for a skaters to achieve. Only skate as hard as you are able while remaining in full control. In the end you will be faster and more efficient than your chums who just go out there and hammer like a Mack truck on flat tires.
Training volume and seasonal planning
3. Excessive Training Volume and Overtraining
Without doubt one of the biggest misnomers in this sport is the belief that skating long distance will make you faster. Skating long will improve your aerobic capacity and muscular endurance, but it does little to improve your speed.
Logging a load of miles has its time and place early in the season when building an aerobic base. But once the competitive season rolls around the focus should be on speed, not mileage. So why do so many skaters go out and skate 20-30 miles a day 5-6 days a week? The only reason why anyone should skate this much is either 1) They just love to skate; 2) They want to lose weight and are trying to burn as many calories as possible; or 3) They are training specifically for an ultra endurance event such as A2A. The problem is that the majority of these people are training for events ranging from 10km to a 42 km marathon, and think that this is the best way to prepare. Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! This sort of mileage during the ‘in-season’ is a waste of time.
If you want to get fast, you need to train fast. Short intervals, lots of anaerobic training, and work on improving your acceleration and ability to recover after repeated surges in pace. The reason you log miles in the early season (preseason) is so that you can focus on speed work during the late preseason and competitive season. My general advice to most people... once you’ve built your base cut your mileage in half, take 2 or even 3 rest days per week, and focus more on speed work using short interval repeats and sprints distances.
4. Lack of Seasonal Planning
Most skaters fail to understand the fact that it is impossible to maintain a high degree of competitive readiness for more than a few months at a time. Because of this, all skaters need to frame the entire year in one scene and divide it up into smaller and more manageable segments. Each of these segments has its goals and objectives, as well as appropriate and corresponding training methods. Choose your races early, and plan your training so that you achieve a peak in performance at the desired time.
The real trouble begins with skaters who live in a climate that is temperate enough to skate year-round. There is no forced off-season the way there is in northern latitudes, and as a result skaters get sucked into training the same way the whole year through. The result is one big plateau in performance. Well guess what folks? No matter where you live you still need to plan and adhere to off-season training. The body needs some downtime and gradual and progressive building of capacity leading up to your main event(s).
The concept of planning your season in this way is called periodization, and it is a cornerstone principle of modern sport science. Skaters can also get themselves into trouble by attempting to maintain peak or near-peak form for too long. Consider, for example, an individual who has a big race in early May, a number of smaller races during the summer months, and then has their other big event in late August. Rather than try to maintain top-form over the entire 5 month period, it would better to peak in May, maintain reasonable form during June, and then back off significantly and rebuild once more for a subsequent peak in August. Five months is too long to maintain optimal fitness, even for the most talented of athletes. Plan your season around key events and learn more about the concept of periodization. You will get more our of your performances by peaking and tapering several times during the course of a season than you will be trying to maintain top form for several months on end.
Skating alone and technical limits (by Barry Publow)
In many years of meeting, speaking to, and observing skaters in their training I have been asked many questions and experienced a number of interesting things. When certain topics recur on a frequent basis a pattern begins to form. And this pattern speaks to the overwhelming theme that most skaters fall prey to one or more of a distinct set of training-related pitfalls. Often this is caused by simple ignorance, while other times it is the result of a systematic and widespread propagation of misinformation. It never ceases to amaze me some of the things skaters believe, what they have been taught or told, or the ways they go about trying to improve their performance. Over the next 5 weeks, I hope to set the record straight on a number of issues.
1. Skating alone too often
Aside from your own individual technique the most important skill you can develop as an inline athlete is the ability to be comfortable and efficient in a pack. This means drafting close and being able to deal with the dynamics of a group. Skating alone does absolutely nothing to foster this particular talent. The only way to get good at something is to practice it, and it is painfully obvious which skaters regularly train on the own versus those who train with a group. Make the extra effort to skate with others, even if its with only one other person.
Skating with others also helps to make your workouts go by faster, enhances motivation, and helps you become a more well-rounded athlete. Since no two skaters are exactly alike, your technique will require subtle modification in order to draft different individuals as closely as possible. You will find that you prefer to follow certain people, and hate to follow others. A skater may kick back too much, their stride may be too long, or they may not wash their skinsuit enough. Whatever the case may be, skating with others is an effective way to develop greater versatility on skates.
2. Skating beyond your technical limits
I am a big believer that all skaters should learn to skate well before they learn to skate fast. This basic tenet is something we preach at every one of our workshops, and skaters are often hesitant to accept it. We’re all in this sport because we love to skate, and we speedskaters love to skate fast. The problem is that many skaters possess strength and raw talent that far outweighs their technical aptitude. Most skaters can perform well at low to moderate speeds, but as soon as they exert themselves beyond a certain point technique falls to pieces. Skating beyond this ‘redline’ too often will not only impede one’s technical improvement, but can foster bad habits that may stick around forever.
There is much to be gained by skating within your technical limits. Those with the patience to learn proper mechanics and the all-important timing of the weight transfer will be rewarded down the road. Technique, and the practice time you spent developing related attributes, is an investment! Invest now if your form and once you are solid and stable then you can train your body. Remember, balance and body alignment are the first skills for a skaters to achieve. Only skate as hard as you are able while remaining in full control. In the end you will be faster and more efficient than your chums who just go out there and hammer like a Mack truck on flat tires.
Training volume and seasonal planning
3. Excessive Training Volume and Overtraining
Without doubt one of the biggest misnomers in this sport is the belief that skating long distance will make you faster. Skating long will improve your aerobic capacity and muscular endurance, but it does little to improve your speed.
Logging a load of miles has its time and place early in the season when building an aerobic base. But once the competitive season rolls around the focus should be on speed, not mileage. So why do so many skaters go out and skate 20-30 miles a day 5-6 days a week? The only reason why anyone should skate this much is either 1) They just love to skate; 2) They want to lose weight and are trying to burn as many calories as possible; or 3) They are training specifically for an ultra endurance event such as A2A. The problem is that the majority of these people are training for events ranging from 10km to a 42 km marathon, and think that this is the best way to prepare. Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! This sort of mileage during the ‘in-season’ is a waste of time.
If you want to get fast, you need to train fast. Short intervals, lots of anaerobic training, and work on improving your acceleration and ability to recover after repeated surges in pace. The reason you log miles in the early season (preseason) is so that you can focus on speed work during the late preseason and competitive season. My general advice to most people... once you’ve built your base cut your mileage in half, take 2 or even 3 rest days per week, and focus more on speed work using short interval repeats and sprints distances.
4. Lack of Seasonal Planning
Most skaters fail to understand the fact that it is impossible to maintain a high degree of competitive readiness for more than a few months at a time. Because of this, all skaters need to frame the entire year in one scene and divide it up into smaller and more manageable segments. Each of these segments has its goals and objectives, as well as appropriate and corresponding training methods. Choose your races early, and plan your training so that you achieve a peak in performance at the desired time.
The real trouble begins with skaters who live in a climate that is temperate enough to skate year-round. There is no forced off-season the way there is in northern latitudes, and as a result skaters get sucked into training the same way the whole year through. The result is one big plateau in performance. Well guess what folks? No matter where you live you still need to plan and adhere to off-season training. The body needs some downtime and gradual and progressive building of capacity leading up to your main event(s).
The concept of planning your season in this way is called periodization, and it is a cornerstone principle of modern sport science. Skaters can also get themselves into trouble by attempting to maintain peak or near-peak form for too long. Consider, for example, an individual who has a big race in early May, a number of smaller races during the summer months, and then has their other big event in late August. Rather than try to maintain top-form over the entire 5 month period, it would better to peak in May, maintain reasonable form during June, and then back off significantly and rebuild once more for a subsequent peak in August. Five months is too long to maintain optimal fitness, even for the most talented of athletes. Plan your season around key events and learn more about the concept of periodization. You will get more our of your performances by peaking and tapering several times during the course of a season than you will be trying to maintain top form for several months on end.
