Runners' Forum: From Novice to Professional!

Attended "Runners' Forum: From Novice to Professional" organized by Changi General Hospital on Sat Aug 23. A two hour talk with four sessions by the sports medicine team of CGH led by Dr Ben Tan.

I find the talks informative and enlightening. There would probably be demand for more indepth talks for each session. Met a number of SGRunners - tekko, brokier, DO, zco, terry, philip, meteor, etc. Nice to meet you guys!

Some useful pointers:

1. Principles of training:
a. Progressive overload: increase distance and intensity progressively and slowly
b. Dimishing return: hence important to find optimal benefit-cost range
c. Specificity

2. Introduced to the book "Running - Biomechanics and Exercise Physiology in Practice" by Frans Bosch and Ronald Klomp.

3. Training programs:
a. Easy pace: 1 min slower than marathon pace (MP)
b. Threshold training (tempo run) to increase lactate threshold; 20 sec faster than MP
c. Interval training to increase VO2max level: 30 sec faster than MP. At least 5 min intervals coz it takes 2 mins to reach VO2max level. Followed by 4 min jog
d. Anaerobic sprints / hillwork: 400 to 800 m, recover 2 to 4 times the distance. Repeat 2 to 4 times.

4. Types of stretching:
a. static
b. ballistic
c. p & f (Posture & Flexibility)
d. dynamic: This is recommended for running

5. Causes of cramping
Interestingly, the doctors acknowledged that the cause of cramping is manifold - sodium deficiency, overly fast pace, glycogen depletion, something to do with ATP, etc.

Some technical and medical terms were new to me, so I look some of those up:

Myoglobin (courtesy of Wikipedia!) is a single-chain globular protein of 153 amino acids, containing a heme (iron-containing porphyrin) prosthetic group in the center around which the remaining apoprotein folds. Essentially myoglobin is often cited as having an "instant binding tenacity" to oxygen given its hyperbolic oxygen dissociation curve. High concentrations of myoglobin in muscle cells allow organisms to hold their breaths longer.

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP): the energy currency of the cell that transfers energy from chemical bonds to endergonic (energy absorbing) reactions within the cell.

[But I still don't understand how ATP and myoglobin are inter-related, if at all.]

Conconi test is a simple method for measuring the approximate values of an individual's maximum, anaerobic and aerobic threshold rates. This test has been shown to be flawed (Jones and Doust, 1995).

Conducting the conconi test: the athlete increases their speed gradually every 200 metres and the heart rate and time, at each 200 metre point, are recorded. This gradual increase in speed every 200 metres is maintained until the athlete is unable to maintain the pace. The total distance covered by the test should be between 2.5 km and 4 km to ensure sufficient information is available for subsequent calculations. Speed versus heart rate is then plotted on a graph from which the athlete's anaerobic threshold can be determined.

Perform a five to ten minute warm up program
- Set the HRM to use a 5 second recording interval
- Start the HRM watch at the starting point
- Every 200 metres record the time and heart rate
- Every 200 metres increase your speed
- End the test when you can no longer maintain the pace
- Stop the HRM recording
- Perform a 10 minute cool down program

Plyometrics: A type of exercise training designed to produce fast, powerful movements, and improve the functions of the nervous system, generally for the purpose of improving performance in a specific sport. Plyometric movements, in which a muscle is loaded and then contracted in rapid sequence, use the strength, elasticity and innervation of muscle and surrounding tissues to jump higher, run faster, throw farther, or hit harder, depending on the desired training goal.

Plyometrics are often performed by sprinters, but would also be useful for endurance sports.

TRIMP method
First proposed by Bannister et al in 1975 (Roger Bannister of the 4-min mile?), this method is a very simple way of calculating what is termed TRaining IMPulse (TRIMP). TRIMP is defined as training volume x training intensity and is specific to endurance training as it uses heart rates or heart rate zones. Initially the researchers proposed simple methods of calculating the TRIMP of a session, such as the following:

TRIMP = training time (minutes) x average heart rate (bpm). For example, 30 minutes at 145 bpm. TRIMP = 30 x 145 = 4350.

The disadvantage of this system is that it does not distinguish between different levels of training.

TRIMP training zone method
Proposed to overcome disadvantage of basic TRIMP method. Divide training intensity into 5 zones:

50-60% max HR
60-70%
70-80%
80-90%
90-100%

The zone number is used to quantify training intensity; TRIMP is calculated as the cumulative total of time spent in each training zone.

To express the a similar example to that above in these terms:

30 minutes at 140 bpm. Max HR = 185 bpm. %max HR = 140/185 x 100 = 76%. Therefore, training intensity = 3. TRIMP = training volume (time) x training intensity (HR zone). 30 x 3 = 90.
25 minutes at 180 bpm. Max HR = 185 bpm. %max HR = 97%. Training intensity = 5. TRIMP = 25 x 5 = 125.

TRIMP zone is a simple tool for monitoring all aerobic training and is excellent for endurance athletes.

Dynamic stretching uses speed of movement, momentum and active muscular effort to bring about a stretch. Unlike static stretching the end position is not held.

Dynamic stretching is similar to ballistic stretching except that it avoids bouncing motions and tends to incorporate more sport-specific movements.

Arms circles, exaggerating a kicking action and walking lunges (without weights) are examples of dynamic stretches. A walking lunge dynamically stretches the hip flexors by emphasizing hip extension and can reduce muscle tightness around the hip joint necessary for competition.
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