訓練中年運動員
Coaching Masters Athletes
在鐵人三項運動中,中年運動員指的是40歲及以上的運動員。截至2011年底,39%的美國鐵人三項協會成員都達到了這一標準。事實上,無論是男性還是女性,美國鐵人三項協會年度成員中最大的一個年齡組是40~44歲年齡組。與青少年運動員相比,中年運動員可能會有更多時間和可支配收入來參加比賽。然而,無論我們如何努力保持年輕,隨著年齡的增長,身體的確發生了某些生理變化。好消息是,適當的訓練可以延緩甚至削弱這些變化。
In triathlon, a masters athlete is one who is aged 40 or older. As of the end of 2011, 39 percent of USAT annual members met this criterion. In fact, the largest single age group for both female and male USAT annual members is the 40 to 44 age group. Masters athletes may have more time and disposable income for racing than their younger counterparts. However, it doesn’t matter how hard we try to stay young, as we grow older there are certain undeniable physiological changes in our bodies. The good news is that proper training can delay or diminish these changes.
中年運動員的訓練重點
Focus for Masters
中年運動員應該著眼於每次訓練的質量,並在下次訓練前充分恢復和休息。他們應少花時間在節奏緩慢·時間長的耐力訓練上,多花時間努力訓練和比賽,以保持現有的速度。40歲及以上的鐵人三項運動員往往有豐富的比賽經驗和訓練經驗,他們可以利用這些知識更加順利地完成比賽和訓練。
A masters athlete’s training focus should be on the quality of each training session combined with the opportunity to recover and rest adequately before the next session. Masters athletes should spend less time doing long, slow endurance workouts and more time preserving their speed with harder training and racing efforts. Triathletes 40 and older often have extensive racing and training experience, and they can use this knowledge to race and train more successfully.
教練可以和運動員交流以往的比賽經歷,指出表現好的環節,並從錯誤中吸取教訓。中年運動員的心理成熟,能以健康和平衡的方式進行比賽和訓練。此外,他們也有更多時間和金錢來滿足自己對比賽的激情。這些優勢意味著,一些耐力強的中年運動員到了50多歲仍然可以創造個人最佳成績。簡而言之,中年運動員成功的關鍵如下:
* 定期進行力量訓練
* 做好充分恢復的計劃
* 注意潛在傷害
Coaches can ask masters to talk through past races to find out what went well and to learn from mistakes. Masters athletes may also have the maturity to approach training and racing in the most healthy and balanced manner, and they may have more time and money to devote to their racing passions. These advantages mean that some endurance masters athletes can still set new personal bests well into their 50s. In short, the keys to success for masters are as follows:
* Strength train regularly.
* Plan adequate recovery.
* Be aware of the injury potential.
定期進行力量訓練
Strength Train Regularly
臨近30歲,所有成年人的肌肉都開始減少。骨骼肌以每年0.5%~1%的速度流失,這一現象即肌肉減少症。好消息是,鍛鍊身體和力量訓練已被證實可以減緩肌肉退化的速度(Taaffe,2006)。對於這一特殊群體,這點對安排適當的訓練來說至關重要。中年運動員應定期把力量訓練納入自己的訓練計劃中。每週安排2~3次力量訓練有助於運動員保持力量·平衡能力和速度。
Sometimes in our late 20s, all adults begin to lose muscle. This yearly degenerative loss of 0.5 to 1 percent of skeletal muscle is called sarcopenia. Fortunately, exercise and strength training has been shown to slow the rate of degeneration (Taaffe 2006). This is crucial information for designing proper training for this special group of athletes. Masters athletes should regularly incorporate strength training into their training programs. Two or three strength sessions per week will help a masters athlete maintain strength, balance, and speed.
做好充分恢復的計劃
Plan Adequate Recovery
中年運動員在訓練後需要更多的恢復時間。40歲及以上的運動員需要在訓練計劃中多安排一些休息日和休息週。30歲的運動員在連續訓練3週後,只需安排1週的休息時間;而中年運動員訓練1週後,就要休息1週。由於對恢復的需求增加,中年運動員應該將跑步天數(因為跑步消耗很大)降至最低限度——通常每週安排3次,讓身體得以恢復調整。
Masters athletes require more recovery time from training sessions. Athletes 40 and older need more rest days and rest weeks built into their training plans. Where 30-year-old athletes might be able to build their training for 3 weeks in a row before needing a rest week, masters athletes might need a rest week as early as after 1 week of training. Because of this increased need for recovery, master athletes should cut running days (because of their high impact) down to a minimum—often to just 3 days a week to allow for the balance of adaptation and recovery.
注意潛在傷害
Be Aware of the Injury Potential
到了40多歲,運動員可能已經在訓練和比賽中經歷過各種傷病。隨著年齡的增長和身體狀況下降,其中一些傷痛可能會發展成慢性疾病。教練需要遵循康復專家的建議每週安排力量訓練和拉伸訓練,以解決肌肉僵硬和肌肉不協調的問題。此外,教練還需要調整訓練量,為運動員在兩次訓練之間留足恢復時間。中年運動員往往在訓練量較少時表現最佳,所以他們可以把大多數訓練時間花在高強度訓練·抗阻訓練和力量訓練上。
By the time an athlete has reached her 40s, she has probably experienced a wide range of injuries from training and racing. Some of these injuries may become chronic as the athlete ages through degeneration or long-term weakness. The coach needs to prescribe weekly strength and stretching training sessions derived from rehabilitation experts to address muscular imbalances and tightness. The coach must also optimize training volume to allow the masters athlete enough rest for adequate recovery between hard training sessions. Masters athletes generally do best on a lower training volume, with a higher percentage of time spent doing high-intensity or force and strength work.
關於中年運動員和潛在傷病,也有好的一面。運動員對受傷的看法會更加明智。經歷過許多傷痛,他們會知道何時停止訓練·何時休息·何時放慢訓練節奏以避免受傷。如果受傷了,他們也會知道如何治癒,也有可靠的途徑可以諮詢。許多中年運動員在年長時所受的傷比年輕時要少。
here is also good news about masters and injury potential. Masters athletes are more likely to be wise about injuries. They have experienced enough of them to know when to stop a training session, take a rest day, or slow down the pace of a workout to avoid injury. If they become injured, they are more likely to know how to heal and have a pool of trusted resources to consult. Many masters remain more injury-free in their older years than when younger.
中年運動員訓練注意事項
Training Considerations for Masters
經過數年的耐力訓練,中年運動員有著很強大的運動基礎。多年的自行車訓練·游泳訓練和長跑訓練讓他們獲得了生理適應和運動基礎。因此與青少年運動員或是經驗少的運動員相比,中年運動員不需要花很多時間打基礎。
Masters often have a large base of cumulative years of endurance training. They have adapted physiologically from all the years of steady biking, swimming, and running and have built their base. Therefore, they may need less base-building time than younger or less experienced athletes.
要想維持短跑能力,運動員必須持續進行高強度訓練和比賽。隨著年齡的增長,運動表現不佳的主要原因在於有氧代謝能力下降,乳酸閾速度和功率也隨之下降。雖然針對該問題的研究不多,但這樣看來如果中年運動員堅持參加重點訓練和高水平的比賽,那麼到了50多歲,他也還可以維持有氧代謝能力·乳酸閾的效率和運動能力(Trappe etal., 1996)。
If an athlete wants to keep his ability to race strongly at shorter distances, he must continue to do high-intensity workouts and races. The biggest contributor to age-related loss of performance may be loss of aerobic capacity (O2max) along with loss of speed and power at the lactate threshold. Although there is not much available research on the topic, it appears that master athletes can maintain their aerobic capacity, lactate threshold capacity, and economy until sometime in their 50s if they continue with focused training and racing at a high level (Trappe et al. 1996).
在對27名優秀的耐力運動員進行長達15年的跟蹤研究後發現,最活躍的運動員(定期參加短跑比賽的運動員)在15年中成功保持了有氧代謝能力,甚至有所提高(Marti & Howald, 1990)。相反,業餘運動員以每年1%的速度喪失有氧代謝能力; 不愛運動的人以每年1.6%的速度喪失有氧代謝能力。這樣看來,和比賽節奏類似的訓練和比賽能夠幫助逐漸年長的我們維持有氧代謝能力。另一項研究以2006年和2007年鐵人三項世界錦標賽高年齡組幾名頂尖運動員為研究對象,研究了他們逐漸下滑的運動表現(Lepers et al., 2010)。在這三項運動中,隨著年齡的增長,自行車運動表現得下降幅度最小; 其次是游泳; 跑步成績下降幅度最大。但最有趣的是,短跑運動員的有氧代謝能力即最大攝氧能力,下降的最少。鐵人三項運動員的成績下降幅度最大。這一發現似乎表明,運動員必須規劃高強度訓練和短距離比賽,以對抗隨年齡增長而自然下降的有氧代謝能力。
One study that followed 27 elite endurance athletes over 15 years found that the most active athletes (those who raced shorter races regularly) managed to maintain or even improve their aerobic capacities over the 15 years (Marti and Howald 1990). Conversely, recreational athletes tended to lose aerobic capacity at an average rate of 1 percent per year. Those that became sedentary lost 1.6 percent of their aerobic capacity per year. It appears that frequent race-paced efforts (anaerobic threshold) in training and races help sustain aerobic capacity as we age. Another study tracked the decreasing performance of top triathletes in older age groups at the Triathlon World Championships in 2006 and 2007 (Lepers et al. 2010). Of the three sports, cycling showed the least amount of decline as the age groups became older. Swimming was next, and running showed the greatest performance decline. But the most interesting finding was that the short-course athletes showed the least decline in aerobic capacity or O2max. Ironman-distance athletes showed the greatest declines. This finding seems to indicate that master athletes must include high-intensity training and short-course racing in their regimes to fight off the natural decrease in the aerobic capacity that comes with age.
例如,中年運動員進入高強度專項訓練之前應先進行1~3月的間歇訓練,運動強度應該等於或低於乳酸閾,每次運動時長共計20~40分鐘。例如,在1小時比賽節奏的訓練中,早期間歇訓練的時間為3x3分鐘。每週間歇訓練時長逐漸增加。到了後期,在1小時比賽節奏的訓練中,間歇訓練會達到4x10分鐘。這些間歇訓練也可以以游泳·騎行和跑步的形式進行——每週3項訓練各進行1次。如果運動員輕而易舉地就完成了訓練,那麼他就可以進行一系列的有氧區間訓練。圖2.8展示了比賽後期有氧區間訓練和力量訓練的樣本。完成有氧區間訓練和力量訓練後,運動員應多參加模擬比賽訓練,達到和比賽距離相匹配的速度。例如,中年運動員可能會騎1小時的自行車,間歇性地達到目標速度,然後再快速切換到跑步,以目標速度繼續跑步。
An example of masters-specific high-intensity training is starting with a 1- to 3-month series of intervals done at lactate threshold or just below, building the total interval time per workout up to 20 to 40 minutes. For example, an early interval session might be 3 × 3:00 at a 1-hour race pace. Each week the intervals would increase in volume. An example of a late interval session would be 4 × 10:00 at a 1-hour race pace. These intervals could be translated to swim, bike, or run workouts—one for each discipline each week. If the masters athlete completes these with no trouble, she is ready for a series of aerobic-capacity intervals (O2max). Figure 2.8 shows a sample week of aerobic-capacity training for the late competitive phase of training, along with strength training workouts. After this aerobic capacity and strength phase, the athlete should do more and more race-simulation workouts, building toward race distances. For example, the masters athlete might do a 1-hour bike ride with intervals done at goal pace followed by a quick transition to a run done at goal pace.
運動員在40歲後也能取得個人最佳成績。訓練內容不應該只是簡單的耐力訓練,還應幫助運動員學會保存力量和維持速度。中年運動員可以根據個人經驗充分發揮訓練的作用。一個成功的訓練計劃將塑造出一名健康·強壯的運動員。他們到了50多歲仍能保持良好的運動表現,或只是略有衰退。
Athletes are capable of achieving their best race performances after the age of 40. Training needs to address the maintenance of strength and speed rather than involve nothing but easy endurance efforts. Masters athletes can use their experience to make the most of their training journey. A successful training plan will result in healthy, strong athletes who maintain the performance or lessen declines well into their 50s.
Fro USA Triathlon
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