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Pacing Through Endurance
Training
When most people think of
endurance training, they think of running or biking for long distances.
Endurance training really means any sort of
training that is done for an
extended period of time. For example, swimming a long distance can also be a
form of endurance training. For the purposes of this article, let's focus
mainly on walking and jogging, though.
Before we can talk about pacing through endurance training, we need to look
at the two different types of running. Those are running for speed, such as
in a foot race, and running for strength or endurance, such as in a
marathon. Many people want to skip straight to the speed part, but it just
doesn't happen that way. To accomplish speed eventually, you need endurance
and strength.
Heart Rate and Endurance:
The thing you need to understand about how to pace yourself during
endurance
training is that it all has to do with a few basic things. One of those
things is your heart rate. Each person's maximum heart race is a little bit
different. So, paces are categorized by a percentage heart rate jump for
that person.
The Three Paces:
Typically, there are three types of pace, the resting pace and the
comfortable pace are the two that we must be concerned about for endurance
training. There is, of course, also the fast pace associated with
intense or
fast training, too.
Depending on your personal circumstances, your comfortable pace should get
your heart rate to between 50 and 70 percent of maximum. The comfortable
pace is the pace at which you can jog while
breathing easily. If fact, you
should even be able to talk to whoever is jogging with you easily and
without feeling at all winded. That's great, since training with
friends is
often easier and more fun.
Your resting heart rate, on the other hand, should be slower than your
comfortable heart rate, obviously. If you are walking or jogging slowly
enough to be at your resting rate, you aren't getting as much of a
workout
at the time, but you could be doing your body a favor in the long run. It's
important to know your limits and slow down when you need to, after all.
Things That Affect Personal Heart Rate/Comfortable Pace:
As mentioned earlier, each person's heart rates are a bit different. That's
because each person is totally unique and experiencing a totally unique set
of circumstances. So, it's important to measure your own success using your
own limitations. Ideally, you should talk to your doctor before starting a
training routine. Here are five things to discuss when you do so.
1. Your Age
2. Illnesses You Have
3. Medications You Are Taking
4. Your Weight
5. Your Lifestyle (Drinking, Smoking etc.)
Any of the above things could cause a problem with endurance training. Your
doctor could recommend that you don't train at all, based on those things.
At the very least, though, they can affect your resting and comfortable
heart rates.
If you're just starting out, you also need to remember to start out small.
The idea of endurance training is to gradually work yourself up to a longer
and longer training time. The key word there is “gradually”. For example, if
you want to run a marathon tomorrow, think again. It's going to take at
least a year or two to be in that kind of
shape, if you train properly. As
the old adage goes, “Slow and steady wins the race.” If you try to do too
much too quickly you're going to leave yourself wide open for
injuries.
The Burn:
If you've ever run too fast, you know that it can make your lungs burn.
That's because of a chemical called lactic acid that is produced during
strenuous exercise. You aren't going to be able to do much endurance
training if your lungs are burning. So, your goal is to keep a pace that is
comfortable and doesn't deprive you of oxygen or make your lungs hurt. As
mentioned earlier, think of jogging comfortably with a good friend. Or,
better yet, actually jog comfortably with a friend.
Endurance Fuel:
Finally, remember that pacing itself is great, but it can only take you so
far in endurance training. You won't succeed unless you also treat your
body
properly. That means fuelling your body properly.
You've probably head of “carb loading” before a race. For speed runners,
that's not a horrible thing. In fact, since
carbs provide a great source of
fuel for them, it's usually helpful for short amounts of time. For an
endurance runner, though, it's a whole other story. It's fats that help to
keep the body fuelled for long amounts of time, but it's carbohydrates that
help keep muscles stocked with the glycogen that they need to work
effectively. So, what's the answer?
Well, the answer is to do three very important things. First, fuel up on
fats and carbs before you do endurance events. Second, fuel up on both
during endurance events. Third, fuel up on both after endurance events. It's
vital that you do all three. Otherwise, you'll deplete your body's stores
and never succeed at endurance training.
The Problems from Repeating
Same or Similar Workouts Each Session
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before starting any new diet.
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