OCTOBER 07
Keeping along the lines of the previous few articles it’s my turn to speak about my sport and training routine. In a previous life I was a Baseballer and played for a team affiliated to the New York Yankee’s (Affiliation does not mean the same level by any stretch of the imagination). After several injuries I retired early and pursued my current career which is why I am enjoying all of your company today.
In the last few years I have come out of retirement and played this year I played for a German Team; Saar Louis (Long commute to games). I have just arrived back from Spain after trying to help the Great Britain team into the Olympics.
Before we get into my training routine we should remember the importance of Nutrition to any training schedule. This is a little more important for me as I grew up in a household who enjoy their meals. As my family is prone to being large around the waist I keep a good eye on what I eat. The keys to my eating plan are:
1. Little and Often, to keep the need for self control to a minimum I eat 6 small meals a day so I am never really hungry. Picking often at healthy food also keeps my calorie intake down.
2. Sensible shopping, I never shop when I am hungry and I start in the veggy section and then work my way across the food groups. Also I don’t buy unhealthy food because if it’s not in the cupboard then I will just grab what else is there and not even miss it.
3. Plenty of water, even though we have water coolers at the gym I will normally have a 500m bottle with me that I top up. Having this near me all the time means I sip throughout the day and don’t even notice I am doing it.
Next my fitness routine, this was broken into short cycles of Strength, power and then finished with maintenance as the need for specific baseball work became more important.
Training on my own can be tough but I find that my ipod fixes that, I listen to books when doing long slow cardio and then high intensity music (e.g Linkin Park) when doing sprints and weights. The key here is to pick music that’s beat resembles the work rate you want to work at. Subconsciously your body will want to follow a beat, that’s why the music choice in aerobic classes is like it is and why some people who watch T.V while riding look like zombies whose pedal speed is normally not that far off stationary.
I also don’t like to waste time when training so I will normally do abdominal training between exercises. Except on legs days as I need those core muscle’s to support my lower back because you only get one of them.
Lastly but as importantly, stretching, I double up using my stretching to work on flexibility but also as relaxation. After having a hot bath to get the muscles warm I will sit and stretch while watching T.V for about 20 minutes each night, at which time my body is fully relaxed and ready for sleep and supple enough so I don’t get sprains and strains during exercise. Enjoy.
Adam