Real Reasons for Warming Up pt 2

warmingupUnfortunately, a warm up is not something that you can simply gloss over when it comes to preparing for a triathlon. This two part series seeks to look at why.

We were talking about abnormal ECG changes, right? These abnormal changes in the ECG were not related to fitness level or age – So they definitely had something to do with warming up, or a lack thereof.

To examine the benefit behind warming up, twenty two of the men that had abnormal results did a moderate intensity jog in place for two minutes before they returned to the treadmill to undergo another high intensity running test. With that small warm up of only two minutes, now ten of the men suddenly began to show completely normal tracings on their ECG, and another 10 of those men showed an improvement in their ECG tracings. Only two out of the original twenty two men continued to show abnormalities on a significant level.

It is not yet known if a more thorough type of warm up would have made even more improvements. Still, it would definitely be interesting to see these results, had the scientists gone another step forward with this experiment.

Warming up is also good for mental preparedness. It allows you to really get your head ready for whatever activity is coming up. Mentally preparing yourself for your workout or your upcoming event is thought to be capable of improving your technique, your skill and your overall coordination as well. This mental warm up is also capable of preparing athletes for discomfort when they are dealing with tough intervals during a race. If your mind is prepared to endure this type of discomfort, then the body is going to be capable of producing higher speeds. If your mind is not in a willing place when it comes to enduring discomfort, then your physical performance is certainly going to be limited.

There is no cut or dry answer when it comes to how often you should be warming up. Most recommendations, however, do fall into the 10 minute to 20 minute range. Some athletes even warm up more than this to make sure that their bodies and their minds are properly conditioned for the upcoming workout or the upcoming race. Athletes that have higher levels of fitness are generally going to require longer periods of warm up where as lower levels of fitness generally require shorter warm up periods of time. In most cases, when it comes to choosing a warm up duration period for your own needs, longer is going to be better, but it is important that you do what feels comfortable for you.

Photo credits: lululemon athletica

Originally posted 2009-10-02 03:14:32. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Attain Victory with the Right Triathlon Gear pt 1

triathlonThroughout our existence, one of the deciding factors in who survives and who doesn’t has been technology. It is the innovation of technology that has allowed us to push ourselves to new horizons along the way. In all aspects of our life, having the right gear and equipment is absolutely essential in guaranteeing our success in many ways. If we want to meet goals, meet deadlines, get up on time, go to bed on time, achieve the requirements of our jobs and stay healthy and happy in lives, we need to make use of the newest and best gadgets and technology. In triathlon training, this is also true, because we can attain victory when we utilize the right triathlon gear. This is so true that it can be said that having the right gear will literally be what makes or breaks your ability to do well in a triathlon competition because it will improve your ability to train and your ability to succeed during the actual competition as well.

In 1912, the world’s fastest man was a gentleman named Don Lippincott, who ran the 100 meter dash in a total of 10.6 seconds. Now that nearly one hundred years have passed, the same distance can be run in 9.69 seconds by Usain Bolt, and he hardly broke a sweat as he tore through the previous world record. So what is the difference between these two men? They are obviously both hardworking, hard training men, so what made them unique from one another? In all honesty, the only thing that separates these two men from one another is the progresses in technology.

The same technologies capable of separating and shaping entire nations and their histories is also more than capable of determining which athletes have a competitive edge in championships and tournaments and competitions such as the Ironman or even the Tour De France. Modern runners are benefiting from fine-tuned running shoes that provide the optimum level of stiffness for optimizing their unique mechanical energy produced by the ankle, creating a faster print and more spring in the step for example.

Cyclists on the other hand are benefiting from finely tuned road bikes that are durable and yet extremely light as a result of construction from cutting edge metal alloys that allow for them to ride faster and faster still, breaking more and more records for speed as they go along. The merging between science and sports has birthed an insane amount of new products that create incredible athletic performance. For those who are not incorporating brand new technologies into their competition, this could potentially mean the distinction between making history and becoming history.

Triathlon athletes that really want to be competitive need to go out and buy equipment that is triathlon specific such as a bike specifically for triathlons, which offer altered geometric configurations in comparison to typical or traditional road bikes.

Photo Credits: Dawn – Pink Chick

Originally posted 2009-08-25 03:32:35. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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