Hi Bloggers,
To follow up my recent post on staying healthy as you get older, I just thought I'd mention my latest training programme for running. Up to now I've always gone for just doing a decent distance at the best pace you can. For example, 5 km in half an hour might seem reasonable for most in their sixties. However, over time you inevitably find yourself slowing down. In fact, every year will seem to take a minute off your time. And it's extremely frustrating trying to get your speed back to where it was. Using the regular distance run just doesn't do it. Special measures are needed.
The main thing one needs to introduce into one's programme is intensity training, i.e. in addition to the regular endurance distance training. Currently, I'm working on two ways to do this. The first is what is known as interval training. Here, you jog at your regular pace for two or three minutes and then burst into a sprint for between 30 seconds and one minute before dropping back to your regular pace again to recover. Repeat four or five times, or for the whole duration of your run. For this you might choose to cover a much shorter distance than usual.
The other method is simply to try to run a kilometre, or maybe just 500 metres, as fast as you can. Really go hell for leather at it. Then stop and take a complete break of two to three minutes to recover. Repeat four or five times.
Both these methods are incredibly intense and seriously force your body to uplevel its performance parameters. The main thing you will notice is your breathing. It will be strained to the maximum. As a result you will improve your aerobic capacity, which I was shocked to learn can decrease by 10% every decade once you're over 50.
More to come …...
To follow up my recent post on staying healthy as you get older, I just thought I'd mention my latest training programme for running. Up to now I've always gone for just doing a decent distance at the best pace you can. For example, 5 km in half an hour might seem reasonable for most in their sixties. However, over time you inevitably find yourself slowing down. In fact, every year will seem to take a minute off your time. And it's extremely frustrating trying to get your speed back to where it was. Using the regular distance run just doesn't do it. Special measures are needed.
The main thing one needs to introduce into one's programme is intensity training, i.e. in addition to the regular endurance distance training. Currently, I'm working on two ways to do this. The first is what is known as interval training. Here, you jog at your regular pace for two or three minutes and then burst into a sprint for between 30 seconds and one minute before dropping back to your regular pace again to recover. Repeat four or five times, or for the whole duration of your run. For this you might choose to cover a much shorter distance than usual.
The other method is simply to try to run a kilometre, or maybe just 500 metres, as fast as you can. Really go hell for leather at it. Then stop and take a complete break of two to three minutes to recover. Repeat four or five times.
Both these methods are incredibly intense and seriously force your body to uplevel its performance parameters. The main thing you will notice is your breathing. It will be strained to the maximum. As a result you will improve your aerobic capacity, which I was shocked to learn can decrease by 10% every decade once you're over 50.
More to come …...
