Programme Justification

Resistance Training Programme Justification

Exercise selection:

From the movement assessment carried out on the athlete, the training background and weaknesses were highlighted. The main findings were poor technique on the squat, poor core stability, intermittent hamstring and calf tightness and bilateral gluteus medius weakness. A number of Core, Assistance, Prehabilitation, Flexibility and Core stability exercises were selected in order to improve the weaknesses and to improve the athletes’ muscular endurance to meet their target of running the London Marathon in April. Johnston, Quinn, Kertzer and Vroman (1997) designed a 10 week program for female distance runners using a variety of resistant exercises which were the seated press, lat pull down, weighted sit up, knee extension and lunge, the study found a 24.4% increase in upper body and a 33.8% increase in lower body strength, showing an overall improvement in runners performance. Traditional resistance training such as squats and the bench press have also been shown to improve endurance performance in both trained and untrained individuals (Jung, 2003). Specifically due to the tightness in her calves and hamstrings the range of motion during the squat will be restricted so a squat with raised heels was selected to improve this. Endurance running involves balanced and powerful movements to help propel the body forward, the quadruped with alternated arm/leg raise, bridging, prone plank, standard rotation pulley and reverse woodchop exercises have all been shown to aid improvements in this (Federicson & Moore, 2005). The deadlift, shoulder press, calf raises, walking lunge, step - ups, tricep overhead and bicep curls have been suggested to be useful exercises for improving endurance training (Erickson, 2005), hence the incorporation of these exercises within the current strength program. Tubing walks (martian walks) have been included as they strengthen the key muscles to improve running economy (Pankratz, 2003). The gluteus medius weakness will be improved with the side bridge (Eckstrom, Donatelli & Carp, 2007) and the seated abductor exercises will help in creating power during the stance phase of running (Novacheck, 1998).

 The flexibility exercises that have shown to assist in running are calf stretches, quadriceps and hamstring (Hamilton, 2005). The addition of a gluteus stretch is important as the athlete has shown a weakness in the gluteals and it is known that the gluteals heavily influences the forward movement during running (Alter, 2004). The other stretches that are included to increase the range of motion in key joints used in running are the calf stretch with roller, abductor stretch and triceps stretch (Baechle & Earle, 2000).

Training frequency:

According to Baechle and Earle (2000) beginners should undergo 2 to 3 strength training sessions a week. The training program sees the athlete undergo 3 training sessions per week, which coincides with existing literature for a marathon, meaning there is no conflict of other sport specific training sessions other than aerobic training which will be completed alongside the strength training (Johnston, Quinn, Kertzer & Vroman, 1997).  The athlete will train the upper and lower body alternately during each session, on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday to allow for sufficient recovery (Bompa & Carrera, 2005) and adaptations to occur with flexibility exercises being carried out daily.

Exercise order:

It is suggested that to enhance recovery in muscle groups, exercises should be alternated between limbs (Bompa & Carrera, 2005) however  literature also states that for enhancements in muscular endurance to be achieved fatigue should occur and therefore the order of exercises is not that important (Kraemer & Fleck, 2002). As this athlete is a novice the order of exercises will follow an upper and lower body alternated pattern during each session, due to the athletes lack of experience and poor results on the strength tests and so therefore might not be able to tolerate the focus on one muscle group (Baechle & Earle, 2000).

Training load and repetitions:

For inexperienced and novice athletes training for muscular endurance the program should consist of low load and moderate to high volume (Kraemer & Fleck, 2002). To determine the athletes training load they will be required to complete a multiple RM test where they complete 12 repetitions of each exercise. This particular RM test has been chosen due to the athletes poor technique and lack of experience in resistance training (Baechle & Earle, 2008) and due to the fact that muscular endurance is the ability to sustain submaximal muscular contractions (Willardson, 2008) and therefore does not require to be working above 67% of RM. The initial load will then be set for the start of the program, calculated by 67% of the load achieved during the RM test (Baechle & Earle, 2000).

Volume:

The athlete will be required to carryout 3 sets consisting of 12 repetitions (for all exercises), in order to achieve the primary aim of muscular endurance (Baeche & Earle, 2000). The flexibility exercises will be held for a duration of 30 seconds with a 10 second recovery in-between (Alter, 2004). For progression to occur the method and 2 for 2 rule stated in Beachle & Earle (2000) will be followed which states once the athlete can achieve 2 more repetitions of the required load for 2 consecutive weeks then the load will be increased. For upper limbs the load will be increased by 1-2kg and for the lower body it will be increased by 2-4 kg (Beachle & Earle, 2000).

Rest and unloading weeks:

With muscular endurance training the aim is to reach levels of fatigue through a lighter load and higher reps, therefore the rest periods in between sets should be short (Willardson, 2008). This program will adopt  a 30 – 60 second rest between sets and a 1 – 2 minute rest between each exercise (Baechle & Earle, 2000). The unloading weeks (transition) will take place after the half marathon and the marathon, this will include low volume and intensity which will allow the removal of fatigue and replenish energy stores acquired within the year and during competition (Bompa & Carrera, 2005).  

Periodisation and peaking:

The athlete aims to compete in the London marathon in April so therefore will train to peak for a half marathon in November in order for the athlete to prepare and peak for the final peak in April, this will also serve as an evaluation of where the athlete is with regards to training status and the progression of the current training program. The Periodisation will therefore follow a bicycle plan to accommodate these peaks (Bompa & Haff, 2009).