Conclusion

Conclusion

Even though my goal was not met by completing the challenge 3 minutes longer than expected, it was a pleasure to take part in this event. The training and the challenge were both tough to complete but the results were great. Would definitely recommend this to anybody interested in improving there health and fitness.

The goal of putting on 5kg of muscle was always going to be a tough task and according to the last inbody evaluation after the event I had put on 3kg.

Cardio Training

Run in Hanmer Springs

Cardiovascular workouts were incorporated into my plan two times per week, usually occuring on a Tuesday and Thursday. This involved running on a treadmill and also running the Ross creek track for 30  to 40 minutes. These workouts were at a very high intensity with a rate of perceived exertion being between 7-10.

Race day

Race day was on the 14th of October, It included all the components of the training schedule. A warm up was not included as we arrived late. Having influenza the week prior was not a helpful factor. This only added to the stress of the event and did not help my cause. The event was held in the outskirts of Dunedin, Outram. The race was held on flat road, hence the event being named, Hill Free Marathon.

10km race

There were approximately 100 hundred participants who took part in the 10km race.

The start
The start line was full of nervous energy and very quite with everybody mentally preparing for the road ahead. On reflection I started too fast instead of conserving energy for the rest of the race. I had a stop watch to keep me on track with meeting the time requirements of 40 minutes.

The middle
After taking off too fast too early it was clear that I was struggling with breathing and fatigue settling in. The mental frustration of having people pass me at this stage of the race was also taking a toll.


The finish
After battling through the middle stage of the race I knew I had to pick up the pace in order to finish with my goal being achieved. The last 2km I ran was at high intensity and closed in on many people who had previously passed me. This gave me a new enthusiasm and with 100 meters to go I started to sprint and overtook a participant.

The result
I completed the race with a time of 43 minutes. The goal of a finishing time or of sub 40 was not met. As demoralising this was I was still happy with the completing the race and the challenge.











 The event was everything I expected fuelled with energy and exitement.

Motivational literature and information

Choosing what to feed my body when training was never going to be very hard because I look after my body and the food that i consume is always calculated. Part of my goal was to increase muscle mass by 5kg, this meant my protein intke would have to increase. I used protein powder within 20minutes of a workout and once in the morning on top of increasing the amount of meat, nuts and beans in my diet. This would insure the muscle's could repair and keep well maintained during the training phase. The following link has some interesting information I found on recovery foods.

http://au.askmen.com/top_10/fitness_top_ten/34_fitness_list.html

This article describes the top 10 recovery foods to help build muscle post workout:

10- Power Bar
9- Low-Fat Granola Cereal
8-Genisoy protein Bar
7-Cinamon raison bagel
6-Meal replacement drink
5-Fruit Smoothie
4-Clif Bar
3-Peanut Butter and Honey Sandwich
2-Endurox R4
1-1% Chocolate Milk


Keeping motivated for training was also important for the success of this challenge. I found this link very interseting on maintaining motivation.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/10-motivational-tips-to-be-a-barrier-buster.html

This article describes the top 10 motivational factors needed for success in the gym:

10- Take A break
9- Visualisation
8- Talk To Someone Who Has Achieved
7- Change Your Mindset
6- Change What You Are Doing
5-Make A Bet
4-Make A Deadline
3-Music
2-Get A Partner
1-Keep A Log

Strength training photos

Strength training exercises

 

 



Bench press
 

Push press

Dumbell press
 

Front dumbell raises

Front dumbell raises

Seated lateral raise
 

Skull crushers

Bicep Curls

Interval training plus video and pictures

Interval training is important for the body to get used to training at a high intensity which is beneficial for cardiorespiratory fitness as well as anaerobic and aerobic energy systems. Interval training can be an effective means of enhancing an athlete's lactate threshold. Lactate threshold has been shown to be a significant factor determining performance for long distance running events. It is also important for loosing unwanted weight or fat and stimulates the metabolism.

Sprints on a steep incline and boxing were the chosen activities for interval training. Two circuits at St Clair beach were also performed.



Skipping
 

Beach sprints

 

Ladder interval training

The following is a video of an abdominal workout and boxing workout:



Introduction

Exercise perscription is a class that is part of the course,  Bachelor of Applied science at Otago Polytech in Dunedin, New Zealand. In the second semester for this class we were required to complete a physical challenge that would push ourselves out of our comfort zones. This challenge had to be something which you were not familiar with, some of the options recommended by the lecturer were a half marathon, 10km run, 60km cycle, adventure race, body sculpting and a gym circuit. Each participant would require maximum exertion in order to achieve their challenge and goal.

Given i was familiar with endurence events i opted for an event that would have an increased intensity and shorter duration. The challenge was the Outram 10 km running race, this was a first time running this distance in an event. The goal was to run the race in under 40 minutes which was running 4 minute/Km's which was going to be a push given the last race a month prior to choosing this event I was averaging 6 minute/Km's. A side goal was to increase muscle mass by 5kg, this was to become stronger and bulk up which endurance events will not allow.  Some of the training would be performed with a friend who was undertaking the same event.

Goal: To run 10 km in under 40 minutes. To gain 5kg of muscle mass.

Training schedule

It was important to incorporate different components of fitness when designing the training programme. The components that were of importance for the challenge were: Body composition, Muscular endurance, Cardiorespiratory fitness and Muscular power.

 

Body composition would have an influence on running this event because too much lipose or fat tissue would result in extra weight therefore slower the performance and lengthen the time. The same could be said about too much extra muscle, adding weight which would unbalence the power to wieght ratio. Muscular power is the ability of a muscle or a group of muscles to exert a maximum amount of force in the shortest amount of time this could be usefull during the stance phase of gait when push off is required. Muscular power could be the difference between a fast finishing time or not meeting the goal. Muscular endurance is the ability of a muscle or group of muscles to sustain repeated contractions against a resistance for an extended lenghth of time, training this component will prove to be a valuable assest. Cardiorespiratory fitness is probably the most important component in order to achieve this task in which the heart and blood vessals need to be strong enough to transport and supply the muscles with sufficient amounts of exercise to prevent fatigue.

 

This training programme includes these components, the variables are time and rate of perceived exertion which increases as the challenge draws closer.

 

Interval training consists of short sprints on a steep incline between 30 seconds to a minute long also boxing with pad work and punching bag. Strength training is a combination of chest, biceps, triceps, shoulders, back and legs. Cardio involves two high intensity runs for 30-40 minutes with one run being on a treadmill and the other on a hill to build muscular endurance. Rehab occurs 4 times per week and involves stretching to decrease the chance of injury and rotator cuff exercises to prevent an old injury from returning. Rest involves days where no activity takes place.

 

RPE or rate of perceived exertion fluctuates and generally increases closer to the event for maximum results. Loading cosides with RPE as well as time and also increases generally as the weeks draw closer.

 

 



Strength Training

These excersies will promote muscle growth when good nutrition and sufficient recovery takes place.

Weight training exercises

 

 



Body Compostion pre training

Evaluating body composition is a vital tool which assists in accessing where the participant is at in regars to there weight, Muscle mass and percentage body fat. A bioimpedance machine was used to conduct accurate body composition. Key findings from the analysis were:

Age: 23
Height: 174
Weight: 73.1
Muscle Mass: 38.6
Body Fat Mass: 6.2
Fat Free mass: 66.9
BMI:24.1
Percentage Body Fat: 8.5

After analising this information it was clear that I was lean but not with nessaraly with alot of muscle this would be of interest when designing a training schedule.