Running

[Mich the Tester]

muscular / slightly tubby - rugby player build

OK, so training like a rugby player will be better for your complete fitness (do what you're built for doing); you’re unlikely to make much of a marathon runner. Lots of circuit training, rowing training in short, hard sessions varying from 1 to 5 minutes with a rest of about half the exercise time, and some short runs of about half a mile with 2 minute rests.

Here’s my training for this evening. It will be too tough if you’ve only recently started training but it gives you the idea of ‘rugby player type’ fitness. This is a program I got from the Dutch national rugby coach. Just adapt the speeds to what you can do, and remember it’s all about getting out of breath and recovering quickly, not about achieving the speeds I've put down (unless you want to play flanker at a high level of rugby). Do this maximum twice per week and vary the speeds/times as you see fit to do 2 tough sessions. Add in one bike ride or run of about 5 miles. In between sessions you could do a couple of weights sessions, but preferably bodyweight exercises (pressups, pull ups, crunches etc).

Rowing machine
5 minute warm up at 500m/2minute pace
1 min rest

10 secs @ aiming 500m/1.35 pace
10 secs rest
20 secs @ 500m/1.40 pace
10 secs rest
30 secs @ 500m/1.40 pace
20 secs @ 500m/1.40 pace
10 secs rest
10 secs @ 500m/1.35 pace (which you won’t achieve any more as your body is getting above the anaerobic barrier)
10 secs rest
1 min rest
10 secs aiming @ 500m/1.35 pace
10 secs rest
20 secs @ 500m/1.40 pace
10 secs rest
30 secs @ 500m/1.40 pace
20 secs @ 500m/1.40 pace
10 secs rest
10 secs @ 500m/1.35 pace
10 secs rest

5 mins rest

Treadmill
1 min at 13kmh
1 min rest
1 min at 14kmh
1 min rest
1 min at 15kmh
1 min rest
1 min at 14kmh
1 min rest
1 min at 13kmh
3 min rest

Rowing machine

1 min rest

10 secs @ 500m/1.35 pace
10 secs rest
20 secs @ 500m/1.40 pace
10 secs rest
30 secs @ 500m/1.45 pace
20 secs @ 500m/1.40 pace
10 secs rest
10 secs @ 500m/1.35 pace
10 secs rest
1 min rest
10 secs aiming @ 500m/1.35 pace
10 secs rest
20 secs @ 500m/1.40 pace
10 secs rest
30 secs @ 500m/1.45 pace
20 secs @ 500m/1.40 pace
10 secs rest
10 secs @ 500m/1.35 pace
10 secs rest

5 minute rowing slowly to cool down.

[wurzel]

OK, so training like a rugby player will be better for your complete fitness ..........

Cheers, I'll give that a go. For the record, I do quite a bit of high intensity stuff in the gym as it is. I do free weights (clean & jerks, bicep curls etc - lightish weights with high no of reps), crunches & press ups. Then I wind up with 20 - 30 minutes on the treadmill. The main rationale behind the long distance stuff was to shift some weight around my middle all based on the maxim that to lose weight you need to burn more than you put in - I'm not very good at dieting so I have to run a lonng way to see any benefit! I'd be interested to look into the relative merits of cycling and runinng wrt weight loss 'cos I actually enjoy cycling

[Witchywoo]

My husband is a fitness coach and keen runner/triathlete.

He has suffered with stomach cramps for years and over the years has tried several things to stop them - no dairy, no white bread, no fruit, no flippin' anything which has made my life a nightmare when cooking.

The things he has found worked are no caffeine for a few days beforehand and I think he reduced his intake of muesli and porridge (he was eating ALOT!).

Anyway, may be giving the caffeine a break to see if it helps?

[FiveTimes]

After watching Eddie Izzard on sport relief, he suffered with similar problems - and they said it was down to his diet and constantly taking energy gels.

[threaded]

After watching Eddie Izzard on sport relief, he suffered with similar problems - and they said it was down to his diet and constantly taking energy gels.

Yes, taking those gels without a large drink of water can seriously ruin your whole day. Had my camel-back split once due to a tumble, should have not carried on taking the gels. A very large drink of water sorted the cramps though.

[Mich the Tester]

Cheers, I'll give that a go. For the record, I do quite a bit of high intensity stuff in the gym as it is. I do free weights (clean & jerks, bicep curls etc - lightish weights with high no of reps), crunches & press ups. Then I wind up with 20 - 30 minutes on the treadmill. The main rationale behind the long distance stuff was to shift some weight around my middle all based on the maxim that to lose weight you need to burn more than you put in - I'm not very good at dieting so I have to run a lonng way to see any benefit! I'd be interested to look into the relative merits of cycling and runinng wrt weight loss 'cos I actually enjoy cycling

It sounds rational, but actually it doesn’t work as well as interval training. If you run for a long time your glycogen stores are depleted; marathon runners hit ‘the wall’ at about 18-20 miles, and the body then burns primarily fat. That sounds like a good thing, it doesn’t necessarily work that way. After you exercise, your body does all it can to compensate, and actually ‘supercompensate’ as it’s known, so as to do the same thing again with less fatigue and using less reserves. Thus, if you run fast or jump up and down, your body’s fast twitch muscle fibers grow to be able to go at the same speed with less fatigue. If you lift heavy objects, first more motor units will be activated, then muscle fibers grow bigger to do the job more easily. If you run for such a long time that you deplete your fat stores, what’s your body going to try and do? You’ve guessed it; replenish your fat stores.

There’s another way. Instead of burning fat during your 1 or 2 hours training session, try burning it when you’re asleep for 8 hours. They way to do that is high intensity interval training (HIIT); this leaves you with a slightly raised heart rate and even slight oxygen deficit for up to 24 hours afterwards, where your body will burn a little more fat just to keep itself going. End result; more fat burnt, less time spent getting bored and ******* up your knees on long slow runs and a generally more athletic shape. Also remember that more mucle bulk means a greater calorific requirement just to keep the muscles alive. Add 5 kilos of muscle bulk and you need about 500 more calories just to keep those muscles fuelled up, even before you exercise.Oh, and try heavier weights with less reps.

As for the cramps, at 18 miles in a marathon even the best in the world are suffering like hell. All I can advise is to keep up a good fluid intake all day so your piss is always quite light; not quite water, but not very yellow.

[wurzel]

There’s another way. Instead of burning fat during your 1 or 2 hours training session, try burning it when you’re asleep for 8 hours. They way to do that is high intensity interval training (HIIT); this leaves you with a slightly raised heart rate and even slight oxygen deficit for up to 24 hours afterwards, where your body will burn a little more fat just to keep itself going.

The only problem there is that I'm so hyped up after an evening gym session that I get really bad insomia - but that's another story.

[TimberWolf]

It sounds rational, but actually it doesn’t work as well as interval training. If you run for a long time your glycogen stores are depleted; marathon runners hit ‘the wall’ at about 18-20 miles, and the body then burns primarily fat. That sounds like a good thing, it doesn’t necessarily work that way. After you exercise, your body does all it can to compensate, and actually ‘supercompensate’ as it’s known, so as to do the same thing again with less fatigue and using less reserves. Thus, if you run fast or jump up and down, your body’s fast twitch muscle fibers grow to be able to go at the same speed with less fatigue. If you lift heavy objects, first more motor units will be activated, then muscle fibers grow bigger to do the job more easily. If you run for such a long time that you deplete your fat stores, what’s your body going to try and do? You’ve guessed it; replenish your fat stores.

There’s another way. Instead of burning fat during your 1 or 2 hours training session, try burning it when you’re asleep for 8 hours. They way to do that is high intensity interval training (HIIT); this leaves you with a slightly raised heart rate and even slight oxygen deficit for up to 24 hours afterwards, where your body will burn a little more fat just to keep itself going. End result; more fat burnt, less time spent getting bored and ******* up your knees on long slow runs and a generally more athletic shape. Also remember that more mucle bulk means a greater calorific requirement just to keep the muscles alive. Add 5 kilos of muscle bulk and you need about 500 more calories just to keep those muscles fuelled up, even before you exercise.Oh, and try heavier weights with less reps.

As for the cramps, at 18 miles in a marathon even the best in the world are suffering like hell. All I can advise is to keep up a good fluid intake all day so your piss is always quite light; not quite water, but not very yellow.

Seems about right. Though by my calculation 5 kg muscle equates to 200 Calories rather than 500 burnt per day. Human basal muscle metabolic rate being 2 W/kg (up to 5 times this at full tilt - staggeringly birds can generate 10 times more mechanical energy than us). So 5 kg * 2 W /kg = 10 W. 10W *3600 seconds * 24 hours = 864KJ, or 864K/4.184 = 206 Calories/day just doing nothing.

Try cycling or walking/running uphill. It doesn't matter how fit you get, the laws of physics dictate that energy will be used. It'll also build muscle rather than shrink it as happens with runners.

[Mich the Tester]

Seems about right. Though by my calculation 5 kg muscle equates to 200 Calories rather than 500 burnt per day. Human basal muscle metabolic rate being 2 W/kg (up to 5 times this at full tilt - staggeringly birds can generate 10 times more mechanical energy than us). So 5 kg * 2 W /kg = 10 W. 10W *3600 seconds * 24 hours = 864KJ, or 864K/4.184 = 206 Calories/day just doing nothing.

Try cycling or walking/running uphill. It doesn't matter how fit you get, the laws of physics dictate that energy will be used. It'll also build muscle rather than shrink it as happens with runners.

Indeed, but of course even if you’re not using the extra muscle bulk, you’re lugging it around the place, so you’ll still burn more.

And the uphill bit is right. Especially uphill sprints. Bloody killing, but effective, especially as they work the biggest muscles; the gluteus maximus. It's what gives sprinters their big arse.

[Mich the Tester]

The only problem there is that I'm so hyped up after an evening gym session that I get really bad insomia - but that's another story.

There are lots of athletes who suffer from this. I don’t know if it’s been seriously researched, but anecdotal and empirical evidence points to one effective solution; sex, and plenty of it.