Horizons Keep fit with only 3 minutes of intensive interval training per week

[Mich the Tester]

I'm not sure how rare an ability has to be before it is called genius, but my point is that millions of players in the world do this, and Beckham was just one of thousands who can do it well enough to be a professional footballer.

I don't think Beckham's inate ability is particularly rare, but slightly better than the rest of the bunch who play football. Lots of people are good at spatial awareness and coordination; dancers, crane operatives, pilots and so on need this too, and obviously some are better than others in the coordination business. What's a bit more rare is the combination of spatial ability, coordination and other physical attributes like speed, agility and endurance. Then even more rare are people use those attributes as footballers; some choose other sports or activities, sometimes due to cultural reasons. Then of course somebody somewhere has to recognise the talent of the individual, and however hard scouts try the process of spotting talent in the young is flawed and full of traps. You could probably find many millions or maybe tens of millions of people with his neurological attributes, but only a few of them are footballers.

[Robinho]

I do interval training.

8 * 30 second sprints 3 times a week. It awesome and saves lots of time.

If you walk down Farringdon road at night you might see me zoom past. nneeeoooowwwnn.

[d000hg]

It's not entirely a different subject but difficult to exclude as a variable in the research; you'd need to find people with those medical conditions who are passed fit by a doctor to do this kind of training and I think most doctors (and most competent fitness trainers) would be very reluctant to put somebody on high intensity training if they have some underlying medical condition, even if that condition isn't thought to affect their heart. I think the one thing that scares fitness trainers more than anything else is a client who starts an exercise regime and then goes home and has a heart attack, and high intensity training looks risky in that sense so you'd want to exclude the risk when it comes to medical conditions.

Hmm, conditions such as polycystic ovarian syndrome don't have those kind of risks (unless you're already very fat and at risk in the normal way) but do have associated issues with losing/gaining weight. Actually, I think PCOS is related to insulin anyway so we're back where we started!

[lukemg]

You are forgetting one other thing about prof sportspeople - absolute determination and single mindedness. Read Rob Fowlers autobiog - not great but interesting on this point. Names loads of players you have never heard of who he came across over the years, who he says were clearly better than him but who just couldn't keep going at the pace required, got distracted etc. Says he was always at training which was 2 bus rides away but you could see the numbers thinning as the weather got worse and the distractions got better. Says the clubs are deliberately hard on trainees to squeeze out the ones not desperate to succeed.

[Zoiderman]

You are forgetting one other thing about prof sportspeople - absolute determination and single mindedness. Read Rob Fowlers autobiog - not great but interesting on this point. Names loads of players you have never heard of who he came across over the years, who he says were clearly better than him but who just couldn't keep going at the pace required, got distracted etc. Says he was always at training which was 2 bus rides away but you could see the numbers thinning as the weather got worse and the distractions got better. Says the clubs are deliberately hard on trainees to squeeze out the ones not desperate to succeed.

Lee Sharpe comes to mind, reckoned by Ferguson to be better than Giggs. Wasted talent. Mind you, there's a litany of them.

Practice also sharpens the skills of any professional. I remember Beckham could put a corner on Scholes shoe laces each time he wanted to, and the best goal I ever saw, for speed etc, was at West Ham; Utd were defending, the ball spilled to Beckham at right back, who swivelled and hit a first time 70 yard bross field pass to find Giggs who raced into the penalty area to find Cantona I think, who scored. Under the cosh, 11 seconds later 1 up.

all professional sports people, the greats, still had to practice. Warne, the greatest bowler I have ever seen, would spend hours, on hours, upon hours practising. He once bowled 5 overs of googlies on the trot, which would ruin any other bowler (due to the rotation in the shoulder/wrist needed). Wilkinson? They all stayed after normal training to train some more.

[Notascooby]

You are forgetting one other thing about prof sportspeople - absolute determination and single mindedness. Read Rob Fowlers autobiog - not great but interesting on this point. Names loads of players you have never heard of who he came across over the years, who he says were clearly better than him but who just couldn't keep going at the pace required, got distracted etc. Says he was always at training which was 2 bus rides away but you could see the numbers thinning as the weather got worse and the distractions got better. Says the clubs are deliberately hard on trainees to squeeze out the ones not desperate to succeed.

This is worth a read from a pro triathlete on what it takes as a child to be top of their game...
Toil and Trouble « Jodie Swallow's Blog

[doodab]

This is worth a read from a pro triathlete on what it takes as a child to be top of their game...
Toil and Trouble « Jodie Swallow's Blog

porn followers who think my name is a stage name

[Mich the Tester]

This is worth a read from a pro triathlete on what it takes as a child to be top of their game...
Toil and Trouble « Jodie Swallow's Blog

There's now a real danger of this thread turning into a 'would you/wouldn't you'.





I would.

[Notascooby]

MTT - both. Although only one is straight!

[pacharan]

I'm not sure how rare an ability has to be before it is called genius, but my point is that millions of players in the world do this, and Beckham was just one of thousands who can do it well enough to be a professional footballer.

Your point is well illustrated by child prodigies who appear to have the skills but don't make the grade as adults.

Remember Sonny Pike?