To maximise the benefit of your training efforts it’s crucial to prepare well for sessions in order to yield maximal results.
Compromise your preparation and you’ll compromise your outcomes.
Imagine the farmer in autumn. It would be insanity for the farmer to sow valuable seeds onto concrete and expect to harvest great results.
However, how many of us compromise our own preparation or tending of our body and yet still hope for powerful yields from the valuable training efforts.
Preparation – Just like our imaginary farmer preparing the fields prior to sowing the seeds we need to go into each training session with the right kind of preparation. Thinking about the content of the session and adjusting as appropriate.
The key practical considerations are:
- Sleep – Have I supported my body ahead of this session to arrive well rested and raring to go?
- Fatigue – How much accumulated fatigue am I bringing to this session? Is this the right intensity and duration for me today?
- Hydration – In the hours (and in some cases days) ahead of sessions am I taking on sufficient fluids? This is particularly important ahead of early morning sessions, sessions in unusually hot conditions or if we overdress, if we have spent a long day in drying air conditioning or travelled in closed airplane environments.
- Nutrition – Am I going into this session well fuelled? Does my body already have the energy supplies to call upon to perform the session? Have I prepared the relevant fuelling to use during the session?
- Equipment – For the session and the conditions is my equipment well organised and appropriate? This could be mudguards for a bike ride, a buff ready to hand for a chilly run. Perhaps its kit prepared before the session for immediately post session to change into and therefore not stand around in cold sweaty clothing or seize up during a car ride.
The above are just some examples that can help maximise your results from sessions. By shifting our focus onto the supporting environment around a session rather than only the contents of the session itself we can significantly improve the benefits.
Actions:
Which of the above resonate with you? What can you do ahead of a session to improve your potential gains?
Do a sense check ahead of your sessions this week and see what simple adjustments you can make.
Next time we’ll look at how we “tend the crop” and get most benefit from changes after the sessions. PS – Yep, sleep, hydration and fuelling are all present again!