Combining the rigours of sliding with your running and speed training is a tricky prospect. Read on for our tips in maintaining your wheels on season...
Ok, so you’ve done the hard yards in the off-season, navigated national lockdowns and made those all-important and hard-fought gains. Maybe you needed to put on a few KG (I’m looking at you #teamskinny members) or maybe your sporting background wasn’t running and you’ve turned yourself into a slightly chubbier, bobsleigh version of Usain Bolt.
You’ve got through testing, you’ve made the team and you’re about to depart for the season. Great job, much applause comrade.
Now what?
How do you keep those speed gains topped up? How do you continue to improve when your access to training facilities is limited and bobsleigh is famous for concrete warm ups? How do you structure sessions that will work alongside the stress of sliding?
Well, it’s actually not that difficult. As with anything, consistency is key. To achieve consistency you need to plan well and do your best to build a routine into the chaotic weeks of bobsleigh training. The good thing is, as bobsledders, we don’t really need to be worrying about running much further than 60m on season. That makes space to train and facilities slightly less of a concern.
Be thoughtful about your phase of training, or at least where you are in the competitive calendar. It makes less sense to be in a low volume, high speed stage of training in November when World Champs (your most important peak) occurs in February. Short sprint endurance is real! Just as with 100m sprinters who need to be fit to navigate heats at a major championships, bobsledders also need a level of fitness such that they can repeat short maximal efforts of high quality over the course of a weekend. In a nutshell, keep your running volume higher before Christmas.
We All Be Different
Of course, everyone’s a little different too. Some like to do their running on sliding days, either before or after, and some like to do their running on different days. Some just like to stay in the gym 😂
Anyway, let’s cut the waffle there and summarise it a little more simply. Remember this is just an example of how you can make this work, it’s not gospel 👇
Plan your week properly. If you want 2 running sessions of some form a week, identify the days you want to get that done. In a World Cup week you’ll generally be sliding Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and competing over the weekend, so fit running in as your body prefers.
Pairing a slightly longer session earlier in the week with a pure acceleration session closer to race-day is a good split.
If you feel too tired after sliding, a good option is to plan your running session pre-sliding and think of it as a primer or warm-up for the sliding session later in the day. This sounds super obvious, because it is.
Be mindful of when you want to be hitting peak shape. A good rule, pre-Christmas, is to keep your running volume slightly higher. That doesn’t mean you’re running 400m efforts. Just up your reps at this time.
If you can’t find a track, look for grass or spacious car parks but temper your efforts based on the terrain you face. Safety first!
Remember that your sessions are now being combined with the stress of sliding, sled work, travel etc etc so your volume needs to be sensible. We’re not sprinters, we’re bobsledders and life on the road is hard!
Don’t panic if you feel the running sessions aren’t of sufficient speed quality. When you start pushing sleds off mountains, your body will be getting exposed to plenty of speed 😅. Just completing a full warm up with strides and drills is beneficial to keep your body ticking over in a running context.
Follow our example sessions to get the most out of your running if this is not something you’re confident with.
EXAMPLE SESSIONS PRE-CHRISTMAS
These templates are based on fitting in running sessions twice a week.
Session A
Full warm up, drills and mobility
Build ups x3 sets of x3 reps
60m-80m distance, start conservatively and look to build up speed every 10m until you are at top speed for the final 10m
Or
Full warm up, drills and mobility
X4 90m, 60m, 30m
Walk back recovery between distances, 5 min recovery between full set (complete all 3 distances for 1 set)
Session B
Full warm up, drills and mobility
Accelerations x3 reps at each distance. 90%-95% EFFORT
10m
20m
30m
EXAMPLE SESSIONS POST-CHRISTMAS
Session A
Full warm up, drills and mobility
Build ups x2 sets of x3 reps
40m-60m distance, start fast and look to build up speed every 10m until you are at top speed for the final 10m
Or
Full warm up, drills and mobility
X3 60m, 40m, 20m
Walk back recovery between distances, 5 min recovery between full set (complete all 3 distances for 1 set)
Session B
Full warm up, drills and mobility
Accelerations x3 reps at each distance. MAX EFFORT
10m
20m
30m
As always, comment, email (barbara@thebrakeman.org) or DM us via insta for more information/elaboration on these points. Always happy to discuss how to fit these sessions most appropriately on an individual basis ✌
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